Liam Blackburn had a four-point weekend as the Cariboo Cougars swept a two-game series with the Thompson Blazers in Kamloops.
The Cougars (28-7-1) extended their win streak to six games with 9-1 and 6-3 wins over the Blazers (6-26-2) and ran their season-high B.C. Major Midget League unbeaten streak to 10 games.
Blackburn, who has already rewritten the Cariboo record books for most assists and points in a season, had his third hat trick in four games in the Cats' 9-1 win, giving him 29 goals this season. The 29 goals ties the 16-year-old with former Cougar Luke Gordon for most in Cariboo history.
Blackburn should finish his first BCMML season second in league scoring behind 15-year-old rookie Matthew Barzal of the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs. After last weekend Barzal had 97 points while Blackburn had 73. Both have 29 goals but trail Barzal’s teammate Colton Kehler, who has 41.
Another Cat having a strong season is Logan Styler, who had a five-point weekend (three goals) and sits third in Cariboo scoring with 52 points behind Braiden Epp at 58. Last season as a rookie with the Cougars Styler had 16 points. Epp sits third in league scoring with 58 points while Styler is seventh.
The Cougars trail the first-place Vancouver Northwest Giants (31-2-3) by eight points and are six points ahead of the third-place Rockets (23-6-5). Both the Giants and Cougars have four games left in the regular season while the Rockets have six.
The Cats have this weekend off before hosting the South Island Royals (11-17-6) at CN Centre, Feb. 23-24, and wrapping up the season in Coquitlam, March 2-3, against the Chiefs (22-10-4).
Female Cougars fall to Rockets
The Prince George midget female Cougars dropped a pair of home games this weekend to the red-hot Thompson-Okanagan Rockets 4-2 and 4-1, falling seven points behind their Kelowna rival in the B.C. Female Midget AAA League standings.
Cougars head coach Stewart Malgunas said he was happy with the work ethic his team showed throughout the two games, especially without two of their top defenders, but the Cats' power play (0-for-10) needs work.
The Cougars were without Jayden Malgunas (injured) and Kiana Wilkinson (suspension).
Madison Fjellstorm, Chantelle Beadman-Rolph and Cheyann Newman had the goals for Prince George in the weekend games.
The results leave the Cougars in third place with a 6-11-4 record, which is where they would like to remain since a playoff series with the Rockets (9-7-5) is preferable to facing the top seeded, and defending champion, Fraser Valley Phantoms (14-3-1).
But, the Cougars are only one point ahead of the Pacific Ravens (6-9-3) and Kootenay Wildcats (6-11-3) who have three and one game in hand, respectively. The Wildcats are in Prince George this weekend for games Saturday, 4:15 p.m. and Sunday, 10:15 a.m. Both will be played at CN Centre.
