OKANAGAN HOCKEY SCHOOL PRESENTS

     

THE BCHL SERIES OF THE WEEK

2009 RBC Cup

May 2-10, 2009

Victoria, BC

 

Friday, May 8th:

The Vernon Vipers rode two-goal efforts from Bryce Kakoske and Cameron Brodie to a place in the 2009 RBC Cup Final on Friday afternoon, taking a commanding 5-0 lead after two periods and holding on in the third for a 6-3 victory over the Kingston Voyageurs.

Kakoske opened the scoring just 1:50 into the game, converting a Kellen Jones shot that had jounced off the endboards and back in front of the net. Just 32 second later, Brodie extended the lead with a point shot that deflected off a Voyageurs stick and over the shoulder of netminder Shawn Sirman.

Mike Collins put the Vipers ahead by three at the 8:34 mark of the first with a seeing-eye shot from the halfboards, and Vernon entered the first intermission having outshot their opponents by a margin of 17-5.

It was much of the same in the second period for the Doyle Cup champs. After seeming contented in shutting down Kingston offensively for much of the frame, Cory Kane and Brodie put the game out of reach with goals at 16:59 and 19:10 of the period.

While the Voyageurs managed just seven shots on Vernon's Andrew Hammond through 40 minutes, they broke the shutout 1:17 into the third on a tally from Justin Levac. Kakoske scored his second to shortly after to regain the five-goal cushion, while Ben Power and Jeff Blackburn closed out the scoring by pulling the Central champs back within three.

Hammond stopped 13 of the 16 pucks sent his way, while Cody Rosen relieved Sirman after two periods and stopped all but one of eight shots.

With the win, Vernon advances to Sunday's championship game, which will be broadcast live on TSN 2 at 4:30 PM. Their opponent will be determined Friday evening, when the host Victoria Grizzlies take on defending RBC Cup champions Humboldt at 7:00 PM from the Bear Mountain Arena.

Thursday, May 7th:

The dream -- for BCHL fans, at least -- is still alive. With the RBC Cup preliminary round now in the rearview mirror, the Victoria Grizzlies and Vernon Vipers have each secured a place in the tournament semi-finals, and the possibility of an all-BCHL Championship Game remains a distinct possibility.

Following a win on Thursday, the Vipers clinched a perfect 4-0 record and a spot in Friday's first semis game, an afternoon tilt vs. a Kingston Voyageurs squad that finished with one win and three losses. The Pacific and Central region champs will face off at 2:00 PM.

Just a few hours later, the Victoria Grizzlies will face off with Humboldt for the second spot in Sunday's gold medal game. The Broncos, who won last year's RBC, finished with two wins and two losses but finished second in the round-robin standings on account of an opening night win over Victoria. The host team and Western champs will take the ice at 7:00 PM.

If you can't be at the Bear Mountain Arena for the games, you can experience the next best thing by tuning in to BCHL Web TV. Both semi-finals games will be available for viewing for just $7.95 each.

RBC Cup Broadcasting Info:

All RBC Cup preliminary and semi-final round games will be available for purchase through BCHL Web TV on game days only for $7.95 each. To order BCHL Web TV broadcasts, click HERE. All game broadcasts will also be available in live audio HERE.