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 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 my blog in 2008 and have over 5 million viewers.
I was at tonight's Vernon Vipers-West Kelowna Warriors preseason game as the Warriors shutout the Vipers 4-0. (No attendance was announced)
Starting Goaltenders:
Vernon Vipers: Sam Saskiw
West Kelowna Warriors: Bor Glavic
1st Period: The Warriors were the better team and carried most of the play. West Kelowna was getting pucks to the net and created/generated several opportunities. The Tribe had lot's of zone time, played with pace and speed. WK could have easily had more then one goal. The Vipers didn't have a great period, couldn't get much of anything going. Vernon struggled offensively, didn't see much time in the offensive zone. It was 1-0 Warriors after 20 minutes of play. Shots were 11-4 West Kelowna.
2nd Period: The Snakes would start the period with four straight power plays but struggled with the man advantage. Vernon couldn't get anything going on the PP as the hometown Warriors killed off all four penalties. The Vipers carried the better of the play for most of the period but didn't get any real quality chances. The Warriors PK was very good, West Kelowna played better late in the period, had the better of the play for the final five minutes. It was 2-0 West Kelowna after 40 minutes of play. Shots were 12-8 Vipers.
3rd Period: The Vipers carried the better of the play for most of the period but again struggled offensively. The Snakes had lot's of puck possession and zone time, but didn't create or generate any quality scoring plays. The Warriors played well defensively, keeping the Vipers to the outside and limiting their opportunities. WK didn't have a lot of puck possession or zone time. Both teams didn't get many shots on goal. The Warriors improve to 2-0 in the preseason with a 4-0 victory. Shots were 9-8 Vernon.
Vernon Vipers Standout Players:
Antoine Demers was one of the better Vipers in the loss, seemed to always be involved in the play. A big lanky kid seemed to either have the puck on his stick or was just involved in the play.
Deagan McMillan was another forward who caught my eye. I thought played well and was one of the more physical Vipers.
Sam Saskiw (23 saves) Made his preseason debut tonight, was very strong between the pipes. Saskiw one of three goaltenders on the Snakes preseason roster kept Vernon in the hockey game, especially in the 1st period.
Game Thought's: Vernon Vipers
- The Vipers next preseason game is Tuesday vs the visiting Salmon Arm Silverbacks
- Not a whole lot of Vipers fans in attendance. I spotted maybe eight or nine fans at tonight's game
- The Vipers struggled offensively the entire game. Vernon didn't get many if any real good looks or quality opportunities. Most of their shots or chances were from well out
- The Vipers went 3-2-1-0 vs West Kelowna last season
- The Snakes didn't have a great opening period as the hometown Warriors were the better team and outplayed the Vipers in the 1st period. The Vipers struggled offensively, only getting four shots on goal, played most of the period in their own end
- Vernon went 0-7 with the man advantage
- The Vipers will face the Warriors seven times in the regular season
- The Vipers dressed only two players from last season
- Tonight was the Vipers second of four exhibition games
- The Snakes carried most of the play in the 2nd period, but went 0-4 on the power play. Vernon struggled offensively, didn't get any quality chances. The Warriors PK was very good. West Kelowna played strong to end the period, scored late to take a 2-0 lead into the 3rd
- The Vipers PP struggled, going 0-7 Vernon couldn't get much of anything going on the PP, were kept to the outside, wouldn't shoot or couldn't get pucks to the net
- The Vipers didn't seem to have an answer for West Kelowna's physical play
- The Snakes went with a much younger lineup compared to Friday night
- The Vipers carried the better of the play in the 3rd but again, struggled offensively. The Snakes didn't generate or create much for offence, were held to the outside often. The Tribe played well defensively and put the game away with two 3rd period goals
- The Snakes were out skated and out skilled tonight
- If Vernon capitalizes on the man advantage, this could have been a different game or even outcome
- The Vipers defence didn't look very sharp, didn't play very well
- With the loss, Vernon falls to 0-2-0-0 in the preseason
West Kelowna Warriors Standout Players:
Ian Crowley I thought played well on West Kelowna's blueline
Ruslan Jamaldinov (1 assist) Was one of the more dangerous forwards, played very well
Daxton Endicott (2 assists) Was another Warriors forward who played well and looked good in the victory
Kelsen Podworny (2 goals) Opened the scoring and then added an empty netter, played well and was one of the more standout players for the Warriors
Game Thought's: West Kelowna Warriors
- Tonight was the Warriors first of two preseason home games
- West Kelowna went 0-4 on the power play
- I really liked the Tribe's 1st period. I thought West Kelowna was by far the better team, outplaying the Vipers. West Kelowna could have easily had two or three goals if it wasn't for the strong goaltending from Sam Saskiw. The Warriors carried most of the play, had loads of time in the offensive zone, were getting pucks to the net and had several scoring chances
- The Warriors didn't announce the final attendance but a pretty good crowd for the teams first preseason home game
- The Warriors were wearing their road black jerseys. The players returning from last season, had their name bars on the back
- The Warriors have a fast team with a lot of skill. West Kelowna can skate, move the puck and generated lots of opportunities this evening
- The Warriors penalty kill was very good, didn't give up a whole lot of shots or opportunities
- The Warriors got into penalty trouble early to start the 2nd period, but a good PK and the Tribe were able to kill off all four minors and not allow Vernon back into the hockey game. The Vipers carried the better of the play for most of the middle frame but the Warriors defence played well before coming on strong to end the period. A huge goal late, gave the hometown team a 2-0 lead heading into the 3rd
- The Warriors were very physical and were hitting the Vipers all night
- The Warriors next preseason game is Saturday vs the visiting Trail Smoke Eaters
- Both teams had to wait an extra eight to ten minutes extra between periods heading into the 3rd after lots of water was left on the ice. The teams waited until most of the water dried up before the 3rd period started
- The Warriors saw the Snakes carry the play often in the 3rd but the Warriors defence was very good, keeping the Vipers to the outside, limiting their chances. West Kelowna didn't give up much before adding two more to seal the victory in a very well played final frame
- West Kelowna was the better of the two teams
- The Tribe played very well defensively, didn't give up much for offensive opportunities, took away a lot of time and space from Vernon's forwards
- The Warriors and Vipers will meet again September 30th in West Kelowna
- With the win, West Kelowna improves to 2-0-0-0 in the preseason
Scratches:
Vernon Vipers:
Deacon Drummond 06
Alex Edwards 05
Ryan Flaherty 05
Koji Gibson 07
Alexandre Guy 05
Nathaniel Harvey 06
Neka Jean 06
Michael Munroe 07
Sasha Raskin 07
Brendan Russell 08
Weston Field 06
Casey Bridgewater 07
Bowen Burke 05
Brock Heidecker 08
Josiah Martin 08
Max Reed 08
Emils Skeltins 05
Oliver Kanat 08
West Kelowna Warriors:
None
Three Star's:
1st Star: Bor Glavic (25 saves-Shutout)
2nd Star: Ruslan Jamaldinov (1 assist)
3rd Star: Kelsen Podworny (2 goals)
Boxscore-Game Summary,
Vernon Vipers @ West Kelowna Warriors Saturday, September 06, 2025 | BCHL League Site
Game Report,
Text Box Score,
Official statistics powered by LeagueStat.com
Vernon Junior Hockey History website,
5 comments:
Where was AP Brock highdeck
Where is Pastro playing ?
Brock Heidecker didn’t play last night and I heard Erik Pastro was at a WHL training camp
He doesn’t seem to be on the pre season roster for red deer
I went to the game and thought the Vipers played hard, but needed to shoot more. We didn't get alot of great scoring plays and the powerplay struggled. I liked watching the bench and seeing the coaching staff engaged with the players.
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