The Red Deer Vipers have returned to the Heritage Junior B Hockey League final for the second season in a row.
Last year, the Vipers dispatched the Cochrane Generals in triple overtime of game 4 at home to win their first league championship since 2004.
This season, the Vipers will square off with the Coaldale Copperheads in a best-of-three series for the HJHL league title.
Both teams have already booked a ticket to the Hockey Alberta Junior B Provincials in Fort St. John, B.C. later this month.
In the two meetings this season, Red Deer picked up a 4-3 win on Dec. 16, but lost a 4-3 shootout game to the Copperheads earlier in the year on Nov. 4.
The series starts on Friday night with puck drop set for 8:30 p.m. at the Servus Arena. Game 2 of the series is Saturday in Coaldale and Game 3 if necessary would be back in Red Deer Sunday night at 8:30 p.m.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
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