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Vees, Vipers squared up in Interior Division final

Vees to host Vipers for Game 5 after 5-2 defeat at Kal Tire Place
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GABE BASTof the Penticton Vees and netminder Hunter Miska stop a shot by TJ Dumonceaux of the Vernon Vipers in Game 4 of the BCHL playoffs Wednesday night at Kal Tire Place.

Steen Cooper is finding that the BCHL playoffs and playing for Canada West are close comparables.

The playoffs become a whole other game with every hit counting and skill players finish their checks.

“Everybody really contributes. Compared to Canada West, it’s pretty even with the speed, the intensity for sure,” said the Vees veteran forward to the Vernon Morning Star. “Even the pressure and the jitters you get before the game obviously representing your country, you get no other feeling in the world. This is a close second for sure.”

Cooper, one of nine returnees on the Vees, still remembers the Game 7 loss to the Vernon Vipers in last year’s BCHL’s Interior Division championship.

“We still got that feeling from last year of getting knocked out,” said Cooper, adding that the veterans have let the new players know about it. “There is a little bit of bad blood there. We’re obviously looking for revenge. That’s definitely something that motivates us every game here in the playoffs.”

Cooper uses his experience of playing with Canada West last season now. The motivation of last year is sure to kick into another gear with the series now down to a best-of-three after the Vipers evened the set with a 5-2 win at Kal Tire Place in Vernon Wednesday.

The Vipers got a pair of empty-net goals from Liam Coughlin before 2,207 fans. The series returns to the South Okanagan Events Centre for Game 5 where the Vees took the opening two tilts. The sixth game is Saturday night in Vernon. Game 7, if required, goes Sunday night in Penticton.

Rookie Blaine Caton and defencemen Brandon Egli and Riley Guenther also scored for the Vipers, while Riley Alferd and Cody DePourcq countered for the Vees. Penticton went 0-for-12 on the powerplay combined in the two losses.

Vernon outshot Penticton 32-28. Danny Todosychuk won his second straight start, while Hunter Miska took the loss.

The Vees went in front at 8:44 off a scrambly first period when Alferd beat Todosychuk five-hole from four feet out. Defenceman Jarod Hilderman drew the assist.

Caton had a shot by blueliner Kenny Citron ricochet off his skate and past Miska for the equalizer six minutes later. Egli earned the secondary helper.

Egli wired a bomb from the right point, five hole, with 35 seconds remaining in Vees’ captain Patrick Sexton’s slashing penalty, late in the period. Johnny Coughlin fed Egli a clean pass from the left point.

The Vees levelled the score at 3:51 of the second period when DePourcq, parked just to the left of Todosychuk, buried a cross-ice pass from Cooper and Bast pocketed the other assist.

With 7:19 to play, Guenther moved up and basically took advantage of a garage sale in the Vees’ crease, backhanding a loose puck high into a wide open cage with Miska down and out with numerous other prone bodies.

Cooper, a Duncan minor hockey product, said the Vees expect to recover from the double defeats in Vernon.

“The tables are even as it stands right now, but we’re going home,” said Cooper, 19, who has a scholarship to Minnesota-Mankato Mavericks next season. “We’ve been a good team at home all year and we’ve just gotta get our mind-set back on track and get ready for the next game.”

Cooper certainly didn’t expect a short playoff series.

“No, we never expected it to be easy. Obviously, Vernon’s a great team. They finished the regular season second behind us so we knew they were gonna put up a good fight. Even after we went up two games to nothing, we knew they were gonna come out strong. It’s what we expected. They outcompeted us in the last two games. We just gotta get back to the intense mentality and take care of business.”

Penticton’s prime-time line of ex-Viper Demico Hannoun, Patrick Newell and rookie phenom Tyson Jost fizzled in both games in Vernon.

Jost, who turned 17 on St. Patrick’s Day and will likely be a high draft pick in the 2016 NHL entry draft, had an-all planet shift with two minutes to play in the second period. The Kelowna product was stoned by Todoyschuk, struck iron and then walked the puck into the crease, where Lee’s shot went off target.

“It was pretty frustating when we came back to the bench,” said Jost. “Things sometimes don’t go your way. I thought our line deserved one there We worked hard and got the puck down low and the bounces didn’t go my way. Hopefully, next game things will change.”

Jost and Viper leading scorer Liam Finlay – who missed Games 3 and 4 with a concussion – were linemates with the major midget Okanagan Rockets last year.  Jost feels for his buddy, but is more concerned with getting the Vees back in the series lead.

“I thought we had a good start, but no results to show for it,” said Jost. “Credit to them, they played well. It was a hard battled game and in the end, we could have done more to win, but they deserved to win. We have to come out strong and bounce back hard next game in Penticton.”

The series winner advances to the league’s unique three-team, round-robin format with the teams seeded based on their regular-season records. The round-robin opens Wednesday, March 25 with the No. 1 seed hosting the second-rated team.

Vees notes: Former defenceman's Joey LaLeggia, Denver University, and Mike Reilly, Minnesota have advanced to the top-10 for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award given to the athlete that displays outstanding skills in all phases of the game, strength of character on and off the ice, sportsmanship and scholastic achievements. Fan balloting begins runs until March 29 at www.hobeybakeraward.com.

LaLeggia – An accomplished and well-rounded overall defenceman, LaLeggia has already been named First Team all-conference for the third time and is a finalist for two other National Collegiate Hockey Conference awards he won last year: Defensive Player of the Year and Offensive Defenseman of the Year, while also adding Player of the Year consideration this season.

• Has 13 goals, 25 assists for 38 points in 34 games – finished second in NCHC scoring race
• Is third in the nation for points by defenseman – Edmonton draft pick (fifth round)
• Named first or second team all-conference all four years; was national rookie of year as freshman

Reilly – As the highest scoring defenceman in the nation, Reilly is a slick playmaker who has 36 assists, tied for second overall in the nation. Particularly dangerous with the man advantage, Reilly has 21 points on the power play, also tied for second in the nation. For the second straight year, he was honoured by the Big Ten as Defensive Player of the Year and First Team all-conference.

• Has six goals, 36 assists for 42 points in 36 games – leads Minnesota in scoring
• His twin brothers Connor and Ryan play for Minnesota; sister Caitlin for Ohio State
• Columbus draft pick (fourth round) – Applied Economics major