Vipers Sign Prospects:

This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

Vipers sign prospects

Published: June 15, 2010

They won’t be booking a ticket to the Royal Bank Cup just yet, but the Vernon Vipers are certainly restocking the cupboard with some quality players.

Shortly after signing Thunder Bay’s Todd Skirving and Vancouver’s Marcus Basara (Notre Dame Hounds), the Vipers have committed to Los Angeles Jr. Kings forward Darren Nowick, and Calgary Northwest Flames defenceman Brett Corkey for the 2010-11 B.C. Hockey League season.

Nowick played last season in the Mid West Elite Hockey league. In 48 games he scored 25 goals and 22 assists for 47 points.

Vipers’ head coach Mark Ferner calls Nowick a skilled two-way centreman who was one of the top players at a recent prospects camp he attended in California.

“He’s a player that I really, really like. He’s got a tremendous work ethic and he’s very dedicated to being a hockey player,” said Ferner.

“I’m going to put some pressure on him here and say he has a work ethic like the Jonesies (Connor and Kellen). There’s not a lot of holes in his game. He’s an endless worker and a skilled guy.”

Corkey is a smooth skating blueliner who has shown an ability to contribute offensively. Last season he scored six goals and nine assists for 15 points in 29 games.

“He’s not overly big, but he’s a puck-moving guy,” said Ferner. “He’s going to be put right in the fire because we don’t have a lot of guys coming back.”

Corkey got into some Alberta Junior Hockey League action as a call-up with the Calgary Canucks.

Meanwhile, the Vipers have sent defenceman Darrin Robak to the Cowichan Valley Capitals to complete the future considerations portion of the deal that brought d-man Curtis Gedig to the Vernon at the January trade deadline.

The Vipers had already dealt defenceman Nick Amies and forward Drew George to Cowichan as part of the deal.

Robak, who also played forward last season, had two goals for seven points in 17 games. Ferner thanked him for his time with the Vipers and wished him the best of luck with the Capitals.