Camrose hosts hockey’s RBC Cup
Home-town Kodiaks ready to take on Vernon
By Mario Annicchiarico, edmontonjournal.com April 29, 2011
EDMONTON - After an 18-day layoff, Boris Rybalka believes his Camrose Kodiaks are prepared to be more than just cordial hosts as the Alberta Junior Hockey League club begins RBC Cup play Saturday night at home at the Edgeworth Centre.
With the national Junior A hockey championship on the line, the Kodiaks begin play in the five-team tournament in Camrose at 7 p.m. against the two-time defending Canadian champion Vernon Vipers, who are coming off a thrilling seven-game Doyle Cup series win over the Spruce Grove Saints to earn the Pacific region nod.
The Saints had eliminated Rybalka and the Kodiaks in five games in the AJHL championship series earlier this month.
“We didn’t want to lose in the championship final, but 18 days has done wonders for healing injuries and recouping and getting our energy levels back up after playing 23 playoff games, so it turned out to be a positive,” said Rybalka, who immediately handed his team four days off before getting back into the swing of things.
The time off allows the likes of Jordan Hale, Tyler Skague, Mario Boilard and Jesse Altheim – who were all unavailable through the AJHL final – to get back on the roster.
“They’ll all be ready to play, so that’s awesome,” said Rybalka, who has also used his time wisely in scouting the competition which includes the Portage Terriers as West region reps, the Wellington Dukes from Central and Pembroke Lumber Kings from the East.
“It’s strange. It’s our sixth time in an RBC and it’s the first time for myself and the coaching staff to watch other teams,” said Rybalka, whose Kodiaks won the RBC Cup championship in 2001 and claimed Doyle Cup (the Alberta vs. B.C. Championship series) victories in 2001, ’03, ’05, ’07 and ’08. “We watched Spruce Grove and Vernon, but also saw La Ronge and Portage and Pembroke and Wellington.”
Portage defeated La Ronge in a Game 7 scenario for the Anavet Cup in Manitoba.
“We’ve got a pretty good read on all the teams that are here,” insisted Rybalka. “We’ve made our notes, pre-scouted and are prepping the boys on what their tendencies may be, but at the same time we want to focus on what we want to do in executing against these teams.”
The Kodiaks will open against a solid Vipers team that just knocked off Spruce Grove, which was rated No. 1 nationally for most of the season.
“We like it. When a schedule is set like that we want to play Pacific because we know the region is good,” said Rybalka. “Alberta and B.C. are strong hockey regions and it’s a perfect way to start the Royal Bank Cup.
“When they threw out that proposed schedule to us, we accepted it right off the bat. We thought it was great. To play the defending RBC champs – what better way to kick off the tournament. They’re solid defensively, solid through the neutral zone.
“They don’t make many mistakes. The key to their team is they all have good speed, but they all buy-in (to the system). You just have to turn around and be tenacious against them and go after them. We’ve watched some of the videos and some of their games. They’re a very well coached team that plays a solid, smart game.”
And Rybalka, more than anyone, should know just what a role the host team can play in this event. It was in 2005 that his Kodiaks lost a tough last-minute 3-2 decision to the RBC Cup host Weyburn Red Wings in that championship final in Saskatchewan, a gut-wrenching defeat.
“Our goal is to bring a national championship back to Camrose and back to Alberta and we know exactly what it will take,” said Rybalka. “We have prepared this team so that it knows that every game this week will be like a Game 7.”
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