As early as Saturday afternoon and at least by Sunday afternoon, the Cariboo Cougars will know if there is another banner occasion in their immediate future.
They host the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs in the best-of-three B.C. Major Midget Hockey League championship final series, starting tonight at 5 p.m. at Kin 1.
"You've got two well-rested hockey teams who are healthy and they'll lay everything on the line to be B.C. champs," said Cougars head coach Trevor Sprague.
Fresh from a two-game semifinal sweep of the South Island Royals last weekend, the Cougars know they're up against a high-scoring Chiefs team that needed just two games to dispatch the Greater Vancouver Canadians in their semifinal series.
The Cougars, this year's Mac's midget tournament champions, won their only league playoff championship in 2008. The Chiefs have never won it since the league began in 2004-05.
This season, the Richmond-based Chiefs led the BCMMHL in scoring with 201 goals, 11 more than the Cougars scored in the 40-game regular season. Where the Cougars might hold an edge is their team defence. They allowed just 88 goals in 40 games, an average 2.2 goals against per game, and topped the standings with a 29-8-3 record. The third-place Chiefs (25-10-5) gave up 125 regular season goals for a 3.1 goals-against average.
"You've got two teams that can score, so there's going to be a lot of odd-man rushes and quick speed through the neutral zone with a lot of pucks being pushed up quickly," said Sprague.
"They like to have their unit of five rushing with good speed into the offensive zone, so for us, turnovers are going to be crucial depending on where we have them on the ice. You have to watch that with a quick-transitioning team. They will be the fastest team we get to play against in the league."
In head-to-head games, the Cougars beat the Chiefs 3-2 and tied them 3-3 in Richmond back in September, while in Prince George in January the Chiefs won the first game 3-2, then lost 3-0 to the Cougars.
The Chiefs eliminated the Canadians, 8-4 and 6-2, last weekend. The Cougars, with goalie Griffen Outhouse in net for both games, recorded back-to-back shutout victories, 5-0 and 4-0, over the Royals. The Cougars' backup goalie Dorrin Luding remains on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain.
The Chiefs have 10 players who reached double figures in goals this season, while the Cougars had nine players in that category. Leading the Chiefs into the final are Caleb Fantillio, the BCMMHL's player of the month for February. The Coquitlam native finished the month with 10 goals and three assists in seven games. In 38 regular season games he tallied 35 goals and 61 points.
"Caleb pushed hard in the last month of the season, earning himself the most goals in the league and helping the team finish 7-0," said Chiefs coach Jamie Jackson.
The Chiefs also have top-10 scorers Parker Colley (18 goals, 64 points) and Ziyan Karim (24 goals, 48 points). The Cougars counter with Austin Gray (25 goals, 64 points) Steven Jandric (18 goals, 54 points), Colton Thomas (25 goals, 49 points) and Justin Almeida (22 goals, 47 points).
The Cougars scored four power play goals in their 5-0 win over the Royals a week ago and Sprague says special teams will be a key factor against the Chiefs.
"That's something we have to do this weekend is be really disciplined," said Sprague. "A lot of the Chiefs' success this year and as of late has been on their power play. If we are going to take penalties our PK needs to be outstanding."
Sprague is hoping the on-ice officials working the series this weekend will crack down on players who take advantage of the fact the midget league does not use flexible pegs drilled into the ice to anchor the nets. That results too often, Sprague said, in teams nudging the goal off its supports on purpose during games to create a stoppage of play when the other team is threatening to score. Sprague wants the league to adopt the peg-mounted nets used in the WHL and NHL.
Saturday's game is scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. start, while Game 3 Sunday, if needed, will begin at 10 a.m. All games are at Kin 1.
