Homecoming For Harrison:

This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

Homecoming for Harrison

GRANDE PRAIRIE – His late grandfather helped found the B.C. Junior Hockey League 48 years ago in Vernon.
And while Jordon Harrison wishes Vern Dye could be in the crowd Friday night at Civic Arena, he will carry his grandfather’s spirit as a forward with the Grande Prairie Storm.
The Alberta champions have a chest where players insert special souvenirs or mementoes for inspiration during the playoff run.
“I put in an envelope with a bunch of articles on grampa,” said Harrison, who was born in Vernon and moved to Kelowna with his family at age 15. “There were some new articles about the league MVP trophy being named in his honour, and some older stories. I’m sure he knows I’ll be playing back in Vernon.”
And while he will know several faces in the stands for the Doyle Cup best-of-seven series, Harrison also has some close ties with the B.C. Hockey League champion Vipers.
“(Goalie Graeme) Gordon was my roommate in Merritt last year. I went to Silver Star School with (Cameron) Brodie until Grade 7, I played with (Mike) Leidl in Quesnel and I played with (Bryce) Kakoske with the Okanagan Midgets so I know a few of the guys there.
“It (will) be great to go home and play in front of a bunch of friends and family. I’ll have to focus and take it like any other game, but I know we’ll have some fan support in the crowd.”
The winner of the Doyle Cup, the host Victoria Grizzlies and three other clubs will battle for the national championship. The Storm swept the No. 1 nationally-ranked Spruce Grove Saints for the Enerflex Cup.
“It’s awesome to win and we enjoyed that (AJHL championship) and celebrated that,” said Harrison. “Now we’re just hoping to win the next one here and have more to celebrate in Victoria.”
Harrison said some friends in Vernon have given him a heads-up on what to expect from the Vipers.
“I’ve talked to a few of the guys and they’ve got a couple of offensive lines, but not too much offensive firepower,” said Harrison. “I think their main strength is their defence and they’ve got a goalie who is playing really well.”
The Doyle Cup is more than a chance to return home for Harrison, who nearly ended his junior career on the IR after he suffered a wrist injury in January.
He missed the rest of the regular season (8-6-14 and 95 penalty minutes in 47 games) and needed the Storm to put together a deep playoff run to return.
“We’ve got an awesome team, a great group of guys,” said Harrison, whose younger brother Ryan plays for the Prince Albert Raiders. “We’re definitely a defence-first team, we have a good forecheck and we’re solid in our own end.”
In typical Mike Vandekamp fashion – his Vernon teams were always ultra fit – the Storm do spin classes and rarely run out of gas late in games.
While he’s still working on returning to form through six playoff games, Harrison believes he can help the Storm on their energy line.
“I practised lots... lots of shooting and skating and stuff trying to get the wrist back into playing shape and now I’m still just trying to get used to playing and game speed.
“It definitely feels good to be back and I’ll just try to help the team as much as I can.”
The Storm spent Tuesday night in Jasper, and will stay in Kelowna during the series since the logging convention has taken over the Vernon hotels.