Vipers add elite prospects
By Graeme Corbett - Vernon Morning Star
Published: July 01, 2011
The hockey pedigree is undeniable, but Adam Tambellini isn’t about to ride the coattails of his family name.
The son of Edmonton Oilers’ general manager Steve Tambellini, and younger brother of Vancouver Canucks’ forward Jeff, Adam is intent on forging his own identity as he pursues his dream of becoming a pro.
“It’s kind of good to have sometimes, but I don’t like to use it to my advantage. I’m just like any other player in the league,” shrugged the 1994-born centre.
Tambellini has already shown he can handle himself in big-pressure situations. He recorded a hat trick to help the Edmonton SSAC Athletics ground the Saskatoon Contacts 3-2 in the gold-medal game of the Mac’s Midget AAA Tournament in January. He finished the tourney with 4+5 in seven games.
“I don’t think you can ask for any better situation than that. In the Mac’s tournament, that was probably the best game of my life and I’m glad I got to do it on that stage,” said Tambellini.
The Vernon Vipers are hoping the 6-foot-1 centre (he is already two inches taller than Jeff) will bring some of that scoring savvy when he joins the organization for the coming season.
“He wants to make his own name for himself. He played for a pretty good team, but he was instrumental in their success,” said Vipers’ assistant coach Jason Williamson.
Tambellini, a cousin of fellow Viper Aaron Hadley, compiled 29 goals and 25 assists for 54 points in 34 games with the Athletics, and was a constant threat on their powerplay.
Listed by the WHL Portland Winterhawks and sought after by several other junior clubs (Steve is close friends with Harvey Smyl of the Chilliwack Chiefs), Tambellini opted to follow the scholarship route.
“I saw what my brother did in going to Michigan (NCAA Division 1 Wolverines) and it seemed to work out pretty good. He’s been playing in the NHL for six years now so I thought that was a pretty good road for me.”
Incidentally, Jeff, playing with the Chiefs, and Williamson, as captain of the Vipers, battled one another in the 2001-02 Fred Page Cup finals. Chilliwack won the best-of-seven series and advanced to the Royal Bank Cup.
More recently, Tambellini watched Jeff play for another cup... as in the Stanley Cup.
“It was pretty surreal to watch (Canucks vs Bruins). We got to go down for Games 5 and 7. Game 7 was quite the experience. I’ve never seen anything like that before,” said Tambellini, who has always received pragmatic hockey advice from his big brother.
“All the time he was developing, he was telling me to just get out there and play the game and don’t worry about anything else.”
Tambellini, whose family owns a home on Christina Lake, will work out this summer in Castlegar at The Factory, a hockey training centre owned in part by Jeff. It operates five days a week out of Selkirk College.
Meanwhile, the Vipers announced another move earlier this week to strengthen their blueline.
With the departure of three key veteran d-men – Adam Thompson, Stevie Weinstein and Malcolm Lyles – the Royal Bank Cup finalists acquired 18-year old Luke Juha from the Burlington Cougars of the Ontario Junior Hockey League in exchange for future considerations.
The Mississauga native posted 9-39-48 in 44 games and helped the Cougars win the OJHL regular-season title with 39 wins for 81 points.
Juha (pronounced Yu-ha), a puck-moving defenceman and powerplay quarterback, was a member of the silver-medalist Team Canada East at the World Junior A Challenge in Penticton.
Apparently he liked what he saw during his short trip to the Okanagan.
“I’m totally looking forward to it. I’ve only heard good things about the coaches in Vernon and their record speaks for itself. I’ve heard it’s a great league and I just want to contribute with the Vipers,” said the well-spoken defender.
Juha is one of the first players to commit to the newly-accepted NCAA Division I Penn State Nittany Lions Icers in University Park, Pa. With former Princeton Tiger head coach Guy Gadowski assuming bench boss duties with the Icers, Juha was eager to jump on board.
Gadowsky, an Edmonton native, spent seven years leading the Tigers’ NCAA resurgence, including championship berths in 2008 and ‘09.
“He’s only 18, but he’s got some good experience, a higher-end guy who was able to play for Canada East,” said Williamson.
While his offensive credentials are evident, Juha says he has worked hard to bring his play in the defensive zone up to scratch.
“That’s something a lot of people don’t see in my game. I’m a smaller guy (5-foot-11, 180 pounds), but my defensive game has really improved over the last two seasons,” said Juha, who tries to model his game after L.A. Kings’ d-man Drew Doughty.
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