Title Defence Begins:

This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

Title defence begins

Published: September 03, 2009

It doesn’t seem all that long ago that I watched Chris Crowell hoist the Royal Bank Cup at Bear Mountain Arena after the Vernon Vipers claimed their record-setting fifth national Junior A title. That was a mere 117 days ago. In hockey speak, this offseason has been about as fast as an Adam Thompson point shot. I’ve had longer waits in the lineup to get a plastic cup of beer during intermission at a Vipers home game. I guess that’s what happens when you get to cover a perennial powerhouse such as the Vipers – going deep into the playoffs is always a distinct possibility. I certainly can’t complain. I got to go on the road with the team to Grande Prairie for the Doyle Cup, and then again to Victoria for the RBC in May. Mind you, I didn’t get to stay at the Westin at Bear Mountain with the Vipers, but my brother’s place in Vic has a big-screen TV and just about every video game console you can think of, so it wasn’t too difficult to take. Looking at that team that won the national crown, it had all the key ingredients – stellar goaltending, hard-nosed leadership, a bruising blueline and a host of versatile forwards who could score goals, mix it up and help out in their own end. Can they do it again? Ask me that after the trade deadline. A lot can happen over the course of a 60-game B.C. Hockey League regular season. What I can tell you is Vipers’ head coach/GM Mark Ferner and head scout Larry Black have assembled some of the best talent available to compete for the vacancies left by Vernon’s graduating players. When it comes to persuading players to try out for the team, having a fresh national pennant hanging from the rafters in Wesbild Centre certainly never hurts. With the offseason signings of Dylan Walchuk (KIJHL’s rookie-of-the-year), Drew George (Notre Dame Hounds sniper) and veteran Jon Milhouse, the Snakes’ forward corps is scary good. The opposition simply won’t be able to key in on any one line and think that will shut down Vernon’s offence. In other words, the four-line tsunami is back. The Jones twins, Connor and Kellen, are back for one more year. It’ll be interesting to see who earns the plum assignment of playing on their wing, a position left vacant by Sahir Gill’s departure for the USHL’s Chicago Steel. Veterans Braden Pimm and Mike Collins developed some solid chemistry towards the end of last season, and someone like Robbie Short would slot in nicely on the wing. The one area I had concerns with coming into the season was defence, but the Vipers seems to have addressed that as well. I only got to watch Dan Nycholat skate in the Vipers’ preseason tilt against the Westside Warriors on Tuesday, but he looked like a smooth skater who can make the heads-up play. Throw in the veteran presence of Kevin Kraus and Thompson, along with some newfound toughness in Garrett Noonan, and there is the makings of a steady blueline. Of all the returning players, the ones who impressed me the most are those who had the smallest roles last season. Forward Cole Ikkala and defencemen Stevie Weinstein and Nick Amies spent their share of time in the press box as healthy scratches last season. They put in some serious work this summer to make sure that doesn’t happen again. Each one has gotten bigger, stronger and faster. Weinstein hired a personal trainer and packed on at least 10 pounds of muscle to his 5-foot-9 frame. The kid should be doing commercials for Bowflex.