Vipers Storm Grand Prairie:

Vipers storm Grand Prairie

by Don Klepp - Apr 22, 2009

The Vernon Vipers gained a stranglehold in their Doyle Cup series against the Grande Prairie Storm with a 2-1 win in Grande Prairie on Tuesday. Birthday boy Sahir Gill scored the winner on a Viper power play at 8.32 of the second period. He cashed in a rebound on an Adam Thompson point shot after Connor Jones had set up Thompson for a skilful one-timer. Gill, who turned 17 on Tuesday, once again displayed the predator instincts that characterize goal scorers. His 10th goal of the postseason is one behind line mate Connor Jones. Connor had scored the opening goal for the Vipers in the first period. While killing a penalty, he scooped up a loose puck at centre ice and went in alone on Chad Carder. Connor deked left, came back right, and backhanded the puck over Carder’s catching hand. That goal, at 6.58, was the first time in this series that the Vipers had opened the scoring. On that same power play, 38 seconds later, the Storm dumped the puck in from their side of centre. Vernon goalie, Andrew Hammond, confident of an icing call, pushed the puck to the side boards where Morgan MacLean was happy to send the gift to Carter Rowney for a tip-in goal. In that first period, the Storm had three power plays while the Vipers had none. The man advantage situations helped the Storm out shoot the visitors 13 to 10. Both teams had 6 scoring chances in the opening 20 minutes, with most of the Storm chances coming on the power play. Clearly, quick players like Zahn Raubenheimer and Tanner Fritz enjoyed the space afforded on the 85 foot by 200 foot ice surface. Carter Rowney also showed his skills in open ice the Storm playoff scoring leader had his best game of the series to this point. Meanwhile, the Jones line and players such as Braden Pimm and Cory Kane gave the 2525 fans a demonstration of their speed and puck handling skills. Pimm, whose home town of Fort St. John is a two-hour drive from Grande Prairie, seemed to have his personal cheering section in the crowd. Play in the second period was rather cautious and tame at times, but that all changed in the third as the Storm launched a number of attacks that resulted in 14 third-period shots and 9 quality scoring chances. The Vipers matched those numbers on counterattacks, so both goalies had to perform at their best in the third period. The save of the game, with 2.07 left in the third, came when Zahn Raubenheimer was all alone in front of Andrew Hammond. Reading the play correctly, Hammond fell on his left side, stacked the pads, kicked up with his left leg, flashed his glove hand and blocked the Raubenheimer flick that was heading to the top of the net. It was hard to tell whether Andrew stopped the puck with his glove or with his pad, but “round-the-world” save kept the game from being tied. As the play left the zone, a frustrated Morgan MacLean slashed Connor Jones and the Storm finished the game a man short. The Grande Prairie fans were furious with the call, especially because they believed Chris Crowell should have been assessed an elbowing penalty about 20 seconds earlier. Indeed, referee Dion Pollard made some calls that puzzled many observers. At 5.51 of the third, for example, he called a tripping penalty on Mike Leidl when it seemed clear that a Storm player had simply lost his footing while careening behind the Viper net. For the most part in the third period, however, he allowed the players to settle the contest. The official three stars of the contest were Sahir Gill, Connor Jones, and Chad Carder, in that order. The Storm broadcast crew picked Connor Jones, Kyle Bigos, and Chad Carder. The Viper broadcast team selected Andrew Hammond, Connor Jones, and Chad Carder. Connor Jones now leads the Doyle Cup scoring race with 6 points in the three games played, while Sahir Gill is second with 5 points. With a win in Grande Prairie on Wednesday, the Vipers can claim their fifth Doyle Cup win and their first trip to the national Junior “A” championships since their RBC Cup win in 1999. Grande Prairie has had one previous appearance in the Doyle Cup, when the team lost in five games to the Nanaimo Clippers. If the Storm hopes to claw back into the 2009 Doyle Cup, they will have to score some goals. In three games, they have found Andrew Hammond’s net just four times.