{"id":794957,"date":"2019-04-18T18:56:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-19T00:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/breckenridge-vipers-hockey-team-heads-to-las-vegas-for-mountain-west-hockey-league-cup-finals\/"},"modified":"2019-04-18T18:56:00","modified_gmt":"2019-04-19T00:56:00","slug":"breckenridge-vipers-hockey-team-heads-to-las-vegas-for-mountain-west-hockey-league-cup-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/breckenridge-vipers-hockey-team-heads-to-las-vegas-for-mountain-west-hockey-league-cup-finals\/","title":{"rendered":"Breckenridge Vipers hockey team heads to Las Vegas for Mountain West Hockey League Cup finals"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery\" readability=\"6.7350800582242\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-364638-620\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BreckVipers-SDN-041919-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BreckVipers-SDN-041919.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Courtesy Breckenridge Vipers | The Breckenridge Vipers hockey team celebrates after defeating the San Diego Skates at Stephen C. West Ice Arena in Breckenridge on March 22. The win, combined with a victory over the Skates the next night, booked the Vipers ticket to the Mountain West Hockey League Cup championship series, scheduled for April 26-28 in Las Vegas against the Nor Cal Ice Raiders.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"9\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BreckVipers-SDN-041919.jpg\" alt=\"The Breckenridge Vipers hockey team celebrates after defeating the San Diego Skates at Stephen C. West Ice Arena in Breckenridge on March 22. The win, combined with a victory over the Skates the next night, booked the Vipers ticket to the Mountain West Hockey League Cup championship series, scheduled for April 26-28 in Las Vegas against the Nor Cal Ice Raiders.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"13\">\n<p><strong>The Breckenridge Vipers hockey team celebrates after defeating the San Diego Skates at Stephen C. West Ice Arena in Breckenridge on March 22. The win, combined with a victory over the Skates the next night, booked the Vipers ticket to the Mountain West Hockey League Cup championship series, scheduled for April 26-28 in Las Vegas against the Nor Cal Ice Raiders.<\/strong><br \/>Courtesy Breckenridge Vipers<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BreckVipers-SDN-041919-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BreckVipers-SDN-041919-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Courtesy Breckenridge Vipers | Members of the Breckenridge Vipers hockey team celebrate after a goal earlier this season. The Vipers will take on the Nor Cal Ice Raiders in the Mountain West Hockey League Cup championship series, scheduled for April 26-28 in Las Vegas.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"7.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/BreckVipers-SDN-041919-1.jpg\" alt=\"Members of the Breckenridge Vipers hockey team celebrate after a goal earlier this season. The Vipers will take on the Nor Cal Ice Raiders in the Mountain West Hockey League Cup championship series, scheduled for April 26-28 in Las Vegas.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Members of the Breckenridge Vipers hockey team celebrate after a goal earlier this season. The Vipers will take on the Nor Cal Ice Raiders in the Mountain West Hockey League Cup championship series, scheduled for April 26-28 in Las Vegas.<\/strong><br \/>Courtesy Breckenridge Vipers<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/breckenridge-vipers-hockey-team-heads-to-las-vegas-for-mountain-west-hockey-league-cup-finals\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/breckenridge-vipers-hockey-team-heads-to-las-vegas-for-mountain-west-hockey-league-cup-finals\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas. But the Breckenridge Vipers semi-professional hockey team will be hitting Sin City this year for spring break and they are hoping to have some hardware in tow when they return to the Rockies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The Breckenridge Vipers will take on the NorCal Ice Raiders for the Mountain West Hockey League Cup April 26-28. The Vipers punched their ticket to the best-of-three final series with a pair of victories against the San Diego Skates at Stephen C. West Ice Arena in Breckenridge late last month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Heading into the back-to-back games against the Skates, MWHL officials informed the Vipers that, if they swept San Diego, they\u2019d qualify to play in the MWHL Cup. Scheduling technicalities for a couple of the league\u2019s other teams presented this opportunity, giving the Vipers alternative means to qualify for the Cup finals. They did just that, defeating the Skates 6-2 in front of a standing-room-only crowd at Stephen C. West on Friday, March 22, before they topped the Skates 8-3 on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe put a big focus on the defensive side of the puck,\u201d Vipers general manager and goaltender JR Engelbert said of the back-to-back wins. \u201cTrying to create our chances out of our defensive-zone play, not so much the run-and-gun style that we\u2019ve kind of been trying to play throughout the season. Kind of take care of our own first and then take advantage. So that was a little bit of a change for us. We just came up with a gameplan and really tried to stick with it knowing that we have the talent and the team to be able to out-think some teams and out-play \u2019em.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The pair of victories improved the Vipers\u2019 record on the season to 6-5, moving them into second place overall in the MWHL standings and, effectively, claiming the MWHL Rocky Division\u2019s bid into the MWHL Cup Finals. Several weeks later, the NorCal Ice Raiders clinched the league\u2019s west coast division berth to the Cup finals, where they will be defending their title from last season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The last time the Vipers and Ice Raiders faced-off, in Breckenridge a year ago, the Vipers took both games over an Ice Raiders team that entered Stephen C. West undefeated. Engelbert said the Vipers aren\u2019t holding their hat on those results by any means, as both the Vipers and Ice Raiders rosters have seen turnover since last season. Engelbert and other Vipers enter the trip to Las Vegas feeling good knowing the Ice Raiders are a squad they can compete with. Engelbert added that the Ice Raiders, who once again this season are undefeated, are a hard-working team that likes to hit the body and control the puck. The Vipers collection of about a dozen local Summit County players and other players who live outside the county, will prepare for the matchup with final practices over this weekend at Stephen C. West.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Once in Las Vegas, the Vipers will be ready to take home a title that eluded them once prior when Breckenridge advanced to the Las Vegas Cup final in their first season. And Vipers defenseman forward, assistant captain and veteran player Colin Trevlyn is confident the team has grown enough through the 2018-19 campaign to pull it off and bring home Breckenridge\u2019s first league championship.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe got off to a slow start this year because we lost a few guys and gained some new guys and it took us a while to find the right chemistry,\u201d Trevlyn said. \u201cAfter some team bonding and getting to know each other, we started to find a rhythm and a common goal of getting to Vegas for a championship. I personally have a bitter taste in my mouth after my last trip to Vegas for the championship, so I have a lot to play for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Vipers coach Rick Battenburg reflects on the Vipers\u2019 first four seasons as important in becoming more relevant in the Breckenridge community and expanding the number of local players. With that, the coach believes the club\u2019s return to the MWHL finals is a testament to the quality of local players, local fans and the squad\u2019s ability to perform on a national level.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe are excited for the opportunity to represent Breckenridge in Las Vegas,\u201d Battenburg said, \u201cand to bring the MWHL trophy home to Stephen C. West Arena and the Breckenridge hockey family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/breckenridge-vipers-hockey-team-heads-to-las-vegas-for-mountain-west-hockey-league-cup-finals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Breckenridge Vipers hockey team celebrates after defeating the San Diego Skates at Stephen C. West Ice Arena in Breckenridge on March 22. The win, combined with a victory over the Skates the next night, booked the Vipers ticket to the Mountain West Hockey League Cup championship series, scheduled for April 26-28 in Las Vegas [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-794957","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-14 17:49:22","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794957\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}