A lot of hockey fans have asked “Who do the Vipers play?” and I thought I might try to explain who, why and what is happening now! The Vernon Vipers finished 1st in the interior which gives them a 1st round bye (meaning they don’t have to play in the first round). Once the first round is over the Vipers will play the lowest seeded team. So in the current battles the Vipers would first play the Quesnel Millionaires if they beat Penticton if Penticton wins then the Vipers would play the Merritt Centennials if they were to beat the Salmon Arm Silverbacks but if the Backs win then the Vipers would play the winner of the Trail/Westside series. It’s not as complicated as it sounds! Now to give you a heads up on all the series, Penticton and Salmon Arm will advance to the next round tonight with a win and they would play each other in round 2 and the Vipers opponent will still have to wait to be decided as Trail is up 2-1 in their series with a definite game 5 needed.
A quick re-cap of the Interior series.
What are the chances of a Penticton and Salmon Arm sweep?
Well if you asked Penticton before they headed to Quesnel they probably would have told you that Quesnel doesn’t have a chance but last night in the bottom seeded interior teams put up a fight that saw all games go into overtime and we will find out tonight if it was the cliché of “too little too late” or the “TSN turning point” of the year! After two 5-1 wins in Penticton, Quesnel took the lead in game 3 and wouldn’t let up, always keeping the 1 goal lead, they only had 11 seconds to hold on for the win but with Penticton’s net empty and the extra attacker, they managed to tie it up and take the win in overtime. Even though Penticton might claim “they had all the excuses in the world to lose”, I think Quesnel may have a little more fight left in them.
In Merritt, the Centennials managed to tie the game up twice and bring their game three into overtime after losing 7-2 in game 1 and a close 4-3 loss in game two in Salmon Arm. The Centennials are proving to be “never say die” team and with their backs up against the wall the Silverbacks cannot take tonight’s game lightly if they want to take the Cents in 4.
The 3rd and 4th seeded teams in the league, Westside and Trail, are proving to be the most even battled series of the league. Trail took game one, 4-2 in Westside and the Warriors battled back in game two, winning 4-2. Game three took place on Monday night in Trail and Westside took a 4-2 lead in the third but the Smoke Eaters tied it up with two power play goals and took the win just two minutes into overtime. Game four will take place tonight in Trail and game five will take place Thursday in Westside.
So who will the Vipers play? We could see in narrowed down to two teams tonight but we could also see Merritt and Quesnel dig deep to take their series to game five as well. Don’t count any team out just yet, this is playoffs after all!
What should Vernon fans do while they wait? BUY TICKETS!! It doesn’t matter who the Vipers will play on the 8th and 9th of March, all tickets are only $10 each and if you want to keep them at $10 then you have to come to the games! If everyone brings an extra friend or two we will have a sold out arena and VERY cheap tickets for any additional playoff games! Lots of seats are still available and without your support your next tickets could cost you $15! Book your seats NOW!!!!
Who Will The Vipers Play?
