107.5 Kiss FM tried to fool Viper fans this morning, announcing owner Duncan Wray has changed the name of the Vernon Vipers to the Vernon Wrayders in honour of Wray. After several phone calls to the radio station the morning crew announced there is no name change, it was an April Fools joke!

Here is an article from November I come across in the Hartford newspaper on former Vernon Vipers forward Adam Tambellini.

Tambellini is in his first professional season with the American Hockey League (AHL) Hartford Wolf Pack, after signing an entry-level contract with the New York Rangers on March 10th 2015. In 67 games this season, Tambellini has (15-goals-9-assists-24-points).

Tambellini spent last season with the Western Hockey League (WHL) Calgary Hitmen attended the New York Rangers 2014 Prospect Development Camp was one of twenty players reassigned from the Rangers Training Camp. The Rangers reassigned Tambellini to the Hitmen on September 24th 2014. Tambellini left the University of North Dakota in January 2014 for the Western Hockey League joining the Calgary Hitmen January 8th 2014 after being acquired in a trade with the Portland Winterhawks.

Tambellini played a season and a half in Vernon (2011-13) before being traded to Surrey on January 10th 2013 along with future considerations (Michael Roberts) for Mason Blacklock & future considerations (Jordan Klimek and Demico Hannoun). In 91 regular season games with the Vipers Tambellini collected (49-goals-46-assists-95-points). Tambellini was drafted 64th overall in the 3rd Round by the New York Rangers at the 2013 NHL Draft.

Adam Tambellini's Player Profile:

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=103529

This was in the Hartford Courant Newspaper:

Adam Tambellini Considered Solid Prospect For Hartford Wolf Pack

By Paul Doyle Contact Reporter

November 5, 2015

HARTFORD — As Adam Tambellini began his professional hockey career in the New York Rangers organization, he didn't need to look far for advice.

His father, Steve, played nine seasons in the NHL and is the former general manager of the Edmonton Oilers. His brother, Jeff, is in his 10th professional season and is skating for the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League.

Adam, 21, is a rookie forward for the Hartford Wolf Pack. A third-round draft pick in 2013, he is considered a solid prospect after scoring 47 goals in the junior Western Hockey League last year.

But the adjustment from juniors to the AHL is not easy, nor the lifestyle change when moving from western Canada to Connecticut. Tambellini, though, has a few sounding boards on speed dial.

"I definitely lean on my brother and my dad as much as possible, just to kind of ask questions and get their input on things as well," Tambellini said. "Those two have been really influential in my career so far."

Steve Tambellini, who began his career with the New York Islanders in 1979, ended his playing career six years before Adam was born in 1994. Jeff was 10 when Adam was born, so he was as much a hockey mentor as his father.

But the brothers never competed with or against each other, although they do skate and practice together in the summer. That changed this season, when the Wolf Pack played two games against the Crunch last month.

It was the first time the Tambellini brother played in the same game. Jeff Tambellini played at the University of Michigan before embarking on a professional career with the Los Angeles Kings. He spent time in the Islanders' organization, playing for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, and spent the last four years in Europe.

As Adam forged his career, it seemed unlikely they would cross professional paths.

Adam had an assistant against Syracuse in a 5-2 win Oct 18 in Hartford and had two goals in a 4-3 win Oct. 23 in Syracuse.

"That was pretty cool to face him," Adam said. "We never really thought we could get that experience against each other, being so far apart in age. It was a cool experience to see him out there. Obviously, he was a big role model for me growing up. It was pretty cool. … Definitely a highlight, for sure."

Coming out of junior hockey, Adam (6 feet 3, 190 pounds) was briefed by his brother and father about the AHL. He knew he would be playing with and against older players, he knew travel could be a challenge and the game would be tighter.

So far, he is handling the transition. In 11 games, he has four goals and six points. He is tied for third on the team in scoring.

"The guys being older, a little bit stronger than what I was playing against last year," Tambellini said. "Coming from the Western League, it's a long ways out here. You're away from your friends and family. But it's been really good so far."

Tambellini has good size, but he anticipated the challenge of battling more physically mature players in the AHL. So he put in extra time building muscle in the offseason.

"There's not a lot of mismatches in this kind of league," Tambellini said. "That's something that you work toward in the summer. You try to put the work in there and hopefully it pays off. So far, it's OK."

As a high draft pick with an eye-opening resume, Tambellini is viewed a legitimate prospect. His every move on the ice in Hartford is being watched in New York — but the Rangers hierarchy and by fans.

Tambellini is not thinking about the next step nor about the pressure of rising through an organization that attracts so much attention.

"I think coming in here being my first year, you're just trying to get your feet wet and trying to get your foot in the door," Tambellini said. "Trying to play well and see how you adapt to the pro game. For myself, I don't really like to put a lot of pressure on myself. Just try to go out there and do what I can do and try to help this team win."

The American Hockey League (AHL) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have recalled former Vernon Vipers forward Sahir Gill from the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) Wheeling Nailers.

Gill is in his third professional season playing parts of two seasons with the Penguins. Gill started the season in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton signed with the Penguins on October 8th 2015. In 21 games this season with the Penguins Gill has (5-goals-9-assists-14-points). In 24 games with the Nailers this year, Gill has (3-goals-15-assists-18-points).

Gill attended the Montreal Canadians Training camp last season was released before playing with three different teams last year. Gill played in 26 games with the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) Wheeling Nailers collected (9-goals-20-assists-29-points) also played in 25 games with the American Hockey League (AHL) Hamilton Bulldogs picking up (2-goals-2-assists-4-points) finished the 2014-15 season with the American Hockey League (AHL) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins had (1-goal-2-assists-3-points) in 12 games.  

Gill played his first pro season (2013-14) with the ECHL Wheeling Nailers. Gill finished sixth in rookie scoring and lead the Nailers in scoring collecting (13-goals-41-assists-54-points). Gill was suppose to enter his fourth and final season at Boston University (2013-14) but left school signing with the Nailers early in the season.

Gill played parts of two seasons in Vernon (2008-2010). Gill left the Vipers in July of 2009 for the United States Hockey League (USHL) Chicago Steel but after just 26 games would return to Vernon in mid January of 2010 to finish his Junior career with the Vipers. In 71 regular season games with the Vipers Gill recorded (21-goals-30-assists-42-points).

Sahir Gill's Player Profile:

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=38017    

This is posted on the Penguins website:

WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON RECALLS THREE PLAYERS

December 15, 2015

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins announced today that they have recalled forwards Ty Loney and Sahir Gill, and goalie Brian Foster from the Wheeling Nailers (ECHL).

Loney played in two games with the Penguins this season after being recalled on Oct. 24 and recorded two assists. In Wheeling, the 23-year-old has dressed in 18 games for the Nailers, netting 12 points (5G-7A).

Loney is in his first full season of professional hockey after spending four years at the University of Denver.

Gill earned his first AHL contract out of Penguins training camp this year and has played in 24 games with Wheeling this season. The third-year pro leads the Nailers with 15 assists and his 18 points are third on the team.

A native of Terrace, B.C., Gill appeared in 12 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins during the 2014-15 season, earning three points (1G-2A).

Foster, 28, is in his sixth year of professional hockey after playing the 2014-15 season with Lillehammer IK of the GET-ligaen in Norway. In 12 appearances with the Nailers, Foster has a 2.84 goals against average and .911 save percentage.

Foster has 19 career AHL games to his name, spending part of the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons with the San Antonio Rampage.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton season ticket packages, including Full Season, 22-game, 12-game and Flexbook plans, are available by contacting the Penguins directly at 570-208-7367.

Former Vernon Vipers defenceman Garrett Noonan has been named the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) Player of the Week.

Noonan is in his second season with the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) Cincinnati Cyclones. Noonan has split this season with the Cyclones and the American Hockey League (AHL) Milwaukee Admirals. In 17 games with Milwaukee Noonan has one assist, in 53 games with Cincinnati Noonan has (8-goals-32-assists-40-points).

Noonan split last season between the East Coast Hockey League & American Hockey League.  Noonan played 40 games with Milwaukee collecting (4-goals-5-assists-9-points) also played 23 games with Cincinnati picking up (1-goal-9-assists-10-points).

After four seasons at Boston University Noonan signed a Entry-Level Deal with the Nashville Predators on April 22nd 2014 also signed an amateur try-out contract (ATO) with the American Hockey League (AHL) Milwaukee Admirals. Noonan was drafted by Nashville in Round 4 #112 overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.  Noonan played one season in Vernon (2009-2010) in 58 regular season games with the Vipers Noonan collected (2-goals-16-assists-18-points).

Garrett Noonan's Player Profile:

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=48219

This is posted on the Cyclones website:

NOONAN NAMED LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

For Immediate Release: February 16, 2016
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
Fourth Defenseman Since 2010-11 to Earn Weekly Honor

Cincinnati, OH- The ECHL has announced that Cyclones defenseman Garrett Noonan has been named the Sher-Wood Hockey ECHL Player of the Week, for the week of February 8-14. Noonan recorded a pair of goals and dished out five assists over four games last week, helping Cincinnati to a four-game winning streak. Noonan is just the fourth defenseman since the 2010-11 season to be selected as League Player of the Week.

A native of Norfolk, MA, Noonan kicked off his monster week with back-to-back two-point performances, recording a goal and an assist in Cincinnati’s 4-1 win over the Kalamazoo Wings on Wednesday, and adding a power play goal and an assist on the game-winning tally in the Cyclones’ 6-5 win over the Ft. Wayne Komets on Friday. He then dished out an assist in Saturday’s 2-0 win over the Evansville IceMen, and added two more helpers in Sunday’s 4-3 overtime win over Evansville, including one on the game-winning tally.

Currently in his second professional season, Noonan leads all Cyclones defenseman, and is 14th amongst League blueliners in scoring with 26 points (5g, 21a). He is currently riding a four-game point streak, accounting for a pair of goals and five assists in that span, and has recorded nine points (2g, 7a) over his last six games played.

On behalf of Noonan, a case of pucks will be donated to a Cincinnati youth hockey organization by Sher-Wood Hockey; the exclusive puck supplier of the ECHL. Since beginning its sponsorship of the award in 2000-01, Sher-Wood Hockey has donated more than 33,000 pucks to youth hockey organizations in ECHL cities.

The 2015-2016 season is underway! Your Cyclones are on the march towards another Kelly Cup Championship, and want you along for the ride! Be sure to check out one of our 2015-16 Ticket Packages, available NOW! Call 513.421.PUCK to reserve your seats. Fans can also get the latest team updates on Facebook, Twitter (@CincyCyclones), Instagram, and our website, www.cycloneshockey.com!

The American Hockey League (AHL) Brampton Beast have traded former Vernon Vipers forward Bryan McGregor to the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) Norfolk Admirals.

McGregor signed with Brampton September 24th 2015 was in his first season with the Beast played in 18 games collected (2-goals-3-assists-5-points).

McGregor played last season with Piráti Chomutov. In 44 games McGregor picked up (16-goals-14-assists-30-points). Piráti Chomutov is a Czech ice hockey team from Chomutov, Czech Republic.  The team was established in 1945 play in the Czech Extraliga, the top-level league in the Czech Republic.

After four years at Minnesota-Duluth McGregor went on to play three years in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) with Pensacola, Johnstown & Idaho before having a short stint with the American Hockey League (AHL) Binghamton Senators. McGregor has spent the past six seasons playing overseas in six different leagues with seven different teams (Sport, HC Trinec, HC Innsbruck, Beibarys Atyrau, Rungsted, Szekesfehervar & Piráti Chomutov).  

McGregor played parts of one season in Vernon (2002-2003) after coming over in a trade with the Cowichan Valley Capitals for forward Josh Ciocco. In 32 games with the Vipers McGregor collected (21-goals-26-assists-47-points).

Bryan McGregor's Player Profile:

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=13415
This is posted on the Jackalscentral.com website:

Admirals Get Forward Bryan McGregor from Brampton

Posted December 18, 2015  by  Kevin Jordan

The Norfolk Admirals announce today that the club has acquired forward Bryan McGregor from the Brampton Beast for future considerations.

McGregor, 31, has two goals and three assists in 18 games with Brampton this season.

The 6-foot, 207-pound attacker scored 54 goals and 65 assists for 119 points in 147 career ECHL games with Pensacola, Johnstown, Idaho, and Brampton. The Niagara Falls, ON native played four seasons at the University of Minnesota-Duluth from 2003-07 and made his professional debut with Pensacola in the 2007-08 season. Read more at norfolkadmirals.com

This is posted on Castanet.net

Four bids for twinning ice

Kate Bouey - Apr 5, 2016

Four companies have submitted bids for the twinning of Kal Tire Place, and it shouldn't be long before one is chosen to build the new ice sheet.

“Our evaluation team has done a preliminary review of the proposals, and we are now moving forward to the next phase of the evaluation process,” said Doug Ross, Vernon recreation services director. “Our goal is to identify one preferred proponent by mid-April and then begin negotiations with that proponent.”

Ross did not reveal the price tag on those bids.

A 2014 feasibility study by MQN Architects put the cost of building a rink north of Kal Tire Place at just under $13 million.

Last November, residents within the North Okanagan Regional District voted in a referendum to allow the district to borrow $13.25 million for construction of the ice sheet, which will replace the old Civic Arena.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFt_BMGga4U

The American Hockey League (AHL) Lake Erie Monsters have signed former Vernon Vipers defenceman Steve Weinstein.

Weinstein finished his fourth and final year with Bentley University last year before signing an amateur try-out contract with the American Hockey League (AHL) Springfield Falcons on March 23rd 2015. Weinstein had just one assist in three games with the Falcons.

Weinstein played three seasons in Vernon (2008-2011) in 153 regular season games with the Vipers collected (10-goals-49-assists-59-points).

Steve Weinstein's Player Profile:

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=38003

This is posted on the Monsters website:

Monster Recall Quenneville, Weinstein Signs PTO

Dec 27th, 2015

CLEVELAND – In advance of a clash vs. the Grand Rapids Griffins at The Q, Cleveland’s Lake Erie Monsters recalled center Peter Quenneville from the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones and signed left-handed defenseman Steven Weinstein to a 25-game Professional Tryout Contract, the team announced Sunday.

A seventh round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2013 NHL Draft (195th overall), Quenneville appeared in 25 games for Cincinnati this season and has four goals, 16 points, 16 penalty minutes and a +7 rating to his credit so far this year. In 26 ECHL appearances this season, also for the Cyclones, Weinstein posted three goals, 17 points, two penalty minutes and a +9 rating. Quenneville will wear number 19 for the Monsters while Weinstein will wear number four.

A 5’11”, 196 lb. native of Edmonton, AB, Quenneville, 21, registered 48 goals, 126 points, 30 penalty minutes and a +9 rating in 116 WHL appearances for the Brandon Wheat Kings spanning parts of two seasons from 2013 to 2015. A right-handed shooter, Quenneville posted four assists, two penalty minutes and a +1 rating in five NCAA appearances for Quinnipiac University in 2013-14, following a prolific 2012-13 campaign with the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints, in which Quenneville logged 33 goals, 70 points, 18 penalty minutes and a +29 rating and helped Dubuque claim the 2013 Clark Cup as USHL Playoff Champions.

A 5’10”, 174 lb. 25 year-old native of Los Angeles, CA, Weinstein collected one assist in three AHL appearances for the Springfield Falcons last season and posted 14 goals, 105 points, 36 penalty minutes and a +40 rating in 145 NCAA appearances for Bentley University spanning four varsity seasons from 2011 to 2015.

Next up for the Monsters, it’s a Sunday home clash vs. Grand Rapids with full coverage underway from The Q at 5:00 pm on AM 1420 The Answer and simulcast on WUAB CLE 43 and the Monsters Hockey Network.

The Alberta Junior Hockey Leagues Okotoks Oilers have named former Vernon Vipers defencemen Reece Soukoroff rookie of the year at the teams year end awards banquet in March.

Soukoroff attended the Vipers Training Camp in August, played in some exhibition games was released, before signing with the Oilers in September. In 53 games this season with the Oilers, Soukoroff picked up (11-goals-15-assists-26-points). Reece's father Phil Soukoroff played with the 1987-88 Vernon Lakers.  

Reece Soukoroff's Player Profile:

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=199619


Okotoks Oilers Annual Awards Banquet - Held on Saturday March 5

Posted March 9th, 2016

This past weekend the Oilers hosted their Annual Awards Banquet at Cardel Place in Calgary, AB.  Some time was taken acknowledging the successes already achieved by our players and the 2015-16 Team. 

Below are a list of the award winners for the 2015-16 Season:

Volunteer of the Year                Peter Van den Wildenbergh
Most Improved Player                Braydon Jenkins
Rookie of the Year                      Reece Soukoroff
Top Defensemen                        Carson Beers
Top Plus / Minus                         Connor Chambers
Top Scorer                                   Matt McNair
Hardest Working Player             Tanner Laderoute
Unsung Hero                               Carter Huber
Rock Solid Player                        Jordie Lawson
Most Valuable Player                  Colin O'Neill
Oiler Award (Greg Wedderburn Memorial Award)      Riley Mathies

Congradulations to all our award winners this season.  We wish the 2015-16 Okotoks Oilers Coaching Staff and Players all the success in our up coming playoffs.

The American Hockey League’s (AHL) Utica Comets have signed former Vernon Vipers forward Brandon Marino to a Professional Tryout Contract (PTO).

Marino signed with the American Hockey League (AHL) Brampton Beast August 19th 2015 is in his first season with the Beast has (13-goals-28-assists-41-points) in 40 games.

Marino spent last season with the Austrian Erste Bank Hockey League (AEBHL) SAPA Fehérvár AV19.  SAPA Fehérvár AV19, is a Hungarian ice hockey team. After four years with Bemidji State University Marino spent the next five seasons playing in four different leagues (IHL, CHL, ECHL & AHL) with three different teams (Quad City, Fort Wayne & Norfolk) before playing in Hungary last season.

Marino played just two games with the 2002-2003 Vernon Vipers.

Brandon Marino's Player Profile:

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=39227

This is posted on the Beast website:

Marino Callup Highlights Beast Transactions

01/12/2016

Photo By: John Warren / Brampton Beast

BRAMPTON, ONTARIO – The Brampton Beast, ECHL affiliate of the St. John’s IceCaps and Montreal Canadiens, announce today several transactions ahead of this week’s games against the Florida Everblades.

Beast captain Brandon Marino has signed a Professional Tryout Contract (PTO) with the American Hockey League’s Utica Comets. The 29-year-old Riverside, California native is on a point-per-game pace in the ECHL this season and has collected nine goals and 25 assists in 34 games played this season. At the time of his departure, he had appeared in every game the Beast have played this season.

Prior to his callup, he has just one game of AHL experience with the Norfolk Admirals in 2012-13.

Joining the Beast for their current road trip is 21-year-old Tim Bozon. The St. Louis, Missouri native has split this season with the Beast and the IceCaps. In 10 games with St. John’s, he has recorded a single assist, while in six appearances with the Beast, he recorded a pair of assists.

The Beast have also signed goaltender Jordan Ruby to a Standard Player Contract. The 24-year-old Tavistock, Ontario native spent four years in the NCAA with the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) between the 2011-12 and 2014-15 seasons.

Following his final year of college in 2014-15, he appeared in one game with the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye and also suited up for a single game with the Indy Fuel this season. He has been fantastic this season with the Huntsville Havoc of the Southern Professional Hockey League, posting a stellar 1.87 goals against average and a .933 save percentage in eight contests.

The Beast are in southwest Florida this week for a three-game set against the Florida Everblades. The Beast are on the road for most of the month of January and won’t return to the Powerade Centre until January 31 against the Wheeling Nailers. Tickets are now on sale, starting at $16.25. For more information or general media inquiries on the Brampton Beast please contact Chris Ballard, Public Relations Coordinator at (905) 564-1684 or cballard@bramptonbeast.com

Former Vernon Vipers forward Tyler Povelofskie helped the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) 100 Mile House Wranglers win the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League championship. The Wranglers defeated the Kimberly Dynamiters 2-1 to win the series 4-1. The Wranglers now advance to the Cyclone Taylor Cup-B.C. Junior B hockey championship in Victoria.

Povelofskie and the Wranglers are 1-1 at the Cyclone Taylor Cup, lost 4-2 to Victoria Thursday rebounded with a 2-1 victory over Mission City Friday. Povelofskie scored once and was named 2nd star in the loss to Victoria. Povelofskie and the Wranglers next play today vs Campbell River.

Cyclone Taylor Cup website,

http://www.cyclonetaylorcup.ca/leagues/homeCTC.cfm?leagueID=18220&clientID=4982&link=CTC

Povelofskie in his first season with the Wranglers come out of retirement to join-sign with the Wranglers in September. In 32 games with the Wranglers Povelofskie picked up (15-goals-16-assists-31-points). Povelofskie played last season with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs before announcing his retirement on June 18th 2015 to pursue a post-secondary opportunity.  In 26 games with the Bulldogs last year Povelofskie picked up (6-goals-9-assists-15-points). 

Povelofskie played one season in Vernon (2013-14) was traded to Alberni Valley on May 22nd 2014.  Povelofskie was the future considerations the Vipers owed the Bulldogs from a previous trade.  On October 1st 2013 the Vipers sent Craig Martin & future considerations (Tyler Povelofskie) to Alberni Valley for Jared Wilson.  In 53 games with the Vipers Povelofskie collected (2-goals-3-assists-5-points).      

Tyler Povelofskie's Player Profile:

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=153007

This was in the Golden Star Newspaper:

Lakecity trio helps Wranglers hoist KIJHL title
                      
by Greg Sabatino - Williams Lake Tribune

posted Apr 5, 2016

Hockey fans in 100 Mile House have something to celebrate.

Likewise, back home in Williams Lake, three lakecity hockey players — Justin Bond, Tyler Povelofskie and Kolten Carpenter — are doing the same after their team, the 100 Mile House Wranglers, knocked off the Kimberly Dynamiters 2-1 in front of a raucous crowd Thursday at the South Cariboo Rec Centre to win the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League championship by a 4-1 margin in the best-of-seven series.

It’s the team’s first KIJHL championship in just its third season in the league.

“It’s great to win,” Povelofskie, the Wranglers’ assistant captain, told the Tribune. “And it’s great for 100 Mile, too. It’s their third year and everyone’s really come together and made it possible to put a team on the ice. Not just a team, but a good team, and a team they’re going to be proud of.”

Bond, the team’s second-highest point producer during the regular season with 20 goals and 19 assists and top scorer during the playoffs with 13 goals and nine assists, said it was a special moment to win in front of the home crowd in 100 Mile House.

Povelofskie, a past RBC Cup winner with the Junior A Vernon Vipers, finished the post season with four goals and three assists. Carpenter, a gritty defenceman, had two assists during playoffs.

“It’s pretty special,” Bond said. “We had a big, strong team this year and that helped us through the playoffs. We went into their arena and got the first win there and that was pretty big. They hadn’t lost yet in their arena in playoffs.

“That meant a lot coming home. We knew we had a good chance. We won the first two and said there’s one more to go, might as well do it here.”

Bond and Povelofskie said the fans in 100 Mile House were phenomenal throughout the regular season and the playoffs in supporting the team.

“It’s a huge part of it,” Povelofskie said. “We can’t do anything without them. They’re there right
beside us every night win or lose. Doesn’t matter if it’s Tuesday or Saturday, they’re always there.”

Both also said it was nice to have fellow Williams Lake players on the team — players they climbed through the ranks of the Williams Lake Minor Hockey Association with.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Povelofskie said. “It’s fun going to the rink and it’s fun leaving the rink. Having those guys [Bond and Carpenter] gives me someone to drive down with. We almost always drive together. I’ve played with probably most of the team — either with or against — throughout minor hockey and it’s fun we all ended up in the same place.”

The team’s path to the KIJHL title consisted of playoff series wins over the Revelstoke Grizzlies (4-0), the Chase Heat (4-2), the Summerland Steam (4-1) and the Kimberly Dynamiters (4-1).

The Dynamiters were last year’s KIJHL champions and finished this year’s regular season with the best overall record with 41 wins and seven losses.

The Wranglers, meanwhile, now advance to the Cyclone Taylor Cup — B.C.’s Junior B hockey championship — and will face off in a round-robin style tournament in Victoria beginning this Thursday with the Mission City Outlaws of the Pacific Junior Hockey League, the Campbell River Storm of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League and the Victoria Cougars of the Pacific Junior Hockey League.

“It will be interesting because we don’t get to play those teams,” Bond said.

“There will be some tough matches — everyone deserves to be there — but I think we’ll stack up OK.”

Povelofskie added it should be a good tournament, where the winner will advance to the Western Canadian junior B championship, the Keystone Cup.

“It’s going to be a lot different than our best-of-seven playoff series [so far],” Povelofskie said. “But good teams find a way to win. I think we’re a good team and I think we’ll be able to do it.”

Former Vernon Vipers forward Kenny Magowan will finish the season with the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL)-(German Ice Hockey League) Lausitzer Foxes. The Foxes have added an option to extend Magowan's contract at the end of the season.

Magowan is in his first season with the Foxes after signing a tryout December 17th 2015. The Lausitzer Füchse (literally Lusatian Foxes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Weißwasser, Saxony. They currently play in DEL2, the second level of ice hockey in Germany.

Magowan played last season with two clubs (Frankfurt Lions & Vienna Capitals).  Magowan started last year with the DEL Frankfurt Lions before leaving the team in January.  The Lions are a professional men's ice hockey club from Frankfurt, Germany that play in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga hockey league. The Lions signed Magowan October 22nd 2014. Magowan played in 17 games picked up (9-goals-8-assists-17-points).  The Capitals are an Austrian professional ice hockey club that play in Vienna, Austria signed Magowan to a three day tryout on February 9th 2015.  Magowan left the Capitals after playing in just 10 games, collected (2-goals-2-assists-4-points).

Magowan spent three seasons (2004-2007) playing in the East Coast Hockey League & American Hockey League with six different teams (Albany, Augusta, Toledo, Philadelphia, Rochester & Bridgeport) before playing the last eight seasons in Germany with five different teams (SC Riessersee, Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg, Adler Mannheim, Lowen Frankfurt & Vienna Capitals).

Magowan played two seasons in Vernon (1998-2000) played in 118 games with the Vipers collecting (46-goals-62-assists-108-points). Magowan was drafted by the New Jersey Devils 198th overall in Round 7 at the 2000 NHL Entry Draft.

Kenny Magowan's Player Profile:

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=15121

This is posted on the Foxes website:

Ken Magowan remains in Weißwasser

18:01:16 09:49

Foxes pull option at the Canadian attacker

Ken Magowan will remain until the end of the season at the Lausitz foxes. The hockey Zweitligist has drawn the option to extend the contract. Magowan came just before Christmas to white water and immediately became one of the top performers in the team. In eleven games he met five times and had five assists. The attacker scored among others on Sunday in Bremerhaven the winning goal for white water in the extension (2: 1).

The 34-year-old before his time for foxes, among others in the DEL for Mannheim and Wolfsburg in use.

Here is a great article-story on former Vernon Lakers forward Glen Metropolit.

Metropolit is in his second season with the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) Adler Mannheim Eagles.  Metropolit signed with the Eagles on July 29th 2014. The Eagles are an ice hockey team that play in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, the highest ice hockey league in Germany. The Eagles are based in Mannheim, a city in the north of Baden-Württemberg.

Metropolit has spent the past six seasons overseas playing with four teams (EV Zug, HC Lugano, SC Bern & Adler Mannheim) in two different leagues (NLA & DEL). Metropolit was also Captain for Team Canada the 2014 Spengler Cup.

Metropolit played one season in Vernon (1994-95) with the Vernon Lakers. In 60 regular season games with the Lakers Metropolit lead the team in scoring with (43-goals-74-assists-117-points). Mettropolit was never drafted but played eight seasons in the NHL with seven different teams (Washington, Tampa Bay, Atlanta, St. Louis, Boston, Philadelphia & Montreal).

Glen Metropolit's Player Profile:

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=3587

This was posted on the Hockey News website:

The Metropolit Brothers: one pro hockey player, one convicted felon

By: Ken Campbell

September 26, 2015

It’s a sunny summer morning in Toronto and Glen Metropolit is back home. Well, not exactly. Home is actually a little west of the Starbucks where he’s sitting. To be in an upscale coffee shop at all has to be considered a triumph for him. That’s because Glen grew up in a neighborhood called Regent Park, which was one of the most notorious and densely populated projects in Canada.

Constructed in the late 1940s, it was established to narrow the divide between the poor and the well off. The social experiment ended in disaster. Just a stone’s throw from the financial district where billions of dollars flow every day, Regent Park was once described by a local newspaper this way: “Living here is like getting kicked in the teeth.” The area has been gentrified in recent years and now includes mixed income housing, but back in the day it epitomized the dead end street for the disenfranchised. Glen’s 83-year-old grandmother still lives in Regent Park, but when he comes back to visit in the summer he couch surfs at the homes and apartments of his old friends in the area. He’s used to that, since he moved about 50 times when he was a kid, by his estimation, including foster homes.

Glen’s cellphone rings as he sips his coffee. It’s his younger half-brother, Troy Metropolit. As the two make plans, Glen says his brother’s name at the end of every sentence. “So, what time are you free, Troy?” “Should I pick you up at your girlfriend’s place, Troy?” The name sounds foreign coming from his mouth, given Glen just saw his brother in June for the first time in 16 years, when he was 25 and Troy 22.

“I can’t believe I can just pick up the phone and talk to him whenever I want to,” he says.

A couple days later, it’s another bright morning in Toronto. Troy is in a small holding area at the halfway house in which he lives. He’s required to check in twice a day and be back by 10 p.m. He must let his parole officer know where he is at all times, including calling in if he’s changing locations. He’s a free man, but his definition of free is relative.

“Welcome to my castle,” he says while sitting in a lounge during one of his daily mandatory check-ins. “I have a piano and a TV and everything.”

Troy, 38, is talking about how he recently discovered a caterpillar on his pant leg while he was on the subway. He took it in his hand and held it for five stops before placing it on a leaf once he got off the train.

“My girlfriend said, ‘That’s crazy. You killed a guy and you save a caterpillar?’ ” Troy says. “Why not? It didn’t do nothing to me. And then it turns into this beautiful butterfly.”

You’re probably wondering what all of this has to do with hockey. Fair enough, but if that’s the case, you’re not familiar with one of the most unlikely careers in NHL history. Glen played 407 games in the NHL with seven teams. In his last season, with Montreal in 2009-10, he had a respectable 29 points in 69 games and helped the Canadiens to the Eastern Conference final. Since then he’s played in Switzerland and most recently Germany, where he helped the Mannheim Eagles to the German League championship. At 41, he just signed another one-year deal with Mannheim.

Glen should have been drafted in 1992, but since he was playing one of the lowest levels of high school hockey in Toronto, he was nowhere near the radar of NHL scouts. But of the 264 players drafted that year, only 40 of them played more games in the NHL than Glen did. Only 29 scored more goals and just 34 had more assists and points. More remarkably, Sergei Gonchar was the only one from that draft still playing in the NHL. Most have been retired for at least five years now.

All this happened despite the fact Glen had to overcome a host of obstacles just to make it to the NHL. While most other kids in his cohort were beginning the craze of 1-on-1 skills training, Glen was playing house league hockey, never working his way up to AAA. He wasn’t drafted into the OHL or NHL, instead jumping to a Jr. B team out of high school hockey because his friend was already on the team. He had scholarship offers from Bowling Green and UMass-Lowell that were revoked by the NCAA clearing house, saying he’d have to redshirt a year before being eligible. So Glen worked his way up from the lowest rung of the minors, taking summer jobs laying sod until something called the Long Island Jawz called him asking him to play pro roller hockey for $400 a game.

Then there was his upbringing, which was surrounded by drugs, poverty and addiction. Glen has never met Marty McGee, an ex-Hell’s Angels biker who’s his biological father. Linda Hachey was just 17 when she became pregnant with Glen. Shortly after she and McGee broke up, Linda met Bruce Metropolit, Troy’s biological father. The only time Glen saw Bruce as a child was when he visited him in jail. With his stepfather in and out of the penal system, Glen would often watch hockey games on Saturday night while his uncles drank beer and smoked weed, and then he’d go play men’s league hockey with them. He moved around incessantly, mostly because his mother couldn’t afford to raise her two boys.

“Bless my mom’s heart, she did the best she could,” Glen says. “I remember living with my aunt, my grandmother, in foster homes. It was crazy times for my mom. There was so much chaos – all the houses where we were, the drugs, the whole environment. I just remember I always wanted to get out of that environment and just go play hockey.”

Glen recently had his mother and grandmother down to Florida for a visit. It was then that he was told one of his mother’s brothers had committed suicide while in jail. His grandfather was so addicted to alcohol that his mother recalls going out to buy rubbing alcohol for him. Glen’s grandmother watched her husband die of an overdose in front of her. It was in this crucible that his mother was born, and through Glen’s and Troy’s childhoods, she was never able to escape the cycle. Every time they would move out of Regent Park, circumstances would conspire to drag them back in.

Glen would go to church as a child to pray to God to become an NHL player. When he wasn’t playing the lowest level of house league once a week, he’d find his salvation on one of the two outdoor rinks in Regent Park. And everywhere he went, he would stickhandle a tennis ball. In the fall, he’d stickhandle around the leaves on the ground.

“It was like Wilson in Castaway,” Glen recalls. “Just me and my ball.”

You wonder how two brothers, coming from the same circumstances, facing the same obstacles, can embark on such divergent paths in life. Glen was in trouble only once when he was kid, sent home from school for breaking a window. His ascension to the NHL is not unheard of – former NHLers John Madden, Tim Thomas and current NHLer Joel Ward have similar beginnings – but his ability to both overcome his situation and avoid the patterns of behavior he was exposed to are what make him unique. Troy, on the other hand, was always in trouble. His career as a criminal started early, after he stole a G.I. Joe from a department store when he was eight. Linda tried to put Troy into hockey, but no coach could ever handle him. As Glen got more immersed in sports, Troy got more involved in petty crime.

About the time Glen was beginning to forge his NHL career in the late 1990s, his younger brother was well established as a career criminal. Stealing cars was his forte, but he’d happily take pretty much anything that didn’t belong to him.

“I’d break into stores, steal clothes and bikes and whatever,” Troy says. “I liked it, it was quick, it was easy. I used to think, ‘Oh, whatever, they’ve got insurance, no big deal. I ain’t confronting nobody, I ain’t hurting nobody.’ Smash a window in a clothing store or something, run in and grab, like, 15 leather jackets – quick easy couple grand in, like, a minute.”

Eventually Troy landed in jail for two 18-month sentences, one for robbing a jewelry store and another for resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. But then came the night of Jan. 6, 1999. While Glen was in the midst of an 80-point season in the IHL that would lead to his first NHL contract, Troy and two accomplices were planning a “bump and rob,” where you bump the car in front of you, and when the occupant gets out you shake him down and go on your way.

What was supposed to be a quick robbery turned into the kidnapping of a prominent Toronto lawyer named Schuyler ‘Skippy’ Sigel and his wife, Lynn. Troy was driving a stolen car when they saw their mark, a rich couple driving a Mercedes in an exclusive Toronto neighborhood. After Troy sprayed mace in Sigel’s face, one accomplice beat him and his wife and put them in the trunk of the car. From there, they were driven to an 19th floor apartment in Regent Park where they were pistol whipped and forced to give up the security code to their home and the PIN numbers for their bank accounts.

“At one point in time we’re thinking about just carjacking for the car to try to sell the car, and then it just kind of spiralled from there,” Troy says. “We’re like, ‘Well, how much we going to get for a car?’ And then you bump in and you’re like ‘Well, let’s get their bank accounts,’ and then it just seems to snowball sometimes. More and more. And then you’ve got them and you’re like, ‘Well, f—, let’s ransom him now.’ You know? You already have them. So, instead of taking their money from their credit card, you’re, like, ‘Well let’s call their family and tell them we want 100 K.’ ”

The couple escaped when Troy and one of the accomplices left to get a bite to eat and the third accomplice, who was 17 at the time, fell asleep. Troy was sentenced to 16 years in prison (reduced to 14 years on appeal) for kidnapping, assault and forcible confinement. The trial judge called the crime, “gratuitous and subhuman violence, a crime that goes beyond pure horror,” and said Troy and his accomplices were, “career criminals who had intentionally embarked upon a violent criminal path of life and had treated jail and the criminal system as mere occupational hazards.” Troy’s older accomplice also received 16 years. The sentences were, at the time, the longest ever in Canada for carjacking.

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t relive the terror of that night,” Lynn Sigel wrote in her victim impact statement prior to sentencing, “the deep fear, hearing the piercing voices of hatred screaming through my brain.”

But it was three years into his sentence that Troy committed his most heinous crime. Glen was in his fourth season with the Washington Capitals organization, bouncing to and from the minors but continuing to plug away. The night of April 15, 2003, Troy and another inmate at the Millhaven maximum security prison got into an altercation. It ended with Troy stabbing Marlan Assinewai 22 times in his neck, back, chest and abdomen. The inmates were watching a hockey game at the time, and the prison guards originally thought the yelling was from overzealous hockey fans.

Troy explains prison culture when he talks about what happened. Just a couple weeks before, he’d been stabbed himself in the head and the back over an altercation about the queue to get into the shower. He said he was stabbed because he didn’t take a threat seriously. After the incident, Troy went back to his cell and got his cellmate to give him homemade stitches, because going for medical attention would have labelled him as weak. Jail politics, he calls it. He says any sign of weakness is pounced on by other prisoners, and any sign of disrespect, either real or imagined, can’t go unpunished. The wrong word can get you killed. If you’re bullied into giving up your phone time, you’ll be seen as a target. Even bragging about his brother being in the NHL would have caused trouble, so Troy never mentioned it and would only talk about it if someone asked him.

While Glen was riding buses in the minors and learning the pro hockey culture, Troy was quickly learning the prison life. While Glen was applying a blowtorch to curve his sticks, Troy was burning plastic dinner trays in his cell and rolling them under a book until they congealed to become as sharp as an ice pick. While Glen had to occasionally stand up for himself on the ice, Troy was forced to guard his life every day.

“It’s either you or him and he’s a violent dude,” Troy says of Assinewai. “I kind of blacked out. I went in there thinking I got him a few times, but I didn’t realize it was that many. You just go in and you’re in a zone, you’re focused kind of, but you’re not. I was just thinking of going in and stabbing him a couple of times and hurt him so he goes to the hospital or leaves the jail, and then they won’t let you back most times. So a lot of times, that’s the way to get rid of the problem, because if you hurt him enough, they won’t let him come back, because they’ll say his life’s in danger.”

Originally charged with first-degree murder, Troy pled guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to another eight years in prison. By the time Troy was sentenced, Glen was playing in Finland for Jokerit Helsinki, leading the team in scoring for two seasons. What was supposed to be a career in Europe turned out to be a three-year stint that ended when the Atlanta Thrashers signed him after he led the Swiss League in scoring in 2005-06. That was the beginning of a run of four straight seasons in the NHL during which Glen played for five teams. It was a glamorous life filled with riches, which was what his brother wanted but could only hope to attain by living a life of crime. Both Glen and Troy had escaped Regent Park, but they couldn’t have taken more divergent paths out.

Sitting in a Coffee Time, Troy shows one of his many tattoos. On the left side of his chest is a tattoo that says “Route 187. No Remorse.” The 187 signifies the section of the California Penal Code for murder, which is used by gangs as a synonym for murder. And the “No Remorse” rings as true for Troy as it did 12 years ago. He feels badly for Assinewai’s family, but not for the man he killed.

“I would rather take the life (sentence) than have some guy attack me and put me in a wheelchair, stab my eyes out or something,” Troy says. “I didn’t want to kill him, but at the same time I really don’t have any remorse for killing him. Not really. Like, yeah, I feel a little bad. So I have some remorse, but not enough to really lose sleep over it. Like, that might sound a little cruel or unhuman – I don’t know – but when you live in it in there, that’s the way it is.”

Throughout their childhood, both Glen and Troy were surrounded by drugs and alcohol, but neither succumbed to them. Troy committed his crimes not to fund an addiction, but because it was an easy way to make a living. He’d smoke weed and do ecstasy at raves, but it wasn’t what drove him to commit crimes. “I just loved money,” he says.

So did Glen. So much so that he was willing to sign with Yaroslavl in the KHL for the 2011-12 season, one year after leading his Swiss team in scoring. Yaroslavl was offering a one-year deal for $1.2 million, more money than Glen had ever made. But his then-wife refused to go, so he re-signed with his Zug team for $400,000. That September, the entire Yaroslavl team died in a plane crash that killed 44 people.

Glen has been playing in Europe for five seasons now, four in Switzerland and this past season in Germany. He no longer scores goals the way he used to, but he’s found a comfort zone playing the European game and has always thought the game at a high enough level that he can still compete. He has a one-year deal for next season, but he has no idea what the future holds for him in the game. He and his ex-wife, Michlyn, whom he met when he was playing in the ECHL with Pensacola, finalized their divorce last summer, though they are still close friends and have the bonds of their three children, 13-year-old Alivia, 10-year-old Max and eight-year-old Esther.

“I’m older now, but I feel like I’m 25,” Glen says. “I love working out and I feel strong. I don’t know when it’s going to end, but I’m going to just keep riding it out.”

When you come from an upbringing as chaotic as Glen’s, you never plan too far ahead. He says he’ll keep playing until nobody’s willing to pay him a decent wage to keep doing so. In the meantime, he returns to Florida in the summers where he and Michlyn run a fitness studio called Otium, in the Pensacola suburb of Destin. The front of the store has a juice and salad bar and high-end apparel, and the back has hot yoga, TRX and Pilates studios. For a kid from the projects, it doesn’t get much better.

Meanwhile, Troy has been living in a halfway house since his parole in November. He spends much of his time with his girlfriend, an old friend he kept in touch with throughout his incarcerations. He’s randomly tested for drugs and alcohol, and if he ever tests positive, he’ll be sent back to prison. He tries to get by with temp work and receives $85 a week for meals.

Despite having different fathers, Glen and Troy, who are separated by only three years, look almost like twins. They both have shaved heads, and they laugh and smile easily. Theirs is an uneasy brotherhood, though. Glen never visited his brother in prison, and the two acknowledge they’re just getting to know one another again. As kids, Glen was into sports and Troy was into petty crime. Glen had a hard time understanding what motivated his brother to do the things he did and an even more difficult time trying to convince him to stop. They grew up together, minus the times they were split up when they were in foster care, but Glen wasn’t sure what to think when his brother first reached out to him after he was released.

“I wasn’t sure how I would feel because I didn’t know him,” he says. “But as soon as we talked the first time, I realized, ‘Yeah, he’s my brother and I do love him.’ It was a weird feeling when it all starts to come back.”

Glen and Troy have a sister, Nikki, who lives in a suburb of Toronto with her three children. Their mother married a third man, had a daughter with him and has since escaped Regent Park, earning employment as a bus driver for the Toronto Transit Commission, working as Linda Lafferty. When the brothers met this summer, the first thing Glen did was take Troy shopping for a new pair of shoes. After all this time, Glen hopes they can once again become a family.

“I’m doing my thing, but I want to help him any way I can,” he says. “He has a great support network here. I try to help him financially because I know it can be hard. Hopefully he can stay on the straight and narrow.”

Troy is committed to staying out of the penal system once and for all. At 38, he’s trying to find work, but the resume is a little sparse. His most recent job was working at a kitty litter factory. His time in prison coincided with Glen’s NHL career, and he laments the fact he never got to watch his brother play live. And heading to Germany to visit him is out of the question, considering he’s a convicted criminal with a violent past.

“I missed his whole career,” Troy says. “But I’m happy for him. He’s done good for himself."

The Rouen Hockey Elite 76 also nicknamed the Rouen Dragons have signed former Vernon Lakers-Vipers forward Dustin Whitecotton.

The Rouen Hockey Elite 76, nicknamed the Rouen Dragons, is a French ice hockey club playing in Ligue Magnus (highest level of the sport in France). Whitecotton played last year with the Deggendorf Fire, an ice hockey team in Deggendorf, Germany, that play in the Oberliga, the third level of ice hockey in Germany. In 44 games with the Fire Whitecotton collected (14-goals-39-assists-53-points).

After four years at Miami University Whitecotton spent the next three seasons playing in three different leagues (AHL, ECHL & UHL) with four different teams (Mississippi, Grand Rapids, Missouri & Lowell), before spending the next twelve years playing overseas. Since 2003 Whitecotton has played in five different leagues (Germany 2, DEL, EIHL, Germany 3 & France) with six different teams (Blue Devils Weiden, SERC Wild Wings, Straubing Tigers, Belfast Giants, Deggendorfer SC & Rouen Hockey Elite 76).

Whitecotton is the youngest player ever to play for the Vernon Lakers & Vernon Vipers making the Lakers at the young age of 14. Whitecotton played three seasons in Vernon with the Vernon Lakers and Vernon Vipers from (1993-96). In 166 games with the Lakers and Vipers Whitecotton collected (52-goals-102-assists-164-points).

Dustin Whitecotton's Player Profile:

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=15122

This is posted on the Dragons website:

DUSTIN Whitecotton, NEW CENTER EXPERIENCE

July 1st 2015

The Rouen Dragons announced today the signing of Dustin Whitecotton for the 2015/2016 season.

The center player from British Columbia, Canada, 36 (1m78, 81kg) has the ability to be a great skater who works both offensively and defensively.

He is experienced and able both to score as defending solidly.

North American trained, Dustin Whitecotton is especially going through the AHL before leaving to join Europe at the age of 24 years.

He spent more then 10 years in Germany where he mostly played for many years in LED Straubing.

For information, there is still a center player and a defender coming soon to complete the 2015/2016 owner of Rouen Dragons.

The Fischtown Pinguins, also known as REV Bremerhaven have signed former Vernon Vipers forward Alex Nikiforuk.

The Pinguins, are a professional ice hockey team based in Bremerhaven, Germany. They currently play in DEL2,[2] the second level of ice hockey in Germany.

The Pinguins will be Nikiforuk's third team this year, also played with EHC Visp & the GCK Lions. The EHC Visp is a Swiss ice hockey club from Visp, Switzerland while the Lions are a Swiss professional ice hockey team that play in the National League B, Switzerland's second tier ice hockey division. In 22 games with the Lions Nikiforuk collected (4-goals-9-assists-13-points) picked up one assist in one game with EHC Visp.

After playing four years at the University of Nebraska, Nikiforuk has spent the past eight seasons overseas playing with nine different teams (SaiPa, Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg, Herning Blue Fox, Pontebba, Valpellice, EfB Ishockey, GC Kusnacht Lions, HC Red Ice & EHC Visp) in six different leagues (Liiga, DEL, Denmark, Italy, NLB & DEL 2). 
   
Nikiforuk played one season as an affiliated player "AP" with the Vipers (1999-2000) before being traded the following season to the Burnaby Bulldogs. In 6 games with the Vipers Nikiforuk collected (0-goals-2-assists-2-points).

Alex Nikiforuk's Player Profile:

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=11415

This is posted on the Pinguins website:

Alex Nikiforuk comes to Wilhelm Kaisen-Platz

20/01/2016

Forward with Ukrainian origin and Canadian passport

The sparrows had whistled it already since long of the Bremerhaven roofs and also from official side there were barely denials if was speculated on the fact that on account of the healthwise unsteady position of penguin forward Jan Kopecky the market is sounded out after a supplement. Today now an end was put with the announcement of the obligation by Alex Nikiforuk to the speculations. From the Swiss national league B Canadian Nikiforuk of the GC Küstnacht Lions changes to the inhabitant of Bremerhaven Wilhelm Kaisen-Platz. The Lions, act as a farm team for élite club of Zurich ZSC Lions, have no more chance to reach the Play out of vision round of the NLB. „ Our general manager has given me to change the permission with immediate effect, “ says Alex Nikiforuk who also, however, stresses that he has had a good time in the NLB. Especially in his first season, at that time still with a more professional cadre, the forward with 43 Scorerpunkten knew how to be convincing. After one had equipped the team, however, more and more with young players and the "farm team thought" was put more and more in the center, the sporty competition ability also suffered in the very strong league. Nikiforuk still is fully of the praise about his old employer. „ An extremely professional organization in which I have really probably filled more than three years. Meanwhile I was in the team, however, already almost the Methusalem. “ The more Nikiforuk is glad to be allowed to show be able to be now again in a steadily well occupied team. „ One knows Bremerhaven even in Switzerland. The team is strong and has a good call. For me the ideal club to be able to recommend me again in Germany. “

By the way recommend. Nikiforuk which has played ready in the season 2007/2008 for the Grizzly Adams from Wolfsburg in the DEL wants to try everything to offer also again höherklassig. For this reason he signed not least with the lake town-dwellers at first only one contract passé up to the seasonal end. „ Alex is an incredibly quick, technically strong forward whom we know from the Danish and Italian league already, according to team manager Alfred Prey.

Nikiforuk began his career in 2003 in the University of Nebraska-Omaha in the NCAA and developed there to a reliable Scorer of his team. His engagement and his continual fight readiness provided for the fact that he was determined in the team's council and later for the assistance captain of his college team. After his time at the university the agile Canadian changed to Europe and decided on an engagement at Finnish élite league club SaiPa from Lappeenranta. Later in the year it pulled him to the DEL club to Wolfsburg, before he came about the stopover in the Danish Herning to Italy. First in Pontebba, then two years in Valpellice, there advanced Nikiforuk to a reliable Scorer of his team and always belonged to the best players of the Italian élite league, it pulled him again back to Denmark (Esbjerg) and afterwards three years in the NLB to the GC Küsnacht Lions.

„ The penguins are sure to have found a player with Nikiforuk, the Scorerqualitäten owns what also Brock Hooton confirms who knows the man from the north Vancouver. Also Ryan Martinelli, he played together with "IN" for two years in Valpellice confirms: „ He knows where the gate stands. “

Thus not only the official hope that the new entry with the number *9 will give a taste of his skill already on Friday in the part against the SC Riessersee.

The Langley Rivermen have named former
Vernon Vipers Assistant Coach Chris Shaw the teams new Associate Coach.

Shaw has spent the past two years as Head Coach-GM with the Western States Hockey League (WSHL) Ontario Avalanche. Under Shaw the Avalanche went (52-45-0-1) the last two seasons.

Shaw spent one season in Vernon as an Assistant Coach with the Vipers (2011-12) was released May 6th 2012.  The Vipers finished the season with a 30-27-1-2 record finishing 5th in the Interior Conference missing the BCHL playoffs.

Chris Shaw's Player-Coaching Profile:

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=134377

This is posted on the Rivermen website:

Rivermen hire Chris Shaw as Associate Head Coach

April 13, 2016

by Brandon

The Langley Rivermen announced today that the franchise has hired former professional hockey player Chris Shaw to be the new Associate Head Coach. Last year’s Associate Head Coach & Assistant General Manager Kurt Astle has stepped down from his Associate Head Coach role, but will retain his Assistant General Manager position. Mitch Fyffe will remain as an Assistant Coach for the 2016-17 season.

Chris Shaw, a Surrey native, was a defenseman that played in 168 career BCHL games from 1998-2001 between the Victoria Salsa and Burnaby Bulldogs. In his last season with the Bulldogs, he was named team Captain. Through 2003-2008, he played professionally in the Central Hockey League (CHL), United Hockey League (UHL), Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL), and in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) with the Victoria Salmon Kings. In total, he appeared in 214 professional regular season games.

In 2009-10, he began his coaching career with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs (BCHL) as an Assistant Coach before taking the Head Coach & General Manager job with the Nelson Leafs in the KIJHL a season later. After a year with the Vernon Vipers as an Assistant Coach in 2011-12, he took over the reigns as Head Coach and General Manager for the Ontario Avalanche (WSHL) for the better part of two seasons.

“I am really excited for the chance to coach back in the BCHL again. Bobby and I go back a long ways and to have an opportunity to coach alongside him will be a great experience, as it has been something we have talked about for a long time,” said Shaw.

Coach Henderson believes Shaw’s experience and familiarity with the league makes him a great fit.

“Losing Kurt on the bench, we felt it was important to add an experienced coach to our staff. Chris brings along a great playing and coaching resume that our players will be able to draw from. His experience with player development, bench management, and recruiting will be a valuable asset for us,” said Henderson.

Asked to describe his coaching philosophy, Shaw pointed to a few things that he stands by.

“Accountability and integrity are pretty big for me. I feel like I am a pretty good motivator and have always had an open door policy with my players. I like to communicate with them as much as I can and earn their trust before I start pushing buttons,” said Shaw.

Although there is more than four months before training camp begins, both Shaw and Henderson are eager to be on the same BCHL bench for the first time.

“Chris and I were first teammates almost 20 years ago. Over the years we have maintained a great friendship and have talked about coaching together since we first played together. I am glad the timing is finally right for that to happen,” said Henderson.

“I have followed the Rivermen pretty close over the past five seasons and the Henderson family has done a great job with their program. Year in and year out they continue to recruit quality players and I expect next year’s team to be competitive like they are every season,” finished Shaw.

Former Vernon Vipers forward Tyler Povelofskie helped the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) 100 Mile House Wranglers win the Cyclone Taylor Cup Sunday.

Povelofskie and the Wranglers finished 3-1 defeated the host Victoria Cougars 5-4 in the final. Povelofskie picked up two assists, set up the winning goal by Ryan Friesen on a powerplay with 55 seconds left in regulation time, now advance to the Keystone Cup April 14-17 in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Championship Game Boxscore,

Povelofskie in his first season with the Wranglers come out of retirement to join-sign with the Wranglers in September. In 32 games with the Wranglers Povelofskie picked up (15-goals-16-assists-31-points). Povelofskie played last season with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs before announcing his retirement on June 18th 2015 to pursue a post-secondary opportunity.  In 26 games with the Bulldogs last year Povelofskie picked up (6-goals-9-assists-15-points). 

Povelofskie played one season in Vernon (2013-14) was traded to Alberni Valley on May 22nd 2014.  Povelofskie was the future considerations the Vipers owed the Bulldogs from a previous trade.  On October 1st 2013 the Vipers sent Craig Martin & future considerations (Tyler Povelofskie) to Alberni Valley for Jared Wilson.  In 53 games with the Vipers Povelofskie collected (2-goals-3-assists-5-points).      

Tyler Povelofskie's Player Profile:

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=153007

This was in the Times Colonist Newspaper:

Cougars stunned as wild finish gives Wranglers Cyclone Taylor Cup title

Mario Annicchiarico  / Times Colonist

April 11, 2016

It wasn’t the way Mark Van Helvoirt envisioned it.

The Victoria Cougars’ head coach pictured memories of joy and excitement after Sunday’s final of the 2016 Cyclone Taylor Cup.

Instead he shared in an all too familiar scene of tears shed for the third time in five years, finishing as a runner-up in the provincial Junior B hockey championship.

This one came on a power-play goal by Ryan Friesen with just 54.3 seconds to go in a 5-4 loss to the 100 Mile House Wranglers at Archie Browning Sports Centre.

That it came in the home arena of the Cougars, after three wins over the three previous days of the round-robin tournament, was that much more difficult to take.

“It’s disappointing. At this point, we’re trying to digest everything,” said the beleaguered coach, who also lost the 2012 CTC final in double overtime to Abbotsford and 2013 championship, 4-1 to Richmond. “There was a funny conclusion to the game. It was an excellent game, very well played by both teams.”

And not funny, as in ha ha.

Having battled back from a 3-1 deficit to take a 4-3 lead, the Cougars gave up the tying goal at 14:02 as Brett Harris took advantage of a defensive giveaway. Victoria appeared to record the 5-4 goal late, but it was called off as Jordan Passmore was called for a hit to the head prior to the play.

That gave the Wranglers the late power play and they cashed.

“It’s the bounces of the game, we got the lead and settled in to hopefully shut down the last few minutes,” said Van Helvoirt. “It was a bit of a funny bounce, the defenceman lost the puck behind the play — a one in a million kind of situation — and the next thing you know it’s a tie game.

“Then we score a goal, get a penalty and disallowed goal and a wild finish. Unfortunately, it’s a tough result — a great hockey game, but tough result for our organization,” he added.

The Wranglers, meanwhile, celebrated on the ice, led by goalie Zane Steeves, who was named tournament MVP. It was Friesen who played hero, though, taking a pass from Harris and beating helpless Cougars’ goalie Gregory Maggio for the winner.

“It’s one I will never forget,” Friesen said of the finish. “I was thinking we only had one chance to get a goal before the end of the third period and we needed to take advantage of every opportunity.”

Harris had a pair of goals and two assists for the Wranglers, while Nick McCabe and Justin Bond had the other tallies. Steeves made 28 saves for 100 Mile House.

Dom Kolbeins (with his second of the game), Passmore and captain John Kretzschmar then secured the Cougars’ lead with goals at 1:33, 5:28 and 12:34 as momentum swung. Then the cruel finish shocked the local fans.

Wranglers head coach Dale Hladun, who has ties to the area, said his team just never gave up.

“We’ve always preached it, if it’s not the hard way, it’s not the Wrangler way. When they tied it up, that’s what I said. I told them, this is our wheel house, this is how we do it,” Hladun said. “They’ve been in this situation, you wouldn’t believe how many times.

“I couldn’t be a calmer coach than when we’re down by one with these guys,” added Hladun, who was an assistant with the Cowichan Valley Capitals of the B.C. Hockey League in 1996 and coached the Comox Valley Glacier Kings of the VIJHL as well.

“We’re only three years old. You see our fans here and our fans at home. The rink [at 100 Mile House] is full right now and they’re watching it on a big screen and in the pub.”

And they now move on to Regina for the Keystone Cup beginning Thursday.

“It’s a neat little melting pot and now I’m stuck with them for another three days and no one has clean underwear and we’re going all the way to Regina,” Hladun said, with a grin.

Campbell River doubled the Mission City Outlaws 8-4 for bronze.

The Western Hockey League (WHL) Prince George Cougars have mutually parted ways with former Vernon Vipers Head Coach Mark Holick.

Holick spent the past three seasons in Prince George, received a two-year extension (July, 16 2014).

Holick was Head Coach-GM of the Vipers for one season (2006-07) before leaving for the WHL Kootenay Ice.  Holick left the Vipers for the Ice a week before the Vipers Training Camp during the 2007-08 season. Holick posted a record of (37 wins-19 losses-1 tie-3 overtime losses) guided the Vipers to the BCHL League finals where Vernon fell in six games to the Nanaimo Clippers. 

Mark Holick's Player-Coaching Profile:

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=2331

This is posted on the Cougars website:

COUGARS AND MARK HOLICK MUTUALLY PART WAYS

Apr 12, 2016

The Prince George Cougars Hockey Club announced today that the team has mutually parted ways with Head Coach Mark Holick.

“The entire Prince George Cougars organization would like to thank Mark and the entire Holick family for their dedication and for contributing to the growth and improvement of our franchise and the development of our players both on the ice and in the community,” said Prince George Cougars General Manager, Todd Harkins.  “The Cougars improved in each of the past three seasons with Mark behind the bench and his contributions will continue to be felt as we pursue a championship.”

In 240 games in Prince George, Mark Holick led the Cougars to an overall record of 101-119-8-12. The search for a new Head Coach begins immediately.

This was in the Prince George Citizen Newspaper:

Cougars 'mutually' part ways with head coach

April 12, 2016

Citizen staff / Prince George Citizen

Mark Holick is no longer head coach of the Prince George Cougars.

Despite the fact Holick had one more year left on his contract, with an option to extend for another, his ties with the Western Hockey League team were severed on Tuesday. Cougars general manager Todd Harkins, and Holick himself, said the decision was a mutual one.

"We did a full evaluation of our organization, from the ownership down," Harkins said. "I personally did our staff and our players and, through that process, (Holick and I) talked about the pros and cons of the season. We agreed and disagreed on some things and at the end of the day Mark and I decided that it was best if we parted ways mutually. He'll pursue hockey away from Prince George and we're going to find the best possible candidate moving forward.

"He said he was going to try to find something in the hockey world," Harkins added. "He's been everywhere from the American Hockey League into the NHL and back to the Western Hockey League so I'm sure he'll land on his feet somewhere and be very successful wherever he goes."

Holick, 47, echoed the words of Harkins regarding the decision.

"Three-and-a-half years here, and I've got no hard feelings," he said. "Greg (Pocock) and the ownership group treated me great, Todd treated me good. Everything was rainbows and lollipops. It was just time.

"When both groups sit down at the end of the year and you go through expectations, this kind of came up and we just agreed to part ways."

Holick said he has "no idea" what's next for him, only that he wants to continue to coach.

"We'll see what the next challenge is," he said. "Love P.G., love living here – my family's here and we've met a lot of great people here. I have a lot of time for the city and the organization and there's no rush to get out, that's for sure."

During his time behind the Cougars' bench, Holick posted an overall record of 101-121-3-17.

Last season, the Cats went 31-36-0-5 and made the playoffs for the first time in four years. But, in a first-round, best-of-seven series, they bowed out to the Victoria Royals in five games.

This season, the Cougars were among the best teams in the WHL before Christmas. As of Dec. 20, they had a 20-10-1-1 record and garnered an honourable mention in the Canadian Hockey League rankings. But, after Christmas, the club fell into a prolonged slump and finished the schedule with a mark of 16-21-2-1 for an overall record of 36-31-3-2. In playoffs, the Cougars weren't able to get back on track and were swept by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the first round.

Harkins didn't directly link the team's performance in the latter part of the season to the departure of Holick.

"Mark and I and the staff talked about (the team's struggles) from after Christmas on, daily, figuring out how to move this forward and move into the playoffs in the right direction," Harkins said.

"Even after, when we evaluated the pros and cons of the whole season, we discussed that at length – how we can change things, how we can do things differently and what we can do to have success moving forward in the playoffs. Again, through those comments and meetings, that's when Mark and I started talking about different directions for the organization. It's important that everyone knows that this was between me and him, that we decided to part ways.

"I know that Mark is a great man and he cares about those kids (on the team). He did everything he could to let them have success individually and to win hockey games."

Holick – brought on board by former general manager Dallas Thompson when Rick Brodsky was still owner of the Cougars – was hired to replace the fired Dean Clark on Jan. 23, 2013. When a new ownership group assumed control in the spring of 2014, Holick expressed interest in taking on the dual role of head coach and general manager. However, the general manager's job went to Harkins instead.

At that time, Holick was still under contract for two years and the new owners – represented locally by Pocock, the team's governor and president – inked him to an extension that could have taken him through the 2017-18 season.

"We think Mark is our guy and is the right guy," Pocock said at the time. "It made sense for him to relocate his family (from Penticton) and we're showing our support with another two years on top of his contract."

Pocock, who was not made available for comment on Tuesday, also said the team was "transparent with Mark and Todd" throughout the process of finding the new GM. Because of the handling of the situation, Holick was fine with how things turned out.

"I'm excited to get it over with and move forward," he told The Citizen that spring. "Greg was always upfront about (the hiring process) and I feel more secure."

Before he arrived in Prince George, Holick already had excellent hockey credentials. He started out in the B.C. Hockey League as an assistant with the South Surrey Eagles in 1996-97 and, as Eagles head coach in 1997-98, led the team to a Royal Bank Cup national junior A championship. Later in his career, he guided the WHL's Kootenay Ice for three seasons (2007-08 to 2009-10) and posted an overall record of 120-75-0-21. In 2009-10, he was named WHL coach of the year. Holick then moved up to the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch (head coach for one full season and part of another) and, later, did some scouting for the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL.

As for who will be the next coach of the Cougars – the 11th in Prince George history – Harkins said he had already received "a flood" of emails by Tuesday afternoon.

"We're going to search far and wide and we're going to use our contacts in the hockey world to find the best coach possible," he said. "We've got a great group of kids here and we want to make sure that we get the best communicator, best coach – someone who has leadership qualities and is able to be in tune with the junior player of today's age."

The American Hockey League (AHL) Milwaukee Admirals have recalled former Vernon Vipers defenceman Garrett Noonan from the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) Cincinnati Cyclones.

Noonan has split this season with the Admirals & Cyclones. In 17 games with Milwaukee Noonan has one assist, in 53 games with Cincinnati Noonan has (8-goals-32-assists-40-points).

Noonan split last season between the East Coast Hockey League & American Hockey League.  Noonan played 40 games with Milwaukee collecting (4-goals-5-assists-9-points) also played 23 games with Cincinnati picking up (1-goal-9-assists-10-points).

After four seasons at Boston University Noonan signed a Entry-Level Deal with the Nashville Predators on April 22nd 2014 also signed an amateur try-out contract (ATO) with the American Hockey League (AHL) Milwaukee Admirals. Noonan was drafted by Nashville in Round 4 #112 overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.  Noonan played one season in Vernon (2009-2010) in 58 regular season games with the Vipers Noonan collected (2-goals-16-assists-18-points).

Garrett Noonan's Player Profile:

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=48219

This is posted on the Admirals website:

Noonan Recalled from Cincinnati

December 2015

Milwaukee, WI--The Milwaukee Admirals announced today that they have recalled defenseman Garrett Noonan from the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL.

Noonan has played in five games with the Admirals this season, recording a +2 rating a two penalty minutes. In 20 games with the Cyclones the Boston, MA Native has tallied three goals and nine assists for 12 points and a +6 rating.

Noonan and the Admirals will travel to Rockford tonight to take on the IceHogs. They will return home to the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Monday, December 28th to take on the Chicago Wolves in Amtrak Rivalry Action.