They knew they couldn't win the tournament before they lined up for the opening face-off Sunday morning at Kin 1 against the Quesnel Thunder.
It didn't matter to the LJ Contracting Cougars. Their motivation level was sky-high and they saved their best effort for last. They just wanted to win one more game for their terminally ill coach, Rob Hinsche.
Backed some incredible saves by goalie Matthew Ens, the Cougars rallied from a early deficit to score five unanswered goals in a 5-1 victory in their final round-robin game at the Hart Home Hardware midget tier 1 hockey tournament. Quesnel was a perfect 4-0 heading into the game and had already clinched a berth in the final against Terrace later Sunday afternoon when they took on the Cougars.
Ens and Alex Hinsche, Rob's 17-year-old son, split the goaltending duties for the Cougars all weekend and on Sunday it was Ens's turn to shine.
"The game started off kind of shaky but we came back in the end and we all had a good game --we just wanted everyone to know we easily could have been in the final, it's just the way the math worked," said Ens. "It's really tough, considering the situation with Alex, and we just wanted to pull it out for him. We didn't go to the finals but we definitely showed him and his dad that we're here for them."
The Thunder got off to a great start when Jackson Nickolet cashed in a power-play chance with a shot from the slot 4:40 into the game, but the game changed when the Cougars found their skating legs and started connecting with their passes later in the period.
Parker Dowhy continued on his hot streak, scoring his seventh goal of the tournament with a slick move to beat his check, Ian Jarvis, before tucking the puck in with a wide deke on goalie Cole Daniels. Then with 33 seconds left in the period and the Cougars killing a penalty, Tyler Marsh took the puck in deep and lifted in a backhander from a sharp angle to give the Cougars the lead.
Bailey McFaul and his big-league slapshot added to the total 1:25 into the second period and Marsh and Brandon Sande completed the scoring later in the period.
The Thunder responded after Sande's goal by testing Ens but he flashed his trapper to rob Jarvis after he unleashed a hot shot on a breakaway. A last-second dive across the crease from Ens took away a close-range shot at an empty net from Brody Dale just before the second intermission.
The Cougars were eliminated from title contention Saturday night when Smithers and Prince Rupert tied 2-2. Earlier in the tournament, Prince George defeated Prince Rupert 6-1 and Williams Lake 5-0 and lost 4-1 to Smithers and 3-2 to Terrace.
"We really wanted to win our last game of the weekend and Matthew was huge in the net," said Dowhy. "Rob was a great coach and even though he wasn't on our bench for this tournament we knew he was supporting us and he wanted us to win this and battle hard. We wish he could be here."
The 51-year-old Hinsche has brain cancer and is in palliative care at Rotary Hospice House. His condition continued to worsen over the weekend.
"This whole weekend revolved around Rob and everything was for him," said Cougars captain Myles Kazakoff. "The most important thing was letting him know how big a part of the hockey community he was. I just hope he hangs in there a bit longer, Id love to see him some more."
Marsh, of the Cougars, and Quesnel defenceman Kyle Riley were selected as the Rob Hinsche most inspirational players. One player from each team was singled out for the award in each game. Tournament organizers are hoping to make the award an annual feature of the Prince George midget tier 1 tournament in future years as a lasting tribute to Hinsche, an assistant coach with the Cougars the past two seasons.
"Rob is a really well-known fellow in the community and most people who know him through his ties with hockey so I think it would be a great idea to move something forward for the midget tier 2 tournament in his name," said Cougars head coach Wes Scott. "This happened so quickly and you can tell it's gotten to not only the players but the families."
In the final, Quesnel and Terrace were tied at the midway point of the third period but injuries took their toll on the Thunder. The Kermodes scored four goals in the final 10 minutes to clinch the trophy with an 8-4 victory.
