20 Year's Ago Today....

20 Year's ago today the Vernon Lakers defeated the powerful New Westminster Royals in the 1990 Centennial Cup 6-5 in overtime in one of the greatest so called games in Junior hockey history. New West built up a 5-2 lead after 40 minutes, but couldnt hold onto the lead as Cam Sylven scored the game tying goal and the ot winner in front of a packed Vernon Civic Arena.

The Lakers were only in the Centennial Cup because they were the hosts. New West, easily the best team in the country, went 52-3-4 in the BCHL regular season, beat the Interior Conference champion Lakers (who were 33-20-5) 4-2 in the league final, then won 12 straight games (including a 5-3 decision over Vernon in the round robin) to reach the Centennial Cup final.

The Lakers, who had 28 days off before the tournament, went 3-1 in the round robin (the first year the tournament went to five teams), and eliminated the Nipiwin Hawks of Saskatchewan 11-5 in their semifinal, setting up a rematch with the Royals and a showdown of, arguably, Canada’s top-two junior A squads.

This was the Lakers second straight Centennial Cup as Vernon would make it to a record four straight Centennial Cups from 1989-1992

Here’s a rundown on how the Lakers did through out the BCJHL’s Playoffs to advance to the teams second straight Centennial Cup.

Preliminary Roundrobin Series:

Vernon finished off with a record of 5-2.

BCJHL League Finals: New Westminster defeated Vernon 4-2

Vernon would advance to its second straight Centennial Cup as the host team.

The Centennial Cup 1990 is the Tier II Junior "A" 1990 ice hockey National Championship for the Canadian Junior A Hockey League.

The Centennial Cup was competed for by the winners of the Doyle Cup, Anavet Cup, Dudley Hewitt Cup, the Callaghan Cup, and a host city.

The tournament was hosted by the Vernon Lakers and Vernon, British Columbia.

The Playoffs: Round Robin

Rank Team League Ticket W-L GF GA

1 x-New Westminster Royals BCJHL Doyle Cup 4-0 28 8
2 x-Vernon Lakers BCJHL Host 3-1 19 9
3 x-Nipawin Hawks MJHL Anavet Cup 2-2 12 10
4 x-Longueuil College Francais QJAAAHL Dudley Hewitt Cup 1-3 12 24
5 Amherst Ramblers MJAHL Callaghan Cup 0-4 7 27

Note: x- denotes teams who have advanced to the semi-final.

Results

Vernon Lakers defeated Longueuil Sieurs 6-1
Nipawin Hawks defeated Amherst Ramblers 4-3 in overtime
New Westminster Royals defeated Longueuil Sieurs 11-3
New Westminster Royals defeated Amherst Ramblers 9-0
Vernon Lakers defeated Nipawin Hawks 2-1 in overtime
Nipawin Hawks defeated Longueuil Sieurs 5-2
New Westminster Royals defeated Vernon Lakers 5-3
Vernon Lakers defeated Amherst Ramblers 8-2
Longueuil Sieurs defeated Amherst Ramblers 6-2
New Westminster Royals defeated Nipawin Hawks 3-2 for the Abbott Cup

Semifinals:

New Westminster Royals 10
Longueuil Sieurs 4

Vernon Lakers 11
Nipawin Hawks 5

Cetennial Cup Final:

Vernon Lakers 6
New Westminster Royals 5

Please note: Final was won in overtime.

Awards

Most Valuable Player: Marc Alain Duchaine (Longueuil Sieurs)

Top Scorer: Kelly Jones (New Westminster Royals)

Most Sportsmanlike Player: Kelly Jones (New Westminster Royals)

All-Star Team

Forward

Mark Karpen (New Westminster Royals)
David Oliver (Vernon Lakers)
Al Monitowy (Nipawin Hawks)

Defence

Andrew Wolf (New Westminster Royals)
Dean Zayonce (Vernon Lakers)

Goal

Lauren Belland (Nipawin Hawks)

Role of League Champions:

AJHL: Calgary Canucks
BCJHL: New Westminster Royals
CJHL: Hawkesbury Hawks
IJHL:
MJHL: Portage Terriers
MVJHL: Amherst Ramblers
NOJHL: Sudbury Cubs
PCJHL: Prince George Spruce Kings
QPJHL: Longueuil College Francais
SJHL: Nipawin Hawks

Vernon Lakers Playoff Roster:

Dave Oliver
Brad Neumeier
Troy Ewanchyna
Shane Morson
Rob Atkinson
Paul MacLEAN
Duane Dennis
Darren Naylor
Dean Zayonce
Don Monteith
Bruce Ramsay
Lorne Kanigan
Mike Knapton
Chad Schraeder
Garth Geddes
Cam Sylven
Jason Elders
Mike Dennis
Marcel Aubin
Rylan Ferster
Barry MacLeod
Stacy Paulson
John Hancock
Murray Caton
Dean Kutz

Owner-GM Mel Lis
Head Coach Ed Johnstone
Assistant Coach Keith Chase

For stats & rosters on Vernon Junior Hockey History, Check out Paul's Vernon Franchise website

http://members.shaw.ca/vernonfranchise/index.html