Mills even series with Vipers

In case you haven't heard, the Quesnel Millionaires are making some noise in the B.C. Hockey League playoffs.

Already into uncharted territory in their 14-year BCHL history as first-time survivors of the opening playoff round, the Mills are the surprise of this year's postseason, and made that abundantly clear Saturday to the Vernon Vipers.

The Mills defeated the defending national junior A champions 3-1 at Quesnel Twin Arenas to even the best-of-seven Interior Conference semifinal series at two games apiece. Game 5 of the series is set for tonight in Vernon, with Game 6 to follow Tuesday night in Quesnel.

"Quesnel probably hasn't seen hockey like this for a long time and you probably have to go back to the senior days (of the Quesnel Kangaroos) to see that rink packed like that," said Mills head coach and general manager Glen Watson. "The players are pretty happy to play in front of those guys. The town is abuzz and they give that energy to them. When things are all doom and gloom with a lot of industries in town, it's brought a lot of people together. We had 1,125 in the building (on Friday) and we can probably get 1,300 (on Tuesday) in, if it's jammed."