The Cariboo Cougars didn't need to be reminded what happened in the regular season when the Greater Vancouver Canadians came visiting.
Back in January, the Canadians met the Cougars three times on the ice at Kin 1 and the Canadians went home with three overtime wins packed up into their hockey gear.
They met again this past weekend at Kin 2 but this time the stakes were much higher for both teams in the opening round of the B.C. Hockey Minor Midget League playoffs.
In Game 1 of the best-of-three quarterfinal series on Friday, the Canadians took a 4-3 lead six minutes into the third period and hung on to it until the 16:48 mark. when Cariboo forward Landon Ingham tipped in a point shot from Wyatt Millner. That set the stage for Cougars captain Hunter Brown, who let go a lethal bar-down snapshot for the 5-4 gamewinner with just 1:33 left.
Colton Phillips-Watts earned the win in the Cariboo nets.
Then in Game 2 on Saturday, the Cougars blew a 4-2 first-period lead and needed a goal from Landon Ingham 6:32 into the third period to cinch another 5-4 victory. The Cougars played the final 4:23 of the game shorthanded when Nicolas Braaten was tossed for making head contact. But the Cougars limited the damage and Dawson Smith locked down the series victory with a solid display of netminding.
"We came out hard every single game, we didn't want to have to play the third game, we wanted to finish it off in the first two," said Brown, 15, a seventh-round pick of the Red Deer Rebels in the 2018 WHL bantam draft. "I thought we outplayed them both games so it was a good win, kind of a team-booster and hopefully we'll keep that momentum going into the second round."
In Saturday's series-clincher, Brown opened the scoring and Kellan Brienen, Samuel Chabot and Scott Cousins staked the Cougars to their two-goal lead after 20 minutes. But the Canadians had an answer for that. Daniel North scored the only goal of the second period and tied the game 4-4 with his second of the game, 1:42 into the third period.
Just two points separated the third-place Cougars (14-10-1-5) from the sixth-place Canadians (13-11-3-3) after a 30-game schedule - the inaugural season for BC Hockey's league of 15-year-old players
"We felt we outplayed them (in all three regular-season games) but just couldn't finish it off in OT and it felt nice to beat them in the playoffs when it matters most," said Brown.
The Cougars will advance to the semifinal round next weekend against either the fourth-place Thompson Blazers or second-place Fraser Valley Thunderbirds
"We've got to fix those mental lapses in our game because we can't be doing that towards the finals because teams like that will score every time and our goalies can't bail us out every time," said Brown, a native of Fort St. John. "You can't take any team lightly. They were behind us (in the standings) but they came out hard and they were winning some games."
Cougars assistant coach Ryan Howse figures the team is playing its best hockey of the season, peaking just in time for the playoffs.
"They've learned throughout the year to bend and not break and we're coming together at the right time of year," said Howse. "They knew what's on the line and they stuck together and killed off some big penalties. The way they went out and the preparation and focus and intensity - they ramped it up."
Meanwhile, in the major midget league, the Cariboo Cougars swept the North Island Silvertips (5-2 Sunday, 6-1 Saturday) in a weekend set at Kin 2 which moved the third-place Cougars within one point of first place heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
The Cougars (25-8-5-0) have 55 points, one behind the first-place Fraser Valley Thunderbirds (27-9-1-1) and second-place Vancouver Northeast Chiefs (25-7-4-2), who each have 56 points.
Brendan Pigeon collected two goals Sunday, while Brett Fudger, John Herrington, and Matthew Magrath also scored. Devin Chapman improved his record to 10-1-2-0 in goal for Cariboo.
In Saturday's game, the Cougars had six different goalscorers, including Fudger, Jacob Gendron, Curtis Hammond, Lane Goodwin, Brendan Bott and Max Arnold. Xavier Cannon (11-6-3-0) notched the win in net.
The Cougars will travel to Vancouver this weekend to face the Northwest Giants (21-15-1-1, sixth place) Saturday and Sunday.
