I was born and raised in Vernon, BC and been watching/following Junior hockey in Vernon my whole life. My family watched Senior men's hockey in Vernon in the 1950's and has been watching Junior hockey in Vernon since it started in 1961. I have two family members that played Junior hockey in Vernon. I have had season tickets since 1990 missing only 40 home games. Since 2001 I have missed 10 home games. I started and created this blog in November 2008 and have over 3 million viewers. For anyone who couldn't watch or attend tonight's Vipers game, here are my thoughts and views from tonight's hockey game. You may agree or disagree, but we all have our own opinion on the hockey game and see things differently. I try to be professional and give a fare game recap from both sides. Thank you for visiting my blog.
I was at tonight's game between the Vernon Vipers & Victoria Grizzlies as the Vees defeated the Grizzlies defeated the Vipers 2-1 in overtime in front of 1,828 fans a Kal Tire Place.
Starting Goaltenders:
Vernon Vipers: Marko Bilic
Victoria Grizzlies: Oliver Auyeung-Ashton
To continue reading, please click the "read more" button below,
2nd Period: I thought the Grizzlies had a great start to the middle frame, jumped on the hometown Vipers early as Victoria was the better team and had a bit of an edge in play in the first half of the period. The Snakes responded with a better second half and had a strong finish, had the edge in play late in the period. Vernon didn't have any puck luck or have the puck bounce there way. Erik Pastro missed a wide open net at the side of the net. Both goaltenders played well. Both teams went 0-1 with the PP. It was 1-1 after 40 minutes of play. Shots were 11-7 Vernon.
3rd Period: The Vipers were the better team, carried the better of the play, had most of the puck on there stick, outplayed a tired looking Victoria hockey team. Vernon had several good looks/quality chances couldn't buy a goal this evening. The Vipers weren't getting the bounces or much puck luck tonight. Vernon was the more physical team, started to lay the body in the final twenty minutes. It was 1-1 after 60 minutes of play. Both teams went 0-1 with the man advantage.
Overtime: The Snakes won the opening draw, had the puck on there stick to start OT but it was Keaton Dowhaniuk who took an early penalty, giving Victoria an early power play in the extra frame. Four on three, the Grizzlies worked the puck around before Jacksenn Hungle beat Marko Bilic down low at the side of the goal, giving the visiting Victoria Grizzlies a 2-1 overtime victory as the Grizz bench erupted onto the ice. Vipers starting goaltender Marko Bilic was one of the last Snakes off the ice, wasn't moving before slowly getting to his knees then feet as it looked like he may have been hurt on the overtime winning goal. Shots were 3-1 Victoria.
Vernon Vipers Top Performers:
Landon MacDonald I thought played a hard fought game at both ends of the rink. I really like the addition of MacDonald and think he's played very well since joining the Vipers
Carson McGinley played with a ton of jump/energy, was all over Kal Tire Place this evening, saw a ton of ice time
Jakub Galnor (1 assist) I think is improving as the season goes along and starting to be effective. I thought played with a lot of pace/jump and was hard to contain
Luke Bibby was another forward I thought played with a lot of jump, showed some hustle through out the hockey game
Erik Pastro The Vipers captain couldn't buy a goal in the loss, played hard and was one of the better Vipers. The Vernon kid missed what looked like two open nets, had a strong game
Cooper Cleaves I thought has struggled at times this season but played very well/looked good tonight
Marko Bilic (22 saves) Playing for the first time since October 13th, was tested and tested often in the first two periods, only saw two shots on goal in the 3rd. With the Vipers down a goal, I thought Bilic made a couple of big stops to keep his team from falling behind two goals
Game Thought's: Vernon Vipers
- The smallest crowd of the season. Tonight's attendance was announced at 1,828
- Tonight's the first game of a two game home stand
- I wish all teams would play each other at least twice a season. Once at home and once on the road, so fans get a chance to see every team at least once a year
- The Snakes are 1-1-2-0 at Kal Tire place this season
- Vernon's penalty kill was very good. Other then giving up the overtime winning goal on the PK I thought the Vipers PK was very good through out regulation
- Former Vipers forward Adam Csabi is still listed on the Vipers roster on the lineup sheet
- I have said before, the Vipers have a better team then there record
- The Vipers were lucky at times as Victoria could have easily gone ahead by more then one goal in either of the 1st or 2nd periods and could have opened the game open if the power play was clicking
- I wish the Vipers PA announcer would let fans know how many goals the goal scorer has when announcing the goals
- The Vipers next game is Friday vs the visiting Salmon Arm Silverbacks
- The Vipers have lost three of their last five games and lost six of there last ten games but have at least a point in five of there last six games
- Since the 2003-04 regular season, the Vipers have lost eight overtime games vs the Victoria Salsa/Victoria Grizzlies
- I thought the 1st period was a little sloppy, sluggish and scrambled at times. I thought Victoria was the better team, had a bit of a slight edge in play. I thought the Vipers had troubles gaining control of the puck, getting sustained pressure in the offensive zone, made some mistakes/turnovers in their own end and were being beat to the puck. Vernon did get a couple of real good looks/opportunities couldn't capitalize on there chances
- The Vipers fall to 0-1-1-0 vs teams from the Coastal Conference
- The Vipers acquired the playing rights for defenceman Keaton Dowhaniuk from the Victoria Grizzlies October 1st for future considerations. Dowhaniuk never played a game with the Grizzlies, played the past four seasons with the Western Hockey League Prince George Cougars
- The Vipers went 0-2 with the power play
- The Vipers have lost back to back games in overtime
- The Vipers didn't get any bounces or have any puck luck tonight
- Tonight's the first of three games in four days for the Snakes
- Since the 2003-04 regular season, the Vipers are 8-5-4-1-0 at home vs the Victoria Salsa/Victoria Grizzlies
- Defenceman Landon Pappas made his Vipers debut this evening
- I thought the Grizzlies had the calls go there way as some obvious calls were missed by the officials
- This is the only time the Vipers & Grizzlies will face each other this season
- I thought the Snakes got off to a bit of a slow start to start the 2nd period as the Grizzlies had the early jump, were the better of the two teams in the first half of the period. I thought Vernon played much better in the second half and were the better team late in the period
- The Vipers are 0-3 in overtime this year
- The Vipers & Grizzlies played once last year with Vernon winning 6-4 February 9th 2024 in Victoria
- The Snakes play four of there next five games at home
- On the Vipers only power play of the 3rd period, why was Erik Pastro and Will Schumacher on the point? Shumacher is the Snakes leading scorer. Both of these kids should have been up front and in front of the Victoria net. I'm not much of a fan when coaches put forwards on the point on the man advantage
- Vernon couldn't buy a goal tonight. Erik Pastro missed what looked like two open nets, while the Vipers had a couple of breakaways and several quality opportunities in and around the net
- Has anyone else noticed the Vipers haven't named who there General Manager is this year
- Since the 2003-04 regular season, Vernon is 18-9-2-8-1 vs the Victoria Salsa/Victoria Grizzlies
- I thought Vernon played better as the game went on and it showed in the 3rd period as the Vipers were the better team, outplayed a tired looking Victoria team. The Snakes carried the play for most of the period, only gave up two shots on goal, had several good looks/chances, just couldn't buy a goal. The Vipers really needed a break or to capitalize on the power play
- The Vipers have struggled scoring most of the season and it showed again tonight. Vernon definitely needs a goal scorer
- With the overtime loss, Vernon falls to 4-7-3-0 sit 9th in the Interior Conference
Victoria Grizzlies Top Performers:
Drew Hockley I thought played very well on the Grizz blueline. A big kid that sees a lot of ice time
Dennison Monahan is another monster on the Grizzlies backend, also sees a lot of ice, is physical, played well in the overtime win
Thomas Molson I thought was one of the more consistent forwards who stood out in my opinion. A good skater, has some skill and gave the Vipers defenders trouble
Reegan Hiscock The third year Grizzlies forward also looked good, played well through out the evening
Oliver Auyeung-Ashton (31 saves) Not the biggest netminder but played very well between the pipes for Victoria. The hometown Vipers looked to have Auyeung-Ashton beat on numerous opportunities but somehow the puck stayed out from the back of the net. Watching this kid between whistles and skating out to the crease for the start of the period, you can tell he's very loose as he was bopping his head and grooving to the music
Game Thought's: Victoria Grizzlies
- Tonight is the Grizzlies fourth game in Vernon since 2018
- I spotted three Grizzlies fans at tonight's game
- Victoria went 1-5 with the man advantage
- The Grizzlies are 4-2-0-0 on the road this season
- Victoria has a big team loaded with size
- The Grizzlies had several opportunities to go ahead by at least two goals and could have maybe put the game away before overtime if they clicked on the power play
- Tonight's the first game of a three game road trip
- The Grizzlies have lost three of there last five games and lost six of there last ten games
- I thought the Grizzlies got the better of the calls this evening as the calls seemed to go Victoria's way
- I thought the Grizz were the better team in the 1st period, had a slight edge in play, had more puck possession, zone time and seemed to be a little more settled into the hockey game compared to the Vipers. The Grizzlies went 0-2 with the PP hit two posts in the period. Victoria opened the scoring and could have easily taken a two or three goal lead on a couple of Vernon turnovers/mistakes. The Grizzlies have an aggressive forecheck, are hard in on pucks, won a lot of battles along the wall and in front of the net
- The Grizzlies have changed there jerseys/logo since the last time they were in Vernon. The Grizz have gone to more of a Boston Bruins look with the Grizzly head as there main logo
- Victoria's next game is Friday in Prince George
- Prior to tonight, the last time the Grizzlies were in Vernon, the hometown Vipers won 2-1 in a shootout October 8th 2022
- Head Coach/GM Rylan Ferster played with the 1989-90 Vernon Lakers
- The Grizzlies defence played very well, had the Snakes boxed out or kept to the outside for most of the hockey game tonight
- The Grizzlies play four of there next six games on the road
- I really liked Victoria's start to the 2nd period. I thought the Grizzlies got the early jump on the Snakes and were the better team in the first half of the period. Again, Victoria could have easily taken a 2-0 lead but instead allowed Vernon to tie the contest, and allow the Vipers back into the hockey game
The Grizzlies only had two shots on goal in the 3rd period
- Victoria struggled with the man advantage. Other then scoring on the PP in overtime, I thought the Grizz didn't really press hard or get enough pucks to the net on the power play
- The Grizzlies are 2-2 in overtime this season
- Victoria has a strong forecheck, which forced the Vipers into making mistakes/turnovers often
- I was impressed with the Grizzlies tonight and think they have a very good team
- The Grizzlies looked tired in the 3rd and were outplayed for the final twenty minutes. Victoria only managed two shots on goal, saw a lot of action in there own end
- With the overtime win, Victoria improves to 7-4-2-0 sit 5th in the Coastal Conference
Scratches:
Vernon Vipers:
Zhenya Miles
Joey Mugaas
Keeghan Dunn
Victoria Grizzlies:
Daniel D'Alessandro
Julian Cull
Energy Player of the Game:
Jakub Galnor (1 assist)
Three Star's:
1st Star: Oliver Auyeung-Ashton (31 saves)
2nd Star: Simon Binkley (1 goal)
3rd Star: Jacksenn Hungle (overtime winning goal)
Boxscore-Game Summary,
Game Report,
Text Box Score,
Vernon Junior Hockey History website,
Please feel free to leave comments or suggestions in the comment box below. Please be respectful when leaving comments.
What did you think of tonight's Vipers/Grizzlies game? I would like to hear your comments/opinion on the game?
ReplyDeleteAdam Csabi may still be on the Vernon roster but he is back playing for a U 20 team in Czechia. According to Elite Hockey he has 2 assists in two games this year for his new team..
ReplyDeleteThe Victoria Grizzlies have a new owner. They also have as part of there scouting staff a member who used to scout for the vees. Talked to one of the grizzlies coaching staff and he said was impressed with vernon vipers and how they played. Victoria has good size this year. Go vipers Go.
ReplyDeleteNot Listed as General Manager but, Director of Hockey Operations, sorta the same thing just different wording.
ReplyDeleteIf you brake it all down, by cutting out all the peripheral mumbo jumbo, you have a team with four wins and ten loses. Now ask yourself, is that good enough, considering, they have now played twenty-six percent of the season.
ReplyDeleteIf you extrapolate that, it works out to a record of about twelve to thirteen wins this season out of a fifty-four, ponder on that, if you will!
I thought the Grizzlies outplayed the Vipers in the 1st and some of the 2nd period but it was all Vipers in the 3rd until the bs call in OT
ReplyDeleteComment was deleted by Vipersdiehardfan
ReplyDeleteComment was deleted by Vipersdiehardfan
ReplyDelete