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 & Penticton Vees as the Vees defeated the Vipers 6-4 in front of 3,284 fans at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
Starting Goaltenders:
Vernon Vipers: Marko Bilic
Penticton Vees: Ethan Buenaventura
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2nd Period: Another period where I thought both teams were fairly even at times. I thought the hometown Vees had a slight edge in play at different times. Just over five minutes into the middle frame, it looked like Penticton scored on the power play to take there first lead of the hockey game, but Cooper Cleaves took a high stick before the goal. The officials went to video review and decided Cleaves did take a high stick, taking away the Vees fourth goal and sending Vernon to the power play. Charlie Kresl would capitalize on the man advantage, giving the Snakes a 4-3 lead. Vernon didn't generate a lot of offence, but held the Vees off the scoreboard. It was 4-3 Vernon after 40 minutes of play. Shots were 10-7 Vees.
3rd Period: The Vipers started the period on the PP. Vernon struggled with the man advantage. Charlie Kresl turned the puck over in his own end, allowing former Vipers "AP" Ryden Evers to tie the game 4-4 before Landon Wright gave Penticton took there first lead of the game less then two minutes later. This was not the start the Snakes wanted as it was all Vees for most of the first half. The Vipers looked sloppy, were making mistakes, turning over pucks, poor defensive coverage and more. Vernon would get going in the second half but struggled offensively. The Vipers had trouble gaining sustained pressure and didn't generate a whole lot of opportunities. The Vipers would push hard in the final six minutes or so but would run out of time before Max Heise hit the empty net for his third goal of the game and give the Vees a 6-4 victory. Penticton's defence played very well down the stretch, blocking shots, getting in the shooting lanes, didn't give up a whole lot.
Vernon Vipers Top Performers:
Jakub Galnor I thought played hard, worked hard, competed and played well in the loss
Luke Bibby (2 assists) Has been playing very well as of late and tonight was one of the better Viper forwards. I thought Bibby played hard, was hard in on pucks, making plays, showed a lot of hustle
Will Schumacher (1 goal & 1 assist) Leads the team in scoring with eighteen points, has been one of the more consistent forwards for Vernon this season. Looked good/played well this evening
Marko Bilic (32 saves) I thought Penticton's first two goals were soft and Bilic should have stopped but otherwise played well in goal for the Snakes. I thought the rookie goaltender made some big stops in the 2nd and 3rd periods with the Vees pressing to keep the Vipers in the game
Game Thought's: Vernon Vipers
- The Vipers have one regular season win in there last fifteen games in Penticton
- The Vipers next game is Sunday at home vs Salmon Arm
- Not many Vipers fans at tonight's game. I spotted eight fans in attendance
- Goaltender Jari Kykkanen who was signed today was the Vipers backup tonight
- I liked the Snakes 1st period and thought the Vipers played well and held there own vs Penticton for most of the opening frame. I thought the Vipers had some good looks/chances. I would have liked to see the team get a little more pucks to the net as both teams were fairly even, with Penticton having a slight edge in play at different times
- The Vipers went 1-3 with the man advantage
- Defenceman Daniil Dolzheko made his Vipers debut tonight, didn't see a lot of ice time, as I counted four shifts the entire game
- Including the preseason, the Vipers are 0-4 vs the Vees this season
- One of the security people I talked to at tonight's game is from Vernon and tried out for the Vernon Lakers back in the early 1990s
- The Vipers & Vees play each other six times this regular season
- The Vees have won twenty five of the past twenty nine games vs the Vipers
- I thought both teams were fairly even in the 2nd period with the Vees having a bit of an edge at times. The Vipers score the only goal of the period after it looked like Penticton took a 4-3 lead on a power play goal that was later called back due to a penalty. The Vipers struggled offensively, only had seven shots on goal, didn't really generate a whole lot of offence or get much sustained pressure
- Vernon has lost three of there last five games and lost seven of there last ten games but have at least a point in six of there last nine games
- The Snakes are 4-6-1-0 on the road this season
- The Vipers last regular season win in Penticton was a 2-1 overtime victory on October 18th 2019
- The Vipers played with the lead for most of tonight's game until the 3rd period
- The Vipers didn't get a lot of sustained pressure tonight and didn't generate a whole lot of quality opportunities
- The Vipers have a quick turn around, host the visiting Salmon Arm Silverbacks tomorrow afternoon. A Salmon Arm team that hasn't played since Friday
- The Vees have won twenty two of the last twenty three games vs the Vipers
- I didn't like Vernon's first half of the 3rd period. The Vipers started the 3rd on the PP but struggled with the man advantage. A Charlie Kresl turnover, resulted in the game tying goal and less then two minutes later, Penticton takes there first lead of the night. The Snakes looked sloppy, made mistakes, were turning over pucks, looked awful in the first half before finally getting going in the second half. I thought the Vipers re-grouped and played much better in the second half but the first five minutes struggled offensively to get any kind of sustained pressure, zone time or generate any opportunities. Vernon pushed in the final six-seven minutes couldn't tie the game before Max Heise's empty net goal put the game away.
- The Vipers play five of there next eight games at home
- The Vipers & Vees play again February 7th in Penticton
- Its hard to believe the Vipers have played twenty games and only have six wins. I don't ever recall the Vipers having only six wins this late into a season
- I thought the Snakes held there own vs Penticton for most of the hockey game. At times the Vees were the better team, having a slight edge in play but otherwise tonight was anyone's game. The Vipers made some costly mistakes, and bad turnovers that cost them at least two goals.
- The Vipers have had troubles playing a full sixty minutes and are inconsistent
- With the loss, Vernon falls to 6-10-4-0 sit 10th in the Interior Conference
Penticton Vees Top Performers:
Nolan Stevenson (1 assist) Played well on the Vees blueline
Louie Wehmann I thought played with a lot of jump/energy, was skating, involved in the play, played well
Max Heise (3 goals) Carried the hometown Vees on his back. This kid has played well vs the Snakes this season, was hard to contain, hard to defend, had a strong game vs the Vipers
Landon Wright (1 goal) Scored the game winner three minutes into the 3rd, played well and looked good
Simon Meier I thought played with a lot of jump/energy, showed some hustle, was always skating, making plays, looked good/played good
Anselmo Rego (1 goal) Tied the game late in the 1st period on a penalty shot. This kid is quick, has some wheels, is hard to contain/defend was skating circles around several Vipers, had a strong game
Game Thought's: Penticton Vees
- Since 2018 the Penticton Vees have had the Vipers number
- A large crowd tonight. Tonight's attendance was announced at 3,284
- The Penticton Vees are 7-1-0-0 at home this season. The Vees only loss at home was a 6-2 loss November 2nd to the Brooks Bandits
- Goaltender Ethan Buenaventura made his Vees home debut
- In all three regular season games vs the Vipers this season, the Vees have been trailing in the 3rd period but somehow, someway find a way to pull together and come from behind for the win
- Penticton went 1-3 with the power play
- I didn't think the Vees had a great start. I thought Vernon was the better team off the opening faceoff as the Vipers were up in shots 4-0 early, opened the scoring, played with the lead most of the period before the Vees got going. I thought both teams were fairly even with the Vees having a slight edge in play at times. I thought once the period got going and the Vees settled down, Penticton was able to get pucks to the net, generate some offence and pushed back after every Vipers goal
- The Vees next game is Thursday in Langley
- Its really hard to hear the PA announcer at the South Okanagan Events Centre. It sounds like his mouth is muffled
- The Vees have won four of there last five games and won seven of there last ten games
- I thought Ethan Buenaventura didn't look very sharp tonight and could have stopped a couple of shots. The Vipers scored three goals on just eight shots in the 1st period
- Forward Ryden Evers was an "AP" with the 2021-22 Vernon Vipers
- The Vees have always been a good come from behind team and it showed again tonight. The Vees never played with the lead until the 3rd
- Give Fred Harbinson and the Penticton Vees full credit for putting together another competitive team. Its amazing where they find these kids and how they continue to put together a strong team from year to year
- The officials went to video review twice this evening. Once on Penticton's fourth goal that was called back due to a Penticton penalty and then again after the Vees fifth goal
- I thought both teams were fairly even in the 2nd period but again Penticton had a slight edge in play at times. The Vees had the better of the scoring chances but it was the Snakes who scored the only goal of the period. Penticton's defence did a good job at limiting Vernon's opportunities
- Vees Assistant Coach Jason McKee spent parts of five seasons in Vernon as the Vipers Head Coach/GM from 2019-2024
- The Vees play four of there next six games on the road
- Penticton trailed in the first two periods before taking there first lead of the game in the 3rd
- Goaltender Ethan Buenaventura's playing rights were held by the Vernon Vipers. The Vipers traded his playing rights to Cowichan November 8th 2024 for forward Noah Grolnic. The Capitals traded Buenaventura to Penticton November 12th 2024
- I liked the Vees 3rd period. Down 4-3 and starting the 3rd on the PK Penticton tied the game on a Viper turnover before taking there first lead of the game less then two minutes later. The Vees looked good and were the better team for most of the first half. The Vipers pushed in the second half but the Vees played very well defensively, shutting down Vernon's offence. The Vees kept the Vipers to the outside, limited there opportunities before putting the game away with an empty netter
- Give Penticton credit, they were down 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 but didn't quit. The Vees pushed back, battled back and played hard until the final buzzer in a hard earned win on home ice
- With the win, Penticton improves to 16-6-0-0 sit 3rd in the Interior Conference
Scratches:
Vernon Vipers:
Koji Gibson
Keeghan Dunn
Colin Reay
Penticton Vees:
Matthew Biotti
Caton Ryan
Michael Fisher
Sharky Nowek
Energy Player of the Game:
Simon Meier
Three Star's:
1st Star: Max Heise (3 goals)
2nd Star: Ryden Evers (1 goal & 1 assist)
3rd Star: Will Schumacher (1 goal & 1 assist)
Boxscore-Game Summary,
Game Report,
Text Box Score,
Vernon Junior Hockey History website,
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3 comments:
Were you at tonight's Vipers game? Did you listen to it on the radio or watch it online?
What did you think of tonight's Vipers/Vees game? What are your comments/opinion on the game?
Coach needs to figure out who his most reliable players are and increase their ice time, especially in certain situations. Seems to be no accountability for repeated turnovers and bad penalties...just keep rolling forward lines and d pairings. It's not always the fastest skaters or dangers that are the most consistent. Either that, or find a new coach that can figure it out. What's happening now clearly isn't working over 60 minutes.
Watched game tonight, lots of selfish plays, low percentage shots getting blocked or turnovers while better options to get the puck to were available. Penticton played a much better team game
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