I was born and raised in Vernon, BC and been watching/following junior hockey in Vernon my entire life. I started and created this blog in November 2008 and have over 6.4 million viewers. I have had season tickets since 1990 missing 46 home games since. 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 some programs and ticket stubs since 1988 but have every program and ticket stub from every game since 1990. I worked with the Vipers as colour commentator for a couple of home games during the 2002-03 season and in 2011 I helped create and design the Vipers website that I was in charge of running for five seasons.
I was at tonight's Vernon Vipers-Salmon Arm Silverbacks game as the Silverbacks won 3-1 in front of 2,791 fans at Kal Tire Place.
Starting Goaltenders:
Vernon Vipers: Lane Maarhuis
Salmon Arm Silverbacks: Daniel Dirracolo
1st Period: The visiting Salmon Arm Silverbacks were by far the better of the two teams and jumped on the hometown Vipers early and often. The S'Backs carried the better of the play, controlled the play, had more puck possession and a lot of play in the offensive zone. The Apes had several good looks/opportunities. Lane Maarhuis gave up a couple of big rebounds but also made a couple of big saves keeping the Snakes in the period. Vernon didn't look sharp, didn't have a good opening period. The Vipers struggled and needed almost eight minutes to record a shot on goal. The Vipers didn't have the puck on their stick often, saw a lot of play in their own end. The Snakes didn't play well defensively, gave up a lot of odd man rushes and opportunities. After 20 minutes of play, it was 2-0 Silverbacks. Shots were 15-6 Salmon Arm.
2nd Period: The Snakes responded with a big push back and were the better team in the middle frame. Vernon carried and controlled a lot of the 2nd period, had loads of time in the offensive zone, but didn't create or generate a ton of chances. The Vipers were able to get pucks to the net but not a lot of traffic in front. Daniel Dirracolo was seeing everything, stopped all twelve Vernon shots. The Gorillas didn't look anywhere close to the same team we saw in the 1st period as SA was back on their heels, saw a lot more time in their own end, didn't get a lot of time with the puck or get a lot of time in the offensive zone. Landon Mackie & Anthony Nolan dropped the gloves in a fight after Nolan laid out a big hit on a Salmon Arm player along the end boards. Salmon Arm's bench was very upset with no call on Nolan's hit. It was 3-0 Salmon Arm after 40 minutes of play. Shots were 12-6 Vernon.
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