Despite getting shelled 10-1 by the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in Sunday's Tier 2 bantam hockey tournament championship game at CN Centre, the Crossfit Northern Ice Cougars can take comfort in the fact that for the first time all season they made it to a final.
To do that, they needed a 5-2 semifinal win over their regional rivals from Williams Lake Sunday morning.
But in the final, the Cougars had no answer for Silverbacks centre Cole Nisse. The 14-year-old defenceman-turned-centre collected three goals and three assists by the time the Silvertips let off the gas pedal a bit, leading by nine goals after just two periods.
The Cougars got themselves in trouble early in the game when defenceman Skylar Miller got tossed out for an illegal hit, not long after the opening faceoff.
The Cats were already without one of their other top blueliners - Evan Crobar - who suffered a separated shoulder in the semifinal. The Cougars just about killed off the major penalty, but not before Taylor Howard made it a 2-0 Silvertip lead.
Nisse unleashed his offensive might with a natural hat trick. His first goal 7:46 into the game chased Cougars goalie Orry Currie to the bench. His replacement, Dawson Frankworth, didn't have a chance to warm up when Nisse struck again and he completed the natural hat trick with still seven minutes left in the first period. Logan Vennberg got the Cougars on the scoreboard with 1:19 left in the period but Salmon Arm defenceman Riley Keyes added to the count before the buzzer to put his team ahead 6-1.
"We moved our feet, we put the puck to the net and just buried them," said the five-foot-10, 180-pound Nisse, 14, who got bumped up to centre in the tournament when injuries forced the Silvertips to shuffle their lines. "We took the body early and just moved our feet and scored. We just work hard all over the ice. It's fun playing centre, I got a lot of points this weekend."
Shots were 46-19 in favour of Salmon Arm. Goalie Koltin Dodge notched the win.
Dylan Huber (who opened the scoring), Colton Irman, Domenic Barbosa, Josh Olson and Matt Campbell (all in the second period) also scored for the Silvertips
"The first and second periods were kind of tough but I thought we did good in the third, it was 0-0 in the third," said Cougars captain Brendan Moseley, 13, who sparked the Cats offensively while centring a line with Vennberg and James Lalikeas.
"This weekend we did pretty good - four wins two losses and second place. Everyone was nervous at the start of the tournament and we had a tough loss to Vanderhoof at the start, they're a pretty physical team. Salmon Arm moves the puck really good, they get it deep and forecheck hard and they just get the puck to the net. They work it really good on the power play."
Cougars head coach Derek Miller said having to play the extra game Sunday morning took a toll on his team against the well-rested Silverbacks.
"It was the sixth game of the weekend so it was a long weekend, but it was a good one, we went 4-2 so we'll take that," Miller said. "It's disappointing to lose at home in the final but that's a good hockey team. They're disappointed, losing the last game is never fun. Too many penalties. That's our first final and the kids have been getting better as the season's been going."
The Cougars play next weekend in a tournament in Williams Lake, a team they'll have to beat in the playoffs to make it to the provincial tournament in Salmon Arm in March.
Meanwhile, the city's Tier 1 bantam team, the Farr Fabricating Cougars, also played their home tournament and lost 4-2 to the Kelowna Rockets in the semifinal Sunday morning at Kin 1.
Ryan Povovic scored twice for Kelowna, including the winner, 4:45 into the second period. Ben McCartney and Logan Nijhoff also scored for the Rockets. Jake Gendron and Jackson Danilec were the Prince George goalscorers. Kevin Craig took the loss in the Cougar nets and was named player of the game.
"The boys played really well all weekend, it wasn't a one-sided game, it was pretty even for the most part," said Cougars head coach Ryan Arnold.
The Cougars opened Friday with a 7-3 win over Maple Leaf Athletic Club of Edmonton, then beat North Vancouver 7-1. On Saturday they had one bad period and lost 8-5 to Kelowna, but rebounded in the nightcap with a 5-2 win over Delta.
Okanagan Hockey Academy went 4-0 in the round robin and advanced to the final, defeating Kelowna 3-2 Sunday afternoon to claim the tournament title.
The Tier 1 Cougars will travel to Abbotsford for a tournament, Feb. 6-8, then will make preparations for the provincial tournament, set for March 13-18 in Coquitlam.
They have four league games left in the Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association - two against Kelowna and two against Kamloops.
