Young Vipers team sticking local
Strathroy Rockets forward Adrian Franklin (left) battles LaSalle Vipers defenseman Spencer Lecot (right) for the puck during the third period of LaSalle’s 6-2 win on Nov. 13 at the Vollmer Centre. (Photo by Garrett Fodor)
As the snow begins to fly and stores begin to set up for Christmas, local junior hockey teams are going over their shopping lists in an effort to improve their teams.
The LaSalle Vipers sit fourth place in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Western Conference Standings and the team is not shying away from roster changes. Looking to gain ground, heading into the midway point of the season, LaSalle recently picked up goaltender Matt Sbrocca from the Mississauga Chargers. The team also recently acquired LaSalle native and defenceman Spencer Lecot in a trade with the Leamington Flyers.
Lecot and Sbrocca join several other players on the Vipers who are playing for their hometown team.
“This year one of the areas we went after was LaSalle kids,” said Vipers head coach and general manager John Nelson.
“There was a good group of kids that were coming through and we wanted to have more kids from our community on the team this year and we recruited well with the kids that we got. We’re getting more fans at the games because of it were looking forward as we keep moving to the fan base growing because these kids are from LaSalle and provide that connection to the community.”
Nelson said he was thrilled to pick up a pair of OHL draft picks in Lecot and Sbrocca. He added that he feels that they will be able to help contribute to the young Vipers lineup — the Vipers average age being about 17 years old in a league where players can play until they are 21.
LaSalleVipers defenseman Hayden Johnston evades Strathroy Rockets forward Brendan Mairs at the Vollmer Centre on Nov. 13 (Photo by Garrett Fodor)
As the team nears the halfway point of the season, the young Vipers squad is 14 points behind the first place London Nationals, 8 points behind their rival, Leamington Flyers and 4 points behind third placed St. Mary’s Lincolns.
Third year defenceman Bradley Vincent said he feels the second half of the season is when the team comes together.
“Now that you’ve played each team a couple times, you kind of see their tendencies. You know what you’re good at and what they’re good at so you just have to focus on that,” said Vincent. “We have a lot of young guys, and it’s gotta be the older guys being role models, kind of holding people accountable, we know they are learning.”
Looking ahead to the second half of the season, Nelson said he is very pleased with what he has seen from his team and he hopes to continue to learn and progress throughout the year heading into playoffs at the end of February.
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