SNAKES IN SEVENTH HEAVEN:

This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

SNAKES IN SEVENTH HEAVEN

By Graeme Corbett - Vernon Morning Star and Kevin Mitchell - Vernon Morning Star

Published: April 13, 2010

It was everything a Game 7 of a Fred Page Cup Championship should be. Plenty of hits, heart-on-your sleeve hustle, game-saving stops and last-minute heroics, all fuelled by two teams running on fumes.

And, of course, there was the elation for the Vernon Vipers as they successfully defended their B.C. Hockey League championship before a packed house Monday night at Wesbild Centre.

Sahir Gill collected the winner on an odd-man rush with linemates Connor and Kellen Jones with five minutes remaining as the Snakes iced the Powell River Kings 3-1.

Before the goal was allowed, 3,000 Wesbild fans held their collective breath as referee Trevor Hanson consulted with linesmen Matt Thurston and Nathan Vanoosten to see if Gill had kicked the puck in (Connor’s centring pass deflected in off the Terrace product’s skate).

Jonathan Milhouse, taking an unselfish centering feed from Kellen, fired an empty-netter in the final minute to seal the win.

The last time a cup final went to seven games was in 2001 when the Victoria Salsa outlasted the Merritt Centennials. Incidentally, that was the last year the Vipers failed to make the playoffs.

Vipers’ head coach Mark Ferner praised his squad for bouncing back after a forgettable 5-2 loss in Game 6 two days earlier on the Sunshine Coast.

“After Game 6, I was mad. Mad that we didn’t come out with the effort that we needed. The madness turned into disappointment because we had an opportunity (to win the series),” said Ferner.

“But then the next day on the bus, now I’m jealous of these guys because they get to play in a Game 7. Not too many hockey players can say that they got to play in a Game 7 at home for a league championship.

“I’m extremely proud of our guys for refocusing. We’ve had a target on our back all year long in this league. Our guys persevered and that’s a sign of great character.”

Both netminders – the Kings’ Josh Watson and Vipers’ Graeme Gordon – were stellar in keeping the first period scoreless. Watson (27 saves) stood tall as Viper rookie Dylan Walchuk crashed the net and tried to tuck the puck far side on the Powell River keeper. Gordon (26 saves) flashed a great kick save to stop Brenden Forbes, and added a few more clutch stops on Chad Niddery.

“I just try to keep the guys in it for as long as I can,” said Gordon. “It could have been the last game of my career if I didn’t play my best game. Obviously that’s going to motivate me and I just put it all out there.”

Gordon (first star) saved his best for last as he absolutely robbed Niddery by diving across his crease to deny the Powell River forward an empty net late in the game.

Powell River momentarily silenced the raucous Wesbild crowd early in the second period as Niddery, a thorn in the Vipers’ side all series, deflected defenceman Reid Campbell’s point shot at 3:26 to open the scoring.

Vernon responded five minutes later as Milhouse (second star) fired a harmless looking shot from the sidewall that deflected off d-man Justin Dasilva’s skate at 8:06.

As the game wore on, the Kings looked more like a team that was playing not to lose, instead of playing to win. The Vipers, meanwhile, stayed on the offensive, holding the Kings to just one shot in the first half of the third period.

The Snakes also held the physical edge. Curtis Gedig, stapling Forbes to the boards as he rushed up ice late in the second period, and Kevin Kraus, hammering Niddery in front of the Viper bench early in the third frame, threw two of the more devastating checks.

A key member of the Vernon defence last year, Kraus says it is that much more rewarding to captain a team to a title.

“I know what Crow (Chris Crowell) went through last year now. It’s great to be able to lead these guys to a league championship. It feels great.

“It brought tears to my eyes… unbelievable. I’ve wanted this ever since the season started and that series was unbelievable.”

For the Vipers’ David Robinson, a Vernon product, winning a title in front of a home crowd was bliss. Especially considering he had no idea he would end up in Vernon at the start of the season.

“It doesn’t get any better,” smiled Robinson, who came to Vernon from the WHL Chilliwack Bruins in January. “I had a bunch of family in the stands tonight and I wanted to win for them and I wanted to win for the guys in the room.

“Coming in halfway through the year I was new to the team, but right when I got here I knew this was a close-knit group with so many leaders. We faced a lot of adversity in this series, even against Quesnel and Penticton, and our leadership put us over the top, and our young guys stepped up as well. It’s a good mix in there.”

The Kings, who faced elimination four other times in the playoffs, showed tremendous character in the final. The respect between the two sides shone through during the handshakes, as players swapped hacks and hits for hugs and congratulations.

Said Kings’ head coach Kent Lewis: “I told them that sometimes sports is cruel. We probably had, in the third, two of the best chances we just didn’t bury.”

Lewis adds it was tough to see the series winner go in off a skate.

“You want to lose off a stick in Game 7, so that’s tough. That’s not sour grapes; I’m not bitching about the call. It’s just tough not to have it go in off a stick.

“I’m proud of the group. We returned eight guys from last year and we got here for a lot of reasons and we were a whisker away from going a lot farther, but Vernon’s a good hockey club and we knew that so we’ll go out with our heads held up.”

The Kings’ Mitch Labreche has gone up against the Jones twins in the playoffs for five years now, dating back to his Junior B days with his hometown Nelson Leafs. He was with the Penticton Vees when they won the BCHL title in 2007-08.

“This is the most devastating loss I’ve ever been part of. I think, two years ago, in Penticton, when we won it and we went all the way, it didn’t feel like this,” said Labreche, in a teary Kings’ dressing room. “Had we gone all the way today, I mean some guys played 80-something games in a row.

“I thought there was a pretty good vibe around the room and at the hotel. Everything was on. We played a great game and we didn’t quit, and I guess that’s just the way things go unfortunately.”

Powell River captain Mat Bodie led the Kings from the back end in scoring with 31 points in 23 playoff games. As one of the returnees, he has felt this anguish before.

“Last year was the exact same feeling,” said a red-eyed Bodie seconds after hugging Lewis. “Last year I was playing with my brother (Kyle) and we couldn’t get it done. This year, it’s Game 7, one bounce right off their skate, off our skate – one bounce and that’s things.”

Bodie, a Manitoba product who has a NCAA scholarship to Union Dutchmen in New York for next year, had a blast in the rollercoaster final.

“That’s what hockey’s all about, just giving everything you’ve got. That’s what a playoff series should be, seven games decided in the last 10 minutes of the seventh game, and like I said, one bounce.”

Added Bodie: “Best of luck to Vernon. Back-to-back champions. I don’t think that’s happened in quite a few years in the BCHL, and a chance for a back-to-back national championships. I wish them all the best.”

A distraught Campbell, a 20-year-old Yukon product in his fourth full season with Powell River, was consoled by teammates on the ice and in the dressing room after the loss.

Labreche, who plans to get a “hard-working job and try and stay in shape” back in Ontario, where his mom lives, summed up the positive side of graduation from Junior A hockey.

“I’m gonna be there one day. If it can go wrong as a 20-year-old, I mean, this is probably the best way it could go.”

Lewis, 43, has now lost the BCHL final series five times.

“We just gotta keep working hard, and the harder you work you get the breaks, but it’s getting a little old getting this far and not getting it done,” said Lewis, who played for the Nanaimo Clippers and WHL Victoria Cougars back in the day. “My brother (a policeman) has tagged me with Marv Levy (Buffalo Bills coach who lost four Super Bowls). We intend to be back next year. We’ll have more than eight coming back who I think learned a lot coming through this way.”

Lewis lightly kicked the Kings’ dressing room door and headed to an adjacent room where he sat by himself, pondering the loss with his hands on his face.

“It’s a good thing I’ve got new comfy shoes because she’ll be a long walk tonight.”

Said Connor Jones, after embracing his father, Terry, who won the 1983 Memorial Cup with Ray Ferraro, Cam Neely and the Portland Winter Hawks: “It feels the exact same if not better. It was just as great with a new bunch of guys and I’m so happy for everybody who wasn’t with the team last year. It’s just a great feeling. Powell River, that was the hardest series anybody’s ever been in, and holy cow, I think we gave it our all in that last game.”

After a few days rest, the Vipers will leave today for Alberta, where they will face either the Spruce Grove Saints or Fort McMurray Oil Barons in the Doyle Cup Championship. Those two clubs met in Game 7 of the AJHL Enerflex Cup Championship Tuesday night in Spruce Grove.

Games 1 and 2 of the Doyle Cup go Friday and Saturday night respectively in Alberta. If the teams split those two games, Game 3 remains in Alberta.