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 getting 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 5.5 million viewers.
I was at tonight's Vernon Vipers-Cranbrook Bucks game as the Vipers defeated the Bucks 6-1 in front of 1,864 fans at Kal Tire Place.
Starting Goaltenders:
Vernon Vipers: Oliver Kanat
Cranbrook Bucks: Richard Rajaj
1st Period: The Vipers dominated the opening frame, were the better of the two teams. The Snakes had to kill off an early penalty off the opening faceoff before taking over the period. The Bucks would get into penalty trouble as Vernon would get the next three straight power plays. The Vipers didn't capitalize with the man advantage but got lot's of pucks to the net, generated several good looks/opportunities. The hometown Vipers carried the better of the play, had loads of zone time, puck possession and several quality chances. The Bucks saw most of the period in their own end, didn't have much time with the puck, were defending most of the 1st. Richard Rajaj was solid in goal, keeping the Bucks in the hockey game. It was 0-0 after 20 minutes of play. Shots were 18-5 Vipers.
2nd Period: The Snakes were again the better team for a second straight period. The Vipers had the better of the play in the first half and late in the period. The Vipers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead were skating, hard on the forecheck, strong on pucks, had lot's of puck possession and zone time. For a team that has had trouble scoring this season, Vernon was able to score four times this period. Cranbrook on the other hand, saw a lot of time in their own end early but did slowly start to get better as the period went on. The visiting Bucks would turn the tables towards the midway mark and played much better in the second half. It was 4-0 Vernon after 40 minutes of play. Shots were 12-7 Vipers.
3rd Period: The Vipers got into some penalty trouble early but a good PK were able to kill off the minors. Vernon was again the better team and carried the better of the play. I thought the Snakes never stopped skating, were winning the races, battles, outskated Cranbrook for a lot of the period. The Vipers were able to put the game away with a couple of 3rd period goals. The visiting Cranbrook Bucks had some good shifts, were able to generate some opportunities at times but the game was already out of reach. Grant Denuccio broke the shutout bid at 10:06 to get the Bucks on the board. The Vipers would earn their first win of the 2025-26 season with a 6-1 victory. Shots were 15-12 Cranbrook.
Vernon Vipers Top Players:
Edvin Nilsson I thought played very well on the Snakes backend. Made several smart heads up plays to create/generate some offence, saw a lot of ice time
Samuel Charko (2 goals & 1 assist) Was Vernon's best player this evening. I really like this kid. What a great pickup and addition to the roster. Charko can skate, move the puck, has some skill, speed and can create plays. Charko was all over the rink tonight, was hard to contain
Seth Tansem (2 assists) Played very well in both home games this weekend, had another solid game tonight with two helpers
Michael Munroe (2 goals) Was Vernon's best player Friday, had another good game tonight
Tyler Chiovetti (1 goal & 1 assist) Made his Vipers debut Friday and played very well, had another strong game tonight
Nickolas Kovich I thought looked good and played very well, was involved in the play, found some open ice and created some plays
Antoine Demers (1 assist) I thought played well and had a good game up front. A big kid with size, was engaged, involved in the play, was making plays and in on the offence
Brendan Russell (1 goal) Was another Vipers forward that looked good/played well
Oscar Bjork played very well in both games this weekend, is a very smooth skating d-man that sees a lot of ice, and sees the ice very well
Oliver Kanat (26 saves) Made his first regular season start and played very well between the pipes. Kanat replaced Brendan Gee in the 6-1 loss last weekend to Cranbrook, didn't see much action in the first two periods made some nice saves in the 3rd
Game Thought's: Vernon Vipers
- Tonight was the fourth and final game of a four game home stand
- For a team that had troubles scoring, they put up six tonight and capitalized on their chances
- The Vipers next game is Tuesday in West Kelowna
- This team plays hard, competes and plays with a lot of energy
- Including the preseason, the Snakes are 1-2-0-0 vs the Bucks
- I really liked the Vipers 1st period. They played a pretty complete opening frame, dominated the period. Vernon was forced to kill off an early penalty off the opening faceoff, would get the next three straight power plays. Unable to capitalize with the man advantage, did get lots of pucks to the net and generated several good looks/opportunities. The Snakes didn't score this period but had plenty of chances
- This was a game the Vipers needed. If you go back to the preseason, the Vipers were 0-6-1-0 heading into tonight's contest. Even though I don't think the Vipers have played all that poorly this season, a win and some confidence goes a long way
- These two teams will meet again December 6th in Vernon
- Vernon went 1-4 with the man advantage
- I know it's early but I like the looks and making of our team
- Including the preseason, the Vipers have played Cranbrook and Trail in eight of their first ten games
- This was by far the Snakes most complete and best performance this season
- I really liked Vernon's penalty kill. The Vipers took too many penalties but the PK was very good, didn't allow Cranbrook into the hockey game. The Vipers PK has actually been very good this year
- The Snakes were again the better team in the 2nd period, were all over the Bucks in the first half, jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, had lots of pressure, puck possession and zone time in the first half and late in the period. I thought the Vipers got a little sloppy at times in and around the midway mark allowing the Bucks back into the hockey game but overall the hometown Vipers were the better team and took a 4-0 lead into the 3rd
- The Vipers & Bucks will meet seven times this season
- I really liked the Snakes power play tonight. They only scored once with the man advantage but they had lots of pressure, zone time and good looks/opportunities with the extra attacker
- Only four games into the regular season and I'm very impressed with the passing. Last season the Vipers couldn't make a pass late in the season
- One thing I have noticed with this years team, is the compete level. The Vipers were skating and outskated Cranbrook most of the night. Vernon was relentless on the forecheck, pucks, won a lot of the battles/races for pucks, just never stopped working
- Another small crowd. Tonight's attendance was announced at 1,864
- Lot's of players stepped up and played very well. This was a complete team effort and sixty minutes
- The Vipers got into some early penalty trouble to start the 3rd, were again the better team. Vernon was able to kill off their penalties and pump in two more goals to put the game away. The Snakes were outshot and gave up some opportunities but Oliver Kanat was solid in goal.
- For the first time this season, the Vipers opened the scoring
- I thought the Vipers defence has struggled at times this season, but played much better tonight
- With the win, Vernon improves to 1-2-1-0 sits 5th in the Interior West Division
Cranbrook Bucks Top Players:
Richard Rajaj (36 saves) Gave up six goals tonight but didn't get a whole lot of help from his defence and team in front of him. Rajaj was busy in the 1st made several big stops on the PK with the Vipers pressing. Rajaj kept the Bucks in the hockey game early or this game could have gotten out of reach earlier
Game Thought's: Cranbrook Bucks
- Tonight's the fourth game of a five game road trip. The Bucks home opener isn't until October 4th vs Salmon Arm
- I spotted a few Bucks fans in attendance
- Cranbrook went 0-7 with the power play
- The Bucks were awarded an early PP just seconds into the hockey game but unable to capitalize were badly outplayed in the 1st period. The visiting Bucks got into penalty trouble, gave up a ton of shots and opportunities, played a lot of the period in their own end. Cranbrook went long periods of time without a shot on goal
- Including the preseason, this is already the Bucks third game in Vernon
- The Bucks have given up twelve goals in their last two games
- Cranbrooks next game is Friday in Brooks
- Assistant Coach Roman Vopat was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in 1994 played four seasons in the NHL with St. Louis, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia
- The Bucks struggled with the man advantage. Cranbrook couldn't seem to generate much with the extra man
- The Bucks played their best hockey about midway through the 2nd period. They were outplayed in the first half of the middle frame and down 2-0 but seemed to get going and played well for a good seven or eight minutes, had Vernon back on their heels at times before the Vipers scored twice more and changed the momentum of the game
- Forward Adam Csabi played parts of two seasons in Vernon, was traded to Cranbrook during the 2024-25 season
- I thought the Bucks played well and looked good in a 6-1 win in Vernon last weekend, didn't look like the same team tonight
- The Bucks really struggled at both ends of the rink tonight, Cranbrook couldn't seem to get much going, had a tough go at it
- Down 4-0 heading into the 3rd the Bucks got some early power play's to start the period but unable to capitalize. Cranbrook had some good shifts now and again, were able to finally get some pucks to the net and generate some offence but overall the Vipers carried the better of the period
- With the loss, Cranbrook falls to 1-2-1-0 sits 4th in the Interior West Division
Scratches:
Vernon Vipers:
Dome Szongoth
Emils Skeltins (Injured)
Nathaniel Harvey (Injured)
Davids Livsics
Ben Edwards
Cranbrook Bucks:
Jordan Murray
Konstantin Hutzinger
Sam Allaby
Energy Player of the Game:
Nikolaj Rupie (1 assist)
3 Star's:
1st Star: Samuel Charko (2 goals & 1 assist)
2nd Star: Michael Munroe (2 goals)
3rd Star: Tyler Chivetti (1 goal & 1 assist)
Boxscore-Boxscore,
Cranbrook Bucks @ Vernon Vipers Saturday, September 27, 2025 | BCHL League Site
Game Report,
Text Box Score,
Official statistics powered by LeagueStat.com
Vernon Junior Hockey History website,
Great game!! Nice to see a win! And the contests were awesome…The dude with the ‘ Buck Hunting’ gag was hilarious, had a great time tonight
ReplyDeleteNow if we can play like that every night we will be back to the glory days!
ReplyDeleteMonroe actually got 2 goals tonight, not one as reported diehard.
The Viper breakouts were impressive. Their compete level was awesome. Passing was crisp. This team has speed to burn. This was by far the best played game in years. Keep it up boys. Go Vipers
ReplyDeleteIt was a very, very, very entertaining game to watch on FloHockey. The team competed the entire game if, they play similar to that for the whole season they will be awesome to watch. This team is by far already better than what we have been used to for the last few years!
ReplyDeleteI watched them via FloHockey both on Friday and Saturday the team was great however, the crowds they showed sure did not look anything like the announced attendance. Also, showing the National Anthem being sung and voicing over a commercial at the same time was very disrespectful and annoying at the same time. They definitely need to rewatch the broadcast so, that they can tweek it for both the TV and Live audience.
On another note I find it odd that the Vipers are not promoting their 30th Anniversary as Vernon Vipers as much as I thought they would. I have only seen the 30th logo once. However, on the FloHockey broadcast they do do a 30th segment about past alumni which is kind of neat.
Anyway keep up the great effort Vipers and you will be rewarded?
Thanks, Tom, john, Todd, Matt, Ryan and Mike and the rest of the organization for keeping and providing junior hockey in Vernon!
Go, Vipers Go!!
Totally agree about the voiceover ads during the anthem on Flo.
DeleteI’ve always found it very disrespectful watching away games. They also miss a chance to pan the lineup during the anthem.
Singing the national anthem began during the war years as a sign of loyalty and patriotism. I don't think it needs to be sung before every game today. It just degrades the anthem. It should be reserved for stat holidays, the first game of the season, the death of a monarch, and so on. It should be a special event, not a routine thing. Sportsnet runs commercials while the anthem is sung in the rink. Why not Flo?
DeleteAttendance? Teams just total up their season ticket sales, walkup sales, and freebies and that's the attendance. I know, I know the actual number in the building doesn't match the sales, freebies, but it reflects the money earned better than a head count. And don't forget to deduct the number of kids who sneak in.
Evan Sundar injured in warmup, let's hope it is not too serious.
ReplyDeleteThe Vipers looked really good last night the bucks looked better in the the beginning of the the 3rd but the vVpers played as a team and I liked our young goalie for his first start
ReplyDeleteThanks for the scoop Bobby C, I was wondering why he was not playing as he was on game sheet & not as a scratch. I like him as a player, not big but tenacious and creates scoring opportunities.
ReplyDeleteThis was best game so far this year and probably the best one in the past few years. It was very entertaining. There were a few miscues that the coaches will clean up but overall a good team win. The games this coming weekend vs Sherwood Park will be a big test for Vernon.
Go Vipers Go!!!