vees:blog

* The Vees and the Vipers are 1-2 in today’s release of the CJHL national rankings. Vernon has been sitting in top spot all season (and beyond), while the Vees got an honourable mention in week one, were moved up to 6th in week two, continued to rise to 3rd in week 3 and now are one back of their hated rivals. The Okanagan rivals will play on Friday in Penticton at the SOEC. If you like hockey, I trust you’ll be in attendance. This is an early candidate for game of the year. ValleyFirstTix.com or the SOEC box office for tickets.

* Goaltender Josh Watson (90) of the Powell River Kings has been named the BCHL ‘Player of the Week. The import net-minder was spectacular this week going (4-0-0) with two clean sheets, helping the Kings claim sole possession of first place in the Coastal Conference.

Week two ‘P.O.W.’ F - Mark Zengerle (89) had another monster weekend, this time posting 4 goals, 9 assists, and 13 points in 3 games played. That’s over 4 points a game! Zengerle now sits just 2 points back of Denver Manderson in the BCHL scoring race.

* The Nanaimo Clippers aren’t the power house they once were. After four consecutive seasons with the BCHL’s best record in the regular season (from 04/05 until 07/08) the Clippers finished ninth overall last year and are struggling early this year in a wide open Coastal Conference. The Clippers were shutout on Friday and Saturday and now sit in the basement of the Coastal Conference. To add salt to the wound on Friday Night former Clippers assistant Nolan Graham bested Bill Bestwick’s Clippers in a classic case of the student beating his professor.

The Clippers have not won at home yet this year, they are the only BCHL team that hasn’t. It’s not that Nanaimo is a bad club, it’s just that they haven’t been able to win close games. The Clippers have lost six one goal games this year, three of those in OT. The Clippers goal differential is just minus - 4.

* The Penticton Vees accomplished something that hadn’t been done since April 10th on Saturday, as the Blue Black and White handed Vernon their first loss in 22 games. The Vipers were previously unbeaten in seven regular season contests, four pre-season matches, didn’t lose at the RBC Cup (National Championship round robin and playoffs) in Victoria, swept the AJHL champion Grande Prairie Storm, and then of course won game six of the BCHL final against Powell River (wow).

The Vipers were not shutout once last year. Sean Bonar is the first net-minder to hold Vernon off the score sheet since former Vees puckstopper Alex Evin (seen above facing Vernon in Memorial Arena) did it on March 8th of 2008, in the second round of the playoffs (the Vees won the Fred Page Cup that season).

For more game reaction from Saturday’s game as well as all other Vipers news head to the Vipers Die Hard Fan Blog.

* The Merritt Centennials suffered a late heart break on Sunday in West Kelowna as the team watched the Warriors bury two goals in the last five minutes of play to the the game, and then another in OT to steal a victory from the jaws of defeat.

Musical goalies continue in Merritt as well as they’ve added a WHL cut to their squad. Also the club shipped Tyler Miller to his home town of Prince George after being dropped by the WHL’s Cougars ($10 say he never even left town). Brian Wiebe has the latest and thinks there’s more in the works as well.

* After opening the season undefeated in regulation through their first six games, the Burnaby Express have found out how difficult wins are to earn in the Interior. After a 7-2 spanking in Salmon Arm on Friday, the pain train’s next stop was Trail were the Smokies earned just their second win of the year in a 5-4 OT triumph. Making matters worse was a 4-2 Sunday loss in Vernon for the club’s third defeat in 48 hours. With just a single point earned from a possible six, the Express have been dumped off their throne and are now right back in the pack in the Coastal Conference.

Burnaby broadcaster and blogger Eddie Gregory may have seen this this coming.

* A couple great games with ramifications on Interior Conference standings go down Tuesday night in the BCHL. In the Caribou the Quesnel Millionaires visit the Prince George Spruce Kings for the second time this year. Quesnel won round one by a 4-1 score, and are a single point up on their rivals from PG for fifth in the Interior Conference.

Also, Trail visits Merritt for the second time this year (the sight of their season-opening loss), with both clubs playing much better hockey than they were just two weeks ago. The Smokies have points in 3 of 4 games, while the Cents beat Penticton last week and nearly beat Westside on Sunday. Seeds five through nine are looking pretty jumbled right now in the Interior, but we may have a clearer picture come Wednesday.

* It took nealy a month, but the Trail Smoke Eaters have finally have gotten into the win column. It appears the Williams Lake Timberwolves were the perfect tonic for the struggling Kootenay club as the Smokies pounded the resurrected Caribou squad 7-2. The Smokies are off the grill yet though, as they play @ Salmon Arm on Tuesday, @ Penticton on Friday, before hosting Burnaby on Saturday.

* The Vernon Vipers are still undefeated on the campaign after wins over Williams Lake and Quesnel. The Jones boys have finally scored a goal after what some have called a sluggish start to the season for the Twins (it hasn’t seem to have slowed the team, has it).

* Home ice has been kind so far in the BCHL. Teams in the Interior Conference are (15-12-0-2) on home ice, while the Coastal clubs are (19-6-0-3) against visting clubs. That’s a BCHL winning percentage of .669 for the hosts this year. Still unbeaten in regulation at home are: Alberni/Burnaby/Langley/Penticton/Powell River/Vernon/Victoria/Westside. The only teams without a home win are Nanaimo and Salmon Arm

* Millionaire Kirby Halcrow wins the BCHL POW as he back stopped the Quesnel Millionaires to a single win in 3 games (huh!?). Don’t get me wrong, I like what I’ve seen from Halcrow, but how does the league overlook Denver Manderson’s monster weekend with 10 points in 3 games (including back-to-back 4 point nights against Salmon Arm) for a goalie who won once? Also, check in on Graeme Gordon’s numbers in Vernon - the Vipers tendy’s numbers are downright stingy for the WHOLE SEASON. His season GAA is better than Halcrow’s was this week, yeesh!.

Speaking of Manderson here are the filthy numbers on his 20-year-old season: 8GP - 9G - 15 A - 24 Pts.

The Vees Captain has recorded at least a point in each of his 8 games. Denver has 7 multi-point games, a trio of three-point games and 3 four-point games. Manderson leads the league with 9 goals and has yet to spend a single minute in the penalty box. WOW.

* The Vees strong play early this season has vaulted them up another 2 spots in the National Rankings. The blue, black and white are now sitting 3rd in the Nation behind the undefeated National Champs in Vernon who haven’t lost since 1976 (or maybe it just feels like it’s been that long) and the Manitoba Jr. League’s Dauphin Kings (this year’s host of the RBC Cup in May) who are ranked #2 in Canada with six wins in their first seven games.

The Salmon Arm Silverbacks (3-3-0-1) have disappeared from the rankings altogether after a pair of loses to the Vees. Salmon Arm’s 3 wins in 7 games have all come at the expense of Caribou clubs (WL, PG, QUE). The Silverbacks have given up 8 points in 4 games played with Penticton and Vernon.

Still no love for the Coastal Conference in the national rankings. I’m not sure why the Burnaby Express (5-0-0-1) haven’t garnered a mention yet, with their quick start (undefeated in regulation play).

The Express have three former Vees helping turn that club around after missing the playoffs last year. D - Jimmy Geerin (89) had 4 points against Merritt on Saturday, F - Brad Reid (90) (older brother of Cam Reid in Westside) has 5 points in 6 games after recording 18 points all last season in Penticton, while uber-skilled defender Matt Ridley (90) has chipped in with 3 points in 4 games played. Tough as nails F - Luke Challier (90) was a member of the Vees to start the 07/08 season and leads the club with 26 PIM.

Lots going on in the BCHL, here’s a look at the latest…

* Surrey Eagles 20-goal man Spencer Bennett has elected to play for the Portland Winter Hawks this season after being drafted by Calgary in the 5th round.

Spencer ducks out on a commitment to the University of Alaska Anchorage with the decision. No word if any Sutters influenced his choice.

* The Prince George Spruce Kings have brought back former Penticton Bronco Ed Dempsey for two more years at the helm. He’s responded by making some roster tweaks including bringing in Pentictonite and former Vees net-minder Evan Smith. Some nice TV coverage here on Ron Gallo’s Blog.

* The Merritt Centennials have rounded out their coaching staff with assistants Luke Pierce and Richard Molenaar.

The new assistants join Head Coach and GM Joey Bouchard (above) in the quest to snap their two year run without playoff action.

* The Trail Smoke Eaters have settled on a goal-tending tandem that backed up Kevin Jebson in Westside last season. Garrett Beckwith and Devon Murtagh have re-united in the Kootenays to stop pucks, but the question remains who will back up Jebson be the starter. The Smokies have also added Darnell Dyck up front in exchange for 20-year-old goalie Paul Barclay who was shipped to Surrey. My homeboy ‘Mullsy’ is all over it at the Smokies Blog.

* The Vees will play an extensive seven game pre-season schedule (five of which are on the road). Starting with a three game round robin in Trail with the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits, the Coastal Conference defending champs from Powell River, and of course the host Smokies. Last season a similar pre-season event was played in Dawson Creek, BC with the Grande Prairie Storm (AJHL) Prince George Spruce Kings and the Burnaby Express taking part.

* After Brad Fox scampered out of town the reincarnated Timberwolves have announced their 2nd head coach as Dave Dupas formally of the Okanagan Major Midget Rockets.

Dupas has a two-year deal and an owner/president in John Wright who wants to be a playoff team come March. That could pose a problem.

* Vernon Vipers D-Man Kyle Bigos was at Oilers Prospect Camp after being drafted in the 4th round. Bigos is interviewed here, and pumps the tires of the RBC Cup as best he can.

Bigos was as improved as any player in the BCHL last season and was named the MVP and Top D-man at the RBC (he is shown above teasing his bleached-blonde Mohawk). Bigos is off to Merrimack this season and will leave a big hole on the Vernon blueline that will also lose Cam Brodie, Cody Ikkala and Mike Leidl due to their ‘88 birth years.

* Staying with the national champs, Pentictonite Sahir Gill is off to the Chicago Steel USHL, which has left some cranky at the Northern tip of the Okanagan. Like mysterious ‘vipersdiehardfan’ blogger who clearly has (her/his) (panties/briefs) in a knot about the move.

Head Coach Mark Ferner was also less than enthusiastic about Gill’s goodbye when speaking with the Vernon Morning Star:

“I feel like we treat our players pretty good here. Here’s a young player, 16-years-old, playing on the top line, the top powerplay unit, and he goes and makes a lateral move to another league… He had offers from big (NCAA) schools and he had NHL teams looking at him. There will be lots of teams who will question Sahir for making this decision.”

To me it’s not a lateral move at all. Yes, the BCHL and USHL are both NCAA eligible junior leagues, but c’mon the USHL had seven players drafted at the June NHL Entry Draft BEFORE Kyle Bigos was the first BCHLer nabbed, and the USHL grossed seventeen players picked as compared to five players selected from the BCHL. Add the US Developmental Program to a concentrated 13 team league this year, over 180 commitments to college programs and it’s obvious the level of play in the USHL is simply higher.

Sahir wanted to play at a higher level. End of story. This isn’t about getting a commitment (he already has his pick of schools), this is about development and a bigger challenge for the talented ‘92 forward - who was far and away the top 16 year old in the BCHL last season.

Holy smokes, it’s been ages since the last update on the Vees Blog.

It seems like it was just yesterday that Kyle Bigos dangled in from the left point and toe-dragged the entire Humboldt Broncos squad enroute to the Vipers 5th RBC Cup.

Since we last spoke the Vees Blog has been scuba diving with sharks (okay, there was only one) in Malaysia, enjoying pork dumplings in Shanghai, and climbing in Yangshuo “ni-hao“!

Okay, enough storytelling. With the NHL Entry Draft taking place this weekend it’s time to get back into hockey mode.

Lots of news and notes regarding the Vees and the BCHL including:

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The 2009 RBC Cup has been won by the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers, marking a record setting 5th Canadian Junior ‘A’ Championship.

Undefeated through five previous games at the tournament, the Vipers defeated the defending champion Humboldt Broncos 2-0 in front of nearly 2000 fans at Bear Mountain Arena in Victoria.

Here’s a conversation with Nanaimo Clippers play-by-play voice Dan Marshall who covered the event in the broadcast booth and at ice level.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [11:58m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

Dan Marshall updates us on the opening three days of the National Championships from Victoria where the Kingston Voyageurs and the Summerside Western Capitals have struggled against their Western counter-parts.

You can catch the aformentioned voice of the Nanaimo Clippers calling the non-BCHL games here.

Here’s how the action has played out thus far. We could have an all BCHL final on tap.

The staff at the Times-Colonist (Victoria fish-wrap) are all over the RBC including fashion trends, love of the snakes, and of course the home team’s rebound.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcasts [13:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download | Embeddable Player

The defending champs have returned and the BCHL is well represented as Victoria hosts this year’s RBC Cup.

Here’s a brief look at each of the 5 clubs vying for the most prestigious trophy in Junior A Hockey.

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4 Games, that’s all it took for the Vernon Vipers to dispatch of the AJHL Champion Grande Prairie Storm. In a series that started in the old Civic Centre in Vernon the Vipers played a physical, and defensively responsible series allowing just 6 goals in the four game sweep.

16-year-old Pentictonite Sahir Gill had a sensational Doyle Cup racking up 6 points playing with the infamous Jones Twins of Fruitvale, BC. The Vipers top line totaled 20 points in the 4-game series.

Former Vees tough-guy Eli Grossmann closed out his Junior career with a baffling set of decisions late in Game 2… have a look if you don’t know what I’m talking about. Eli apologized to the officials and I have spoken with him since the event. The 20-year-old is embarrassed and remorseful regarding the incident. Odds are this isn’t the last we hear about this black eye on Junior A Hockey.

With the Victory, the Vipers advance to the RBC Cup in Victoria, which will feature two BCHL entries. Host Victoria and the aforementioned Vipers are in to the 5 team national championship.

In the Prairies (ANAVET CUP) - Portage and Humbolt are in the midst of a best of seven for the ‘West’ entry to the tournament. Former Vees netminder Bryan Mountain has the Portage of the Prairie Terriers up 3 game to 1 with game 5 in Humboldt tonight.

In Ontario 4 teams are still vying for the Dudley Hewitt Cup and the right to represent the ‘Central’ region. Fort William has the top record in the round robin thus far.

Out East 4 teams (from Quebec, PEI, New Brunswick and Ontario) are battling for the Fred Page Cup (yes, the same name as the BCHL’s Championship Trophy). With Dieppe, ON and Summerside, PEI getting early round robin victories.

Meanwhile the Victoria Grizzlies haven’t played hockey since March 31, but will be hit the ice on May 2nd to kick off the RBC Cup Round Robin.

The field of 26 playoff teams in Alberta and BC has been whittled down to 2.

The Vernon Vipers and Grande Prairie Storm are set to do battle for the right to advance to the RBC Cup in Victoria.

The Storm have been idle since April 5th when they swept the Spruce Grove Saints in the Enerflex Cup (AJHL Final), while the Vipers dispatched of the Powell River Kings last night in Game 6 of the Fred Page Cup in Vernon.

There are a few interesting storylines set up for the Doyle Cup, here’s a peek at the details…

COACH VANDEKAMP

Mike Vandekamp’s return to Vernon should be fun to watch. The Grande Prairie Coach and Director of Hockey Operations has an extensive BCHL coaching career in Merritt, Vernon and Powell River. Vandekamp has been named BCHL coach of the year twice including in ‘01/’02, his first year as the head coach of the Vipers.

Vandekamp Coached Vernon for four seasons (’01/’02 to ‘04-’05) taking the Vipers to the final in all but one of those years, and leading the snakes to a Fred Page Cup Championship in ‘02/’03. The Vipers eventually were eliminated by the Camrose Kodiaks (sound familiar Vees fans?) in the Doyle Cup.

SERIES STARTS AT CIVIC CENTRE

The Vipers will open the first leg of the series in the Vernon Civic Centre, not the Westbild Centre which is booked for a forestry show. It’s a case of bad timing for the Vipers who will now be maxed out at just over 2000 fans per game rather than the 3000+ that fit the Wesbild Centre. Should the Vipers have closed out the BCHL Final sooner, the series could have been started early allowing games to be played at the bigger, better barn.

FAMILY TIES

Vernon Vipers Forward Braden Pimm will face his cousin Bernie (Director of Scouting for the Grande Prairie Storm) who used also to be an assistant coach of the Vipers in ‘05/’06. The Pimms are a from Fort St. John, BC where Mike Vandekamp played his Junior (Huskies) and Senior (Flyers) Hockey, and started his coaching career (coincidentally F.S.J. is where this broadcaster called his first junior hockey on the radio).

GROSSMANN RETURNS

For the third season in a row, Elias Grossmann will face the Vernon Vipers in the playoffs. In each of the past 2 seasons Eli suited up against the snakes as a member of the Vees, but will do so as a member of the Storm this year. Grossmann was acquired by Grande Prairie from the Vees at the Junior ‘A’ trade deadline in January, and was reunited with Mike Vandekamp, who coached him in Prince George with the WHL’s Cougars in ‘06-’07.

HISTORICALLY

The Vipers and Storm have never played before in their history, but Alberta has won the Doyle Cup 6 times this decade, after BC won the Cup 8 times in the 90’s.

Here’s the complete schedule for the 2009 Doyle Cup.

The AJHL and BCHL Finals are set!

ENERFLEX CUP

Spruce Grove vs. Grande Prairie

This best of 7 for the AJHL Championship pits the top two teams from the Northern Division. The Storm have bolted out to a 2 game lead thanks to 4 goals on the man advantage, and Spruce Grove (who lost just 7 games in the regular season) is now behind the 8-ball.

Former Vees tough-guy Elias Grossmann has played 11 of the Storm’s 17 playoff games but has yet to suit up in the league finals due to injury.

Games 3 and 4 run on Saturday and Sunday from Grande Prairie.

AJHL piece on the contrasting styles of play

Boxscores

FRED PAGE CUP

Powell River Kings vs. Vernon Vipers

The Kings and Vipers have put together fantastic seasons to this point and are coming off series victories over very talented clubs (Victoria and Salmon Arm). The Vipers are a physically imposing, deep, and defensively minded club. Meanwhile, the Kings have a lethal power play, six 20-year-old forwards, and an uncanny knack of lighting the lamp.

Travel will be a pain in the butt should this series go six or seven games, as the trip between the Okanagan and the Sunshine Coast is a full day affair sporting 2 ferry rides and often some Greater Vancouver gridlock.

Much like the contrasting styles on display in Alberta, these teams have achieved success through different methods. Here’s the BCHL’s preview

Games 1 and 2 are Friday and Saturday in Powell River. (I’ll take Vernon in 7).

Fred Page Cup Schedule