The Vernon Vipers will square off with the West Kelowna Warriors tonight for the first game of a best of seven series for the Interior Division Semi-Finals.
Vernon Vipers
The Vipers come in having finished the regular season with a 30-18-4-6 record good for third place in the Interior Division. Overall the Snakes had a nice bounce back from last season and will make their first post season appearance in three seasons.
Coming into a season that sees the team hosting the RBC Cup, the mentality around the team was going about their business the right way. This team wants to win their way into the RBC Cup and not just rely on the status of tournament host. They accomplished the first part of their goal by clinching a playoff spot and look to build upon that.
Offensively the Vipers were led by first year Viper Michael McNicholas. The Manhattan Beach, California product had 23 goals and 46 assists finishing 6th in league scoring. His linemate Dexter Dancs finished right behind him in 7th thanks to a torrid finish to the season.
Defense could be where this team is at its most dangerous. They are towering and physical defensemen who never shy away from physicality. At times they may need to focus on restraint to keep that physicality within the rules, but the wear down and grinding style of hockey could be the perfect fit for the playoff format that sees 7 games played in 9 nights.
In goal, both Austin Smith and Danny Todosychuk had very solid campaigns and were steadying forces for the team. Coming into the season it was going to be interesting to see how the coaching staff would manage the starts between two guys who could be starters on any other team in the league. Had it not been for a handful of injuries at different times I thought they were going to split 50/50. In the end Austin Smith got 10 more games played. Being able to put either of the guys in there will only serve this team well and it remains to be seen who will be the guy by the time 7 oclock rolls around.
Special teams have been a Jekyll and Hyde scenario where the powerplay sputtered all year long, while the PK has had flashes of brilliance and sections of struggles. Their PP would end the season last in the BCHL, while the PK was 9th. The one thing the Vipers will look at is there is no where to go but up when it comes to the man advantage. They will put it behind them and look to have it make an impact.
West Kelowna Warriors
The West Kelowna Warriors came within a hair of their first division title. They had a record of 35-15-3-5 which was tied for top spot in the division with the Vees having one more win as the tie breaker. It was a steady improvement for the Tribe who increased their wins by 5 and point total by 5.
Despite not having the pressure of hosting the RBC Cup, there was definitely pressure for the Tribe to build on the success they had a year before. Losing guys like Max French, Tyler Briggs and Shawn Hochhausen left the team with holes to fill and credit to the managment staff they were able to replenish the stock as well as have them fit in nicely with the returning players. Rylan Ferster has told me all he wants to do is make the playoffs, although I think part of that was just being humble and politically correct because he had to know how talented his team really was. They were able to do that quite early and give Penticton a constant run for their money for the division and despite coming up just a bit short, this team is poised and ready for a long playoff run.
From an offensive standpoint there are many triggermen on this team and were led by Harvard commit and third year Warrior, Seb Lloyd. The Prince George product was the only Warrior to post over 60 points and is a set up man to the other offensive guys on this team. Newcomers Carl Hesler and Jason Cotton had impressive first seasons in the BCHL with 59 and 58 points respectively. There is no doubt this team can score and if given the opportunities can be very lethal.
Defensively, this team is quite the opposite of the Vipers core. They have smaller, less physical, but extremely offensive and intelligent defensemen. The acquisition of Ryan Fraser-Lee was crucial as he plays more of a hard nose style, but Braden Pears and Taki Pantziris were brought in to help the offense production from the blue line and have done that. The Viper forwards may not be banged around as much, but they will be in tough against guys who are smart with the puck, in their own zone and jumping up in the play.
Goaltending was an interesting factor to watch as the season began. Andy Desautels was brought in from the Prince Albert Raiders to split time with Steven Myland. Early in the year Myland would depart leaving Desautels the reigns to the team. He definitely didn't disappoint and quickly dispelled any possibilities of goaltending being a weak spot on this team. Desautels was a workhorse all year long finishing second in games played. He ranked first in wins and in the top 10 for GAA and Save Percentage. There is no doubt he will be the guy for the Warriors in the playoffs and will look to elevate his game to an even higher level.
The Warrior powerplay was at one time during the season near the bottom of the league, but once the calendar flipped over they went on a tear and finished 5th with 49 goals while up a man. Their PK on the other hand finished near the bottom. Special teams will always be a key factor to post season play and will be interesting to see if the PK irons it out against a PP of the Vipers who were in tough all season.
I could go on and on about statistics and trends, but at the end of the day this series will be an absolute war. If you're a fan of junior hockey this will be a treat. Both teams have their strengths and weaknesses and either team could come out of this series and it wouldn't be an upset. These two teams stack up extremely even and it all gets started tonight.
The series begins in West Kelowna for games 1 and 2, both games will be on 1075 KissFM with the pregame show starting at 6:45 and puck drop at 7!
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