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 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-West Kelowna Warriors game as the Warriors won 4-3 in front of 1,012 fans at Royal LePage Place.
Starting Goaltenders:
Vernon Vipers: Jesse Sanche
West Kelowna Warriors: Bor Glavic
1st Period: The Vipers were the better team, responded after a poor performance Friday in their 4-1 loss to the Cranbrook Bucks. The Snakes come ready to play, competed, played hard, were strong on the forecheck, had lot's of zone time, puck possession, battled hard. Vernon would jump out to a 2-0 lead, had the better of the play, but weren't getting a lot of pucks to the net, which resulted in limited opportunities. The key was scoring on their opportunities. Whoever was in charge of recording shots, wasn't counting all of Vernon's shots as I noticed at least four shots weren't counted. The Warriors didn't have the puck on their stick muich but when they did, they seemed to be firing everything towards the net. West Kelowna had three or four quality chances as Jesse Sanche was forced to make a couple of big stops. It was 2-1 Vernon after 20 minutes of play. Shots were 13-6 Warriors.
2nd Period: The hometown Warriors had the edge in play early in a fairly even played period from both hockey clubs. I thought the Tribe carried & controlled a little more of the play in the first half, but the Snakes responded and were fairly evenly matched in the second half. An early PP goal was really the only difference between the two teams. WK somehow missed an open cage on an odd man rush late in the period, on an opportunity to take the lead. It was 2-2 after 40 minutes of play. Shots were 11-10 West Kelowna.
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3rd Period: The Warriors got off to a good start, would gain early puck possession and had the edge in play early. WK was the better team in the final frame. The Tribe had a lot of early zone time, puck possession, carried and controlled the play early and often before taking their first lead of the night on a turnover. The Vipers couldn't seem to get much going at the start, either struggled to get out of their own end or struggled getting any kind of offence going. Vernon went a lengthy time with no shots on goal. I thought the Snakes played a little better in the second half, were able to slowly start to generate some play in the offensive zone. Evan Sundar would tie the game late in the period on the man advantage, but shortly after the Vipers would lose the puck at the blueline, allowing West Kelowna to gain puck possession before re-taking the lead with under four minutes remaining. Again I noticed several Viper shots on goal weren't being recorded. The Snakes struggled with a late power play and the goaltender out, couldn't muster pucks to the net as the Warriors complete the comeback with a 4-3 win. Shots were 10-3 West Kelowna.
Vernon Vipers Top Players:
Liam Magnuson (1 goal) Scored his first career BCHL goal this evening, played a heck of a game on the Vipers blueline. Magnuson really stood out tonight, playing one of if not his best game with the Snakes
Christian Maro even though didn't record a point, I thought played a hard fought game in the loss. Maro competed, played hard, was in on the forecheck, had the puck on his stick a lot, had several good looks/opportunities through out the contest
Jesse Sanche (30 saves) Made his Vipers debut tonight, was very good in goal. The former Western Hockey League goaltender made some big stops and a couple of highlight reel saves, kicked out a couple of big rebounds, was screened on at least two West Kelowna goals, played very well. Not the biggest goaltender, but quick on his feet
Game Thought's: Vernon Vipers
- The Snakes are 4-10-1-0 on the road
- Including the preseason, the Vipers are 0-4 in West Kelowna
- This was an entertaining and exciting hockey game
- Whoever is counting shots, several Viper shots were not counted. I noticed at least four shots in the 1st period and a couple more in the 3rd
- This was by far the Vipers best start to a game and best 1st period since returning from the Christmas break. The Snakes had the early edge in play, had more zone time, more puck possession, were strong on the forecheck, winning the battles, played hard, competed and jumped out to a 2-0 lead in a period where the Vipers were the better team
- A good handful of Vipers fans in attendance
- Vernon went 2-3 with the power play
- The Vipers have lost four of their last five games and lost six of their last ten games
- The Vipers next game is January 21st vs the visiting Powell River Kings
- Whoever runs the video scoreboard at Kal Tire Place, should take some lessons from the crew that run the scoreboard in West Kelowna. Replays of the goals come up within seconds after a goal and three different camera angles are shown of the goals. The Viper goals shown in Vernon are just a quick once shown replay, while here in West Kelowna the entire play leading up to the goal is shown and then shown again with two more different camera angles. The Vipers should be showing more highlights/replays and from different camera views
- This was by far Vernon's best game since returning from the holidays
- With the loss tonight and Cranbrook's 4-1 win in Salmon Arm, the Vipers fall to 5th and out of the playoffs
- The Snakes have lost ten of their last twelve road games
- The Vipers couldn't hold the lead but held their own in the 2nd period. West Kelowna had the edge in play, more puck possession and zone time early and often but the Vipers played better in the second half in a fairly even played period
- Shaun Rios made his Vipers debut Friday in a loss to Cranbrook didn't stand out at all, didn't stand out tonight but did have a couple of good shifts and a couple of good opportunities. Rios was robbed in the slot early to start the 3rd period
- The Vipers are 1-4 vs the Warriors
- After three straight games with poor performances, the Vipers responded and come ready to play tonight in a hard fought game
- I don't like Vernon's PP. They waist a lot of time moving the puck around and around and then a lot of the time don't get a shot off or miss the pass. I wish the Vipers would shoot more with traffic in front. West Kelowna capitalized twice tonight by doing the exact samething
- The Snakes didn't have a great 3rd period. The Tribe got off to a good start and were the better team for most of the period. The Vipers either couldn't get the puck out of their own end or struggled to get the puck/play into the offensive zone. The Vipers went a lengthy time with no shots on goal but also had some shots on goal that weren't credited. It looked like we were going to overtime after Sundar tied the game late on the PP but shortly after the Vipers lose puck possession at the blueline and the puck ends up in the back of the net with under four minutes remaining
- The Vipers & Warriors play again January 24th in Vernon
- With the loss, Vernon falls to 8-19-5-0 sit 5th in the Interior West Division
West Kelowna Warriors Top Players:
Noah Garthe (1 goal) I thought looked good, played well, had a good game for the Warriors
Blake Burke (1 goal) Got the Tribe on the scoreboard late in the opening frame, played with a lot of jump/energy, has some wheels, played very well in his Warriors home debut
Alexandre Lallier (2 assists) Was another forward who looked strong for WK. Now has seven points in six games with the Warriors
Game Thought's: West Kelowna Warriors
- West Kelowna went 2-4 with the man advantage
- Give the Warriors credit, they fell behind 2-0 in the 1st period would score four of the next five goals to earn the victory
- The Warriors next game is January 23rd vs the visiting Trail Smoke Eaters
- The Tribe didn't see a whole lot of time with the puck or had a lot of zone time, were down 2-0 in the 1st period did manage to get more pucks to the net and generate more offensive chances in a 1st period where the visiting Vipers were the better team.
- Tonight's attendance 1,012
- Including the preseason, the Warriors have shutout the Vipers in three of the six games
- WK was firing everything towards the goal, and getting traffic in front, which resulted in two goals as Jesse Sanche was screened on two Warriors goals
- The Warriors have won three of their last five games and won seven of their last ten games
- A big goal from Max Kelly on the PP early into the middle frame, was the only goal of the 2nd period in a period that the home team had the edge in play in the first half. West Kelowna was down 2-0 in the 1st managed to head to the 3rd with the game tied
- West Kelowna is 15-2-1-0 at home
- The Warriors capitalized on a couple of turnovers and never quit after being down 2-0
- Bor Glavic wasn't tested as much as Vernon's goaltender, did have to make a couple of big saves tonight
- Normally the Warriors don't draw well but a good size crowd turned out tonight
- Cudos to the crew working the video scoreboard, and doing a bang up job on the quick replays after goals/plays and showing more then one replay. Really enjoy seeing the goals from three different camera angles
- The Warriors defence did a good job at keeping Vernon's forwards to the outside, limiting shots on goal and opportunities
- With the game 2-2 heading into the 3rd, the hometown Warriors responded with not only a good start to the period but a good effort/performance. West Kelowna was the better team, seemed to have more jump on the Vipers early, had more puck possession, more zone time, carried the edge in play and controlled a lot of the game. The Tribe get a big goal in the first half on a Viper turnover to take their first lead of the evening, give up a late PP goal but respond with a quick goal shortly after to re-take the lead before hanging on for the win. The Tribe played a good 3rd keeping Vernon away from the puck and playing with the puck in the offensive zone
- With the win, West Kelowna improves to 24-6-2-0 sit 1st in the Interior West Division
Scratches:
Vernon Vipers:
Seth Tansem (Injured)
Koji Gibson (Injured)
Deagan McMillan (Injured)
Oliver Kanat (Injured)
Oscar Bjork (Injured)
West Kelowna Warriors:
Kelsen Podworny
Liam Nilsson (Injured)
Ethan Merner (Injured)
Boxscore-Game Summary,
Vernon Vipers @ West Kelowna Warriors Saturday, January 10, 2026 | BCHL League Site
Game Report,
Text Box Score,
Official statistics powered by LeagueStat.com
Vernon Junior Hockey History website,
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