Thanks to Chase Witala's scoring touch, Cariboo Cougars head coach Trevor Sprague will soon be sporting a new hairdo and the Cougars will have a chance to exact revenge against the team that ended their season last year in triple overtime.
Witala scored four goals for the Cougars Saturday in a 6-3 win over the Valley West Hawks in their B.C. Major Midget Hockey League semifinal series at Kin 1. The 15-year-old left winger from Prince George was the midget Cats' scoring hero on Friday with two goals in a 5-3 win.
The Cougars won the series 2-0 and will advance to the best-of-three league final against the Vancouver Northwest Giants this weekend in Burnaby.
"It's good to get it done in two games so we can get a day off," said Witala, drafted last year by the Prince George Cougars.
"A lot of shots went in for me this weekend. I've never played playoff hockey before and it was a little more chippy and scrambly. It was nice big crowd with a lot of people cheering. It was fun."
Witala staked the Cougars to a 4-1 lead with two goals in the first period. Josh Connolly and Brett Harris, shorthanded, also beat Hawks goalie Steven Myland, after Valley West forward Kevan Kilistoff banged in an uncovered puck on the goal line for a power-play goal to open the scoring.
The Hawks were overpowered in the opening frame but Scott Cooke closed the gap late in the period and Daniel Lange scored on a high wrister early in the second period to make it 4-3. Witala's hat trick goal was a game-changer and it came as a result of a designed play. His older brother Tyson won a face-off in the Hawks end by playing the body on the draw, leaving the puck for Chase, who cut into the slot and launched a wrist shot into the net.
"That definitely took some pressure off, it was pretty good," said Chase Witala.
Tyson Witala assisted on three of Chase's, the last of which was into an empty net.
Just as he did in Friday's game, when he made 33 saves, Cougars goalie Jared Rathjen was in fine playoff form Saturday as the Cats outshot the Hawks 24-22.
Sprague was pleased with his Cougars and promised he'd live up to his commitment to visit the barber.
"I said if they won this series I'll get a Mohawk," said Sprague. "We just had to be confident in our ability to play good defence and have good puck movement through the neutral zone without turnovers, because they're a team that capitalizes on turnovers.
"Chase had two goals [Friday] and had another four [Saturday] and he's a danger every time he goes out there. He's a quiet kid, he's sleek and fast and he's learned how to play the defensive game a lot better, and that's why he's had a lot of success offensively."
The Giants beat the Greater Vancouver Canadians 4-3 Sunday to win the semifinal series 2-1.
A year ago, the Giants swept the Cougars in two games in the final. The series-clinching goal by Giants' forward Connor Rankin was scored 15:41 into the third overtime period.
"This (Hawks team) was one of the tougher teams to beat and I think we have a good shot in the final," said Chase Witala. "It's still going to be hard but we have a good chance."
The Cougars lost forward Sam Brennan in Friday's game when he got taken hard into the boards and broke his ankle. He underwent surgery and was at the rink to watch Saturday's game.
