The Vernon Home Building Centre Vipers are Okanagan Mainline Midget Tier 2 Hockey Association regular-season champions.
The Snakes dispatched the Kelowna Rockets 6-3 Friday night at Civic Arena to clinch the banner. Vernon finishes with a road game today in Kamloops, their first-round playoff opponent. Kelowna handed Vernon their only two league losses.
“We came ready to play right from the first puck drop and our penalty kill was phenomenal,” said Vernon head coach Jared Barendregt.
Dex Elders got the Snakes started at 23 seconds off a short-side feed from behind the net by Eric Noren. Elders tucked the puck under the surprised Kelowna keeper.
Kelowna pressed back hard midway through the frame catching Vernon’s Kieran Watts going the wrong way with a quick wraparound at 11:17 to equalize. They struck again 18 seconds as a long flip from their zone found a man open for a breakaway.
Mika Burns intercepted a clearing attempt at the blueline just as Kelowna finished killing a penalty and fed a sweet feed down low to Joe Eggert, who calmly faked the tender with a forehand-backhand deke before depositing the tying marker over his left pad at 7:52.
Call-up Noah Debalinhard took a cross-ice dee-to-dee feed from Cole Johnson and fired a hard wrister from the point over the glove of the screened Kelowna keeper to put the Vipers up 3-2.
The Rockets got a pair of powerplays but Vernon enjoyed the best scoring opportunities as Noren worked three Kelowna players down low, creating a chance for Kyle Sherwood that got lost in his feet in front of the net.
Kelowna picked up their pace after the penalties as the teams went end to end with Watts recording several saves on frays in front.
Vernon then took another penalty at 6:18 as captain Dylan Sedlacek was given a double minor for a hit to the head. Grady Caton cleared a puck up the boards in Vernon’s zone that Eggert chipped past a d-man and leaving Noren alone in front to bury a shorthanded marker over the left pad.
Affiliate Lincoln Connor was rewarded with a beauty stick-side, one-timer off a behind-the-net feed from Eggert at 13:46 to put Vernon up by three. Sedlacek made it 6-2 at 8:05 of the third with assists going to Elders and Kyle Sherwood.
Kelowna got one back on the powerplay at 3:58 of the third with Lucas Wood in the box for a hook in his first game back from injury.
The Watkin Motors Mustangs and Kelowna Rockets battled to a 5-5 draw in Okanagan Mainline Pee Wee Tier 2 league action Friday night at Priest Valley Arena.
Jarred Feist (2+1), Austin Roest (1+3), Bennett Kuhnlein (1+2) and Deagan McMillan propelled the Mustang offence in front of Austin Seibel.
