I was born and raised in Vernon, BC and been watching/following junior hockey in Vernon my entire life. My family watched senior men's hockey in Vernon in the 1950's and has been watching/following junior hockey in Vernon since we got a team 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. I started and created this blog in 2008 and have over 5 million viewers.
I was at tonight's Vernon Vipers-Trail Smoke Eaters preseason game as Trail defeated Vernon 5-2 in front of 300 fans at Kal Tire Place North.
Starting Goaltenders:
Vernon Vipers: Brendan Gee
Trail Smoke Eaters: Chayse Johnson
1st Period: I thought the hometown Vipers got off to a quick start and were the better team early. The Snakes come ready to play, were skating, moving the puck, created/generated opportunities and carried the better of the play in the first half. The Trail Smoke Eaters looked and played better in the second half. The Smokies saw a lot of time in their own end in the first half, were able to get some puck possession and get some play in the offensive zone in the second half. A very entertaining period. It was 1-1 after 20 minutes of play. Shots were 8-7 Vernon.
2nd Period: The Smokies would get a couple of early power plays and controlled most of the play early and often. Trail had the Vipers back on their heels, were moving the puck, had lot's of zone time/puck possession and the better team for close to twelve minutes. The Smoke Eaters switched goaltenders shortly after the midway mark. Chayse Johnson allowed one goal on twelve Vernon shots. The Snakes slowly seemed to get their game going with about seven or eight minutes remaining in the period and were able to finally generate some puck possession and zone time. Vernon finally started skating, was able to generate some pressure in the offensive zone and played better to finish the period. It was 3-1 Trail after 40 minutes of play. Shots were 15-9 Smoke Eaters.
3rd Period: Vernon with some early pressure carried the majority of the play for most of the 3rd period. The Snakes had lot's of puck possession and zone time struggled to put the puck in the net. The Vipers had some great chances in and around the goal but couldn't catch a bounce or capitalize on their opportunities. Trail was back on their heels for a lot of the first half, relied on Charlie Peppinick to make some big stops with Vernon pressing. The Smokies were able to re-gain some puck possession in the second half and had some strong shifts in the second half, where they capitalized on a couple of opportunities. The Smokies would come away with the 5-2 victory. Shots were 12-11 Trail.
Vernon Vipers Top Players:
Nicholas Russ I thought was one of the Snakes better forwards. Russ doesn't look all that big in size but played hard through out tonight's contest. Russ competed, was skating, involved in the play, stood out for me
Casey Bridgewater (1 goal) Opened the scoring for the Vipers in the 1st period. Bridgewater played last season with the Ontario Hockey League Sarnia Sting played very well on Vernon's defence this evening
Lane Sim Another kid who doesn't look to be all that big in size but I thought was one of the better Vipers in tonight's preseason loss. Sim was another kid I thought played hard, was skating hard, involved in the play, worked and competed and always in and around the net
Deagan McMillan (1 goal) The Vernon product has played well with the Vipers in the preseason, looked good tonight in the Vipers final exhibition game. I thought McMillan was good at both ends of the rink, involved in the play
Game Thought's: Vernon Vipers
- The Vipers & Smoke Eaters will open the 2025-26 regular season next Friday in Vernon
- Even though the Vipers lost, they played well for most of the game
- Scoring has been an issue for Vernon this preseason. The Snakes scored seven goals in four preseason games
- The Vipers break out and passing was much better tonight
- The Vipers went 0-4-1-0 vs Trail last season
- Forward Jonathan Bitoni made his Vipers debut tonight
- I liked Vernon's 1st period. I thought the Snakes were the better team in the first half and played very well the entire opening frame. The Vipers got off to a quick start, were skating, moving the puck, had lot's of puck possession and zone time, were generating chances, played very well
- The Vipers went 1-2 with the power play
- The Vipers defence was much much better tonight, compared to the previous three games
- Vernon showed improved since losing 5-2 Tuesday to the visiting Salmon Arm Silverbacks. The Vipers actually had a break out play tonight, were making passes on the tape, played more like a team
- The Vipers have been playing all preseason home games at Kal Tire Place North, because the new scoreboard is currently being installed at Kal Tire Place
- The Vipers didn't win but I liked what I saw, especially compared to the first three exhibition games. I saw major improvement tonight, I saw players working hard, competing, skating, making plays, playing as a team, playing better defensively, making passes etc
- The Vipers & Smoke Eaters will face each other seven times during the regular season
- Tonight's attendance was announced at 300
- The Snakes didn't get off to a great start in the middle frame. Vernon would turnover the puck and give up a goal just twenty six seconds into the 2nd period before taking back to back penalties and playing the first half if not more in their own end. The Vipers were back on their heels struggled in the first half, re-grouped and played better in the final seven to eight minutes
- Tonight was the Vipers final preseason game
- Defenceman Seth Tansem made his Vipers debut tonight
- Kal Tire Place North is very uncomfortable, it's difficult to see the corners and with only one concession open, long lineups
- The Vipers were wearing their navy blue road jerseys this evening
- The Snakes didn't catch a break or a bounce go there way
- You can tell these kids have had a good couple of practices as they have improved a lot since their last game
- Defenceman Grayson Cohen made his Vernon Vipers debut
- I thought the hometown Vipers were the better team in the 3rd, carried the better of the play for a lot of the final frame. Vernon was all over the visiting Smoke Eaters in the first half, couldn't buy a goal. It seemed like the Vipers had several opportunities but couldn't capitalize before Trail come back the other and scored. I thought the Snakes had lot's of good looks just couldn't capitalize on their chances. Vernon also didn't get any bounces go their way in the final period
- Tonight was the Vipers best game/performance of the preseason
- The Vipers dressed three regulars tonight
- With the loss, Vernon finishes the preseason with a 0-4-0-0 record
Trail Smoke Eaters Top Players:
Isaac Fecteau The former Vipers defenceman played well in his return to Vernon. I don't know why the Vipers ever traded him? He has played very well for the Smokies
Max Hense Was another Trail d-man I thought played well in the Smokies win. This kid has some size, played well at both ends of the rink
Brayden Sinclair (2 goals) Scored twice in the 3rd period, played well
Evan Sundar (2 goals & 2 assists) This kid had a heck of a hockey game, recording four points. Sundar is quick on his feet, hard to contain/defend, was buzzing all over Kal Tire Place North
Chayse Johnson (11 saves) Started the game for Trail, played very well before being pulled just past the midway mark of the 2nd period. Johnson was tested mostly in the 1st period but made some nice saves with the Vipers pressing
Charlie Peppinick (4 saves) Replaced Chayse Johnson just past the halfway mark of the 2nd period. I thought he saw more then five shots but made some big saves early in the 3rd with Vernon attacking early. Both Trail goaltenders played well this evening
Game Thought's: Trail Smoke Eaters
- Tonight was the Smokies fourth of five preseason games
- A small handful of Trail fans were in attendance
- Trail looked good and played well. This was an entertaining game
- Former Viper forward Ryan Flaherty opened the scoring for Trail. Flaherty was at the Vipers training camp and was recently released
- The Smoke Eaters didn't get off to a good start as the hometown Snakes were the better team early. I thought Trail responded and played better in the second half
- The Smokies play eleven straight games on the road to start the season as renovations are currently underway at the Cominco Arena. Trail's first home game of the 2025-26 season will be October 10th vs West Kelowna
- Trail went 0-3 with the man advantage
- The Smoke Eaters went with two goaltenders tonight and both goaltenders played very well
- Trail's next preseason game is Saturday in West Kelowna
- I liked the Smokies 2nd period. Trail capitalizes on a Vipers turnover just twenty six seconds into the period and it's 2-1 Trail. The Smoke Eaters get back to back power plays, don't capitalize but had loads of pressure. The Smokies were by far the better team in the first half and even a little more, with loads of time in the offensive zone, lot's of puck possession, had the Snakes back on their heels. In the second half the Vipers re-grouped and played better, played well to end the period
- The Smoke Eaters were dangerous with the puck below the red line, scored a couple of goals from down low
- The Smokies and Vipers will open the regular season September 19th in Vernon
- Trail seemed to capitalize on their opportunities at key times during the hockey game
- The Smoke Eaters didn't have a great start to the 3rd, were outplayed as Vernon was the better team, had lot's of pressure early and often but Charlie Peppinick made some big stops early. The Snakes had a couple of quality chances were unable to get to within a goal, before the Smokies come back the other way to take a 4-1 lead. Trail played better in the second half
- With the win, Trail improves to 2-2-0-0 in the preseason
Scratches:
Vernon Vipers:
Nathaniel Harvey 06
Davids Livsics 05
Michael Munroe 07
London Taylor 08
Adam Straka 07
Bowen Burke 05
Brock Heidecker 08
Edvin Nilsson 05
Trail Smoke Eaters:
None
Three Star's:
1st Star: Evan Sundar (2 goals & 2 assists)
2nd Star: Brayden Sinclair (2 goals)
3rd Star: Deagan McMillan (1 goal)
Boxscore-Game Summary,
Trail Smoke Eaters @ Vernon Vipers Friday, September 12, 2025 | BCHL League Site
Game Report,
Text Box Score,
Official statistics powered by LeagueStat.com
Vernon Junior Hockey History website,
2 comments:
Not sure what the season will hold but from what I've seen In the preseason it may take some time to restore vernon to the once proud franchise it was. So much damage was done last year that Im not sure a lot of advisors are telling their clients to sign here...time will tell. Hopefully Matt cooke can turn things around, but the fact he was an nhl player does not make it a certainty. Can't read a lot into preseason so hopefully the team can gel and have a successful season with not a whole lot of top tier talent.
Excellent comment John. Yes, it could be a tough year because of the damage to this franchise caused by “the incompetent” who thought he was Scotty Bowman. We must be patient and supportive, Cooke does not have a long history in coaching but at least he knows the game. I think his assistants are good hires also. I do believe we will see a hard working team this year and the coaches will expect nothing less. With this no nonsense approach will come respectability again and skilled players will want to play for this trio. Time will tell but we look to be on a good path.
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