Sunday, May 10, 2009

Thoughts Following Vipers RBC Championship

Congratulations to the Vernon Vipers on their 2009 RBC Royal Bank Cup National Championship. After going through the tournament undefeated, the Vipers shutdown the defending national champs to win the Championship game 2-0.

Along with the congratulations I have a few other thoughts, after all I did have the opportunity to call three games in Vernon and watch three others from the press box in Prince George during the regular season. The first thought is how the Spruce Kings split their season series with the Vipers; every game was a low scoring affair with four of the games decided by one goal and the other two by a pair of goals each. In no game did either team manage more than four goals against the other.

Aside from the head-to-head matchups and everything that could be said about that, my thoughts turn to a few players, a coach and a broadcaster with the Vernon Vipers. First of all I just want to say congratulations to Todd Miller for providing a very professional broadcast. Todd is one of two broadcasters that took the time to spend with yours truly to provide some valuable insight and courage to try my vocal cords at calling some games of my own.

As a broadcaster I had my opportunities to speak with many coaches and ask my fair share of cliché questions; Mark Ferner was always respectful and gave me answers no matter how badly the question was worded. Even when the microphone wasn't rolling Mark would always say hello and talk shop. He was always about promoting the game and in the end he won the game that matters the most.

With only twenty players able to dress for a game, there were always a few players in the press box at the Westbild Centre that shared my perch above the ice surface. Those players were always respectful to me and at times would participate on the Spruce Kings broadcast either directly or indirectly. In the championship game three of those "black aces" were again cheering on their team mates from afar. Nick Amies, Steve Weinstein and Kory Roy are as much a part of the Vernon Vipers championship team as any other player in that final game and will be impact players in seasons to come.

There are two players on the Vipers squad that I want to perhaps apologize to for under-estimating them. Goaltender Andrew Hammond always surprised me with the amount of recognition that he received, I always thought that his defence allowed him to be as good as he was. Perhaps supporting my claim is the fact that it was one of his defenceman that won the Top Defencman and Most Valuable Player of the tournament while another goaltender took away that honour from Hammond. Credit where credit is due however; Andrew finished as the best goaltender in both the regular season and the playoffs.

Another player that has destroyed preconceived notions I had of him at the beginning of the season is the tournament MVP, Kyle Bigos. Perhaps it was his name or his size, but I had Kyle pegged as not much more than an awkward goon ... wow has he ever proven me wrong! It may have been the All-Star Game or the next meeting after the All-Star Game that I started waking up to what the scouts were seeing ... a big man that could control the game when he played with control.

Shortly after the All-Star Game, Kyle Bigos caught the flu bug and was a scratch when the Spruce Kings came calling on Valentine's Day. During the broadcast I had another opportunity to talk with the players in the press box including Kyle showed that he was a multi-dimensional player and provided some interesting thoughts and answers to his season as well as the team's. On Mother's Day, the big man made NHL scouts salivate when he walked around three players and beat the goaltender on the far side to give the Vipers a 2-0 cushion late in the third period. The goal showed off his talent and was reminiscent of many a skilled power forward's moves; more importantly it possessed none of the early season awkwardness that I had judged him with.

It truly is amazing what a single season can do for a player, but that might be the topic for another blog. It is something I have seen firsthand with players on the Spruce Kings squad who have evolved into players that NCAA scouts can't wait to get their hands on.

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