Photo: EverythingGP stock photo

By Shane Clausing

sexsmith vipers

Sexsmith Vipers in midst of historic season

Feb 5, 2022 | 5:00 AM

The Sundown Oilfield Services Sexsmith Vipers are the story of the Northwest Junior Hockey League (NWJHL) this season.

After what’s been over a decade of the team finishing in the bottom half of the league standings, the Vipers have found themselves clinching a playoff spot and in second place in the league.

As of February 4, the club owns a record of 20-12-4.

Vipers Head Coach Evan Boire feels the team buy-in from his players back in September has been a reason why they’ve been able to catapult up the league standings.

“We laid a good foundation of the program and what our expectations were and as players, coaches and management bought in and all got on the same page, we started seeing some success,” Boire explained.

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Boire tells EverythingGP they had a good core group of players who were able to return this year. Most of the players are from the Grande Prairie region.

He also credits some of their younger first-year players for helping out with their success.

“There was a lot of first-year guys we did bring into the program, that have really contributed. They were able to step in and contribute and that contributes to our success.”

Boire says his team really gained some confidence this year right before the Christmas break when his team was able to stun the first place Fort St. John Huskies.

“It’s been a grind. The whole year, everyone’s kind of been in a cluster fighting for position in the standings. Fort St. John came out strong and the beginning of the year and has been on cruise control,” Boire said.

“At the start of December, we were able to hand them (Fort St. John) their first regulation loss. To be able to deliver that loss, it was defiantly a pivotal point (of our season) where we were on the upward trend.”

Boire feels his team being able to play a well-rounded game is another major reason why they’ve been able to find success.

“It’s good to see the results. I know in prior years we had a lot of close games but didn’t get the result we were looking for. We need everyone contributing, everyone showing up on the same page, in order for us to have success,” he explained.

“It’s not going to be one, two, four or seven guys that are going to create the success, we need the full 20 guys in the lineup, 25 guys on the roster, three coaching staff, two trainers and management all on the same page in order for us to have success. It’s not going to be the core guys, everyone’s got to contribute,” Boire added.

“We’re a pressure team. We do have some skill, but it’s not going to be one guy skating through the whole team, it’s a lot of hard work, skating, physical play, shots on net and traffic.”

Boire says his team is excited for what challenges lie ahead of them and what will come in the playoffs.

The Vipers are in action in Peace River on February 5. They will finish their regular season February 12 at home against Dawson Creek.