The glow of winning the B.C. Hockey Major Midget League championship his diminished.
One week after beating the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds in two straight at the provincial final in Abbotsford, it's time for the Cariboo Cougars to go on a hunt for bigger game.
They're in Calgary this weekend trying to chase a the Buffaloes into extinction.
The Cougars will take on the Alberta champions tonight (6 p.m. PT) in the first of a three-game Pacific regional series. The winner advances to the six-team Telus Cup national championship in Thunder Bay, Ont., April 22-28.
"It's pretty exciting for our organization, hopefully we can make some history, winning this time," said Cougars general manager Trevor Sprague.
The Cougars have advanced to the Pacific championship twice since the major midget league formed in 2005. In 2008, after sweeping the Okanagan Rockets 2-0 in the B.C. final they went to Calgary and lost the regional series 2-1 to the Buffaloes. In 2017, the year they hosted the Telus Cup in Prince George, the Cougars beat the Greater Vancouver Canadians 2-1 in the league championship series but because they were national tournament hosts the Cougars did not play the Alberta champs from Leduc in the regional series.
In 2001, before the major midget league formed, the team then known as Coast Inn of the North Cougars won a provincial playoff against Okanagan and went on to defeat the Calgary Royals three games to none for the Pacific title in a series played in Calgary. That Cougars team, which had Sprague as an assistant coach, hosted the 2001 Air Canada Cup, now known as the Telus Cup.
This year's team turned it on in January and finished on an 8-0 roll, then reeled off playoff series wins over the Greater Vancouver Canadians, 2-0 in the quarterfinals, and Vancouver North East Chiefs, 2-1 in the semifinals.
"It's just the way they've come together since Christmas, the coaching staff has done a great job making sure everybody's on the same playing field and they're all prepared between each game," said Sprague. "They take a lot of pride in that and the players respond very well. That attention to detail that our players and staff have is a real key thing. It's worked out very well for us, especially in the last half of the season.
"We have 12 17-year-olds and they can all be great leaders all pulling on that rope the same way right now and that comes down to great leadership and quality hockey. Then we have some of our younger guys chipping in the way they are. Last game we had Fischer O'Brien's line chipping in for four goals and that shows that right through our team it doesn't matter how old you are or how young you are or where you're playing in the lineup, everybody has a role to play and we're doing that. We're playing four lines, where other teams are playing tow lines, and that makes us dangerous."
Game 2 of the series is set for 6 p.m. Saturday. If a third game is needed that would be played Sunday at 1 p.m. PT.
