Twice Is Nice For Vipers:

This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

Twice is nice for Vipers

Published: May 11, 2010

No pressure on head coach/GM Mark Ferner and the returning players or anything, but a Royal Bank Cup three-peat by the Vernon Vipers in 2011 would be nice.

After all, the most accomplished junior A hockey franchise in Canada has won back-to-back titles twice, but never three in a row.

The Vernon Lakers came closest, going to four straight Centennial Cups from 1989-92, winning the national championship in 1990 and 91. In 1989 and 1992, the Lakers did not reach the final. In their other six Canadian tournament appearances, Vernon teams have reached the final game. And they are a perfect six-for-six in the gold-medal match.

Wow.

Sunday’s 8-1 thrashing of the host Dauphin (Man.) Kings clearly showed the Vipers were the better team, blowing open a tight 1-0 game with three goals less than a minute apart in the second period with only one of the goals being scored by a player named Jones (as in Connor and Kellen).

The Vipers’ depth, speed and experience – they had 13 players that played in the 2009 RBC in Victoria – were superior to that of the host Kings.

Perhaps it was the long journey the defending champs had just to get to Manitoba that gave them the edge over the other four teams – 26 playoff games, including the final two decided in game sevens.

Whatever it was, the City of Vernon and the entire North Okanagan region can be proud of the accomplishments of its junior A hockey squad, one that has put Vernon on the hockey map for the past 20 years.

Thanks to that, it’s not really that difficult to bring new players into the organization.

And it will make the drive for “Heaven is Seven,” as in national titles, very exciting to watch.