Spruce Grove Big On Back End:

This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

Spruce Grove big on back end

By Kevin Mitchell - Vernon Morning Star

Published: April 15, 2010

They have five 20-goal scorers, two solid goaltenders and a defensive core which could rent themselves out as scaffolding.

The Spruce Grove Saints, says former Vernon Vipers’ head coach Mike Vandekamp, earned the No. 1 ranking in the 131-team Canadian Junior A Hockey League with a defence-first philosophy.

Vandekamp, head coach of the Grande Prairie Storm, faced the Alberta champion Saints six times in the regular season, winning twice.

“They’re an awfully good team,” said Vandekamp. “Compared to last year (when the Storm swept the Saints in the playoffs), they are a lot bigger and stronger. Their defence is big and fairly mobile. I would say the strength of their team is definitely defence. They have good structure and they’re tough to penetrate on.”

Vandekamp said the Saints block tons of shots and manage the puck well.

He added: “They really don’t have any game-breaking player.”

The Saints topped the CJAHL table at an astounding 52-4-1-3 followed by the Vernon Vipers at 51-6-0-3.

Vandekamp said 20-year-olds Kodie Curran (10 goals and 48 points) and Malcolm Tomlinson (2-16-18) anchor the Spruce Grove back end with help from Wes McLeod, a Kamloops ace the Saints obtained from the BCHL Prince George Spruce Kings at the Jan. 10 trading deadline.

Ryan Kerr of West Vancouver led the Saints in penalty minutes with 184 in the regular season. He goes 6-foot-2, 220 pounds. Jesse Slobodian, at 6-foot-5, 205, will also block out the sun walking from the hotel to Wesbild Centre.

Rory Connop, the son of CFL Hall of Fame Edmonton Eskimo lineman Rod Connop, is a 6-foot-5, 252-pound blueliner on the Saints’ taxi squad.

“They roll four lines and really don’t have anybody that is eye-popping offensively,” said Gord Montgomery, who covers the Saints for the Spruce Grove Examiner. “(Brett) Cameron had the game of his life (four goals in Game 7-win over Fort McMurray) so it’s scoring by committee.”

Montgomery said 6-foot-1 Dillon Simpson, the son of former NHLer Craig Simpson, can flash some dazzling moves on defence. Simpson, who turned 17 in February, has locked up a scholarship to the University of North Dakota, and was the AJHL’s Rookie of the Year and a first-team all-star with 12 goals and 41 points.

“Simpson has been phenomenal. He goes out with the first or second line depending on how the horses are going. Adam Henderson (leads the Saints in playoff scoring with14-6-20) is a spark plug who is going to the University of Alaska-Fairbanks next year.”

Montgomery said the Saints usually rotate 20-year-old net detectives Vincenzo Marozzi and Travis Rolheiser, although Marozzi won all four games in the AJHL Enerflex Cup series.

The Saints, whose roster includes 19 players from the surrounding Edmonton area, have seven NCAA scholarships secured. Rolheiser, Kerr and winger Jordan Draper have signed deals with the York University Lions in Toronto.

Spruce Grove, a vibrant city of 23,000 11 kilometres west of Edmonton, is home to Olympic silver-medalist freestyle skier Jennifer Heil.

The Saints play out of the Grant Fuhr Arena. Both Fuhr and Edmonton Oiler teammate Mark Messier started their Junior hockey careers in the arena with the Spruce Grove Mets. Vernon’s Stan Swales played a season alongside a 15-year-old Messier with the Mets in the 1976-77 season.

SNAKE BITES: Vandekamp will be a guest coach with the Fort St. John Flyers when his hometown hosts the Allan Cup (Senior A) next week. Viper grad Andrew Derton and one-time Philly Flyer Kimbi Daniels are with the Flyers...A group of local businessmen, headed up by Chuck Westgard, have bought the Surrey Eagles. “We are extremely excited to be part of the BCHL and look forward to being in Surrey long-term and building a championship team both on and off the ice,” said Westgard. The Eagles were previously owned by a group that included Ralph Berezen, Paul Quinn and Ronnie Paterson, who will continue to serve as the team’s president and governor.