Photo: Garrett James Photography
The Alberni Valley Bulldogs found themselves on the wrong side of a 5-3 score in a loss to the Vernon Vipers on Wednesday afternoon to open the BCHL Showcase.
The hole was a large a 4-1 midway through the contest before the Bulldogs began to chip away at the Vernon lead. The Bulldogs would cut the lead to 4-3 with an early 3rd period marker, however that was as close as they would get. A Vipers PP goal at 7:43 of the period iced it for Vernon.
Chase Klassen (1st), Cam VanSickle (3rd) and Nicholas Beneteau (4th) scored in the loss for the Bulldogs.
Callum Tung earned the start and was chased early in the 2nd period after allowing 3 goals on just 5 Vipers attempts. Hobie Hedquist came on in relief and stopped 14 of 16 the rest of the way.
Special teams continue to be a nightmare for the Bulldogs, particularly the power play which went 0 for 3 on the day, while the penalty kill allowed 2 goals on 5 attempts.
The Bulldogs will now face the defending BCHL Champions tomorrow at 1:00 pm. The Vees have picked up right where they left off a year ago as they’re off to a perfect 9-0-0-0 start to the season and have been winning games in a dominant fashion.
