Title Defence Approaching:

This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

Title defence approaching

Published: August 23, 2009

Vernon Vipers’ head coach Mark Ferner has some sage advice for the players returning from their Royal Bank Cup national Junior A championship season – it’s time to move forward.
Those words hold especially true as the Vipers open training camp Monday morning at Wesbild Centre in preparation for a B.C. Hockey League title defence. While Ferner says he holds a certain amount of loyalty to his veteran players, they still have to show they deserve to be on the team.
“When you come back from a season like we had, all that stuff goes out the window. You can’t rest on your laurels – it’s a new year,” said Ferner, who is entering his third season behind the Snakes’ bench along with assistant coach Jason Williamson.
“Regardless of the players that were on the team last year, we have a responsibility to put the best players on the ice. We’re going to have some very good 16- and 17-year-old players coming, and if they’re better than the 18- and 19-year-olds, they’re going to play. There are no guarantees.”
The three-day camp, which is open to the public, begins Monday, with daily practices going 8-9 a.m., and 3-4 p.m. Scrimmages will run daily from 9:15-11 a.m., and 4:15-6 p.m.
The annual Blue & White game takes place Thursday night (6 p.m.) at Wesbild. The Morning Star and KISS-FM will take on coaching duties for the game.
Ferner says roughly 50 players will take part in this year’s camp.
As with every year, the Snakes lost an experienced corps of veteran players to graduation. This year, it was forwards Chris Crowell, Ryan Santana and James Kerr, defencemen Kyle Bigos, Cody Ikkala, Cameron Brodie and Mike Leidl, and netminder Andrew Hammond who moved on.
While Ferner says it’s difficult to lose players of their calibre, he knows what they brought to the organization will have a lasting impression.
“We lost a lot with the players that left, but they set the culture and I have no worries that it’s just going to continue to get stronger,” said Ferner.
The Vipers open the exhibition season with a pair of games against the Salmon Arm SilverBacks. Game one goes Saturday at the Sunwave Centre, followed by a Sunday-night rendezvous at Revelstoke Arena.