The Red Deer Vipers are heading into the 2019-20 Heritage Junior B Hockey League season with tempered expectations.
After being a favourite to win it all last year – only to fall in the second round of the playoffs and coming off back-to-back league titles before that, this season will be a different one for the club.
Head coach J.D. Morricial said there’s still plenty of excitement heading into the season opener against the new-look Sylvan Lake Wranglers.
“Looking at the other teams, it’s going to be a really competitive north division. I think the south is going to be really good too. I think we’re going to be right in the mix,” said Vipers head coach.
“It’s a nice thing this year, we’re not the favourites going in. It’s a team that’s going to have to work really hard and get better and better every game. It’s kind of exciting as a coach.”
Morrical said they have about half the roster returning from last year and they have a strong contingent of local products moving up the ranks.
On forward, the Vipers will be a much smaller group. They lost a good core of veterans including Mack Differenz, Aidan Wilson and Ryan Vandervlis.
They should have a more dynamic group in 2019-20, one that outskates and outguns opponents.
Justin Paarup and Keaton Sawicki and Jacksyn Goodall are all back up front, but beyond that, it’ll be new blood finding the twine for the Vipers. Paarup was 11th in league scoring last year with 24 goals and 28 assists in 36 games.
“We’re a small forward group. We’re pretty fast, so we just have to make sure we can play that way and use that to our advantage,” Morrical said.
“The last few years we’ve been a very physical team. We’ve been a bigger group and play a little rougher. That’s a huge advantage sometimes. We’re just going to have to adjust the way we coach. A small, fast team is fine, you can win with that.”
On the blueline, two Red Deer Minor Hockey products in Sean McGonigal and Matias Letwin have earned roster spots.
“They’re both big boys and they move the puck really well and shoot the puck well. We’ve been happy with those two to start the season,” added Morrical.
In net, the Vipers return one of the HJHL’s top netminders from last year in Justin Anderson. Anderson had a 20-4 record with a 2.54 goals against average and 0.914 save percentage.
They add a dynamic duo behind him, with local product Canon Whitbread returning to Red Deer after spending the last two seasons in the Kootenay International Junior B Hockey League.
They also landed a big fish between the pipes in Dawson Weatherill. The former Red Deer Minor Hockey product was picked by the hometown Rebels in the second round of the 2014 WHL Bantam Draft. He played five games with the Rebels and spent the rest of his career with the Spokane Chiefs.
Weatherill played 102 WHL games, amassing 44 wins, along with a 3.46 goals-against average and 0.885 save percentage over four seasons. In the 2018 WHL playoffs, Weatherill posted a 2.96 GAA and 0.912 SV% in five games.
“He’s a huge addition. We have three goalies and we’re going to keep three for a while. It’s really good,” said Morrical.
Puck drops on the HJHL season Friday. The Vipers will welcome the Sylvan Lake Wranglers Saturday, who moved from Blackfalds this summer. Morrical said the Wranglers should have a good number of Sylvan Lake products in their lineup and that will make for a tough test to start the year.
There’s lots of kids that know each other, there’s a rivalry there between the Sylvan Lake midget AA team and the Red Deer Midget AA team,” he said.
“We’ve got five or six, they’ve got five or six. I expect it to be a rough game, it’s good to challenge our guys at the start of the year and see how we play.”
The Vipers home opener is Sept. 21 at 8 p.m. at Servus Arena. The Wranglers will host the Vipers Sunday night at the NexSource Centre.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
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