Game Recap: Regular Season Opener - Salmon Arm Silverbacks 4 Vernon Vipers 1

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 10 million viewers. I have had season tickets since 1990 and missed 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 programs and ticket stubs from every game since 1988. I worked with the Vipers as colour commentator for a few home games during the 2002-03 season and in 2011 I helped create/design the Vipers website that I was in charge of for five seasons.

I was at tonight's Vernon Vipers-Salmon Arm Silverbacks game as the Silverbacks won 4-1 at Rogers Rink. (No attendance announced)

Starting Goaltenders:

Vernon Vipers: Samuel DiBlasi 

Salmon Arm Silverbacks: Noah Mavin

1st Period: Both teams were pretty even early before the hometown Silverbacks took over the edge in play. I thought both teams went back and fourth early and often for about the first five or so minutes then it was all Silverbacks until late in the period, when the Vipers come on strong late and played well in the final five or six minutes. The Apes come very close to opening the scoring less then three minutes in after Cohen Hoening rang a shot off the crossbar. The Silverbacks were the better team for most of the period, had more puck possession, more zone time, more shots on goal, played with a ton of speed, moved the puck well, have a very good transition game. The S'Backs capitalized on some Vernon mistakes, played well at both ends of the rink. The Snakes got off to a good start, had some early jump, played well in the first five minutes and the final five to six minutes. The Vipers struggled defensively, had trouble coming out of their own end, poor passes, struggled offensively. It was 2-0 Salmon Arm after 20 minutes of play. Shots were 11-5 Silverbacks.

2nd Period: I thought the Gorillas got off to a quick start, jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and were the better team in the first half. SA was really moving the puck, had some early pressure, were on the attack early and often. The S'Backs had more puck possession early, were generating chances. The Vipers seemed to settle down and played a little better in the second half. Vernon would finally start to get some pucks to the net and generate some offence. Noah Mavin made a couple of large saves, keeping the Backs in the hockey game. It was 3-1 Silverbacks after 40 minutes of play. Shots were 14-11 Vernon.

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3rd Period: I thought both teams struggled early as the play was a little scrambled at times. Neither team could get much of anything going early. The Apes slowly started to pull away and were the better team to finish the final frame. Salmon Arm had more puck possession, more zone time, played with pace, had more shots on goal and the more opportunities. Samuel DiBlasi kept the Snakes within two goals with a couple of big stops. The visiting Vernon Vipers struggled to make a pass, struggled coming out of their own end and struggled offensively with only two shots on goal. Vernon couldn't muster any kind of offence as the Gorillas defence played very well down the stretch. The game got a little chippy at times as tempers seemed to flair up now and again and especially late in the game with the score our of reach. The Silverbacks would open the 2026-27 regular season with a 4-1 victory. Shots were 9-2 Salmon Arm.

Vernon Vipers Top Performers:

Game Thought's: Vernon Vipers

- Including the preseason, the Vipers are 0-3 vs the Silverbacks

- The Vipers unveiled and wore their brand new away jerseys this evening

- I didn't think the Vipers drove to the net as often as they should. Vernon stayed away from the grey areas and away from the blue paint

- I liked Vernon's start and thought both teams were fairly even within the first five minutes of the 1st period but Salmon Arm was by far the better of the two teams in the opening frame. The Snakes played well the first five minutes and the final five to six minutes. Going down 2-0 and only getting five shots on goal isn't going to help

- The Snakes went 1-4 on the power play

- Vernon didn't get the bounces or have any puck luck tonight

- I thought the Vipers looked good at times but then not so good at other times. Very inconsistent

- The Vipers & Silverbacks play each other seven times this season

- Vernon struggled offensively with only five shots in the 1st period and two shots in the 3rd. The Vipers couldn't seem to get much of anything going offensively

- Spotted a small group of Vipers fans in attendance

- The Snakes didn't get a lot of traffic in and around the front of Salmon Arm's net. Noah Mavin was seeing everything

- The Vipers couldn't make a pass tonight. Puck was bouncing off their sticks, missing the tape or on the stick of a Salmon Arm player

- I liked the Vipers penalty kill tonight, thought the PK was good

- Samuel DiBlasi stopped twenty seven of thirty one shots was maybe the lone bright spot for the Vipers

- The Vipers played much better in the 2nd period but going down 3-0 early was a big hit. The Silverbacks were the better team in the first half, as the Snakes would turn things around and play better in the second half. Vernon would eventually generate and create some quality chances but Noah Mavin kept the Silverbacks in the game

- Since the 2003-04 regular season Vernon is 78-60-16-4 vs Salmon Arm

- The Vipers struggled coming out of their own end, were missing passes or turning pucks over

- Vernon's best period was the second half of the 2nd period. The Snakes had four or five quality chances but Noah Mavin was solid in goal. The Vipers could have easily tied the game at 3 heading into the 3rd

- The Vipers next game is Saturday in Trail

- The Snakes played no where near sixty minutes, were very inconsistent all night

- Down 3-1 heading into the 3rd, Vernon struggled and couldn't get much of anything going in a period where they were outplayed. The Vipers with just two shots on goal, didn't look or play good

- The Vipers & Silverbacks play again Friday in Salmon Arm

- The Snakes made way too many mistakes, some that cost them

- Vernon has a tough schedule to start the new season vs some good hockey teams. Three road games in Salmon Arm (twice) and Trail and then come home for the home opener vs West Kelowna. If the Vipers aren't careful they could find themselves 0-4 to start the season in a hurry

- With the loss, Vernon falls to 0-1-0-0

Salmon Arm Silverbacks Top Performers:

Donny Sisson returning from last season, is a big kid that played very well on the Apes blueline

Logan Keup Another d-man with size, played well tonight

Cash Olson (1 goal & 1 assist) I thought stood out and played well 

Ethan Facchina Was another Silverbacks forward that stood out and played very well. This kid played with a ton of jump, has some wheels, was up and down the ice all game

Brady Logue (1 goal) Was another forward who caught my eye and had a strong game up front for the Backs. Another kid who played with a lot of jump/energy, played with pace, was involved in the play, looked very good

Noah Mavin (20 saves) Wasn't tested often but did make a couple of large saves with the Vipers pressing in the 2nd period and down two goals. I thought played very well between the pipes

Game Thought's: Salmon Arm Silverbacks

- The Silverbacks look very good and were by far the better team tonight

- Including the preseason, Salmon Arm is 4-0 after the win tonight

- No attendance was announced inside the building but a pretty decent sized crowd on hand for the Silverbacks home opener. I was expecting a few more fans out for the home opener

- I thought Salmon Arm was the better team for most of the 1st period. Both teams were pretty even in the first five minutes and the Vipers played well late in the period but overall the Apes had more puck possession, more zone time, more shots on goal, more opportunities, played with more speed, made less mistakes and capitalized on some of Vernon's mistakes. Jumping out to a 2-0 lead and holding the Snakes to just five shots on goal was pretty impressive

- Salmon Arm went 0-4 with the man advantage

- The Gorillas played very well defensively, gave up just five shots in the 1st period and two in the 2nd period, did a good job at limiting the Vipers opportunities and kept Vernon away from the front of the net

- The S'Backs have a good transition game, are very quick, have a ton of speed and can move the puck up ice in a hurry

- The Silverbacks got a huge goal early to start the 2nd period, jumped out to a 3-0 lead, that was key as the Vipers scored minutes later or it could have easily been a one goal game. SA was the better team to start and for a lot of the first half but the Snakes got their game going and played better in the second half, had a couple of quality opportunities but couldn't solve the Backs netminder

- Salmon Arm's next game is Saturday vs the visiting Cranbrook Bucks

- The S'Backs capitalized on a couple of Vernon's mistakes

- The Apes played close to sixty minutes, didn't make many mistakes and played well at both ends of the rink

- Both teams couldn't get much going to start the 3rd as it was pretty scrambled at times but as the period got going SA was the better of the two teams and carried a lot of the play. The Gorillas had more puck possession, more zone time, more shots on goal and more opportunities. When the Vipers did get into the offensive zone, Salmon Arm's defence smothered the Snakes and didn't give them much of anything

Salmon Arm's speed gave the Vipers all kinds of trouble, forcing into several odd man rushes

- With the win, Salmon Arm improves to 1-0-0-0

Scratches:

Vernon Vipers:

Jude Martin

Tommy Karmiris

Jack Carter

Salmon Arm Silverbacks:

Tate O'Brien

Matthew Dabrowski

Antonio Cazac

Mikkel Christensen

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Vernon Vipers @ Salmon Arm Silverbacks Friday, September 18, 2026 | BCHL League Site

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