This is in the Victoria Times Colonist Newspaper:Vipers cap off perfect RBC Cup
By Sharie EppMay 11, 2009
By Sharie EppMay 11, 2009
With skill, grit and heart riding on every pair of skates, junior hockey
doesn’t get much better than the RBC Cup championship final yesterday at Bear Mountain Arena.
Led by their giant defenceman Kyle Bigos and goaltender Andrew Hammond, the Vernon Vipers defeated a tenacious group of Humboldt Broncos 2-0 in front of 1,917 loud, boisterous fans.
“I swear to God I play on the easiest team in the league to be a goalie,” said an ecstatic Hammond, who couldn’t say enough about the teammates in front of him. “It was greasy, not too pretty, but we got the job done in the end,”
For the Vipers, the victory was a record fifth Canadian Junior A title. The B.C. Hockey League and Doyle Cup champions from the Pacific region went undefeated through the five-team tournament, which also included the host Victoria Grizzlies, the Summerside, P.E.I., Western Capitals from the East region, and the Central region’s Kingston Kimco Voyageurs.
In the semifinals on Friday, Vernon downed Kingston 6-3, and Humboldt edged the hometown Grizzlies 3-2 in overtime.
“I think we were a very deserving team,” Vernon coach Mark Ferner said. “We’ve got a great bunch of kids here. All year, we had no issues with them at all, on or off the ice.”
For anyone impartial — which wasn’t the exuberant Humboldt fans beating yellow plastic storage containers with wooden spoons — it was a shame one team had to lose. It was evident right from the get-go they were playing for keeps, when five-foot-nine Vernon forward Kellen Jones absolutely pasted six-foot-one, 190-pound Humboldt defenceman Garrett Leedahl into the end boards.
By the time the scoreless first period was over, Matthew Kirzinger, the Saskatchewan playoff MVP, and Vipers captain Chris Crowell had both been kicked out of the game for checking from behind. Vernon added forward Ryan Santana to the game misconduct list in the second.
“I was heartbroken for them,” Ferner said. “Chris Crowell, he’s been here for four years and our captain — I felt so bad for him, but the true captain that he is, he sat in the room between periods with the players and gave them lots of advice and encouragement.”
“[With Santana] a lot of their support carried us through.”
Early in the middle frame, the Broncos, defending RBC Cup champions, started to celebrate what they thought was a goal, but the referee waved it off, saying the net had come dislodged from its moorings. Vernon’s Cory Kane clanged a shot off the goal post beside Broncos goaltender Mathieu LaRochelle, but the deadlock continued, until Braden Pimm finally broke through with the man advantage at 12:33.
The Broncos put on tremendous pressure in the Vernon zone near the end of the second period, but were unable to score. Goaltenders Hammond and LaRochelle were each named player of the game for their teams.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow, but I think we played a hell of a game, from the goaltender on out,” Humboldt captain Brady Wacker said. “They got a couple of bounces and we didn’t.”
Defence was front and centre in the third, with just five shots on goal registered for each side, but another Vernon power play proved lethal. With Bigos, the MVP and top defenceman in the tournament, and his six-foot-five reach covering a huge part of the ice, the Broncos were unable to clear the puck out of the zone. Bigos got hold of it, skated around the perimeter, and got right through to the net. Not sure what to do with the puck, he said he just tried to imitate Vipers snipers Connor and Kellen Jones, who both had assists on the goal.
“When you’re little, you dream about the big game, and dream about being the hero,” Bigos said. “Today the dream came true.”
doesn’t get much better than the RBC Cup championship final yesterday at Bear Mountain Arena.
Led by their giant defenceman Kyle Bigos and goaltender Andrew Hammond, the Vernon Vipers defeated a tenacious group of Humboldt Broncos 2-0 in front of 1,917 loud, boisterous fans.
“I swear to God I play on the easiest team in the league to be a goalie,” said an ecstatic Hammond, who couldn’t say enough about the teammates in front of him. “It was greasy, not too pretty, but we got the job done in the end,”
For the Vipers, the victory was a record fifth Canadian Junior A title. The B.C. Hockey League and Doyle Cup champions from the Pacific region went undefeated through the five-team tournament, which also included the host Victoria Grizzlies, the Summerside, P.E.I., Western Capitals from the East region, and the Central region’s Kingston Kimco Voyageurs.
In the semifinals on Friday, Vernon downed Kingston 6-3, and Humboldt edged the hometown Grizzlies 3-2 in overtime.
“I think we were a very deserving team,” Vernon coach Mark Ferner said. “We’ve got a great bunch of kids here. All year, we had no issues with them at all, on or off the ice.”
For anyone impartial — which wasn’t the exuberant Humboldt fans beating yellow plastic storage containers with wooden spoons — it was a shame one team had to lose. It was evident right from the get-go they were playing for keeps, when five-foot-nine Vernon forward Kellen Jones absolutely pasted six-foot-one, 190-pound Humboldt defenceman Garrett Leedahl into the end boards.
By the time the scoreless first period was over, Matthew Kirzinger, the Saskatchewan playoff MVP, and Vipers captain Chris Crowell had both been kicked out of the game for checking from behind. Vernon added forward Ryan Santana to the game misconduct list in the second.
“I was heartbroken for them,” Ferner said. “Chris Crowell, he’s been here for four years and our captain — I felt so bad for him, but the true captain that he is, he sat in the room between periods with the players and gave them lots of advice and encouragement.”
“[With Santana] a lot of their support carried us through.”
Early in the middle frame, the Broncos, defending RBC Cup champions, started to celebrate what they thought was a goal, but the referee waved it off, saying the net had come dislodged from its moorings. Vernon’s Cory Kane clanged a shot off the goal post beside Broncos goaltender Mathieu LaRochelle, but the deadlock continued, until Braden Pimm finally broke through with the man advantage at 12:33.
The Broncos put on tremendous pressure in the Vernon zone near the end of the second period, but were unable to score. Goaltenders Hammond and LaRochelle were each named player of the game for their teams.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow, but I think we played a hell of a game, from the goaltender on out,” Humboldt captain Brady Wacker said. “They got a couple of bounces and we didn’t.”
Defence was front and centre in the third, with just five shots on goal registered for each side, but another Vernon power play proved lethal. With Bigos, the MVP and top defenceman in the tournament, and his six-foot-five reach covering a huge part of the ice, the Broncos were unable to clear the puck out of the zone. Bigos got hold of it, skated around the perimeter, and got right through to the net. Not sure what to do with the puck, he said he just tried to imitate Vipers snipers Connor and Kellen Jones, who both had assists on the goal.
“When you’re little, you dream about the big game, and dream about being the hero,” Bigos said. “Today the dream came true.”
No comments:
Post a Comment