Old foes reacquainted in final
By Graeme Corbett - Vernon Morning Star
Published: March 30, 2011
They face each other just twice in a regular season, yet the Vernon Vipers and Powell River Kings probably know one another better than most siblings.
Battling one another in the Fred Page Cup finals for the last two years tends to have that effect.
It will happen all over again as the two-time defending national champion Vipers and regular-season champion Kings tangle in the best-of-seven championship series, with Games 1 and 2 going Friday and Saturday night respectively at Hap Parker Arena on the Sunshine Coast.
Vernon, who won the last two Fred Page series 4-2 and 4-3 respectively, will host Games 3 and 4, Monday and Tuesday night at Wesbild Centre.
Having won the league with a shining 46-9-3-2 record, 12 points ahead of the second-place Vipers (36-11-4-9), the more experienced Kings could arguably be the favourites in this series. Head coach Kent Lewis has assembled a big, physical squad, backstopped by Michael Garteig, who led the league with seven shutouts and helped his team set a new BCHL record for fewest goals against (115).
The Prince George product leads the post-season with a 1.97 goals against average, and his .923 save percentage is second overall.
Powell River’s bruising blueline, led by 6-foot-5, 215-pound Justin Dasilva, is surprisingly mobile, while their forward corps, headlined by gritty captain Chad Niddery and play-making Matt Garbowsky, will be a handful for the Vernon defence.
“That’s a very good hockey team. They’ve been the cream of the crop in the league, ranked No. 2 in the country and for good reason,” Vernon head coach Mark Ferner.
“They’ve got big, strong defence and it’s hard to penetrate that. They got good goaltending...and they’ve got guys that can hurt you offensively.”
The Kings are also a much older team than the Vipers, with just one 1993-born player to Vernon’s six.
“I don’t think, before the season started, many people thought we would be in this situation. It’ll be an uphill battle, no question, but let’s just hope history repeats itself,” said Ferner.
Yet every year, Ferner and assistant coach Jason Williamson stir the Kool-Aid, and every year his players drink it, then ask for a second helping. While they don’t possess the offensive punch they exhibited last season, the Snakes do have depth in scoring, with eight players firing 10 or more goals in the regular season. Captain David Robinson topped the list with 32 strikes.
In the playoffs, second-year forward Pat McGillis leads the Snakes with 5-8-13 in 12 games, and Dylan Walchuk, who led the Vipers with 56 regular-season points, has 8-4-12.
Walchuk’s sensational four-goal performance Friday night helped Vernon eliminate the Salmon Arm SilverBacks in Game 6 of the Interior finals and earned him BCHL Player of the Week honours.
The Vipers are also getting some timely secondary scoring from rookies Marcus Basara (3-6-9) and Trevor Fitzgerald (3-4-7).
Walchuk has been around for Vernon’s last two championship drives and says the culture set by the coaching staff, combined with veteran leadership, is what gives them success.
“Everyone’s a family in there. We work together and get through adversity. We’re not negative, we’re positive in the room and that’s what gets us through,” said Walchuk.
Added Ferner: “The credit has to be given to the players, in particular the veteran players and older players. They’ve been here, they understand what the expectations are and they’ve made the young players right off the hop.
“We’ve got two 20-year-olds in Malcolm Lyles and Kyle Murphy and they came in and just accepted how we were going to play.”
With Max Mowat and Philip Patenaude both on the injured reserve, the Vipers have rolled with just five d-men since Game 2 of the Interior finals.
Netminder Kirby Halcrow has been Vernon’s starter since taking over from Blake Voth in Game 2 of the first round, posting a 2.51 goals against and .890 save percentage.
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