By Mark Janzen /
Here’s a news flash that’s about as shocking as Dave Tippett being awarded the Jack Adams Award.
The Vancouver Vipers are good. Make that, uber-good.
And as they do battle at the 21st annual Brick Invitational Super Novice Hockey Tournament in Edmonton, they have every reason to believe they can win it all, this year.
After recently winning the Subway North American Hockey Classic in Winnipeg, the Vipers once again proved why they’re consistently considered one of the best programs in North America.
The group of 2000-born players capped off the four-day tournament that ran from June 17 to 20 with an impressive 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Machine. The powerful Machine team had beaten the Vipers 4-1 in the round robin.
“Every year we feel we stack up well at the Brick,” said Vipers coach Jon Calvano. “These are the absolute best players at this tournament though, so we have to be ready. We’re [skated] five days a week getting ready for Edmonton.”
And to be ready for such a competition, the key for Calvano has been discipline and defence.
“You need to be disciplined in this kind of a tournament,” he said. “And our defensive zone coverage is critical. Our defence is just as good as anyone and we have…I don’t know if I want to use the phrase world-class…but an elite goaltender.”
Up front, the Vipers don’t have one individual superstar, but rather, three lines who can all score and all play defence.
As per usual, the Vipers will be a reckonable foe with a bunch of ten-year-olds hoping to be the next Brent Seabrook or Troy Brouwer or Andrew Ladd or Colin Fraser.
Along with the Winnipeg competition, the Vipers also played in the Ronald McDonald tournament in Toronto where they lost 4-3 in the quarter-final to Toronto Pro Hockey. |