The march to the Fred Page Cup for the Vernon Vipers starts tonight in a best of 7 series against the Merritt Centennials.
The head to head series in the regular season saw the Vipers win 5 of 7, with 4 of those wins coming at Kal Tire Place.
1) - October 3 - Vipers 0 Cents 4 - NVMA
2) - October 24 - Vipers 4 Cents 2 - KTP
3) - November 1 - Vipers 5 Cents 3 - KTP
4) - November 26 - Vipers 7 Cents 3 - KTP
5) - December 19 - Vipers 3 Cents 6 - NVMA
6) - January 24 - Vipers 5 Cents 1 - NVMA
7) - January 28 - Vipers 4 Cents 3 - KTP
As you can see it has primarily been a home dominated series, but I'm not sure that tells the entire story.
Head to head success!
Vernon - Liam Coughlin 4 G 5 A - 9 Pts
- Thomas Aldworth 6 G 2 A - 8 Pts
- Liam Finlay 3 G 5 A - 8 Pts
- Luke Shiplo 0 G 6 A - 6 Pts
Merritt - John Schiavo 5 G 3 A - 8 Pts
- Gavin Gould 1 G 7 A - 8 Pts
- Josh Teves 0 G 7 A - 7 Pts
- Michael Ederer 3 G 4 A 7 Pts
It's a toss up as to who the Vipers will utilize in goal. Jarrod Schamerhorn has carried the load through most of the season with Danny Todosychuk out of the lineup on a number of occasions. I have to believe Todosychuk will start game 1, but I don't think Mark Ferner will hesitate to alternate goaltenders or ride the hot hand.
On the other side, Jonah Imoo is expected to be the guy. He only started 3 games against the Vipers with a 2-1 record, but all three starts were in Merritt. No disrespect to Anthony Pupplo, but Imoo is a veteran who has had playoff success with Powell River and Luke Pierce and company will lean on him heavily.
Head to head goalie stats:
Vernon
Jarrod Schamerhorn - 3-2-0-0, 3.00 GAA, .896 Sv%
Danny Todosychuk - 2-0-0-0, 3.00 GAA, .907 Sv%
Merritt
Jonah Imoo - 2-1-0-0, 2.33 GAA, .877 Sv%
Anthony Pupplo - 0-4-0-0, 3.33 GAA, .897 Sv%
The special teams battle has been essentially even throughout the season in the head to head matchups with Vipers having a very slight edge on the PP and the PK's even.
Vipers have 8 PPG on 27 attempts, the Cents have 8 PPG on 28 attempts. Both teams have killed 20 of 28 on the PK.
Series Schedule:
Tuesday March 3 - 7pm - KTP
Wednesday March 4 - 7pm - KTP
Friday March 6 - 7:30pm - NVMA
Saturday March 7 - 7:30pm - NVMA
Monday March 9 - 7pm - KTP (if necesssary)
Tuesday March 10 - 7pm - NVMA (if necessary)
Wednesday March 11 - 7pm - KTP (if necessary)
This series may very well be the one to keep an eye on in the first round in all divisions. Mark Ferner and Luke Pierce have similar coaching styles and fans can expect a very physical and intense series with a mutual respect between two great franchises.
If you'd like to tune into the Vipers broadcast, all games will be on radio...http://1075kiss.com/
For the Centennial broadcast tune in with David Ashbaugh...http://www.q101.ca/
The playoffs are here!!!! Enjoy!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment