After a 5-4 overtime loss to the Belarus National Under-17 team in the semifinal round of the Mac's AAA Midget Hockey Tournament, the Cariboo Cougars felt as if their chance to play for gold had been stolen from them.
Validation came moments later when tournament officials apologized to head coach Trevor Sprague.
"There were things within that game that were out of our control and the board's control and it ended up dictating what happened," Sprague said. "Let's just say it was officiating that was in over their head and probably shouldn't have been in the game. When you've got a board at the Mac's tournament that come and apologize to you for what happened, it kind of leaves a sick feeling in your gut."
The game was played on Dec. 31 at the Max Bell Centre in Calgary.
"(The penalty totals) were lopsided and there were a lot of calls that I haven't seen - like a broken stick right by our bench and (Cariboo forward Myles Mattila) jumps on our bench and a guy goes on and (the referee) calls it a delay of game because (Mattila's) stick was broken," Sprague said. "It was stuff like that - (Mason) Richey gets a breakaway, gets tripped, and (the ref) doesn't call it. When the referee is two zones away and can't keep up, you're not going to see a lot of things, too.
"And there was a little bit of diving (by Belarus)," Sprague added. "It's a European team so you kind of expect it, that there's going to be some diving."
In total, the Cougars were handed 32 minutes in penalties, including, in the same sequence of events in the third period, a double-minor for tripping, a minor for cross-checking and a game misconduct to defenceman Jonas Harkins. The referee judged the trip - which Sprague saw as accidental contact - to be a slew-foot by Harkins.
"The (Belarus player) played it like his knee was done," Sprague said. "Plus they gave (Harkins) a cross-checking penalty after three Belarus guys went in and cross-checked him, and they only gave one guy (a penalty)."
Belarus was whistled for 14 penalty minutes in the game, which saw the teams tied 1-1 after the first period and Belarus ahead 4-2 after the second. The Cougars scored the only two goals of the third and could have put the game away, according to Sprague, if not for all the lost momentum due to time in the box.
"It was pretty disheartening for the players because of how hard they worked," Sprague said. "We had (Belarus) on their heels - we could have scored three more goals if we would have capitalized and we would have won the game and the referee never would have come into being part of the game."
Belarus got a marker from Dmitri Savritski half way through the first overtime period and went on to defeat the Saskatoon Contacts 6-1 in the championship game.
"I think the wrong team won that tournament," said Sprague, whose club was also eliminated in the semifinals last year after Mac's gold the year before. "It should have been probably us and the Contacts (in the final).
"The players deserved a different fate."
The Cougars won their other five games, including a 4-1 victory against the Prince Albert Mintos in the quarter-final round. The Cats' round-robin wins came against the Calgary Northstars (7-3), Notre Dame Hounds (3-2 in a comeback) New York Junior Islanders (8-3) and the South Side Athletic Club Boston Pizza Athletics (7-1).
Individually, Cougars forward Hunter Floris, the top point-getter in the tournament with eight goals and five assists, was named to the first all-star team. As well, Mattila earned the Mac's scholarship award.
Floris, a 16-year-old from Vanderhoof, received more good news after the tournament when the Western Hockey League's Tri-City Americans informed him they had added him to their 50-player protected list.
In the Mac's female division, the Rocky Mountain Raiders of Okotoks, Alta., edged the Saskatoon Stars 5-4 in the final. The Raiders lost the 2016 championship game to the Prince George-based Northern Capitals, who finished 1-3 this time around.
The Cougars, who will host the Telus Cup national championship tournament in April, will resume league play this weekend in Langley when they take on the Valley West Hawks. The Capitals, meanwhile, will be in Delta Jan. 13-15 for games against the Thompson-Okanagan Lakers.
