Vernon, BC: Its been 137 days since the Vernon Vipers played a hockey game. Its been about 55 weeks and approximately 385 days since the club played a game that had significance towards the standings. That streak comes to a conclusion tonight as the Vipers play host to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks to kick off the 2021 BCHL Pod Season.
The Vipers had an up and down showing in the Okanagan Cup in the fall, however they were able to make an appearance in the finals and were narrowly defeated by the Penticton Vees in overtime. Since then the roster looks a little bit different, but all 22 players are chomping at the bit.
JoJo Tanaka-Campbell (4G, 3A) and Nick Kent (7A) led the Vipers in scoring during the exhibition schedule, while newly named assistant captain Tyler Carpendale impressed with 4 points in just 6 games.
The Vipers will go into the pod season with the tandem of James Porter Jr., who returns from the WHL, and rookie Roan Clarke. Clarke was extremely consistent in 5 starts during the Okanagan Cup with a 2-2-1 record, a 2.37 GAA and 909 Save Percentage.
The Silverbacks battled consistency in the exhibition season with a record of 3-9-1. They were downed in the Okanagan Cup semi-finals.
Second year Back, Simon Tassy, led the team in offense in the fall with 5 goals and 3 assists. The Backs roster remained relatively intact during the pause.
In goal the Backs will look to 19 year old Owen Say, who put up record numbers last season with the Powassan VooDoos of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League.
This is the first of 10 meetings over the next 5 weeks between these two teams!
You can tune in on 107.5 Beach Radio starting at 6:45 with the pregame show as well as BCHL.TV.
