News and Announcements
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.
Part of a Captains job is to make sure that everyone on the team is doing their job, and reminding them if things begin to slip a little. Our Captain, Austin Thorne reminded me yesterday that I “sure would have a lot to write about” after this weekend, and boy was he right.
Before I get started Austin wanted me to say hi to his Grandparents in New Brunswick. So a long distance hello goes out to Austin’s Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma and Grandpa you can be proud of your Austin, he is playing some great hockey, in fact all Grandparents have reason to be proud as these boys are starting to come together, support each other, and play as a team.
The weekend saw the Viper’s play 4 games, winning 3 and losing 1 of them. That’s what I would call a great weekend. The only blemish was that it took our worst game of the season in the opening game of the Eckville tournament on Friday night to kick start the Viper’s into a successful rest of the weekend. The home town Eckville Eagles took out the Viper’s 7-4, and the game left parents and coaches scratching their heads wondering what just happened. Saturday afternoon the boys responded by laying a 14-4 drubbing on the Innisfail Flyers, the win set the Viper’s up for the B- Final on Sunday afternoon at the Eckville Super Dome. Sunday morning the Viper’s had to take care of a little business on the league side of things, and squared off with Superior Propane bright and early at the Red Deer arena. The final score ended up 5-4 in favour of the Viper’s, however the score does not reflect the domination the Viper’s held in the game. At one point the Viper’s led 5-1 in the third period, and then almost had to learn the hard way that you can’t take a win for granted and need to keep skating till the buzzer sounds. Still, it was a good game and sent us back to Eckville on a positive note.
Sunday afternoon the Viper’s laced them up against the Sundre Ice Devils in the B-Final. The game started out slow offensively, but nevertheless the Viper’s were up 2-0 at the end of the first. The offense really kicked into high gear in the second period, scoring 4 more goals ending the period with a 6-0 lead. Nolie the goalie and Will were pitching a shut out until 3 minutes left in the third, when a lucky, seeing eye shot, managed to squeak by the goaltender and ruin the shutout bid. Still, it was an impressive 28 save effort by our goalies, great job! Four more goals were potted in the third and the final tally was Viper’s a lot (10) and Sundre not so many (1). That victory stretched things into a modest 3 game winning streak, one which we hope to keep alive this coming weekend as the team takes their show on the road while competing in a tournament in Spruce Grove.
This week check out the new videos. There is a new highlight video of our Nov. 23 league win over the Trophy Loft as well as a Viper’s team Xmas wish list. I have had some questions by people about watching the team videos in a larger format than the little tiny view shown on the website. There are two ways to do this. The first way is to start the video in the small format shown on the video page of the website and then put your mouse on the small You Tube symbol on the bottom right corner of the video screen you are watching and press. This should open a whole new page in your web browser and will bring up the same video in a much larger, easier to see format. The second way you can watch the Videos is to go to youtube.com and type RDRebels in the search part of the webpage and this will take you to all of the Viper’s videos created to date. Click on the one you want to watch and a larger screen will pop up.
In the 1994 comedy classic “Dumb and Dumber”, Harry says to Lloyd “….. and now you go and do something like this, and totally redeem yourself”. This weekend was a time of redemption for the Community Savings Vipers. Saturday morning saw the Viper’s get beat 6-3 by the Trophy Loft. The first period was dominated by the Viper’s who took a 2-1 lead into the second period. The wheels kind of fell off in the second when the Viper’s were out chanced and out scored by a 4-1 margin and the score at the end of the second was 5-3 for the Loft. The last period showed a little more promise for the Viper’s who played even with the Loft but gave up an empty net goal to make the final score 6-3. Some real positives were shown in the game especially by Matt Michnik whose hustle and bustle earned him an assist and the coveted Green Hard Hat as the hardest working Viper. Way to go Matt! Scoring for the Viper’s was spread around the forwards as Noah Simoneau, Carson Stuve, and Austin Price each potted a goal. Hammer Burton, Easton Leedahl, Brandan Hart, and Matt Michnik provided the helpers. Jordy Haraldson showed a lot of determination trying to play through the flu. The three stars of the game were handed out to Noah Simoneau – First Star, Brett Parada – Second Star, and Will Gummow – Third Star, great game boys keep up the hard work!
Bright and early Sunday morning the Viper’s “totally redeemed themselves”. Playing with 3 regulars and 1 coach out of the line up the Trophy Loft was handed their first loss of the season as they fell 3-2 to the hard work and determination of the Viper’s. Missing from the line-up were Brett Parada and Jordy Haraldson who were sidelined with what Red Deer Minor Hockey is calling “an undisclosed middle body ailment” (read the flu), and Cody Minor with his undisclosed (previously disclosed) upper left extremity injury. Coach MacGregor was also missing from the bench as he had been sent to Ottawa to scout the Viper’s minor league affiliate, and also provide feedback to the coaches on what the best tasting brand of beer in Ontario is. The team knew they had to dig a little deeper with those 4 key members out and they came up big for them. The game was not without some controversy as the Loft scored both their goals on disputed plays. The Viper’s coaches desperately tried to contact the NHL’s “war room” back in Toronto to review the goals but there was no answer. Apparently the parent’s, coaches, and player’s of the Viper’s and Trophy Loft were the only ones silly enough to be up at 7:30 AM on a chilly Sunday morning to play and watch hockey. The goals stood, but in the end they didn’t matter. Sunday mornings win was a real team effort, but Nolan MacGregor’s play in net was fantastic and was a huge reason for the W. For his effort Nolan was awarded the coveted Green Hard Hat. Great job Nolan! Matt Michnik had another great game earning the Gordie Howe Hat Trick with 2 goals and a roughing penalty. Austin Price continued to get his number on the score sheet adding a goal and an assist, and Captain Austin Thorne recorded an assist. The three stars of the game were handed out to Stefan Bratzke – First Star, Austin price – Second Star, and Brandan Hart – Third Star, great game boys keep up the hard work! Check out this weeks feature interviews with Noly the goalie and Stefan Bratzke. Check back next week to see how the Viper’s do in our first tournament of the year in Eckville. Go Viper’s !!!!!!
There is an old country song that goes; we take one step forward and two steps back. Unfortunately that could have been the theme song of this weekends play for the Community Savings Vipers. The weekend started off with a bang as the Viper’s claimed their first victory of the year when they layed an 11-3 drubbing on the MGM Chiefs Saturday morning. The forwards were fore checking with 2 boys on every puck. The defense was moving the puck out of their own end quickly and with authority, and our goalies were making first and second saves routinely. The total team effort was reflected on the score sheet as 12 of 14 skaters tallied one or more points. Carson Stuve and Austin price led the way as each recorded a hat trick, Jared Lower scored twice and Easton Leedahl, Matt Michnik, and Stefan Theriault all added singles. Gummow and MacGregor turned away 22 of 25 shots.
The first victory was followed up with a team lunch consisting of subs, veggies, Gatorade, cookies and brownies. The boys refueled and had a great time joking around with each other and getting to know one another better.
After lunch we played an exhibition scrimmage against the Trophy Lloft and came out on the wrong end of a 6-4 score. The boys looked exhausted and did not display much of the zip they had in the previous game. Scoring for the Vipers was Austin Thorne, Austin Price, Matt Michnik, and Hammer Burton.
Bright and early Sunday morning the Vipers were back at it, squaring off against Fargey’s Paints who the Viper’s lost a 5-4 nail biter to last week. Individual efforts vs. team play was the difference in this contest as the Viper’s had their lunch fed to them in a 6-1 drubbing by Fargey’s. If it was not for some great goaltending by Viper’s goalies the score could have been much worse. At the other end of the ice Fargey’s looked like they had a goaltending tandem of Roberto Luongo and Tim Thomas, as the yconstantly thwarted any attempts by the Viper’s to make the game close. Austin Price took a great feed from Stefan Ttheriault during a power play to register the lone goal for the Viper’s.
This week the Viper’s will regroup, work on some more basics, and be ready to answer the bell as they play a double header against the Trophy loft. Stay tuned later this week for a highlight video as well as up close and personal interviews with Star Viper’s, Brett Parada and Stefan Theriault.
The Viper’s knew they were in for a tough match against Fargey’s Paint Saturday morning at Red Deer’s Kinsmen Arenas, and they were right. Complicating matters was the fact that Viper’s bruising defenseman, Cody Miner, had to be placed on injured reserve, after breaking his arm during dry land training earlier in the week. The Viper’s spirits were lifted by Miner’s presence on the bench during the game. Miner has pledged to be at every game and help work a gate while he mends.
The game started with a bang when Easton Leedahl wired home a nifty feed from Jared Lower on a 2 on 1 break a minute and thirty seconds into the contest. Fargey’s replied just a minute later to even up the score. Halfway through the first period Matt Cormack made a great play keeping the puck in at the blue line and getting it to Noah Simoneau who blasted a shot from the top of the face-off circle putting the Viper’s ahead 2-1. The scored stayed that way until 23 seconds left in the period when Fargey’s was able to sneak a lucky shot by Viper’s twine tender Will Gummow. The period drew to a close with the score all tied up at 2.
The second period started much like the first with a goal being scored 2 minutes into the period, this time however it went against the Viper’s and they were down 3 -2. A defensive struggle ensued for the next 12 minutes with stellar goaltending and dazzling defensive plays dominating that time. Viper’s d-man Brandan Hart was very solid protecting his own end all game. Captain Austin Thorne led his team by example, hustling on every play, and clearing the puck when he got the chance. With seven minutes left in the second period the Stuve, Leedahl, Lower line took to the ice and tied up the game when Stuve was sent in on a break-a-way an potted his third goal of the season tying things up at 3. Stuve was not finished there when he took the puck from the ensuing face-off, blazed into Fargey’s zone and sizzled a shot into the top left corner of Fargey’s goal putting the Viper’s up 4 -3.
The next thirteen minutes saw the Viper’s protect their lead, and come close several times to increasing it. Matt Michnik played a strong game, getting several semi break-a-ways and good hard shots on the net. Austin Price also had a great game offensively for the Viper’s as he was denied on many good scoring chances. Brett Parada and Stefan Bratzke patrolled the defensive zone and made life miserable on the opposing forwards. Jordan Haraldson became a two way player for the Viper’s when he left his usual defensive spot to take a few shifts on forward for Matt Cormack who slightly injured himself. The good news was that team doctors were able to shoot Cormack up with pain killers (smile) and he returned to the game after only missing a few shifts.
The defensive bubble burst with 13 minutes left in the third when Fargey’s tied the game. Something happened and the Viper’s stopped skating and if not for the brilliant play of goaltender Nolan Macgregor would have been down by several goals. As it was however, the scored stayed tied until late in the third period when Fargey’s got a power play goal after a questionable call sent a Viper player to the sin bin. Despite some crashing and banging by Hammer Burton and Stefan Theriault, the Viper’s were unable to tie the contest and suffered the 5-4 defeat.
After the game the coaches stressed the need to work hard for the whole game and vowed Monday’s power skating practice would help remind the Viper’s what hard skating was all about. Check out the Guts & Glory section of this site to see who was named the stars of the game for the Viper’s. D-man Brandan Hart won the hard working Viper Hard Hat for his solid effort in the game.
Also check out this weeks video montage of the game highlights.
