For the second time in three weeks, the LJ Contracting midget Tier 2 Cougars celebrated a tournament championship. The latest victory happened Sunday afternoon at Kin 1 when the Cougars defeated the Kelowna Rockets 2-1 in the final of their own event.
The Cats - who also skated to gold in Quesnel earlier this month - will host their division's provincial championship March 14-16. And, with the progress they have been showing lately, claiming a B.C. title on home ice is a definite possibility.
"We do know that we're going to be competitive," said Cougars head coach Wes Scott. "We've played a lot of hockey early in the year, and maybe too much, because there has been at different times some mental fatigue setting in. But we've been exposed to the whole province and we're right there with all the teams. There are some really good squads coming out of the Okanagan and the Lower Mainland and we're right there."
Scott said the Cougars have been evolving as a club and he likes the direction in which his players are headed.
"As much as anything, they've battled together," he said. "In order to be successful you've got to have failures and they've experienced some of those failures together. We've only lost a handful of hockey games, and even the ties, most of them we were in control and we would break down in our own zone or take a stupid penalty or try to blame a third party, which is a polite way of saying the refs. But at the end of the day we have to take responsibility for our own results and everybody has to pitch in.
"It's a gelling, and there's still tons of work to do," Scott added. "But the last three games they played this weekend - (seeing) them stick together and work and support one another and go out and do their job - it was a neat thing to experience."
The 15- to 17-year-old Cougars started the tournament with Friday wins against Prince Rupert (4-1) and Kitimat (8-2). On Saturday afternoon, in their final game of pool play, they edged Kelowna 2-1.
Next, in the playoff semifinals on Saturday night, the Cats got past the Williams Lake Timberwolves 3-2 in a shootout. In that one, the Timberwolves tied the game with a pair of third-period goals by Corey Loring. The game went straight to the shootout, where Dean Whitcomb and Matthias Urbanski connected for the Cougars and goaltender Mathew Ens stopped both Williams Lake attempts. In the other semifinal, the Rockets cruised past Terrace 5-1.
In the championship final, Matthew Macsemniuk (on a first-period power play) and Whitcomb (late second period) staked the Cougars to a 2-0 lead. Both markers were back-door setups by Garrett Hilton. With about five minutes left on the clock Kelowna's Brayson Dawson drew his team within one, but, as was the case in the first game between the two clubs, the Cougars held on for the victory.
"I felt as a coach, except for the first five or six minutes of the game, we were in control," Scott said. "It was a great hockey game but I felt really comfortable. Breakdowns happen, but everybody was competing, everybody was doing their job and we were getting great goaltending from Mathew again. I felt half way through the first period we were going to win the hockey game, the way the boys were playing."
Winning their home event was a special feeling for the Prince George players and coaches.
"You get your share of wins here and there but to win your own tournament, on home ice in front of family and friends, is a really neat experience," Scott said. "It was really neat to sit back and watch them enjoy the moment."
The Cougars will get back to league play this coming weekend. They'll face Williams Lake in Cariboo Amateur Hockey Association contests slated for 6 p.m. Saturday (Kin 3) and 10 a.m. Sunday (Kin 2).
