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 Vernon got a team in 1961. I have two family members that played junior hockey in Vernon. I have had season tickets since 1990 missing 46 home games since. I have every program & ticket stub from every game I have gone too since 1988. I worked with the Vipers as colour commentator for a couple of home games during the 2002-03 season. In 2011 I helped create and design the Vipers website and was in charge of running the website for five seasons. I started and created this blog in 2008 and have over 5.9 million viewers.
I was at tonight's Vernon Vipers-Cranbrook Bucks game as the Bucks won 4-1 in front of 2,481 fans at Kal Tire Place.
Starting Goaltenders:
Vernon Vipers: Colton Jugnauth
Cranbrook Bucks: Josh Scully
1st Period: Toms Trockis opened the scoring for the hometown Vipers at 1:32 but it was the visiting Cranbrook Bucks who were the better team for most of the opening frame. After the Snakes opened the scoring, the Bucks looked hungrier, were winning the races/battles, played with lots of jump/energy, were moving the puck, had loads of time in the offensive zone, were getting pucks to the net and getting some good looks. Cranbrook saw the puck on their stick a lot this period, controlled and carried the better of the play. The Vipers were outplayed for a lot of the period, saw a lot of the period in their own end, didn't get a whole lot of chances offensively. Colton Jugnauth was good between the pipes, keeping Vernon in the game. The Vipers would get two shots on goal on a lengthy two man advantage, did play a little better in the final four minutes or so. It was 1-1 after 20 minutes of play. Shots were 12-11 Cranbrook.
2nd Period: It was all Bucks as Cranbrook was by far the better team in the middle frame. The Bucks carried the majority of the play, were skating circles around Vernon. The Bucks played with a lot of energy, were strong in on the forecheck, winning the races/battles, had the puck on their stick most of the 2nd period. Cranbrook generated/created lots of opportunities in a period where they spent most of the game in the offensive zone. The Vipers struggled at both ends of the rink. The Snakes struggled defensively and offensively. Vernon was turning over pucks, had troubles clearing the zone and couldn't get anything going offensively, had one shot in the first twelve minutes of play. The Vipers played with very little energy, were getting beat to the puck, to the boards, losing the battles and just weren't in the hockey game. Once again Colton Jugnauth had to be sharp, keeping the Snakes in the contest. It was 3-1 Cranbrook after 40 minutes of play. Shots were 11-3 Bucks.
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