Sunday News

VIPERS WIN ROYAL BANK CUP

Congratulations are in order to the Vernon Vipers for winning a second straight Royal Bank Cup. The road to the RBC is a long and tough one. It's pretty incredible for one franchise to do it in back to back seasons. We all said at the beginning of the year that the Vipers had to be the favourites with so many returning players. However, they also lost some key pieces from last year's team like their Captain Chris Crowell, the twin towers of Cam Brodie and Mike Leidle on the blue line, and their goaltender Andrew Hammond.

The road to the national championship wasn't quite as smooth this time around. Last year they didn't lose a game outside of the BCHL playoffs, but this year thee Vipers had to deal with very serious tests in every round of the playoffs. That started with a surprising push from Quesnel, a battle of titans with Penticton, seven game wars against Powell River and Spruce Grove, and the pressure of the single elimination Royal Bank Cup tournament. While it was a bumpy ride and players like goaltender Graeme Gordon came under some fire along the way, perhaps that makes it a little bit sweeter for Vernon as they taste champagne tonight.

People in the BCHL like to say we're involved in the best Junior A league in Canada. The Vipers helped prove that over the past couple of years. I would say this Vipers team stacks up with the best Junior A teams of all time. I'd be shocked if coaches Mark Ferner and Jason Williamson didn't get the opportunity to further advance their coaching career as a result.

I also want to make special note of another clutch performance by Montrose's Jones Twins. Kellen came up with 2 goals and an assist in the 8-1 victory over Dauphin in the RBC final. He finished the tournament tied for the scoring lead. Meanwhile, Connor returned from injury with key contributions in both the semi-finals and finals. I'm not sure if the Jones' have ever come up short in a big game environment.

What a junior career for them too. BCHL finals appearances in 3 out of 4 years to go along with back to back Royal Bank Cup wins. A combined 371 points in 317 games while being on the top power play and penalty kill units. They also took a ton of punishment and knew how to get the little things done. What more could you ask for from these two? I know a number of Trail fans are not huge on the Jones' because they chose to go to Vernon rather than stay home. However, the story is never as simple as it seems, and you can't discount their contributions to Trail baseball. They're still very hard working young men from this area whose accomplishments are worth celebrating. The other thing worth celebrating? They won't be in Vernon anymore! There is no question in my mind they were the biggest reason for the back to back national championships and that won't be easy for the Vipers to replace.

GAWRYLETZ SIGNS AHL DEAL

Trail native and former Smoke Eater Travis Gawryletz has signed a one year deal with Lake Erie of the American Hockey League. Travis got called up from Elmira of the ECHL and scored 12 points in 51 AHL games this past season. He played well enough to earn a contract for the second half of the season and now to get signed up again for next year.

Gawryletz may not score a ton, but he is the type of defenseman that any coach would love. He plays a relatively mistake free game and immediately earned the confidence of the staff in Lake Erie. This contract will likely give Travis a chance to go to training camp with the Coloroado Avalanche as well. Hopefully he can make a strong impression there with his work ethic, good skating and smart play.



RALEY TO ST. LAWRENCE

Former Smoke Eater defenseman Patrick Raley is headed to St. Lawrence University in the NCAA next season. Not only will Raley be following in his brother Matt's footsteps there, but he'll also get a chance to play with him. That'll make it easier for the Raley family to follow their boys!

Raley made huge strides from his first year in the BCHL to his next. As a rookie he was in and out of the Vernon line-up before his trade to the Smokies. However, he put in a ton of work in the off season and came back a much more physically ready player. Raley deserved the increased ice time he earned and would've been one of the top guys on the Smokies in his third year if he hadn't left for the USHL. He made huge strides in his Trail career and I would think that played a big part in him getting this opportunity.

Congratulations to Patrick and good luck to him in college hockey. He's a first class young man who deserves whatever success he achieves. I hope the time at St. Lawrence ends up being everything he hopes for.

REVISITING THE USHL ISSUE

It's too bad that things didn't work out for Patrick in the USHL. He left Trail so that he would have the chance to play at home in Chicago, but he got traded not only to another city but to another league when the Steel sent him to St. Louis in the North American league. Raley did thrive in St. Louis where he had 26 points in 33 games.

However, his story is just one example of how the grass is not always greener in the USHL. Sahir Gill left Vernon for Chicago and ended up coming right back to the Vipers at the trade deadline. Danny DeKeyser went to Sioux City and had 11 points in 41 games. He got the scholarship he wanted but he had only played 7 games in the league at that stage. I don't know this for a fact, but if Danny only got 11 points I would think he wasn't getting the level of ice time he deserved. In Trail he had 25 points as a rookie and earned top pairing minutes.

Carsen Chubak also went from Powell River to Tri-City in the USHL. His numbers took a big hit and the team went no where. How did the Kings do? They made another run back to the BCHL finals and took the Vipers to seven games.

These decisions are never easy. Every young man and their family is looking to do the best thing for their future. I'm not saying they all made mistakes. However, the results of the "defections" just seemed to indicate that perhaps sometimes the best move is the one you don't make.

KEHLER'S CONTRACT NOT RENEWED

The Swift Current Broncos decided not to renew the contract of former Smoke Eaters Coach Tim Kehler last week. Kehler had been an assistant with the WHL club for the past three seasons. From reading Jon Keen's blog it would appear that Coach and GM Mark Lamb just wanted to be able to bring in his own guy after taking over the team last year. That kind of thing happens in hockey all the time and isn't really a reflection of Tim's work in my view. All the comments about him seem to be really positive. It's just a matter of time before he finds work elsewhere.

CHASE AND BURNABY LOSE THEIR TEAMS

It's official, BC Hockey has approved the relocation of the KIJHL's Chase Chiefs to Rutland and the BCHL's Burnaby Express back to Coquitlam. I know there are reasons for both of these moves, but it's never a good day when a city loses their team. My sympathies to the fans in both markets. That being said, Burnaby fans won't exactly have far to go if they want to keep following the Express and Chase is expected to be up for an expansion team in the KIJHL for the 2011-2012 season.

As discussed previously, the Chase move opens up some big questions for the KIJHL. Teams around the league have been picking up players from the Kelowna market. Are all the best players from there now going to find themselves on this new Rutland club? Also, is this what the KIJHL is meant to do? I've been told by several sources that the league's mandate has been to thrive in markets that aren't touched by other junior leagues. Now they've got teams in Kelowna, Kamloops and Penticon. The league is moving away from unserviced fanbases and now instead putting themselves into bigger markets with larger player pools and more corporate money. I hope that doesn't lead to too much of a competitive imbalance. I also wonder if the ever growing group of teams in the Thompson/Okanagan are eventually going to end up forming their own league. A KIJHL split would still leave us with two leagues that are basically the same size as the VIJHL and PIJHL.

COMING UP ON OVERTIME

For those of you in the West Kootenay we've got some interesting stuff coming up on Overtime this week. I'll be chatting with new Smokies Assistant Coach Bill Birks as well as the new Castlegar Rebels Coach Steve Junker. For those our of our broadcast area stay tuned to the blog for that audio as well as an interview I did with Travis Gawryletz on Friday. You can also check out the Overtime and Sports sections of our website at http://www.mountainfm.net/.

Vipers Win, Kellen Interview, Merritt Coach

(The Vipers with the RBC Cup - From Hockey Canada's website)

I want to send out congrats to the whole Vernon Vipers organization today on their dominant Royal Bank Cup victory. While Humbolt put up a fight, there was really no doubt what team was going to come out on top in this tournament. Vernon won eleven consecutive games dating back to the Fred Page Cup series against Powell River. They swept the Doyle Cup and they swept through the national championship tournament as well. Vernon's biggest tests were in the BCHL playoffs themselves against Salmon Arm and Powell River. Their biggest test in the RBC Cup was against the host Victoria team in a game that went to overtime. What does that tell you about the quality of this year's BCHL teams? There is no doubt that the BCHL was the top junior a league in the country this year... if not every year!

How did Vernon do it? Depth and commitment to me are the biggest factors. They had four elite lines and three elite defensive pairings. You didn't get a shift off against the Vipers because there was never a weak group coming over the boards. They didn't get too fatigued during any game or during the playoff because they didn't have to double or triple shift their best players to be competitive. They also had a terrific goaltender who didn't give up bad goals at key times.

Having that kind of a line-up takes commitment from every player to put the team first. By that I mean there are guys on the Vipers who could have been challenging the league leaders in points if they had a short bench, but instead they bought into the system and didn't worry about their point totals. The Jones Twins, Braden Pimm, Mike Collins... those guys could have put up huge numbers if they were double shifting every game, but they played a team game in a system designed to win a championship. They were rewarded for it with four new banners to hang from rafters in Vernon. That's a lesson for other teams like the Smokies who play the four line strategy that it really can work if you buy in.

I remember thinking in the first month of the season that the Vipers had been a disappointment to that point. They had so much talent and so many returning players I had expected them to dominate the Interior and the BCHL. They went through some growing pains early but never made any panic moves. Coach Mark Ferner stuck with his guys, stuck with his systems and they rewarded him for it. He also made a huge move at the trade deadline in acquiring Cam Brodie and Mike Leidl. Their biggest need was a savvy veteran, physical presence on the blue line... so they got two of them in the same deal. There was no question in my mind at the time that it was a great move, and it seems to have put them over the top. It's great seeing the classy former Smoke Eater Brodie get that win to end his junior career.

I remember a lot of people were critical of some of these players last season. The Jones Twins were too soft to get it done in the playoffs? They were team leaders this year in the post-season. Andrew Hammond was just an average goalie and not good enough to get them to the dance? Hammond was a rock and took the Vipers on their drive for five. There aren't enough big, physical players up front and Vernon could get beat up? They not only survived the grind of the playoffs but they thrived in it.

The Vipers are not favourites in the Trail area that's for sure. In some ways it's hard to see one of your rivals having so much success. However, in my dealings with the Vipers they've always been classy and professional, so I'm happy to see them bring the Royal Bank Cup back to the BCHL where it belongs. Congratulations to everybody involved in that organization for reaching the ultimate goal of any Junior A hockey team.

Here's an interview I did with Kellen Jones on Mountain FM's Overtime after Vernon started the tournament with three wins:

Kellen Jones at the RBC

Click here to download

NOTES

...Brian over at the Making Cents Blog says Merritt has hired a new coach. Credit to the Cents for acting fast after they officially announced they'd be back for next season. This is still very late in the recruiting season to have someone new doing the job, but it's better now than in June. It sounds like Joey Bouchard was a winner in Junior B. Hopefully fans and the executive will give him time and patience to put his stamp on a team that has been in the basement for the last two seasons. You won't win overnight.

...Congratulations also to the Kelowna Rockets for their win in the WHL finals. Former Smoke Eater Lucas Bloodoff nearly had the game winner in game 6 (he scored to make it 2-1) before Calgary tied things up. How cool is it to win a championship at home in overtime? It was an exciting and dramatic game that was unfortunately on TV at the same time as the Canucks' usual choke job so not enough people saw it. Congrats to Lucas, his brother Evan and Travis' brother Kyle St. Denis for their big win. Good luck to them at the Memorial Cup. I'll have an interview with Lucas tonight on Overtime.

...Sorry for the delay on the Naka interview, I'll have that up soon as well.

...I can't believe credible sports journalists and commentators are suggesting the NHL should expand into Southern Ontario so they can collect the big expansion fee. Isn't that kind of short sighted thinking part of what got the league into it's bloated current status? When you have dud franchises in Phoenix, Atlanta, Nashville, Florida and Long Island just to name a few it's not time to expand. It's time to find those teams new homes or to close up shop. More teams? How can they consider that when the house isn't in order. I believe in a team in Southern Ontario, but the league is insane if they don't achieve that by relocation when eventually some of these weak teams are going to go completely bust.

Brodie and Bloodoff on Overtime

Two huge junior hockey events start this weekend. Tonight in Calgary the Kelowna Rockets will take on the Hitmen in game 1 of the WHL finals while tomorrow in Victoria five teams will start to do battle for the Royal Bank Cup. A couple of former Smoke Eaters are right in the middle of both events. Lucas Bloodoff played his 16 year old season for Trail before heading to Kelowna. He, his brother Evan and Trail's Kyle St. Denis (brother of Travis) are all West Kootenay natives skating for the Rockets this season. It's going to be a tough test for Kelowna as Calgary has yet to lose a single game in the WHL playoffs. But the Rockets took down the Giants in the West so anything can happen. I talked to Lucas last night on Mountain FM's Overtime as he got set for a run at the big prize.




Lucas Bloodoff on the WHL Finals

Click here to download

As for the Royal Bank Cup, there's also some local representation at the Junior A national championship in Victoria. Montrose natives Kellen and Connor Jones and former Smoke Eater Cam Brodie play for the BCHL and Doyle Cup champion Vernon Vipers. The BCHL is lucky enough to have two teams from our league at the event since Victoria is also the host. I told to Brodie about what has been a strange 20 year old season for him.

Cam Brodie on the RBC

Click here to download

(Brodie as a BCHL All Star from the Vipers website)

Good luck to both Lucas and Cam as they attempt to make some junior hockey history. A couple of other former Smoke Eaters did make some history this spring. Later this weekend I'll post interviews with Grant Rollheiser and Kevin Limbert on their victorious NCAA seasons. Plus stay tuned for the latest on the Smokies off season. Don't forget to head to Kootenay Chrysler Bull-A-Rama tomorrow night. It's a great event and helps raise some funds for the hockey club too.