Western Mass Vipers

The Vipers were founded in 2013 to provide our kids the opportunity to play highly competitive hockey across MA, CT, and NY with the objective of preparing them for their HS seasons and beyond. We are a player and family-focused not-for-profit organization committed to competitive hockey, strong professional coaching, the development of each player and transparency to our members. Our teams are run as financial collaboratives and we divide expenses equally among all players. The Vipers are proud members of the Premier Hockey League of New England (PHLNE). We complement our PHLNE league games with affiliate games with the Eastern Junior Elite Prospects League and a strong independent schedule.

This season USA hockey is requiring all volunteers to obtain a USA Hockey number. All coaches, team managers, and board members must submit their USA hockey number via the registration link below.

August Preseason Skates at Mullins led by Matt Bourdeaux

By Jim Watkins 07/30/2019, 4:30pm EDT

It's time to get your legs back under you! The Vipers will be holding a series of pre-season skates at Mullins to prepare for the upcoming season. All Viper players not excused due to vacation or another commitment are expected to attend. Session 1 each night will be for our 14U, 15U and 2004 birth year Midget Minor Players and Session 2 each night will be for our 16U, 18U and 2003 Midget Minor Players. While we prefer players to skate with their group, attendance at the other session is ok if it avoids a conflict. The first three nights, the sessions will be led by Matt Bourdeaux, who as many of you know conducts independent high-level training for local players. Expect the pre-season skates to be be intense, so get going on your aerobic preparation for the season. The schedule is as follows:

Thursday Aug. 8 Session 1@6:30, Session 2@7:30
Sunday Aug. 11 Session 1@6:30, Session 2@7:30
Thursday Aug. 15 Session 1@6:30, Session 2@7:30
Sunday Aug. 18 Session 1@6:30, Session 2@7:30

Vipers Join the Premier Hockey League of New England (PHLNE)

By Jim Watkins 07/06/2019, 2:00pm EDT

The Vipers are pleased to announce that all of our teams will join the Premier Hockey League of New England (PHLNE) for the 2019 season. The Premier League is one of the most competitive leagues in New England. The leagues website can be found at: https://www.thenephl.com Our 15U, 16U and 18U teams will skate in the Premier Division, our 14U team will skate at the Elite level and our combined 15/16 Midget Minor team will skate at the Select level for this season. We look forward to an exciting year.

2019-2020 USA Hockey Numbers and roster information needed

By Ryan Scott 07/06/2019, 1:45pm EDT

In order to facilitate the collection of the 2019-2020 USA Hockey numbers and other required roster information, we have created a registration page. Please complete this registration as soon as possible as we need to submit the rosters within the next week.

Click here to submit your 2019-2020 USA Hockey Number.

Vipers Cup

By Jim Watkins 04/14/2019, 10:00pm EDT

Black Wins the Spring Cup 4-3 in Sudden Death OT

Black came back from an 0-3 deficit to win the Vipers Cup 4-3 over Red twelve minutes into sudden death overtime. Congratulations to both teams on a well-played and exciting game. Thanks to all of our players, families and coaches who made the Spring Cup a success. Have a great summer and we'll see everyone in August.

The Vipers Spring Cup schedule is below, Games start Saturday 4/20. (The games are on Sundays except for Saturday 4/20 due to Easter on 4/21 and Saturday 5/11 due to Mother's Day on 5/12. All games at Smead except for the games on 5/11, which are at Mullins.

Vipers Cup Playoff Seedings (see schedule below):
1. Black 3-2-1*
2. Red 3-2-1*
3. White 3-3-0
4. Gold 1-3-2
*tie break - head-to-head goal differential

Schedule:

Sat 4/20	9:00 AM	Gold 2 Black 2	10:15 AM	Red 4 White 2	Smead	Saturday Games
Sun 4/28	11:00 AM	Black 5 White 3	12:15 PM	Gold 2 Red 3	Smead
Sun 5/5	6:00 PM	Gold 2 White 5	7:15 PM	Black 4 Red 8	Smead
Sat 5/11	6:00 PM	Gold 5 Black 3	7:15 PM	Red 4 White 8	MULLINS	Saturday Games
Sun 5/19	11:00 AM	Black 5 White 4	12:15 PM	Gold 3 Red 3	Smead
Sun 5/26	11:00 AM	Black 6. Red 0	12:15 PM	Gold 3 White 6	Smead
Sun 6/2	11:00 AM	Black 5 Gold 2	12:15 PM	Red 3 White 2	Smead	Playoffs - Semi Finals
Sun 6/9	1:00 PM	Black 4 Red 3 OT			Smead	Finals

Rosters:

Black	Gold	Red	White
Barnes	Ayers	Barker	Buffone
Baumann, B.	Beckwith	Batchelder	Buteau
Baumann, K.	Bridges	Blackburn	Byrne
Brunelle	Clark	Cortis	Cloutier
Duquette	Corbin	Delisle	DeMaio
Galpin	Darling	Gay	Fijal
Kotfila	Fugiel	Ishida	Foster, C.
Mazza	Harvey	Jubb	Foster, N.
Meon	Hosmer	Laramee	Hanscomb
Ortyl	Manning	Nowill	Higgins
O'Sullivan	Pacheco	Pete	Kennedy
Rajpold	Palumba	Taupier	Lambert
Roache	Pattison	Tenczar	McLaughlin
Sullivan	Scott	Tsilibocos	Nigro
Watkins	Slovin	Tucker	Paul
	Taggard	Volo	Samson
	Terzi

15/16 Midget Minor Try-Outs

By Ryan Scott 04/02/2019, 11:00pm EDT

Vipers Announce an Additional 15U/16U Midget Minor Team – Evaluation Skate Sunday, April 7

Due to the very strong turnout for our 15U and 16U teams, the Vipers will field an additional Midget Minor Team for 2019. The team will be coached by CJ Stagnaro. There will be an additional evaluation skate this Sunday, April 7 at 9:30 am at Smead. If your player previously registered for our 15U or 16U tryout, you do not need to register again. If your player has not previously registered and would like to be considered for the team, please register by going to the Midget Minor Tryouts tab above ($20).

2019 Try-Outs Start March 17- Register at the Try-Outs Tab Above

By Jim Watkins 03/03/2019, 9:30pm EST

Registration for try-outs for 2019 Viper teams and the try-out schedule is now available by clicking on the try-outs tab.

Online registration (preferred): $60
Onsite registration (available): $80

Highlights of the Vipers program include:

Teams at the 14U, 15U, 16U and 18U levels
Split-Season Fall Teams Aug.-Nov., 25-30 games
2 Single-Team Full-Ice Practices per Week (Sept. – Nov. at Lossone Arena)
Experienced Professional Coaching
Spring Program includes the Vipers Cup: April-June (15U-18U) player favorite, highly competitive, spring hockey
Vipers are not-for-profit – low costs, all ice fees are invested in our players
Combined Record of our 3 Midget Teams in ‘18 was 66-21-3
18 Vipers are Captains or Alternate Captains of their ‘18-19 HS Teams
17 Vipers were First Team All-Western Mass Selections for ‘17-18 HS Season (43% of all D3 and D3A Selections)

2019 Coaches
18U: Mike Rousseau and Lou Vezina
16U: Dave Foster
15U: Rob Pattison (see bio below)
14U: Kevin Stefanik and Evan Sullivan

The try-out schedule is:

14U (2005)
Tuesday, March 19, 8:00 PM, Fitzpatrick Arena
Saturday, March 23, 3:45 PM, Fitzpatrick Arena
Sunday, March 24, 2:20 PM, Fitzpatrick Arena

15U (2004)
Monday, March 18, 8:00 PM, Fitzpatrick Arena
Saturday, March 23, 2:30 PM, Fitzpatrick Arena
Sunday, March 24, 1:00 PM, Fitzpatrick Arena

16U (2003)
Sunday, March 17, 9:00 AM, Smead Arena
Sunday, March 24, 10:20 AM, Smead Arena
Monday, March 25, 8:00 PM, Fitzpatrick Arena

18U (2001 and 2002)
Sunday, March 17, 10:20 AM, Smead Arena
Wednesday, March 20, 7:30 PM, Smead Arena
Sunday, March 24, 9:00 AM, Smead Arena

Vipers Welcome Rob Pattison to Coach the 2019 15U (2004) Team

By Jim Watkins 03/03/2019, 8:45pm EST

The Vipers welcome Rob Pattison, who will join our organization and coach the 2019 15U (2004) team. Rob graduated from the University of Vermont where he played four years of D1 hockey. Following UVM, Rob played 4 years of pro hockey in the ECHL, AHL and IHL with 3 of those years coming in the NJ Devils system. Rob has coached for ten years in Brattleboro as well as serving as a coach for the VT Development Camp. Rob also coached the Deerfield Academy preseason team in 2017-2018. We are excited to welcome Rob to the Vipers!

Congratulations to Garren Fugiel, Ben Watkins, Bryan Baumann and CJ Tenczar on 100 Career HS Points

By Jim Watkins 01/24/2019, 9:00am EST

The Vipers congratulate Garren Fugiel (Easthampton High), Ben Watkins (South Hadley High), Bryan Baumann (Greenfield High) and CJ Tenczar (Easthampton) on reaching 100 career high school points. Well done boys!

Viper Leaders

By Jim Watkins 01/22/2019, 2:30pm EST

18 Vipers are Captains or Alternate Captains of their ‘18-19 High School teams. (Click the Viper Leaders tab to see who.)

Playoff Time

By Jim Watkins 11/07/2018, 3:45pm EST

The Vipers 18U and 16U teams are off to the EJEPL playoffs this weekend. Both teams go into the playoffs following very strong seasons with the 18U team posting an overall record of 18-7-0 and the 16U team posting a record of 18-4-1. Our 15U teams sits on top of their division with a 19-1 mark in league play and an overall record of 33-11-3. Good luck boys! Bring home some hardware.