The Red Deer Vipers are a Junior "B"

Ice Hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team based in

Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. They are members of the North Division of the

Heritage Junior B Hockey League Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...

(HJHL). They played their home games at Red Deer Arena until 2016 when it was torn down to be rebuilt. The Vipers played home games out of Red Deer's Collicutt Centre which only sat about 500 with standing room for a season & a half. In January 2018, the Vipers returned to downtown Red Deer to play in the new Servus Arena which seats about 1,300.

History

The Red Deer Vipers are an original

team, named as the Red Deer Cowboys beginning in the 1987–88 HJHL season. Shortly after, the Red Deer Cowboys were renamed as the Red Deer Vipers. The Vipers are the 1989, 1999, 2004, 2017 & 2018 HJHL champions, the 2004 and 2006

Russ Barnes Trophy The Russ Barnes Trophy is a trophy awarded by Hockey Alberta to the Alberta Junior B Provincial champion. The gold medallist advances to the Keystone Cup Western Canada Junior B championship. Tournament organization Eight teams compete in the Al ...

champions, and the 2006

Keystone Cup The Keystone Cup is the Junior B ice hockey championship and trophy for Western Canada. From 1983 to 2017, the championship was the culmination of the champions of 12 hockey leagues in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Northwe ...

champions. The Vipers historical rivals have been the

Blackfalds Wranglers The Sylvan Lake Wranglers are a junior "B" ice hockey team based in Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the North Division of the Heritage Junior B Hockey League (HJHL). They play their home games at Nexsource Center. Prior to t ...

who reside a mere 10 minutes north of Red Deer. In recent years the Vipers have developed an intense rivalry with the

Airdrie Thunder The Airdrie Thunder are a Junior "B" Ice Hockey team based in Airdrie, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the North Division of the Heritage Junior B Hockey League (HJHL). They play their home games at Ron Ebbesen Arena. History :Division ...

. The Vipers and Thunder have met in each of the last three post-seasons. In 2016 the Thunder beat the Vipers in seven games in the north semi-final. In 2017 the Vipers beat Airdrie in the north semi-final in six games. The Vipers beat Airdrie in six again in the 2018 north final.

Media

Since the 2016 HJHL playoffs, the Red Deer Vipers have taken it upon themselves to broadcast road games via internet radio. The first ever Vipers play-by-play broadcast was game five of the 2016 HJHL north semi-final against the Airdrie Thunder. Red Deer native Brady Sim called the game using an iPhone with a wifi connection, Periscope & an Xbox gaming headset. The Vipers defeated Airdrie in game five 2–1, but ultimately lost the series to Airdrie 4 games to three. The Vipers would arrange to have Sim broadcast that year's

provincial championships A province is a geographic region within Gaelic games, consisting of several counties of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and originally based on the historic four provinces of Ireland as they were set in 1610. Provincial councils A provinc ...

which the Vipers hosted. The Vipers then began broadcasting games on Mixlr.com, where the broadcasts can still be found today.

Season-by-season record

''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes''

Russ Barnes Trophy

Alberta Jr B Provincial Championships * 2016 Hosts

Keystone Cup

Western Canadian Jr. B Championships(Northern Ontario to British Columbia)
Six teams in round robin play. 1st vs 2nd for gold/silver & 3rd vs. 4th for bronze.

NHL alumni

Brad Leeb Bradley Leeb (born August 27, 1979) is a retired Cree First Nations Canadian ice hockey player. He played 5 games in the NHL for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs, and spent the bulk of his professional career in the minor American Hoc ...

* Paul Manning *

Derek Morris Derek Morris may refer to: *Sir Derek Morris (academic), Provost of Oriel College, Oxford *Derek Morris (ice hockey) (born 1978), Canadian ice hockey defenceman *Derek Morris (jockey), 1990s UK and Irish based steeplechase rider in Adonis Juvenile ...

Awards and trophies

*2005–06

*2003–04, 2005–06 HJHL Championship *1988–89, 1998–99, 2003–04, 2016–17, 2017–18

References

External links

Official website of the Red Deer VipersVipers Mixlr live page
{{Russ Barnes Trophy Ice hockey teams in Alberta Sport in Red Deer, Alberta 1987 establishments in Alberta Ice hockey clubs established in 1987