Vipers pull Fred Page three-peat
April 07, 2011
They talk about their friend “Freddie” like he’s a long-lost acquaintance, and in many ways he is.
He only shows up once a year, but when he does, Freddie is the life of the party, and the Vernon Vipers have been firmly entrenched in his inner social.
The Vipers are of course referring to Fred Page, whom the B.C. Hockey League championship trophy is named after, and, after concluding a four-game sweep of the Powell River Kings Tuesday night, he will reside in Vernon for a third straight year.
Not many people would have bet on the Snakes to sweep the Kings in a best-of-seven championship series. Even fewer would have picked them to come back from a three-goal deficit against the top defensive team in the BCHL.
The Snakes accomplished both feats with a 5-4 overtime win in Game 4 at Wesbild Centre.
Mike Zalewski, with his fifth post-season goal, scored eight minutes into OT, bringing nearly 2,500 fans to their feet in a deafening celebration.
“I can’t really put it into words, it was pretty unbelievable,” said Zalewski, of the biggest goal in his career.
“There was a lot of empty space in front and (Brett) Corkey got off a good shot and luckily it bounced right to me and I was just able to tuck it in.”
Zalewski, known as Zee to his friends, added with a grin: “We’re really glad we don’t have to hop on the bus (for a Game 5 in Powell River) in the morning.”
Down three goals early in the second period, captain David Robinson led the Viper rally with a pair of powerplay goals. The feisty winger buried the first one on a crisp three-way passing play between Adam Thompson and Stevie Weinstein. He got a stick on Weinstein’s shot from the sidewall to earn the second.
“He threaded the needle to me and I was all alone in front and managed to get some good wood on it and put her five-hole,” said Robinson, of his first goal. “I’m not the fanciest player, so I’ve got to go to the net and get some greasy ones. It’s nice to get rewarded.”
Back in September, Robinson had no idea what kind of season it would be. Even though a league title is always the goal, he was unsure a run at a third straight Fred Page Cup was realistic.
“We lost so many guys and there were lots of question marks up in the air. From the start Mark (head coach Ferner) and Willy (assistant coach Jason Williamson) really preached, especially to myself, that we were going to be good again.
“The strength of our team is our team. We have so much depth at forward and I can’t say enough about our d-men; they battled so hard.
“We’ve been a pretty resilient group all year long. Going down three against a team like that is definitely an uphill battle. We got the first one and the second shortly after that and it gave us a bit of confidence.”
Veteran Matt Garbowsky, who was held pointless until Game 4, got his team rolling 6:58 into the first period. After stripping Corkey of the puck to keep it in Vernon’s end, he capitalized on a quick shot from the slot, beating Kirby Halcrow blocker side.
Daniel Schuler set up the Kings’ second goal 44 seconds into the second period after he chipped the puck past Thompson at the point to create an odd-man rush. He fed Andrew Pettitt, who used a great second effort to tuck the puck behind Halcrow.
Schuler made it 3-0 on the very next shift as he barrelled up the left wing and shovelled a one-handed chip shot past Halcrow at 1:30.
Pettitt, a 5-foot-11, 180-pound Whitehorse product, was ecstatic when he made the Kings as an 18-year-old. He, along with fiery captain Chad Niddery, suffered his third straight Fred Page Cup loss to the Vipers.
“It’s not only just three times in a row to them, it’s three in a row,” he said. “Losing’s hard, it’s the one of the hardest things in the world to get over. It’s gonna sit forever.”
Pettitt, who racked up 11 points in the post season, will still have fond memories of the BCHL. He is committed to the University of Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves for next season.
“Three in a row is quite something to put on the hockey resume. It would have been nice to have a championship at least one year. I gained a lot of experience and had a lot of fun times and overcame a lot of obstacles and what not.”
He said the Kings’ coaching staff demands excellence every day.
“Right from when I got here, Kent laid down the law and we followed. He’s a great coach. I’ve got nothing but good things to say about him. I’d do anything for him.”
Goals by Kyle Murphy, collecting a nice chip feed from Weinstein (3A), and Dylan Walchuk, beating netminder Michael Garteig with a screen shot from the face-off dot, put Vernon ahead 4-3 going into the final frame.
Walchuk leads the Vipers with 10 goals and five assists in 16 playoff games.
Halcrow faced a post-season high 34 shots in Game 4 and was proud of how his team battled back.
“We kind of slipped for a little bit, but we brought that urgency back to our game. It was nice to see the boys come back and bring the life back into us and suck the life out of them. It was a good win,” he said.
“It (shots) kind of reminded me of the Quesnel days. I think the more shots I have the better I play, but even if I don’t have that many the mental game is still the same.”
Garbowsky, with his second of the night, forced OT with five minutes remaining, putting a hush in the crowd, and in the Viper dressing room.
Said Robinson: “It was definitely a lot more quiet in the dressing room between the third and overtime…but we believed in there and that’s all you have to do. You have to work hard and hopefully good things will happen.”
Added Ferner: “Stuff like that can be a backbreaker, but our just guys just regrouped.”
Ferner now has three BCHL titles in just four years as Vernon’s head coach. The Vipers are the first team to claim three straight since the Penticton Knights did it in 1980-82.
“We talked about the fact that we’re two-time defending champions. We don’t want to be cocky, but there has to be a little bit of swagger to our game,” he said.
“A very resilient group here and the credit has to be given to the players. They’ve taken direction all year long. Behind closed doors, there’s 23 guys that believe in what we do here and believe in one another. You don’t get this thing done unless you trust each other.”
Even with a young roster, Ferner was confident his veterans would carry the message and lead by example.
“It’s culture...and expectations. We knew coming into this year we wanted to have a younger group and be able to mould players the way we wanted them to be moulded. We knew we could do that with the players we had coming back and the success that they had.”
The Vipers await the winner of the AJHL Enerflex Cup series between the Spruce Grove Saints and Camrose Kodiaks. The Saints, rated No.1 in the CJHL rankings for most of the year, lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 heading into tonight’s Game 5.
Ferner wasn’t quite ready to comment on the upcoming Doyle Cup regional series until he knows who Vernon will face. The series begins next Friday in Vernon.
“We’re just happy that we’re going to play,” said Ferner. “I’m pretty confident in this group that pretty much anything is possible.”
Niddery, who played his minor hockey in Penticton, closed out a stellar four-year career with the Kings. He led the Sunshine Coast crew with 10 playoff goals and when he wasn’t trying to convince Walchuk to fight, he was putting Robinson in a headlock, anything to help the Kings compete.
“I never thought I’d even make Junior B. Grand Forks took a chance on me, Powell River took a chance on me and I’m just glad on how my career went. I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”
Niddery, a 5-foot-10, 165-pounder who never stops skating, lost his third straight Fred Page Cup series to the Snakes but showed grace in defeat.
“This is the third time I’ve had to go through this. Nothing against them. They work hard and they get the job done and the times that we need the bounces, we don’t really get them. One day, this team and organization will get it and I wish them the best of luck.”
Niddery and Kings’ towering d-man Justin Dasilva, who spent the last two seasons in Powell River, will play for the Ohio State Buckeyes next fall.
Dasilva, a 6-foot-5, 215-pounder out of Cambridge, Ont., said the Kings certainly didn’t expect to be swept. He said Vernon’s championship moxy came into play.
“You can’t really digest it right now,” said the soft-spoken giant. “In time, I’ll look back and say they were the best team. They did everything they could to win. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to digest it though.”
Dasilva, who said he learned to play a relentless style with fire and edge in the BCHL, was recruited by the Kings after two seasons with the Junior A Brampton Capitals.
“I’m very proud to be a Powell River King and I always will be. These are my brothers for life. Best decision of my life to come out here.”
Lewis, showing at least three days of beard growth, was naturally frustrated in yet another championship loss.
“This was the strangest of them,” said Lewis, 44, and on his third tour in his hometown, where he works at Hap Parker Arena.
“In a nutshell, Game 1, we were bad. Game 2, I thought we were good. Game 3, I thought we were good. Tonight, not in the cards. We just didn’t have the composure in the second period with the lead and just didn’t play our hockey, and usually we’re very good at that.
“Hats off to Mark and his crew. They find ways to win and that’s what’s important. They did it and a sweep’s a sweep. It was a good battle. It’s a lousy way to end a great year. We had a good group of kids, I’m proud of them. They were very committed and we stuck with this group from camp through the deadline.”
Lewis, who was a hard-nosed winger with the WHL Victoria Cougars and BCJHL Nanaimo Clippers back in the day, rejoined the Kings six years ago with the team in turmoil.
“I wanted to get this franchise to being respectable, but it’s getting to the point where we want to win a league title,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s doing the best that you can and we just didn’t do a good enough job. We’re having a hard time keepin ‘em out which we’ve been great at all year, and we had a hard time scoring five on five until today. We scored one five-on-five goal through three games. You can’t win a league final doing that. That’s ridiculous.”
He’s stoked about the legacy the Kings have built under his tutelage.
“That torch gets passed to a really good returning group again. We’re very proud of the franchise, we’re very proud of how hard we work and how we’re run. We’ll be hard at it again.”
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