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.
