Powell River Kings and Vernon Vipers, each of them winners of their respective conferences for the third year in a row, were set to do battle one more time for the Fred Page Cup.
Kings were looking for revenge after losing 3-2 in the seventh game last year but this time they felt they had the right team and deserved, for a change, to have the hockey gods on their side.
That is until the series started, and after a shaky 3-1 loss in the opener, they dropped the second one 1-0 at home and the third game 4-3 in Vernon.
In front of a boisterous crowd of 1,376 at Hap Parker Arena on Friday, Kings took it to the Vipers early, but Vernon capitalized on a couple of turnovers to lead 2-0 after one period.
Kings got back into the game on Daniel Schuler’s goal at 19:20 of the second period but Vernon iced it with an insurance goal late in the third.
Vernon outshot the Kings 25-21 and both teams came up empty on their combined seven powerplays.
“A couple of mistakes early,” said coach Kent Lewis, “and they capitalized on them. We didn’t get outplayed but we got beat by a team that played better playoff hockey.”
Game two was much better for the Kings and action on the ice was end to end, at one point going seven minutes without a whistle.
The evenly matched teams each recorded 18 shots on goal but neither could put the puck in the net after 40 minutes.
The third period was just as efficient but finally at 14:41 Vernon’s captain, David Robinson, broke the tie when he squeezed a shot under Michael Garteig’s arm.
Down 1-0, Kings pulled Garteig with just over two minutes to go but despite putting on all kinds of pressure on Vernon they could not find the equalizer.
Shocked, but ready to reciprocate, Kings loaded the bus for the long trip to Vernon on Sunday for the game on Monday night.
In a must-win situation, Kings opened the scoring in game three when Cohen Adair banged in a rebound at 2:49 of the first period.
They looked to have everything under control but the opportunistic Vipers struck for three straight goals to take the lead 3-1 early in the second.
Sean Maguire took over for Garteig in the Kings’ net and the change seemed to have a positive effect when Chris Williams and Steven Schmidt combined on a great shorthanded effort.
Trailing by just one goal, Kings tied it 3-3 when Chad Niddery pulled the trigger on a beautiful three-way passing play and it looked as though the Kings would complete the comeback.
Not so fast though, as the Vipers being the Vipers slipped in a flukey goal that was scored when John Knisley threw the puck out to the front of the net and it went in off a King.
Maguire never had a chance and the Kings are beginning to wonder if they too, because of all the unbelievable bad bounces, ever have a real chance of defeating the Vipers.
Recognizing the enormous task at hand, Lewis and the Kings will battle to the end and more than anything want their fans to know that they appreciate the incredible support they have received so far.
“I don’t think we could ask for better support from our community right now,” said Lewis, “and as a local kid I’m very proud of our town. It’s some of the best hockey a town could have and I think we’ve responded to it in the right way,” he said of the tremendous rivalry.
The fate of the Kings in game four on Tuesday night is unknown at press time but rest assured that if there is a game five at 7 pm on Thursday, Hap Parker Arena will be jumping.
