Announcement
Well it’s been awhile since I was able to update our loyal Viper fans. Last week management sent me on the road to cover our minor league affiliate (The Garter Snakes) and profile some of the young prospects. I am back up with the big club now and I hope to make up for last weeks lack of news. Last Friday the Viper’s headed north to Spruce Grove to take place in a tournament. By all accounts the tournament went well, it was an Atom A tournament so the players really had to step up their play. Although the win loss record (1-3) was not what the boys would have wished for, the coaches were pleased with the outcome and stated that if the boys can play that way for the rest of the year the wins will start to pile up. By all accounts the parents had as much fun as the kids, particularly at the late night “strategy” meeting. Many parents were baffled by the hotels rule against “strategy” meetings and have assigned our Social coordinator Mel to look in to an official protest <smile> .
The coach’s words turned prophetic as the Viper’s continued their elevated level of play and chalked up another league win as they took out the Westward Part Green Hornets 3-2 Saturday morning. The win wasn’t easy, and involved 2 goals late in the 3rd period to come from behind and take the win. Noly the goalie was at his acrobatic best swatting away the pesky Hornets offerings. Stefan Bratzke, Cody Miner, and Austin Thorne went 3, 2 ,1 respectively in the stars and Jared Lower was awarded the Hardest Working Hard Hat.
Sunday morning the Viper’s were in Innisfail taking on the Flyer’s. Two hours of ice time and 20 goals later the game was over and there were lots of boys and coaches that had a lot of fun. The Viper’s were flying and were a little too much for Innisfail to handle early on, they quickly built up a 5 – 0 lead by the end of the first period. When the second period started off with a quick goal the coaches decide that the players had to make at least 5 passes before they could shoot and they also took 5 forwards and moved them to defense switching the D-men up front. The moved proved to be a good one as D-men Stefan Bratzke and Matt Cormack potted their first goals of the year. In a post game interview with TSN Matty Cormack told the announcer “I could get used to this forward thing. It’s like being a Rock Star, nothing but chicks and bright lights”. Even with all of the changes the Viper’s continued to score and went up 9-0. With about 5 minutes left in the period drastic measures were called for and we traded Austin Price and Carson Stuve to Innisfail for a round of hot coffee’s for the coaches. The trade paid immediate dividends for the Flyer’s as Austin Price made a couple of stellar moves and set up an Innisfail forward for a goal. The period ended with the score 9 -1 for the black and green. The third period saw 10 more goals scored and by the end it was 13 -7 Viper’s. Carson and Austin made a big impact with at least one of them scoring or assisting on each of the Flyer’s 7 goals. They paid the price however as their ex-team mates were hard on the body each time Carson or Austin had the puck. In the dressing room after the game, Stefan Theriault reminded Austin of this fact when he told him “I absolutely slammed you out there”. At the end of the game our GM decided that Innisfail coffee wasn’t so hot and so he traded some water bottles and pucks back to Innisfail and we welcomed Austin and Carson back to the Viper’s. Will Gummow tended the twine and did a good job staying focused with log stretches between action. A fun time was had by all. Cody Miner made it back 2 back games with a star and was awarded the 1st star of the game. Matty Michnik was absolutely stellar in his defensive debut and this earned him second star honours, while Jordy Haraldson received the 3rd star.
