Three Former Vipers Season Comes To An End:

The AJHL's Grande Prairie Storm (along with three former Vipers) season come to an end last night after the Storm fell 5-1 to the visiting Lloydminster Bobcats who come back after going down 2-0 in the series to win the series in five games. This also means three former Vernon Vipers season also come to an end. Storm forward, Gus Correale, Storm defenceman, Matt Cumming and Storm Head Coach-GM, Mike Vandekamp. Correale started the season in Vernon before being traded to Grande Prairie back on October, 26th 2010. Cumming started the 2006-07 season in Vernon as an "AP" with the Vipers before making the Vipers roster in 2007-08. Cumming would leave the Vipers that season before making stops with the WHL Prince George Cougars & Kamloops Blazers before finally being traded to Grande Prairie in 2009. Mike Vandekamp who was head coach and general manager of the Vipers from (2001-05) guided the Storm to a 4th place finish in the North Division with a 34-22-0-4 regular season record.

This is posted on the Storm website:

BOCATS END STORM SEASON

Thu, Mar 03 2011

The Grande Prairie Storm 2010-2011 season is over a little sooner than expected.

The Storm fell 5-1 to the Lloydminster Bobcats Thursday night in the Canada Games Arena and lost a best-of-five Alberta Junior Hockey League North Division quarterfinal 3-2 after leading the series 2-0.

Lloydminster now take on the Spruce Grove Saints in a best-of-seven North Division semifinal that is expected to start on the weekend in Spruce Grove.

“We were a little afraid to lose tonight,” said Storm coach/general manager Mike Vandekamp. “Some of them (Storm players) were almost frozen.”

After falling behind 2-0 after two periods, the Storm came out hard in the third making the game 2-1 on the powerplay on a Tanner Fritz goal just 21 seconds into the final frame and then dominated for the next 10 minutes but couldn’t get the equalizer.

“We needed to do that for 60 minutes and not 20,” said Vandekamp. “It took us too long to get after it.”

Storm veteran RJay Berra had a chance to tie the game about 12 minutes into the third, but hit the crossbar. The Bobcats shortly after at 13:10, on a goal by Steve Dobbin, scored to make it 3-1 and take away the momentum the Storm had generated in the first half of the third.

Cam Hodgins had given Lloydminster a 1-0 lead at 18:45 of the first and Kyle Bowen made it 2-0 at 11:51 of the second. Both goals were the direct result of turnovers in the Storm end after some outstanding forechecking by the Bobcats.

If the Dobbin goal didn’t seal the deal the fourth Lloydminster tally, off the stick of Nate Rempel at 17:03 certainly did. Mitchell Gartner finished it off with an empty net goal at 19:32.

After taking a 2-0 series lead with 4-0 and 6-2 wins in Grande Prairie the final result of the series was somewhat of a surprise.

The Storm lost 3-2 in Game 3 in Lloydminster and Vandekamp felt that game was a bit of a turnaround.

“That was the game where we needed to strike,” said Vandekamp of Monday’s where the Storm had taken a 1-0 lead early and had a chance to make it 3-0 by the halfway point of the first except for some outstanding saves by Lloydminster netminder Kraymer Barnstable.

“Their goalie stepped up in game three and forward,” said Vandekamp. “He played really well.”

Vandekamp also felt the loss of physical forward Taylor Cote, who was to have surgery on a separated shoulder this week, hurt the team as did injuries to others including defencemen Caylen Walls and Ryan Hamberg, who played injured.

“They seemed to stay healthier . . . not that they didn’t have guys banged up,” said Vandekamp.

Grande Prairie finished four points ahead of Lloydminster in the North Division standings and had eliminated the Bobcats in the first round in 2009 and 2010.

But not all of the Storm players showed up in the post season.

“There were some guys that didn’t have good playoffs. We had some guys who were starting to squeeze their sticks the last few games.”

Vandekamp did not include his captain, Tanner Fritz, in that group.

Fritz, the AJHL Most Valuable player, led the team in scoring in the post season with six points on three goals and three assists in the five games.

The Grande Prairie native won’t be back with the team next season. He is off to the NCAA to play with the Ohio State Buckeyes.

He is one of nine players who won’t be back.

The others include forwards Berra, Cam McWilliam, John Girman, Dominic Savoie and Jordan Forfar; defencemen Derek Henderson and Mitch Fillman and goalie Andy Williams.

That means 15 are eligible to return including goalie Colin Dzijacky; defencemen Kenton Helgeson, Matt Cumming, Walls, Hamberg, Scott Milnthorp and Matthew Chrystian; and forwards Gus Correale, Braden Crone, Dan Correale, Cote, Daniel Dale, Josh Juell, Jon Aylward, and Mitch Neumeier.

“We have some decisions to make with our club,” Vandekamp says of the 2011-2012 season. “We have lots of good players returning and some good players on our radar. We’ll put a good team together next year.”

Despite the early exit, Vandekamp was proud of his team.

“They are one of the best group I’ve ever coached,” he said. “The kids worked really hard all season. “

The final event for the 2010-2011 season will be the team’s windup banquet and awards night next week.

And then work begins on 2010-2011 with a spring camp in Edmonton April 16-17.