Vipers Claim Fred Page Cup:

This is on the Morning Star web site:

Vipers claim Fred Page Cup

By Kevin Mitchell - Vernon Morning Star

The Vernon Vipers sprayed non-alcoholic champagne in every direction, gathered for photos with the Fred Page Cup, and embraced one another in a joyous dressing room Sunday night.
All-star goalie Andrew Hammond stopped 15 shots and the Vipers' smothering defensive style did the rest as Vernon clipped the Powell River Kings 2-1 at Wesbild Centre, claiming their first B.C. Hockey League playoff title since 2003, in six games.
The Vipers will open the regional Doyle Cup best-of-seven series Friday against the Alberta champion Grande Prairie Storm. Vernon's home games will be played at old Civic Arena because of a logging show at their home rink.
A crowd of 2,269 fans watched the Vipers shut down Powell River's dynamic forwards with relentless checking and moving into shooting lanes with no fear.
"This is the best time in my hockey career for sure," beamed Viper captain and fourth-year winger Chris Crowell. "I got here once and lost and I wasn't going to lose again. Just 23 warriors out there and it took everyone to win it, and we knew that going into it, and everybody chipped in where they could, and it was awesome. There was no way we were getting on that bus again."
Hammond, who made a handful of solid saves, came into the game with an all-planet save percentage of .952. He stopped a hard Erik Vos slapper and then shut the door on rebound hound Chad Niddery in tight late in the second period, for his toughest saves.
"I just can't believe this is actually happening," said Vernon defenceman Kyle Bigos. "This is what you dream about, pretty much all your junior hockey career and when when you're little watching the juniors play. Just to be a part of it is unreal."
Defenceman Adam Thompson gave the Vipers a 1-0 lead at 15:08 of the first period when he banged in a rebound in front of Powell River all-star net detective Carsen Chubak. Kory Kane and Mike Collins drew assists.
The Snakes made it 2-0 just six minutes into the second period when penalty-killing magician Braden Pimm went in alone and deked Chubak. Blueliner Cameron Brodie had chipped the puck off the glass and Pimm wheeled in behind the Kings' powerplay defence for a clear break.
Powell River, who had just four shots at the midway portion, showed some desperate hockey in the final half. Drew Pettitt buried a rebound past Hammond after Neil Chambers had wired a high shot from the right wall with 5:27 left in the second period.
"Give full marks to Powell River," said Vernon head coach/GM Mark Ferner. "They didn't go away. It came right down to the final buzzer. I'm just so proud of our group here. It's never easy to win and if it was, everybody would do it. They put in tons of hard work, not only on the ice, but off the ice.
"One thing with this group is they enjoy being around each other and that's kind of special. Once you get that way, they play for each another, they trust in each other and are well deserving to be holding this Cup."
Chubak, who was easily the Kings' MVP in the championship series, was pretty composed in a teary-eyed dressing room.
"We're pretty proud," said the classy Prince Albert product, who has one year left in the BCHL. "We battled hard all year and met a good team there and I felt it could have went either way. There's maybe a tiny bit of satisfaction losing to a team that deserves to win it as much as we do.
"It's a bad feeling right now, but you're not going to look back on it as a bad thing. It's something to remember and it's going to be a moment in your life you're not going to forget and it's probably going to be one of the more positive moments in your life."
Powell River head coach/GM Kent Lewis, whose franchise has never won the league title, addressed the Kings behind closed doors for 20 minutes after the loss.
"I just told them 30 minutes hockey isn't going to get us a Fred Page Cup. They do a great job blocking shots and we didn't do a good job finding ways to get shots through and couldn't find a way to get it done. At the end of the day, they did a very good job and were deserving. We had a good year.
"I think you have to look at the big picture. We're a team that is proud of our year...It's frustrating right now, obviously...This is something I want our guys and our program to get used to. This is something I'm going to be expecting from my teams every year. We're not surprised to be here and we won't be again. Learn from it, enjoy it and see where we need to get better."