Playing home games 1,600 kilometres away from Prince George suited the Cariboo Cougars just fine.
On Saturday and Sunday, the Cougars squared off in Whitehorse against the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs and skated to a pair of 6-1 victories. In the process, the Cats elevated their record in the B.C. Hockey Major Midget League to 7-1-0.
In the opener, the Cougars and Chiefs were locked in a 1-1 tie after the second period but the Cats erupted for five unanswered goals in the third.
Daine DuBois scored what proved to be the game-winner on a power play 4:19 into the final frame and his marker opened the floodgates. The Cougars followed up with goals by Brandon Rowley, Myles Mattila, Devin Sutton and Jeremy Gervais. Rowley also had three assists for a four-point game.
DuBois and Liam Ryan of the Chiefs had exchanged second-period goals.
Marcus Allen was the winning goaltender.
In Sunday's rematch, the Cougars picked up where they had left off the day before. They blitzed the Chiefs with five goals in the first period and added one more in the third. Cariboo marksmen were Mason Richey, Brandon Dent, Reid Perepeluk, Darian Long, Riley Krane and affiliated player Grady Thomas. Sho Takai had the only goal for the Chiefs, after the Cougars were already up 4-0.
Zach Wickson earned the win in net.
The losses were the first of the season for the Chiefs, who now sit at 4-2-0.
The Cougars flew to and from Whitehorse on Air North. The expenses for the journey were shared by Air North, Yukon Hockey and the BCHMML.
The 15- to 17-year-old Cougars will be back in their regular home - Kin 1 - this weekend. They'll play the South Island Royals at 3:45 p.m. on Saturday and
10 a.m. on Sunday. The Royals have started the season at 1-5-0.
