Day 1 – Thursday- Game vs. Quesnel @ 7 Pm
Thursday morning marked the first day of our first Northern Road swing of the year, with an early 9 am departure time. I picked up some Tim Horton’s for breakfast on the way to the rink, specifically a couple sesame seed bagels and an Iced Cappuccino. After we pack our bags and allow the rookies to load the bus, we get settled in our regular spots on the bus (veterans in the back, rookies closer to the front and coaches/staff at the head of the bus). This road trip we lucked out because a little less personnel came on the trip thus allowing everyone to get there own two seats for more room and comfort on the long trip. I spent a solid 3-4 hours sleeping and the rest listening to music or watching movies on my ipod. On this specific trip we decided to stay in Williams Lake for the first two nights because of the close proximity between Williams Lake and Quesnel. We dropped off our belongings into our rooms, ate a quick pregame meal consisting of spaghetti and meatballs and then headed back to our rooms for some rest and relaxation before the game. I had to pleasure staying with Darren Robak, or Dale Dobak as most teammates call him. He is quite the character and we had some good times. Before we knew it, we were required to shake off our bus legs and get on the ice for a big game against Quenel.
I didn’t get to play the first two games this weekend due to an undisclosed injury (along with my fellow teammate Cole Ikkala); therefore I got to watch the team from a different perspective. I was fortunate enough last year to only sit out one game, so it was somewhat of a new experience for me. After a good group effort and a solid 60 minutes of play, we went onto win the game 9-1. The whole team came to play tonight but I was particularly amazed by the efforts of our so-called fourth line. Just goes to show our team depth is a definite strong point. Before we knew it, we were in, out, and back on the bus to the hotel in Williams Lake.
Day 2 – Friday- Game vs. Williams Lake @ 7 pm
Day two began with breakfast in the hotel lobby, a pregame skate at the arena in Williams Lake and more rest and relaxation. I got to participate in the pregame skate but unfortunately I was unable to play in the game tonight. That meant Cole Ikkala, Dan Nycolat (who unfortunately got suspended in Quesnel for standing up for a teammate) and I had to participate in a conditioning skate. Lets just say the sausages and so-called “eggs” did not sit well during this event. Dobak and I watched numerous episodes of Wild N’ Out, which might be the best show on these days. While it may not be good for the younger kids, there are a lot of good laughs for the more mature audiences. After a lot of sitting around, we were getting our suits on and heading back to the rink for another big game against the Williams Lake Timberwolves. They are a new expansion team that entered the league this year, therefore they have a whole bunch of rookies on their squad that are new to the BCHL experience. That being said, they have a bunch on young speedsters that are known to put in a good effort and work hard… which they did, for about 45 minutes of tonight’s game. The other 15 minutes was lost in an onslaught of goals by your very own Vipers. Another 9-goal game with only 2 against highlighted the night. Blake Voth got to start tonight and looked solid. It’s hard not to with such a solid defense corps in front of him. Captain Kraus looked really good and Eric Soderlund and Darren Robak both got to play. There were also two spirited fights by Sawyer Mick and Darren Robak, in which both of them won (obviously). Dobak was again standing up for a teammate, which is good to see from the young kid from Red Deer (not quite as good of a city as Calgary, but nonetheless in the great province of Alberta). However the best news of the night came from the P.A. announcer after he told the disgruntled crowd that the Calgary Flames had beat the Canucks again. Back to the hotel again where we got to relax after 2 solid games and got to look forward to a well-deserved day off on Saturday.
Day 3 – Saturday- Day off
Today we woke up, had another delicious breakfast, which was sooo delicious that most people went to the gas station Market after it, to get more food. This was definitely one of the more boring and uneventful days of the season for me. The team hopped back on the bus and drove to Prince George, the location of our third and final game that is going to be played tomorrow afternoon. This time I got to room with the two goalies. Blake Voth is a good kid, but seems to enjoy squirting me with water. This incident was settled on the bus ride home Sunday. The other, Graeme Gordon is a great guy and a person that I will most likely remember for the rest of my life. I was lucky enough to room with him all season last year and we had some good times. As I said before, this day consisted largely of time wasting. Vother and I watched American Pie and about 5 hours more of useless television. The ALCS baseball game was ridiculously entertaining and much to Gordo’s dismay, Vother and I were both happy to hear that the Stampeders and Roughriders (CFL) got a point in an exciting tie. A lot of ice followed by sleep capped the day off.
Day 4 – Sunday – Game vs. Prince George @ 3 pm
We got to sleep in longer this morning and the breakfast was a lot better. I knew today was going to be a good day and I luckily got to play in today’s game. Prince George is known to be a bit of a tough challenge for us especially on the road in their barn. It was our first meeting against them this year, but for the most part we had no trouble. Winning the game 5-1 we collected 2 more points to help us maintain in first place in the Interior Conference and league standings. Today’s game was a solid team effort as we stuck to our systems and put together a solid 60-minute game. Gordo had a pretty ridiculous glove save and nice passing plays were highlighted in some of the goals. The team offense in the last 7 games has been pretty unbelievable and has allowed us to take the lead for the most goals for in the league. Perhaps more impressive is that we also have the lowest goals against in the league as well. The team is coming together well I’d say. All in all it was a great road trip as we got all six points that we came for. We got to enjoy a good Boston Pizza meal on the way home and have now watched a few movies.
Keep on cheering for your first place Vipers and be sure to come to Wednesday’s game against Merrit. It will be a special night as we will dawn our special edition breast cancer jerseys and lots of money will be raised for a great cause. I plan on going to bed now so until next time, in the words of the great Ron Burgundy (with our own twist) stay classy Vernon.
Blogging On The Northern Road Swing With Adam Thompson
