Harrison Headed Home To Vernon:

Harrison Headed Home To Vernon

Mon, Apr 13 2009

JORDAN HARRISON IS LOOKING FORWARD TO A RETURN TO B.C.

By PETE LUCAROTTI Daily Herald-Tribune

The wait is over; Jordon Harrison is going home. Harrison, who was born and raised in Vernon, B.C., has the chance to end his hometown Vipers’ dreams of winning a national championship as a member of the Grande Prairie Storm. The teams will face off in the Doyle Cup beginning Friday in Vernon. The winner will move on to the RBC Cup for the national championship, May 2-10, in Victoria, B.C. “It (will) be great to go home and play in front of a bunch of friends and family,” Harrison said. “I’ll have to focus and take it like any other game, but I know we’ll have some fan support in the crowd.”The Vipers beat the Powell River Kings 2-1 last night to win the Fred Page Cup final for the BCHL championship in six games. The series ended a week after the Storm completed their sweep of the nationally No. 1-ranked Spruce Grove Saints for the AJHL title. The winner of the Doyle Cup, the host Victoria Grizzlies and three other clubs will battle for the national championship. “It’s awesome to win and we enjoyed that (AJHL championship) and celebrated that,” Harrison said. “Now we’re just hoping to win the next one here and have more to celebrate in Victoria.” Even though Harrison and his parents moved to Kelowna when he was 15, he still has plenty of family and friends in Vernon who have given him a heads-up on what to expect from the Vipers.“I’ve talked to a few of the guys and they’ve got a couple of offensive lines, but not too much offensive firepower,” Harrison said. “I think their main strength is their defence and they’ve got a goalie who is playing really well.” The Doyle Cup is more than a chance to return home for Harrison. Harrison nearly ended his junior career on the IR after he suffered a wrist injury in January. He missed the rest of the regular season and needed the Storm to put together a deep playoff run to return to the ice this season. He got that and made his way back into the lineup in Game 3 of the AJHL semifinal against the Brooks Bandits. While he’s still working on returning to form, Harrison believes he can help the Storm against the Vipers and potentially to the team’s first national championship. “I practised lots . . . lots of shooting and skating and stuff trying to get the wrist back into playing shape and now I’m still just trying to get used to playing and game speed,” said Harrison. “It definitely feels good to be back and I’ll just try to help the team as much as I can.”