Vipers Clinch National Championship:

Vipers clinch national championship

by Don Klepp -May 11, 2009

Two power play goals gave the Vernon Vipers a 2-0 win over the Humboldt Broncos and the Vernon franchise’s record fifth Jr. “A” Canadian championship. This hard fought contest was tense from start to finish. Both teams faced ferocious checking, but generated quality scoring chances, 15 by the Vipers and 12 by the Broncos. In the early going, the story line revolved around the checking-from-behind penalties issued by referee Nathan Weiler. In the first period, the Broncos’ top scorer, Matt Kirzinger was ejected for a hit on Cam Brodie. Before the period was complete, Viper captain Chris Crowell was ejected for a hit on Brady Wacker, and in the second period Ryan Santana was sent to the showers for his check on Tory Allan. Both teams then had to adjust their forward lines. Rob Short, Bryce Kakoske, and Cole Ikkala took turns filling in for Crowell, and Mike Collins took extra shifts as well. For the Broncos, Steven Schroeder and Nick Kalnicki saw extra ice time, although Kalnicki’s duties were curtailed by his two third-period penalties that helped derail the Broncos’ bid for a second consecutive RBC title. The official attendance figure showed 1917 paid admissions, although many Victoria fans decided not to use their tickets after their Grizzlies were eliminated by Humboldt on Friday. Many of the fans who did attend were from either Vernon or Humboldt, and they most definitely made themselves heard. The first period was scoreless, despite 12 Vipers shots on goal and 9 Bronco shots. Bronco goalie made the save of the period when he dived to rob Connor Jones who had been set up by Kellen Jones. Vernon dominated the early going, but the Broncos were able to intercept that final crucial pass or block a shot when it counted most. Both teams came out hitting, in a classic display of old-time playoff hockey. The second period started out much the same way, with Humboldt controlling play in the Viper zone for three shifts in the first five minutes. However, the Vipers responded with some strong forechecking of their own. That momentum was halted by Santana’s penalty at 9.56, but a frustrated Brady Wacker took a roughing penalty at 11.19. After the Santana penalty expired, the Vipers struck with the man advantage. La Rochelle was unable to corral the rebound off Cory Kane’s hard shot, and Braden Pimm contacted the puck while it was thigh high in the air. The puck fluttered past LaRochelle for the eventual game winner. Kane and Kevin Kraus drew assists on the play. The Vipers asserted themselves physically in the period, out hitting the tough Broncos 15 to 3. However, the Broncos out shot the Vipers 13 to 7 in their best offensive period in the two RBC Cup games the two teams played this week. Still, the Vipers could have gone up by two goals. Late in the period, Cory Kane fired a screamer that beat LaRochelle but hit the cross bar. In the third period, the Vipers went into their shutdown mode, although they were happy to venture into the Bronco zone when openings presented themselves. The game clincher was delivered by RBC Cup MVP Kyle Bigos on one of the best plays of the year. On the power play, the “Dancing Bear” came off the left point with the puck and stick handled around three Broncos before whipping a low shot past LaRochelle’s stick side at 14 minutes even. Bigos’s highlight-reel goal followed fantastic back-to-back saves, the first by LaRochelle on Kellen Jones and the second by Andrew Hammond on Kyle Cowan. After the Bigos goal, the Broncos tried to mount an attack, but they were stymied by Andrew Hammond and his defencemen, all of whom had solid games. The Humboldt star players, Brady Wacker, the Schroeder twins, Tanner Vandesype, and Tory Allan, showed occasional bursts of energy in the third period, but their lack of offence eventually cost the defending champions the chance to repeat. The Broncos scored just 11 goals in 6 RBC games and only 2 goals in their 2 games versus the Vipers. (Vernon outscored the Humboldt 9-1 their 2 games, and scored 32 while allowing 15 overall.) These two teams are heading in opposite directions – Humboldt’s top 7 scorers have played their last Junior hockey game, while the Vipers will return all but one (Chris Crowell) of their top 10 scorers. Vernon’s biggest losses will be on the back end: Andrew Hammond, Cam Brodie, Cody Ikkala, and Mike Leidl have exhausted their Junior eligibility. The Vipers will fly out of Victoria at 9 am Monday morning, with an expected 10 am arrival in Kelowna, and an approximate 11.30 return to the Wesbild Centre.