The Kensington Moase Plumbing and Heating Vipers will host arch-rival Arsenault’s Fish Mart Western Red Wings in Game 1 of the best-of-seven Island Junior Hockey League championship series on Sunday. Puck drop at Community Gardens is 7 p.m. It’s a rematch of the 2016 final, which the Vipers prevailed in seven hard-fought games.
“It’s what everybody wanted,” said Red Wings head coach Nathan DesRoches. “It’s what we wanted, we’ve been wanting to play Kensington and you can’t ask for much more than the biggest rivalry in junior hockey to face off again.
“Last year was a great series, and we have that in the back of our minds going forward. We learned a lot.”
The Red Wings held a slim 4-3 (won-lost) edge in the regular-season meetings, with each team pulling out an overtime win.
“If you go down the line we are pretty even in a lot of spots,” said veteran Vipers head coach Wade Waddell. “They would probably say they are stronger in some spots than we are, and vice-versa on our end.
“Over the next weeks, we are going to figure that out.”
Semifinal series
Both teams took different roads to the final. While the Red Wings swept the Sherwood-Parkdale A&S Scrap Metal Metros in one semifinal series, the Vipers required a 5-2 win in Game 7 over the Souris-based Eastern Maniacs on Thursday night.
“We’ve been down this road before,” said Waddell following the series-clinching win. “A tough series like this actually helps you going forward instead of having it easy.
“We are playoff-ready now. We have the perfect amount of rest to go, everything over two days I’ve always said you get a little rusty.”
The Abram-Village-based Red Wings, who last played on Sunday, are playing their best hockey of the season, noted DesRoches.
“This is a very, very motivated group right now, and we are playing a totally different style of hockey than what we brought in the regular season,” continued DesRoches. “Anybody who watched our games versus Sherwood realizes we are a new animal right now.
“We are playing with a chip on our shoulder, which is something I really like. . . This is the best I’ve seen this group play.”
One aspect of the Red Wings’ game that impressed DesRoches against the Metros was a balanced attack.
“We are really built off speed, and we had a really good week of practice,” continued the Summerside native. “The guys are ready to go.”
Waddell did admit he felt the heavily-favoured Vipers were too tight against the fourth-place Maniacs.
“We need to loosen up, have some fun, get back to what the Vipers are all about and get ready for Game 1,” said Waddell.
The winning team will represent P.E.I. at the Don Johnson Memorial Cup Atlantic junior B hockey championship series in Fredericton, N.B., from April 25 to 30.
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Head-to-Head
Head-to-head results for Vipers, Red Wings:
Oct. 23
Red Wings 1 at Vipers 4.
Nov. 6
Vipers 4 at Red Wings 5.
Dec. 6
Vipers 2 at Red Wings 5.
Dec. 18
Vipers 5 at Red Wings 4.
Dec. 26
Red Wings 2 at Vipers 3 (OT).
Jan. 20
Red Wings 3 at Vipers 1.
Feb. 19
Vipers 4 at Red Wings 5 (OT).
