The Cariboo Cougars are getting into a tough part of their schedule. In a positive sign, they're doing it while on a four-game winning streak.
Those four consecutive victories represent the longest string of success for the Cougars this season. In the 11-team B.C. Hockey Major Midget League, they have leaped into second place with an 8-4-2 record.
The latest wins for the Cougars came in Nelson on the weekend. The 15- to 17-year-old Cats skated past the Kootenay Ice 6-2 on Saturday and 8-1 on Sunday.
"We played with good pace," said Cougars head coach Trevor Sprague. "We controlled the game and we played a heavy game too. When you can be physical but be fast and control the game the way we did, it's really good. It was great to see."
The Cougars were playing the last-place team and avoided lacklustre performances that can sometimes come with that scenario. With the losses, the Ice dropped to 1-10-1. Two weekends ago, the Cats hosted a mid-pack club, the South Island Royals, and won 4-0 and 5-2.
Against the Ice, several of the 15-year-old members of the Cougars scored their first MML goals. Mason Richey pulled the trigger on Saturday, while Reid Perepeluk (with two) and Tyler Ho got their initial markers on Sunday.
"That was nice, so hopefully they start contributing that way a little bit more now," Sprague said.
Also on Sunday, Tyler Maser of the Cougars recorded a natural hat trick. The 16-year-old Houston product scored the final two goals of the second period and the first one of the third. Remarkably, Maser also had a natural hat trick in the 4-0 decision against the Royals on Oct. 24.
"He's concentrating on banging pucks and being at the right place at the right time," Sprague said. "He's not a kid to dust a puck off and then shoot it. He's already got that natural instinct - when he has a scoring chance he bangs pucks and they're going in."
Other marksmen for the Cougars during the Nelson trip were Riley Coish, Chase Dubois, Jeremy Gervais and Colton Thomas with a pair (Saturday), and Gervais and Richey (Sunday). In the nets, Dorrin Luding and Aaron Jakubowski were the winning goaltenders.
The Cougars now find themselves in second place, behind only the Vancouver Northwest Giants (9-3-0). The Cats, however, have played two more games than the Giants and the third-place Valley West Hawks.
Now, things will get more difficult. This coming weekend, the Cougars will host the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds (4-4-4), who beat the Giants 3-2 on Oct. 11 and have gone 3-1-1 in their past five games. Then, on Nov. 14-15, the Cats will welcome the Giants. They'll follow that with their bye weekend and will then host the Okanagan Rockets (currently 8-5-1) on Nov. 28-29.
"This is where our goaltending and the pace of our game needs to show, being a young hockey team," Sprague said. "It comes down to us being good against the best teams in the league and those teams that we're playing next are the best teams in the league."
The start times for the games against the Thunderbirds are 7:15 p.m. on Saturday and 9:15 a.m. on Sunday. Both will be played at Kin 1.
