Doyle Cup: Storm Must Raise Their Level Of Play:

This is in todays Grande Prairie Newspaper:

Doyle Cup: Storm must raise their level of play

TERRY FARRELL – Sports Editor

The larger ice surface will not make a bit of difference.
Last change that comes with home ice advantage? To a degree.
Two thousand fans cheering for them instead of against? Can’t hurt.
But the Grande Prairie Storm know that the only real chance they have of getting back into the Doyle Cup championship series will come from within.
“We weren’t expecting to lose two in Vernon, but we didn’t work hard enough and we all know that,” said Storm captain Blake Clement after yesterday’s practice. “We definitely didn’t play our best hockey. We know we’re still in this series. If we would have played our best game and still lost, we might have a little bit of doubt, but there’s no doubt in this room.”
The numbers don’t lie. The team has not been at its best. Clement had 11 goals and 20 points in 17 games in the Alberta Junior Hockey league playoffs.
He’s pointless after the first two games of the Doyle Cup – the annual showdown between the Alberta and B.C. junior A champions, to determine a western representative at the RBC Royal Bank Cup Canadian junior A hockey championships.
Definitely not his best.
Morgan MacLean and Zahn Raubenheimer, who finished one-two in the AJHL playoff scoring race, with 22 and 21 points, respectively, have one point apiece.
Not even close to their best.
Granted, losing by 2-1 and 6-2 scores does not provide a lot of offensive highlights.
And while playing at the Canada Games Arena in Grande Prairie, after two games at the Civic Centre in Vernon may feel like a jump onto international ice surface, and should produce more offence, there’s no advantage there.
“Both teams had to play in the arena we played in, so there are absolutely no excuses at all, in that regard,” said Storm coach Mike Vandekamp of the crowded confines of the Civic Centre. “And both teams were playing in absolute foreign territory, so we can’t use that as an excuse either.”
(The Vipers’ regular arena – the Wesbild Centre – was unavailable for the first two games of the series, due to a conflict in bookings.)
“As for the size of the ice surface, it’s the same tomorrow for both teams,” said Vandekamp. “The advantage of playing on a full-sized sheet that we gain, so do they. Yes, it should help you a little bit offensively, but they have offensive players too, that are going to become that much more challenging for our defence to play against.”
A case in point is the line of Sahir Gill and twin brothers Connor and Kellen Jones, who have 10 points as a line in the first two games of the series.
That’s where the last change will come into play.
The series will be played to its conclusion in Grande Prairie, as per Doyle Cup rules. The series shifts provinces after the second win by either team, with all remaining games to be played in the “closing” province. This year was B.C.’s year to open the series, meaning the Storm could host as many as five games between now and Sunday.
Vandekamp will have the luxury of final change for the remainder of the series.
“That will certainly be a factor in the game, I would think, a little bit anyway,” he said. “But everybody has to play at times against everybody else, regardless, so there isn’t total control there.”
And what about the comforts of home ice?
The Storm have the best attendance record in all of junior A hockey, with a fan base well over 2,000. They have an 8-2 home record in the post-season and are currently riding a six-game winning streak.
Those numbers mean little to Vandekamp.
“I guess when it comes to tomorrow, at least there’s the familiarity for us of having played in our own building before, but other than that, we just have to play better than we did, doesn’t matter if we were going to play tomorrow in Skookemchuck,” he said. “We didn’t get beat playing our best game in Vernon. We just have to come out and play our best game.
“I’ve said throughout the playoffs, every series that we play, we will play a better team (than the series) before. That has been the case in the first four series and that‘s the case again in this series. We’re playing against a team that just won the championship in a pretty good league, so if we don’t lift our game up another notch, then we’re not going to win. Simple as that.”
Mark Ferney, coach of the Vernon Vipers, could not be reached for comment. Puck drops at 7:30 p.m.