By Dan Hermanutz

rivalry continues

Vipers, Wranglers to battle in round two of HJHL playoffs

Feb 18, 2020 | 12:21 PM

Two longtime local rivals will be doing battle in the second round of Heritage Junior Hockey League playoffs.

The Red Deer Vipers and Sylvan Lake Wranglers will tangle after the Wranglers won their opening round series three games to one over the expansion Rocky Rams.

Sylvan Lake clinched the series over Rocky with a 4-1 win in game four on Monday.

“That Rocky team was one that had really good experienced core players. The 21-year-olds were exceptional players. The competed and they have great community support. It was an exciting series, Rocky played very well,” said Sylvan Lake head coach Pat Garritty. “Their top end was very good and very dangerous and we had to earn everything from them.”

While Sylvan Lake battled Rocky over four games, the Vipers enjoyed a first-round playoff bye. Head coach JD Morrical knows his team will be in for a tough battle with the Wranglers.

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“Every game we played against (Sylvan Lake) this year was competitive. We played them our first two games of the season, and we won both of them. Our goalies played extremely well in those games. Every game was tight checking, both teams seemed to not give up a lot of chances,” said Morrical. “I think that’s the biggest difference between our two teams, it that we probably have the edge in offensive ability, but they play a really good team defense which kind of equalizes the score there.”

Morrical said that for his team is to find success, they need to maintain a high tempo.

“We just have to play a very fast game. We have a fast team but aren’t overly big or physical. We’re quick and I think we just have to play with our speed. If Sylvan can lock up the neutral zone, it might be a little tougher for us but I think we just have to use our speed and make the game as fast as possible.”

The two teams met four times in the regular season, with Red Deer winning three of four.

“We know that (the Vipers) are four-lines deep, their back end is exceptional, they’ve got very good goaltending and they’re well coached. For us to have success we’re going to have to be prepared and we’re going to have to work extremely hard and we’re going to have to get some puck luck along the way,” added Garritty. “We’re looking forward to a great series.”