Storm Boosted By Prairie Boys:

This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

Storm boosted by Prairie boys

By Kevin Mitchell - Vernon Morning Star

The Grande Prairie Storm are killing time hunting and fishing while they camp in Kelowna.
At least, that’s what head coach/GM Mike Vandekamp was joking about on the eve of the Doyle Cup hockey series with the Vernon Vipers.
“Yah, we’re camping,” laughed Vandekamp. “The boys shot a deer last night and they were out fishing for our breakfast this morning. Most of them are good ‘ole Peace River boys.”
The Storm have eight players from the Grande Prairie area, a group which accounted for 60 per cent of the team’s playoff scoring.
Three of them – playoff MVP Carter Rowney, Morgan MacLean and Blake Clement – represent the Storm’s No. 1 forward unit. Another – shot-blocking specialist Mark Stojan – plays alongside Texan Bobby Tyson on Grande Prairie’s top defensive pairing.
“Obviously the local talent we had this year has been phenomenal,” said the Storm’s head Alberta scout, Greg Lenuik. “The end result is we have a championship.”
Vandekamp, a happy man when his team is still playing in mid-April, guided the Vipers to the B.C. Hockey League Fred Page Cup title in 2003. He led the Storm to a 42-win season and a monster sweep of the No. 1-nationally ranked Spruce Grove Saints for the Alberta League’s Enerflex Cup.
The Fort St. John product caught the Vipers in an overtime loss to the Powell River Kings in Game 3 of the BCHL final. He also gets detailed reports from former Viper coach Bernie Pimm, a scout with the Storm. Pimm’s cousin, Braden, plays with the Snakes.
“The templates for the teams, if you break it down line by line, are about the same,” said the once fiery Vandekamp, who was only tossed from one game this season. “We have a pretty good read on the Vipers, what kind of game they play. They’re very good defensively and they rely on a strong defensive structure.”
The Storm, like the Vipers, play a solid team game with a defence-first attitude and stellar special teams.
“We have a nice balance of different players who are both dedicated on and off the ice, as I’m sure are the Vipers. You don’t get this far without being committed. We’re excited to be a part of it. We have lots of guys who play with passion and have a lot of fun. Personally, it’s nice to be back in Vernon. It’s neat how it’s all worked out.”
And while disappointed he can’t bunk down in the visitor’s dressing room at Wesbild Centre, due to the logging convention, Vandekamp says his players won’t mind Civic Arena.
“If you think Civic is small, you should try playing in Brooks,” said Vandekamp. “It’s too bad we’re playing a regional championship series in half a rink, but we play in a lot of rinks like Civic.”
On Rowney, who will go head-to-head with either Pimm or Connor Jones, Vandekamp said: “He’s a big, two-way player. He sort of reminds me of a right-handed Rick Nash. We used him in all key situations.”
The Storm practised early Thursday afternoon in Vernon, and went for lunch at Rowney’s parents’ home on Kalamalka Lake.