Murphy's Law

Hello Viper fans! It’s been a busy week for us and we are only 8 games away from playoffs. We started off last week with a tough loss to Salmon Arm on Tuesday, but we responded this weekend with two overtime wins against Prince George and Trail. We have certainly seen our fair share of overtime games this year and it was really big for our team to win both this past weekend. With the race for first in the Interior as tight as it is, we definitely realize that every point is extremely important.

Besides the games, we were also very busy off the ice this past week. On Wednesday, six of us helped out at the Wendy’s Dreamlift Day. It was a great experience for all of us who got volunteer at the Wendy’s here in Vernon. We were all happy to hear that over $109,000 was raised to send the children to Disney Land this year. Also, Bryce Kakoske and I visited Alexis Park Elementary School on Thursday. We started off playing soccer with the third graders at recess. Unfortunately, Bryce had done some scouting on the third graders and he picked the winning team. After recess, Bryce and I visited Ms. Dion’s fifth grade class to read with some of the kids. We both had a great time over at Alexis Park and we plan on making another trip over there later in the week.

This week we play on Wednesday and Friday against Coastal teams Nanaimo and Alberni Valley and then on Saturday against Penticton. It will be another big week for our team as we near the end of the regular season. We hope to see all of you at the games this week!

Murphy's Law

Hi Viper fans! We are back from our last road trip of the regular season during which we played the Quesnel Millionaires and the Prince George Spruce Kings. We left on Thursday afternoon and arrived in Quesnel around 9 pm. The bus ride took a little longer than expected because of all the snow on the way up. We watched a couple of movies and slept for a while to pass the time. When we finally arrived in Quesnel, it was snowing really hard and it was extremely cold. Apparently it was -20 degrees Celsius, which is about -8 degrees Fahrenheit for those of you who are American. After getting unpacked in the hotel, everyone pretty much just took it easy in their rooms and went to sleep. When we woke up the next morning, it was snowing just as hard as it was the night before. Nobody wanted to leave the hotel, so after breakfast most of us went back up to the warmth of our rooms. We stayed in Quesnel on Friday night after the game, and then made the trip up to Prince George on Saturday afternoon for our game against the Spruce Kings. I thought I would never be colder than I was in Quesnel, but then we arrived in Prince George. My hair froze on the three step walk from the bus to the rink door and it was not much warmer inside the rink. After the game it started snowing again and we knew that it would be a long trip back to Vernon. We finally pulled into the Wesbild at 6 am Sunday morning. Overall it was a successful road trip for our team. We were able to come home with the four points that we needed to keep pace with Penticton in the Interior standings.


This week will be really important for our team. It starts off with a home game against Merritt on Tuesday, and then two more home games on Friday and Saturday. It would be great to get as many people to these games as possible, so that we can support the VJHF Tower of Care.

Murphy's Law

1/12/11

Hello Viper Fans! I would like to take this chance to thank all of you who came out to the games this past weekend. It was especially great to have so many Viper fans make the trip down to Westside on Friday night. This week will be a relatively quiet one for our team until we leave for Quesnel on Thursday. With the Interior standings as tight as they are, every game from here on out will be really important for us. We play at Quesnel on Friday and at Prince George on Saturday, so we will definitely spend plenty of time together on the bus this weekend.

As some of you may already know, the BCHL trade deadline passed on Monday night. Coach Ferner was able to make a couple deals and bring two new players to Vernon. Every Monday night a large group of us have study hall here in the rink with our academic advisors Don Klepp and Rod Knopp. It was during study hall on Monday night that guys started to discover the rumors of the trades online. John Knisley decided to start his own rumor and shared with us that an anonymous team offered Coach Ferner $1 million for his rights, but that the Vipers turned the deal down. Coach Ferner would not comment on Knisley’s rumor. Also, when asked about how he felt on Monday around the trade deadline, Marcus Basara made it clear that he didn’t even know about it.

On a more serious note, it is hard to see someone like Todd Skirving leave Vernon, but we all wish him the best of luck in Prince George. At the same time, it is very exciting to welcome two new faces to the team with Dane Muench and Ryan Renz joining us today.

Home & Home with Westside

The Vernon Vipers are heading to West Kelowna Friday night to face the Warriors and both teams will be in Vernon Saturday night for round two. Viper fans are encouraged to come out to the game at the Wesbild Centre in hopes for another sell-out and another $2000 for the Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundation. Ticket sales are going extremely well right now but we don't want to come shy of the donation marks! ($1000 to be donated for 2500 fans and $2000 donated for 3000 fans) If you haven't already picked up your tickets for the Saturday night tilt you can get them by phone, 250-542-6022, or head to the Vipers office on Friday from 9am-4pm or anytime after 9am on Saturday at the outside box office. If you do have your tickets, make sure everyone you know has got theirs as well!

Wray inducted into BC Hockey Hall of Fame

BCHL Media

Vernon Vipers owner Dr. Duncan Wray was one of five 2011 inductees to the British Columbia Hockey Hall of Fame, the organization announced Wednesday. The news was certainly not expected by the longtime owner.

"When I heard, I was floored, overwhelmed;" said Wray. "I was shocked; I never would have dreamed I'd be a member of any Hall of Fame."
Wray says his own hockey career took him through his high school years but no further. The Montreal native grew up with a love of the game and credits his father for instilling that passion in him.
"I was a very mediocre player, but I loved the game and I thank my father for that. He made sure I knew all about the game and the NHL."
An oral surgeon, Wray purchased the Vernon franchise in 1992 when the team nickname was the Lakers. Since then, the club has won eight Interior Conference titles, six Fred Page Cups, five Doyle Cups and four Royal Bank Cup national championships.
"I was doing some (oral surgery) work with the team and when it came up for sale, I thought, 'Maybe I can do this,' and the rest, as they say, is history."
Other inductees for 2011 are retired NHL great Joe Sakic, 25-year on-ice official Rob Schick, longtime NHL player and coach Jack McIlhargey and the 1986 Penticton Knights, the first BCHL team to win a national championship.
A father of five, Wray is humbled to be inducted alongside such names.
"It's a really big accolade to me when you look at the the people I'm going in with. My hockey career pales in comparison to them."
Ever since taking ownership of the team, Wray has served on the BCHL board of governors and was chairman from 1999 to 2006.

Murphy's Law

Hello again Viper fans! I am sure that most of you are celebrating Canada’s win over the USA in last night’s semi-final matchup. However, there was a much more important game that took place earlier yesterday that you should all be aware of. The game I am referring to was the real Canada vs. USA game…the Vernon Vipers version of it. At the end of practice yesterday, Coach Ferner split our team with Canadian players on one bench and American players (plus Dylan Walchuk and Kirby Halcrow) on the other bench. We then played three on three for about 20 minutes, which became quite heated. After taking an early lead, Team Canada fell behind and trailed the Americans 6-3. Team Canada coach Dave Robinson was losing his mind on the bench at this point. Canada responded with three quick goals to tie the game at 6-6 with only a few minutes remaining. At the end of regulation, Colton Sparrow had a chance to win the game, but instead hit both posts before the puck settled underneath Kirby Halcrow. Sparrow decided to take his chances and pull a fast one on the Americans, as he started to celebrate as if he scored and the game was over. Team Canada jumped off their bench and began the celebration, but Referee Mark Ferner was in perfect position to make the call and signal ‘no goal’. Canada coach Dave Robinson and the rest of the players seemed to lose their cool at this point, but Team USA was ready for overtime. Just one minute into sudden death, USA player Phil Patenaude sealed the deal with a golden goal for the Americans, igniting a Team USA celebration at center ice. The only thing Canadian player Zach McPhee could do was skate around the ice flipping the American’s gloves and sticks over the glass and into the stands. After the game, Team Canada continued to display their disgust with Referee Mark Ferner’s call at the end of regulation, but Malcolm Lyles assured them that it was not a goal. Unfortunately for Team USA’s cause, Lyles is known to distort the truth quite often. However, Team USA was victorious in the real game yesterday that took place here in the Wesbild. I should also note that Steve Weinstein received MVP for his two breakaway goals during the contest.


Unfortunately for me and the rest of the American team, our celebration lasted only a few short hours, before the World Junior game in Buffalo got underway. We all watched the game together, so the Canadians certainly rubbed it in throughout the night. However, at the end of the day all of us who were part of the Vernon Viper’s Team USA knew that we won the game that really mattered.

Murphy's Law

Hey Viper fans! Throughout the rest of the season I will be blogging to help you get to know your Vernon Vipers even better, both on and off the ice. To start off, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to all of you Viper fans.  As some of you may already know, I am from Fair Haven, New Jersey, which is a small town about an hour south of New York City. I started playing hockey there when I was about 5 or 6, but I actually played most of my youth hockey in New Hampshire and Massachusetts where I lived for about 7 years. After playing in the Northeast, I decided to attend high school in Faribault, Minnesota at Shattuck St. Mary’s school. Although it was far from home, I enjoyed the four years that I spent out there. After graduating from Shattuck in 2008, I was given the opportunity to play for the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. After spending two years at Notre Dame, I decided that I needed change, which led me here to Vernon. After this season, I will to return to college and finish my final two years. I could not have asked for a better place to be than here in Vernon. Living in British Columbia and playing in front of the greatest fans has been an unbelievable experience.

Do You Know Kakoske?

Local product Bryce Kakoske (K) seems to know everyone in Vernon, but how well do his team-mates know him? We asked his stall-mate Kyle Murphy (M), his bus-mate Steve Weinstein (W) and long time friend and Vernon product Dave Robinson (R) a few questions to see just how well they know Bryce.

When he is not at the rink he is...
M-Playing video games
W-Playing COD (Call Of Duty)
R-Gaming
K-Gaming

What is in his iPod?
M-Kings Of Leon
W-Country?
R-Country
K-Country

What does he love about living at home?
M-Home cooked meals
W-Mom's cooking
R-Mom's cooking
K-Mom's cooking

What does he hate about living at home?
M-It's far from the rink...a good 15 minutes anyway
W-Everyone knows him
R-No XBox there
K-Dealing with my parents

Who does he think is the funnest on the team?
M-Pat? (McGillis)
W-Probably Pat
R-I'd say Chewie (Weinstein) or Bas (Basara)
K-Bas, everything he says is funny

Does he have any superstitions?
M-He's got a lot I think
W-He always goes out early and throws the pucks out before warm up
R-He goes and listens to his iPod on the bench and 'games' (plays video games) before each game, oh and quiznos...he has a lot.
K-Listen to music on the bench before the game

What is his favorite thing to eat?
M-Chicken
W-Eggs Benny
R-Quizno's
K-Pizza Sub...it's a staple

What is the best thing he got for Christmas?
M-A new suit?
W-Clothes
R-His Canucks hoodie, he's worn in like everyday
K-TV

If he could be anywhere doing anything what and where would it be?
M-At home playing video games
W-Probably here with the boys
R-Golfing in California
K-Playing hockey in Europe

What song would he sing on American Idol?
M-I can't picture him on American Idol
W-Follow Me, Uncle Kracker
R-Wonderwall, Oasis
K-I wouldn't sing on American Idol