The Vernon Vipers will put their 17-game winning streak on the line tonight in Westside in the first contest of a three-day, three-game weekend set against a trio of the league's hottest teams.
Their hosts enter the match-up with an unblemished 3-0 home record and a 5-2 mark overall. Westside is led offensively by forward Cam Reid and Trevor Bailey, but has spread its goal-scoring around early in the season to the tune of six players with a better than a point-per-game average. One of those players -- 17-year old Abbotsford native Grayson Downing -- and Reid are back in the line-up following a three-day stint in Okotoks, Alberts at Team Canada West's Evaluation Camp for the 2009 World Junior A Challenge.
"They are high-end skilled guys and hard-working guys, especially in the corners," Downing says of the Vipers. "It’s hard to get the puck away from them and they drive hard to the net. They are just tough guys to play against."
Perhaps even more impressive than their 6-0 record to open the season is the fact that Vernon has allowed just eight goals through six games. Netminder Graeme Gordon has been a calming presence in net, with a 1.39 goals-against average and .943 save percentage to show for five wins in five starts.
They're also excelling despite the fact that each of their opponents uses them as a gauge for their own early season progress.
"They’re the champs and they have a great program," said Yopyk. "We’re not quite there yet, but we’ll find some things out on Friday. Right now they’re up the ladder where we want to be and on Friday we’re going to try to knock them down a bit."
The Vipers round out a busy weekend with home games against the Penticton Vees and Burnaby Express on Saturday and Sunday, while Westside is idle on Saturday night before a matinee match-up with the Merritt Centennials at 2:30 PM on Sunday.
Info from: http://www.bchl.bc.ca/leagues/newsletter.cfm?clientID=1413&leagueID=2393&page=38552
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