Winning at home is always sweet. For the Crossfit Northern Ice Cougars, it was even more special because of the obstacles they had to clear along the way.
The Cougars, a bantam Tier 2 rep team from the Prince George Minor Hockey Association, clinched gold in their own tournament when they beat the Smithers Storm 4-3 on Sunday at the Kin Centre. The Cats - who tied 2-2 with the Storm earlier in the event - finished with a 4-1-1 record.
The 13- and 14-year-old Cougars grabbed gold despite the fact some of their key players were sidelined with injuries. Forward Jaydon Merritt, one of the club's leading goal scorers, suffered a high ankle sprain early in the tournament, while forward Jacob Ross went down with a shoulder injury. Then, in the final, defenceman Bryce Blackman took a hard, open-ice hit while he was driving to the net. The impact caught him in the midsection and, once he got to the bench, he started to get physically sick.
The Cougars, however, were able to put the injuries and distractions aside and get the job done. In the back-and-forth final, team captain Reid Mosdell scored the winner on a one-timed slapshot from the point while the Cats were on a power play in the late stages of the third period.
"It was a hard-fought win," said Cougars head coach Mik Merritt, who is helped out by fellow coaches Greg Mancuso and Mick Jones and by manager Kurt Hawkenson. "All year, we've been resilient. In all the tournaments we've gone to, we've medaled.
"We've definitely had some success as a team," coach Merritt added. "It was very exciting (to win at home)."
The tournament title was the first of the season for the Cougars. Earlier in the year, they finished second at events in Kelowna and Salmon Arm and ended up third in Quesnel.
In their other weekend games, the Cats beat Williams Lake 4-1, lost to Quesnel 3-2, downed Dawson Creek 5-2 and defeated Salmon Arm 5-3.
The Cougars are backstopped by goaltenders Joshua Adams and James Terrion. They shared the crease during the tournament and Adams got the win in the final.
"He kind of held the fort when we were panicking a bit there with things going sideways on the bench (with Blackman)," Merritt said. "He definitely shut the door."
Other members of the Cats are Colby Hawkenson, Kody Olson, Hunter Fanshaw, Nic Braaten, Jacob Fillion, Markus Myatovic, Grady Goyer, Tyler Lalikeas, Logan Jones, Chris Cormack, Connor Dionne and Braeden Muise, an affiliated player from the bantam house league who saw duty in the last three games because of the team's injury situation.
"He did a good job," Merritt said. "He moves between the wing and centre. He's a big, strong, physical kid that gives our team some swagger, for sure."
The next tournament for the Cougars is KIBIHT - otherwise known as the Kamloops International Bantam Ice Hockey Tournament - during the Christmas break. The Cats will skate in the Tier 2 division and will open up against a varsity team from the Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy in Kelowna.
"We came back and beat them in a close game in Kelowna," Merritt said. "They had us 5-2 with very little time left in the second and we ended up coming back and beating them 7-5 I believe. They're a strong hockey team."
