Penticton Vees (8-1-0-0) at Vernon Vipers (5-3-0-1)
Game Time: 7pm
Arena: Kal-Tire Place, Vernon
Listen: EZ Rock AM 800
Watch: Fasthockey Pay-Per-View
Season Series:
Oct 17th: Vees @ Vipers Oct 25th: Vipers @ Vees
Nov 14th: Vees @ Vipers Dec 5th: Vees @ Vipers
Jan 2nd: Vipers @ Vees Feb 11th: Vipers @ Vees
Feb 27th: Vipers @ Vees
Tonight the Penticton Vees look for their sixth straight win when the visit the Vernon Vipers at Kal-Tire Place. Tonight is the first of seven regular season meetings with the Vipers, four of which will be at the SOEC.
This is the first meeting between these two since their seven-game Interior Division Final playoff series last March. The Vees have nine holdovers on their roster from that series; the Vipers have five. Demico Hannoun, who's riding a five-game point streak (5-4-9), is facing his former team for the first time. Hannoun was with the Vipers last year but landed in Penticton after two separate off-season trades.
Hannoun's line-mate, Lewis Zerter-Gossage also has a hot hand, as he has eight points in his last five games. Zerter-Gossage received an honourable mention for last weeks' BCHL Player of the Week award.
Hunter Miska is the probable starter for the Vees and he's on a run of his own. Miska has won his last first starts and leads the BCHL in wins (6) and is third in save-percentage (.924 %). Miska is coming off a 29-save shutout last Saturday against West Kelowna.
The Vees will be without both of their Co-Captains, as Cody DePourcq and Patrick Sexton are still recovering from injuries.
Vees Notes:
- The Vees are tied for second in the BCHL in goals (39) and at the same time have surrendered the fewest in the league (20).
- The power-play is starting to turn a corner. After a slow start, the Vees are 4-20 in their last five games, which is good for 20 percent.
- Speaking of special teams, the penalty-kill bounced back last Saturday. The Vees PK was a perfect 5-for-5 against West Kelowna and is ranked fifth on the road at 82 percent.
- The Vees five-game win streak has come against Interior Division opponents. They're an impressive 5-1-0 against their own division. A big reason why they have a five-point lead atop of the Interior.
The Vipers are coming off a 5-4 overtime win against the Chilliwack Chiefs last Saturday in Vernon. In that game, the Vipers erased 2-0 and 3-1 deficits. Thomas Aldworth was the OT hero, converting on breakaway 48 seconds into the extra frame.
Despite their third straight win, new/old Head Coach Mark Ferner told the Vernon Morning Star his team still has room to improve ahead of the match up with the Vees, "We want a strong worth ethic, we want to be aggressive on the puck, we want to win races to the puck and we want to be tough to play against."
Despite return just five players from last year's RBC Host team, the Vipers are still a veteran club, comprised of 13 players ages 19 or 20.
One of the new, veteran players leading the way is 19-year-old Thomas Aldworth. The Texan leads the Vipers in scoring with five goals and eight points. Right behind Aldworth is 20-year-old Anthony Latina. The ex-QMJHL product has four goals and seven points in nine games. Rounding out the top three in team scoring is Trevor Fidler, who has two goals and six points.
Veteran Danny Todosychuk was anointed as the number one between the pipes at the start of the year but went down with an injury and hasn't played since September 27th. Jarrod Schamerhorn has carried the mail since and is 3-2-0 since taking over the starting role.
Vipers Notes:
- The Vipers are on a win streak of their own, as they've won their last three outings, all at home. The Snakes are 3-2-0-1* at home. *Overtime loss was at the BCHL Bauer Showcase in Chilliwack.
- The Vipers power-play has been anemic to start the season. The Vipers have scored just once on the man-advantage through nine games. Their last in the BCHL on the power-play, which is 1-for-44.
- The Vipers haven't scored a power-play goal at home yet, as they're 0-for-27 at Kal-Tire Place. In fact, they've scored more short-handed goals (3) than power-play goals (1) this season.
- Though they posted five goals in their last game, the Vipers offense still ranks last in the BCHL with a league low 24 goals. They're three behind the Surrey Eagles who've scored 23 goals through 10 games.
- In their last 10 home games against the Vees, the Vipers have posted a 4-6-0 record. That stat courtesy of the Vipersdiehardfan blog. Check that out here
