Announcement
The Viper’s knew they were in for a tough match against Fargey’s Paint Saturday morning at Red Deer’s Kinsmen Arenas, and they were right. Complicating matters was the fact that Viper’s bruising defenseman, Cody Miner, had to be placed on injured reserve, after breaking his arm during dry land training earlier in the week. The Viper’s spirits were lifted by Miner’s presence on the bench during the game. Miner has pledged to be at every game and help work a gate while he mends.
The game started with a bang when Easton Leedahl wired home a nifty feed from Jared Lower on a 2 on 1 break a minute and thirty seconds into the contest. Fargey’s replied just a minute later to even up the score. Halfway through the first period Matt Cormack made a great play keeping the puck in at the blue line and getting it to Noah Simoneau who blasted a shot from the top of the face-off circle putting the Viper’s ahead 2-1. The scored stayed that way until 23 seconds left in the period when Fargey’s was able to sneak a lucky shot by Viper’s twine tender Will Gummow. The period drew to a close with the score all tied up at 2.
The second period started much like the first with a goal being scored 2 minutes into the period, this time however it went against the Viper’s and they were down 3 -2. A defensive struggle ensued for the next 12 minutes with stellar goaltending and dazzling defensive plays dominating that time. Viper’s d-man Brandan Hart was very solid protecting his own end all game. Captain Austin Thorne led his team by example, hustling on every play, and clearing the puck when he got the chance. With seven minutes left in the second period the Stuve, Leedahl, Lower line took to the ice and tied up the game when Stuve was sent in on a break-a-way an potted his third goal of the season tying things up at 3. Stuve was not finished there when he took the puck from the ensuing face-off, blazed into Fargey’s zone and sizzled a shot into the top left corner of Fargey’s goal putting the Viper’s up 4 -3.
The next thirteen minutes saw the Viper’s protect their lead, and come close several times to increasing it. Matt Michnik played a strong game, getting several semi break-a-ways and good hard shots on the net. Austin Price also had a great game offensively for the Viper’s as he was denied on many good scoring chances. Brett Parada and Stefan Bratzke patrolled the defensive zone and made life miserable on the opposing forwards. Jordan Haraldson became a two way player for the Viper’s when he left his usual defensive spot to take a few shifts on forward for Matt Cormack who slightly injured himself. The good news was that team doctors were able to shoot Cormack up with pain killers (smile) and he returned to the game after only missing a few shifts.
The defensive bubble burst with 13 minutes left in the third when Fargey’s tied the game. Something happened and the Viper’s stopped skating and if not for the brilliant play of goaltender Nolan Macgregor would have been down by several goals. As it was however, the scored stayed tied until late in the third period when Fargey’s got a power play goal after a questionable call sent a Viper player to the sin bin. Despite some crashing and banging by Hammer Burton and Stefan Theriault, the Viper’s were unable to tie the contest and suffered the 5-4 defeat.
After the game the coaches stressed the need to work hard for the whole game and vowed Monday’s power skating practice would help remind the Viper’s what hard skating was all about. Check out the Guts & Glory section of this site to see who was named the stars of the game for the Viper’s. D-man Brandan Hart won the hard working Viper Hard Hat for his solid effort in the game.
Also check out this weeks video montage of the game highlights.
