This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:
Vipers reloading for 2018-19
Vipers lose Game 6 in OT
Kevin Mitchell
Mar. 27, 2018
Mark Ferner was in his office Tuesday morning, trying to get over the numbness from being knocked out of the playoffs while recruiting all over North America for next season.
The Vipers finished second overall in the 17-team B.C. Hockey League and were picked by many to reach the national championship Royal Bank Cup in Chilliwack.
Things first starting going sideways when the Vipers lost beloved longtime franchise owner Duncan Wray, who died in his sleep Jan. 11, at age 68.
Two weeks later, the Vipers lost NHL prospect Josh Prokop, who rang up three hat tricks and 21 goals before being sidelined for the season with a shoulder injury.
Vernon stuck together and got through the loss of Wray and Prokop, finishing with a 10-game winning streak before losing Game 3 of the best-of-seven quarterfinal series to the Wenatchee Wild. The Vipers went 7-1 in February.
The Snakes’ season appeared headed in the proper fashion when they went up 2-0 on the Wild with captain Jagger Williamson using duct tape to stick to power forward and league MVP Jasper Weatherby, holding him pointless in Games 1 and 2. Williamson was suspended for Games 4 and 5, both losses, for taking his third goaltender interference penalty of the season in the third game.
Centre Brett Stapley, also an NHL prospect, was concussed in Game 3 and lost for the series. Monster d-man Shane Kelly, as intimidating the mean as they come in the BCHL was sorely missed all series on Injured Reserve.
The depleted Snakes earned their shower every shift in a 3-2 double overtime loss to the Wild before the loudest crowd of the season Friday night at Kal Tire Place before losing 4-3 in overtime Saturday night in Wenatchee to close their season.
“It’s very, very disappointing for the players,” said Ferner. “We ran out of gas, we ran out of bodies. I let them know how proud of them I was. I always talk about not beating ourselves and we certainly didn’t do that. I’ve always said you need good goaltending, good defence and a little luck to win in the playoffs and we didn’t get any luck. Sometimes it’s a war of attrition. The best part about this group was they didn’t quit and the best thing you can do for a teammate is put in an unwavering effort.”
Ferner said the line of Derek Brown, Jimmy Lambert and Alex Swetlikoff had enough Grade A chances for five goals, while Josh Latta just missed on a breakaway.
“I kept saying to myself, “We need a goal here when it was 3-1 for us.’ Tip of the hat to Wenatchee, they’re a good team. I told the guys whoever won this series would win the Royal Bank Cup. Credit to them.”
Ferner, assisted by Kevin Kraus and Kevin Pedersen, was high on his roster.
“It was a great group of kids. The kids we brought in did what we expected and we wanted. Every kid that came here said it was the best group they had ever played with. We have to continue to build on that culture.”
The Vipers lose most of their core group, but d-man Michael Young (9-23-32) of Boston has de-committed from the UConn Huskies and will join Jack Judson and Mitch Andres as minute-munchers on the back end. There are rumblings that Ariona State Sun Devils, who have 19 forwards recruited, may ask centre Jordan Sandhu to play one more year with the Vipers. Same goes for Williamson, a Western Michigan Wildcats’ commit.
Winger Keyvan Mokhtari will wait a year before playing for the Colorado College Tigers.
Rookie winger Elan Bar-Lev-Wise, who was summoned from Burnaby Winter Club Midgets (23-39-61) for the last part of the Wenatchee series, and freshman d-man Will Dow Kenny, who saw some action with Vernon (8-22-30 with Fraser Valley Major Midget Thunderbirds) will be regulars in 2018-19. Bar-Lev-Wise, 17, already has a scholarship with the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Playing like a team with their season on the line Saturday, the Vipers got on the board first on a Brown shot fired from the left circle. Ufberg drew the assist at 3:31.
Just under 10 minutes later, Brown set up Lambert for a similar score from the opposite wing on a 2-on-1 rush. Swetlikoff earned the secondary helper.
D-man Zak Galambos blasted home a shot from the left circle as a Wild power play expired almost three minutes later.
The Wild trailed 2-1 until a defensive zone gaffe allowed Niko Karamanis to walk in alone on Austin Park and tuck a nifty shot around him low to the glove side. It was 3-1 Vernon after 40 minutes.
The energy of the Wolves Den seemed to lift the Wild to a level that transcended physical fatigue in the third period. The determined Wild peppered Viper goalie and third star Ty Taylor with 27 shots in the third period with Weatherby lasering a shot high, glove side, after walking off from the right wing wall at 4:27, and Sam Hesler equalized at 12:33 after Murphy Stratton entered the zone on the right wing and snapped a crisp pass across to the left size where Cooper Zech was entering across the Viper blue line. Zech’s shot was finished off by Sam Hesler standing at the top of the crease. The game was tied at 3-3 and the building was sizzling.
Wenatchee had two power play chances in the final five minutes but couldn’t find the equalizer, sending the game to overtime for the second consecutive evening. It took just over three and a half minutes. Wenatchee ripped seven shots at Taylor in overtime, and Park never saw a single one. As consistent pressure stayed in the Vipers’ zone, it was eventually captain AJ Vanderbeck who found a clear shooting lane to wire home the winner at 3:38.
The Wild will meet the Trail Smoke Eaters in a semifinal series starting Friday night in Wenatchee.
Veteran Ross Armour pocketed 2+1 as the Smokies bounced the Vees 4-2 in Game 7 Monday night before 4,324 fans at the South Okanagan Events Centre. Vernon’s Blaine Caton picked up one assist for the Smokies, who finished fourth in the Interior Division, 17 points behind Penticton.
The Vees sorely missed Toronto Maple Leafs’ draft Ryan O’Connell, a d-man, and high-scoring forward Grant Cruikshank in the playoffs. Both players were badly injured 25 games into the regular season.
Meanwhile, Quinnipiac Bobcats recruit Ethan de Jong bagged a deuce as the Prince George Spruce Kings dispatched the Surrey Eagles 4-0 in Game 7 before 2,112 fans Sunday night at the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena. The Kings take on the Powell River Kings in semifinal play.
De Jong compiled 10 points (5-5-10) in the series, including two goals in both Game 6. The Burnaby product posted the first two goals Monday night.
SNAKE BITES: Trainer Tyrol Deeg will not return to the Vipers after his three-year contract expired…Ferner plans to scout the national U16 and U18 tournament, April 5-10, in Philadelphia…Ferner says the Vees and Brooks Bandits are chasing the same elite goalie for next year. The Okotoks Oilers are riding a 27-game win streak going into the South final series with Brooks…Kelowna’s Ryan Moon is in his second year with Trail after one year of Junior B in Armstrong with the North Okanagan Knights.
Former Vernon Vipers goaltender Andrew Hammond sustained a head injury in a February 26th win over the Vancouver Canucks.
