Dear Viper families,

Well one month is already behind us. Our

teams are all moving forward in a positive di-rection and we have been competitive across

the boards. Our Midgets, Bantam 95's, and

Bantam A's have all been to Silver Sticks and

our Mites and Bantam 96's have competed in the Stamford Tournament. Our Tier I girls team

made their first overnight to Susquehanna PA

as well.

Mark, Laura, and Erik

have held Power Skating clinics for most of our

teams with great success!

Don’t worry, those of you

who have not yet had Power Skating will get your

chance to sweat this month.

Our Defensive Clinics led by Coach Burton

Mills gets underway this month. This is another

first for the Viper organization and we wish Coach Mills good luck. The Executive Com-

mittee is very excited about these clinics and

we hope all Defensemen improve their game

accordingly. Our Peewee AA and Ban-

tam 96 teams open the new

Tri-State League this month with match-ups

against Darien, Central Ct,

Wonderland and Montclair.

Our Midget Major team

won their first State Play-

down game beating the Re-

The Vipers Pit... V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 1 O C T O B E R , 2 0 0 9

You know you

have been

bitten when…

When your

wife travels

out of town

on business

but manages

to call three

minutes into

the 1st game...

And then

wants the

play by play

for the rest of

the game

like I’m a

Sportscaster!

bels 6-2. Our Midget Minors and Squirt AA teams open up State Playdowns against the Re-

bels next, while the Bantam 95's and Peewee AA

's start it up against locals Brewster and the Mari-ners.

Viper pictures are underway and should be

wrapped up by mid October so that everyone can get some Holiday gift ideas out of the way.

Lastly I want to thank all of the members of the Executive Committee for making the Pep Rally a

very memorable event. A BIG thank you goes

out to DJ Nick Chiapparino.

Most of all THANKS to all of the Vipers who

participated. It truly was a memorable night to

see how many kids and coach's alike were on the ice at one time showing off their Viper colors.

GOOD LUCK VIPERS!!!

Dave Mensi

President

Vipers Hockey

Viperhockey@gmail.com

And We’re Off!

P A G E 2

So we had

Pep Rally

and EVERYONE came!

T H E V I P E R S P I T . . .

Can you answer this

correctly?

(Answer is on pg 5)

The

Ref’s

Corner

For all the action

http://

freeze-

wave.smugmug.com

Over 500 pixs!

Did you know that Viper photographer Bob Wilson as already taken hun-

dreds of on-ice photos of many of the Viper Teams? They are organized in

galleries by team/event on this website: http://freezewave.smugmug.com

You can view them in slideshows, or individually. Please share this link with

friends and relatives so they can enjoy them as well.

Bob does a great job of catching the kids in action, and capturing their

enthusiasm for the game. Many parents rave that his photos are better

than what they see at tournaments, and the cost of prints is about 50% less.

If you don't see your team or player in a gallery yet, check back again in a

few weeks. They'll ALL be there by the end of October!

Viper Photos

Don't go through life

without goals!

Two players for the

same team are in the

penalty box serving

minor penalties and a

third minor penalty is

called on the same

team.

When does the third

player’s penalty start?

VIPERS COACHES

SECOND TO NONE

Making the rink safe and teaching the fundamentals of

sportsmanship and fair play.

When you see them, make sure they know how much they are appreciated!

Kevin Hagen - Bantam 95 AA / Midget A Coach Kevin has been a fixture with the Vipers program for many years and is beloved by the

players he has coached. Kevin has coached at every level over the years. He has won numerous

HVHL and various tournament championships. He has been to the State Tournament as well. Kevin grew up playing youth hockey in Western Canada. He played Junior hockey in Calgary

and went on to play D1 hockey at St. Lawrence University in upstate New York. Kevin also

coached the 2002 Connecticut Yankees Spring team to the Championship of the Canadian Brick

Tournament. Kevin is the Asst. General Manager at WSA.

Kristopher Marsh - Assistant Coach Bantam A Kris comes to us by way of New York City. Kris played roller hockey

for the 109th precinct hockey league in Queens NY, one of the best in the city. He played

youth ice hockey at Chelsea Piers and moved on to play College Hockey for NYU. His team finished second overall loosing to Oakland of Michigan in the National Championship. Kris

was a three time ACHA all academic team member. Kris has been running a youth hockey

summer camp in Western Pennsylvania during the offseason. We

wish Kris good luck with the Vipers

Will Spodnik - Squirt A Coach Will has been with the Vipers for the past five years as an assistant Coach for our Mite team. His teams won two Silver Stick Regional Championships. Will played High School

hockey for Stepinac and won the Catholic HS Championship during his time there. He then

moved on and played Junior Hockey for the New Haven Wolves. Will has coached at WSA for the past 10 years and we wish him the best of luck as a first time Head Coach with the Vipers.

Phil Forzaglia - Midget A, Girls U14 Coach Phil returns to the Vipers after taking two years off. He has been

an instructor here at WSA since the doors opened. Prior to working at WSA, he played College

hockey for San Jose State University. Before coaching with the Vipers, Phil was the Head Coach for the Junior Black Knights Bantams and Midgets at West Point during his military ten-

ure. He then went on to Coach at Hendrick Hudson High School before finding his way to the

Vipers. We are glad to have Phil back in our program.

Judson Selig – Mite A Coach Judson will be coaching the Mite A team for the 5th year in a row. Judson played Junior Hockey in British Columbia as well as professionally in Europe. Judson’s mites teams have won

the Silver Stick regionals as well as the Can Am Lake Placid Tournament on more than one occa-

sion. Judson has his Mites play an independent (non league) schedule in order to better prepare his players for play at the Squirt level. Judson is the Hockey Director at WSA

Ice hockey players can walk on water.Ice hockey players can walk on water.Ice hockey players can walk on water.Ice hockey players can walk on water.

I learn teaching from teachers.

I learn golf from golfers.

I learn winning from coaches.

Harvey Penick

Hidden Message

P A G E 4 O C T O B E R , 2 0 0 9

Can you answer these correctly?

How did you do last month?

1) In 1988 Mario Lemieux scored five goals in different ways in one game. In what five ways did he score?

2) What is the name of the award given annually to the player

who exhibits “good sportsmanship, gentlemanly conduct, and a

high standard of ability”?

3) What is the name of the award given annually to the goalie

voted to be the most valuable to his team?

Want to

Unsubscribe

to the Vipers Pit?

(Or help clean up

our email listing)

Do so with an

Email to

vipernewsletter

@optonline.net

Please place

UNSUSCRIBE

in the “Subject

field”

That’s all!

The Game Page

JUMBLE Can you unravel the Jumbled DEFUNCT teams?

S H A W R E L

R S O N Q E I U D

I M A S R N A C E

Special thanks to

Greg Feliu

for their contribution!

(Answers on Pg 5)

We have had several offers of help and assistance and

some great contributions have been sent to the

Game Page. Thanks so much!

Remember this is your Enewsletter

and it’s success means making it relevant

to both the Skaters

and their families.

Find the words and then unravel

the mystery message!

V T I P E E E R D G T S R U L

D E U R N S A R D H O K A J V

E O O O N C A F O F U A N F W

O C I E T W R C A V R K L P T

S V F R R U K D I Z N R C I R

M E E O E E H P L S A E F G E

D A F R Y P E S K C M Z U G Z

N A E K T R O A O K E Z E C I

P I N T S I T B A Y N U F X D

O I L B K E M T A A T B P I H

R K E U Q O P E N A L T Y C J

N O O F S H O O T O U T O O X

T O H S P A L S L Z G K R A R

K J R E Q V A D L A O G X C S

M O J K O I L K C W S A C H C

BUZZER COACH

DEFENSE FORWARD

GOAL GOALIE

HOCKEY ICE

OVERTIME PENALTY

PERIOD RINK

SCORE S HOOTOUT

SHUTOUT SKATE

SLAPSHOT TEAM

TOURNAMENT VIPERS

WSA

THE FIRST 10 UNUSED LETTERS FORM A

HIDDEN MESSAGE: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _!

A very big thanks to Marie Pugliese

for her contribution

(again!)

Answer pg. 5

Hockey Trivia So you think you know Hockey? Lets see...

Last Month’s Trivia….

1) What goaltender has scored the most goals in the

NHL? (Ron Hextall)

2) What city is home to the Minnesota Wild? (St. Paul)

3) Manon Rheaume made history by being the first

woman to play professional hockey. What position

did she play? (Goalie)

Refs Corner…

The answer is;

The time for the penalty on the

third player will only begin to run

when one of the penalties expires for

one of the players already in the

box.

The third player will nonetheless

have to proceed to the penalty box

even though his/her penalty has not

yet commenced.

Answers:

JUMBLE – DEFUNCT TEAM NAMES

S H A W R E L (WHALERS)

R S O N Q E I U D (NORDIQUES)

I M A S R N A C E (AMERICANS)

Jumble

Hidden message

Vipers Rule!

All The Answers

CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG

DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN VIPERSLAND

As with any organization, disputes occur between and among Vipers coaches, officials, players, and parents. The

Vipers have a Committee of parents who have been selected to assist in the resolution of those disputes. This Commit-tee, the Team Relations Committee (TRC), has been in place for four years and has successfully resolved a number of

issues that have been brought before it. Here is a short summary of how the TRC does its important work.

The Executive Committee of the Board has selected Victor Guadalupe as the TRC chair and has appointed a repre-

sentative from each level and program to serve as TRC representative. Those representatives are: Tom Ives (Girls);

Kevin Scher (Midgets); Howard Greene (Bantam); Tom Harty (Peewees); Victor Guadaulpe (Squirts); Kevin Wyman

(Mites).

Most disputes get resolved informally by the parties themselves or with the help of team managers, Vipers officials, or friendly mediators. Some issues however do not resolve themselves informally and require the intervention of the

TRC. In that case, a team manager, TRC member, or Executive Committee member can initiate the process. Further

informal attempts to resolve the issue will be attempted by the TRC member responsible for that level. If those efforts do not succeed, then the full TRC is convened to hear the dispute.

All parties can submit information to the TRC and can meet with the Committee in person. All TRC proceedings are intended to be confidential to the extent practicable. The TRC will then make a recommendation to the Executive

Committee which will make the final decision giving full weight to the TRC’s determination. Appropriate remedial

actions may be taken when necessary, including issuance of a warning, temporary exclusion from events, or even ex-pulsion from the program in an extreme case.

The fact that the TRC has had very little business to attend to over the last four years is a testament to the good will and faith of our Vipers family. But it is important to know however that there are processes available to aid in the

resolution of disputes when and if they may be needed.

The

First Ever

Viper

Pep Rally

Who had more fun than us?

Vipers Vipers Vipers Vipers Pep Rally Pep Rally Pep Rally Pep Rally

Sept 10, 2009Sept 10, 2009Sept 10, 2009Sept 10, 2009

SquirtsSquirtsSquirtsSquirts