Last night, February 7, 2026, the Vernon Vipers pulled off a gritty 3-2 road win over the Blackfalds Bulldogs at the Eagle Builders Centre in front of 867 fans. Lane Maarhuis was the standout in net for Vernon, turning away 33 shots for his first career BCHL victory, while Oscar Bjork, Christian Maro (his 14th goal, set up by Deagan McMillan), Oliver Czaja (with assists from Toms Trockis and Connor Dick) provided the timely scoring, along with ref Cody Hall assisting the Vipers all night long. The Bulldogs fired 35 shots and pushed hard, but couldn’t break through Vernon’s solid defense and Maarhuis’s big stops, especially in the third period when he really shut the door. It wasn’t without some chaos though— Early on, the Bulldogs had a goal waved off for apparent goalie interference, they took what looked like a questionable major penalty on a body check, and there was even a goal that somehow got passed straight to the other team. For the second night in a row, Blackfalds came out flying in the first period, totally outshooting and outplaying Vernon, only to fade after that and let the Vipers claw back and hang on. The win bumps Vernon to 10-22-7-0, while the Bulldogs drop to 26-13-1-0. And to boot no game sheets were handed out thanks to a printer glitch at the rink.
Former Bulldog Oscar Bjork was gifted a goal when the Bulldogs passed it right on the tape of his stick so he could make it a 1-0 game for the Vipers at 14:04 of the first period.
Krisjanis Sarts scores a beautiful goal on what looked like an impossible slot to thread the needle and he scored. at 15:12 of the first period to tie the game. The assists on the goal went to Thomas Neu and Noah Mertz.
Shots on goal in the first period were 17-10 for the Bulldogs
20 year old Stamford, Connecticut native Christian Maro gives the Vipers a 2-1 lead at 2:09 of the second period while on the Power Play. The assist on the goal went to former Tri City American Deagan McMillan. Have to admit this was a very beautiful goal.
Former Rimouski Oceanic Oliver Czaja gave the Vipers a 3-1 goal getting the only goal on the Vipers “give me: 5 minute Power Play at 15:25 of the second period. The assists on the goal went to Latvian Toms Trockis and former Bulldog Connor Dick, who was just here with the Chilliwack Chiefs and was recently traded to the Vipers.
Nicholas DiPaolo scored for the Bulldogs at 19:30 of the second period to get them within one. The assist on the goal went to Noah Mertz.
Shots on goal in the second period were 15-10 for the Vipers.
Shots on goal in the third period were 10-8 for the Vipers. Shots at the end of the game were tied at 35 each.
Lane Maarhuis who was called up from the Comox Valley Glacier Kings of the VIJHL stopped 33 of the 35 shots that he faced for the win for the Vipers, marking his first BCHL win in his first game. For the Bulldogs Oliver Kiraly stopped 32 of the 35 shots that he faced.
Three Stars of the game were 1) Referee Cody Hall 2) Lane Maarhuis 3) Nick DiPaolo
Attendance in Blackfalds was 867
Bulldogs next game is Friday February 13th in Blackfalds against the Sherwood Park Crusaders.
