Vernon, BC: A new era of Vernon Vipers hockey begins tonight at Rogers Rink in Salmon Arm, as the 2026–27 BCHL regular season gets underway.
Following a full year of recruiting, the Vipers enter the season with a roster built around hockey intelligence, talent, character and work ethic. It is also a veteran-laden group, featuring players with experience across the BCHL, other North American junior leagues and Europe.
Twenty players on Vernon’s roster have previous North American junior experience, while two have played at the European junior equivalent. Only two players enter the season as true junior rookies.
That experience could prove invaluable as the Vipers look to return to the BCHL postseason following a two-year absence.
“Our number-one focus in recruiting was hockey IQ,” said Vipers Head Coach and General Manager Matt Cooke. “We used analytics to identify players we were interested in, then backed that up with video to see whether it supported the numbers.”
The Vipers finished last season with a 15-32-7-0 record, ending the year nine points outside the playoff picture. Their biggest struggle came at home, where they finished 6-16-5. One positive was the penalty kill, which ranked 11th in the BCHL.
Five players return from last season’s roster.
Up front, 20-year-old Toms Trockis and 19-year-old Cole Bieksa return to provide familiarity and experience. On the blue line, 20-year-old veterans Oscar Bjork and Brayden Pankey are back, while 18-year-old Aaron Zulinick will look to take another step following his rookie season.
“We targeted players with junior experience,” Cooke said. “We’re heavy with 2007s and 2008s who may be here for two or three years, and they’ve already learned how to compete at the junior level.”
Scouting the Silverbacks
Salmon Arm enters the season after finishing third in the Interior West with a 22-26-4-0 record.
The Silverbacks swept the Trail Smoke Eaters in the opening round of last year’s playoffs before falling to the Cranbrook Bucks in a seven-game second-round series.
Salmon Arm’s biggest challenge last season was generating offence. The Silverbacks finished 19th in the BCHL with 154 goals, making speed and scoring major priorities during the offseason.
“We scored just over 150 goals last year. We’ve got to get to 210 or 220 this year,” said Silverbacks Head Coach and General Manager Tyler Shattock. “The main recruiting goal for us in the summertime was to bring in guys who could play at the speed we want to play this year.”
The Silverbacks return nine players from last season.
Jared Rothman, Brady Logue, Jack Toogood and Koen Senft return at forward. Donny Sisson, Luca DeCubellis, Tate O’Brien and Cole Longacre are back on defence, while Mikkel Christensen returns in goal after serving as the backup to Daniel Dirracolo last season.
Tonight begins a three-game homestand for Salmon Arm, which will host Vernon on consecutive Fridays.
Familiar Foes
The Vipers and Silverbacks split their season series closely last year. Vernon finished 3-3-1-0 against Salmon Arm, while the Silverbacks posted a 4-1-2-0 record.
The two clubs will become very familiar with one another early this season. Five of their first seven games will be head-to-head meetings, with that stretch concluding October 17.
Tonight’s pregame show begins at 6:45 p.m., followed by the opening faceoff at 7 p.m.
Fans can watch the game on FloHockey, listen on the official radio home of the Vipers—107.5 Beach Radio—or stream the broadcast through Vernon Matters. Graham Turnbull and Vinnie Timperio will have the call.
#NewEraSameVenom
