Getting motivated wasn't a problem.
The Freightliner Cougars stepped onto the ice Sunday at the Kin Centre, with only the Fort St. John Flyers standing between them and a gold medal at their home tournament. Knowing they had lost to the Flyers in a championship game earlier in the season in Fort St. John, the peewee Tier 2 Cats didn't need much of a pep talk from their coaches. The Cougars players were fired up from the opening face-off and eventually celebrated a 6-2 victory.
In the game, the hard-skating Cats drew penalty after penalty against the Flyers and made them pay on the scoreboard. James Lalikeas led the Prince George attack with a pair of goals, while Brayden Stafford, Devon Krahn, Corey Cunningham and Brandon Dent also scored for the Cougars. In the nets, goaltender Alex Schinkel played a solid 60 minutes and picked up the victory.
Brady Miller was chosen as the player of the game for the Cougars, who now have three tournament titles to their credit this hockey season.
Other team members are Max Arnold, Trevor Shaw, Jovhan Janjua, Brendan Moseley, Liam Noble, Gaige Ridland, Connor McLaughlin, Colton Kitchen, Corey Cunningham, Ryan Mager and Evan Crobar. Ryan Arnold is the head coach and he's assisted by Eddie Dent, Rob Crobar and Kip Noble.
The Terrace Totems defeated the Quesnel Thunder in the bronze-medal game. The Williams Lake Timberwolves placed fifth and the Scotiabank Tier 3 Cougars were sixth.
The tournament was sponsored by Premium Truck & Trailer.
n The Fortwood Homes Cougars fell short in their comeback attempt and were denied the chance to play for gold.
The Cougars, a peewee Tier 4 rep team, were in Armstrong for a weekend minor hockey tournament that also featured Tier 3 clubs. In a Sunday semifinal, the Cats fell into a 3-0 deficit against the host North Okanagan Knights and couldn't dig all the way out of that hole. The game ended 3-2 in favour of North Okanagan.
The Cougars finished with a 2-2 record. They started the tournament with a 4-2 loss to the Vancouver Thunderbirds, beat the Knights 4-1 and skated to a 2-0 victory against Salmon Arm. In that game, Josh Fielding posted the shutout for Prince George.
