Vernon wins second straight RBC Cup

Vancouver Sun

DAUPHIN, Man. — The Vernon Vipers blitzed the host Dauphin Kings for three goals in a 48-second span in the second period Sunday and went on to defend their RBC Cup title with an 8-1 victory in the final.
Dylan Walchuk, Kellen Jones and Cole Ikkala scored the flurry of quick goals, which gave the Vipers a 4-0 lead in front of a sold-out Credit Union Centre. The Pacific region representatives have now won a record six Canadian junior A hockey championships.
“It’s a great feeling,” Jones, the Vipers’ player of the game, told TSN after the game. “The team came out and played great today. I can’t say enough about the guys. This is a great feeling right now.”
Vernon also won back-to-back titles in 1990-91. Prince Albert is the only other team in RBC Cup history to win consecutive titles, accomplishing the feat in 1981-82.
The Vipers recruited players throughout the United States and it paid off Sunday with three Americans — Ikkala, Cory Kane and Garrett Noonan — lighting the lamp in the final.
Jones, from Montrose, B.C., said playing for the storied Vipers franchise means dealing with increased expectations, but credited coach Mark Ferner with preparing the team for the challenge of trying to defend the title.
“Our coach kind of really beat the memo into us to go out there and work hard every night,” Jones said. “That’s what we tried to do every night and that’s why we were so successful.”
Kane opened the scoring for Vernon in the first period, firing a shot past Dauphin netminder Joe Caligiuri from the top of the circle while skating down the right wing.
Walchuk extended the lead in the second, faking a pass on a two-on-one, then shooting it past Caligiuri. Jones scored 39 seconds later, blasting a shot from the high slot and then crashing the net to fire the rebound past Caligiuri. Nine seconds after that, Ikkala fooled Caligiuri with a shot off the rush.
Bryce Lamb, the Kings’ player of the game, put Dauphin on the board midway through the second, taking a centring pass from Ryan Dreger off his skate, kicking it to his stick and firing it past Vernon goaltender Graeme Gordon.
Patrick McGillis restored the four-goal advantage before the second period was out. Sahir Gill, Jones and
Noonan completed the scoring for Vernon in the third period.
Gordon finished with 23 saves, while Caligiuri blocked 28 shots.
The Kings went through the round robin undefeated — including an overtime win over the Vipers — but were unable to use home ice to their advantage in the final. They entered the game with a record of 43-2-1 at Credit Union Centre in 2009-10, including regular season, playoffs and RBC Cup.
The last Manitoba Junior Hockey League team to win the national title was the Selkirk Steelers in 1974.
The 2011 RBC Cup will be held in Camrose, Alta.


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