It’s down to the final two teams to decide the BC Elite Hockey League U18 champions.
Fresh from the semifinal win over the Vancouver North West Hawks, the Cariboo Cougars will have home-ice advantage throughout the best-of-three final series against the Okanagan Rockets that starts Friday at 7:45 p.m. at Kin 1.
The Cougars booked their ticket into the final when they blanked the Hawks 7-0 Sunday in the third and deciding game in that semifinal series at Kin 1.
The Rockets eliminated the Valley West Giants last weekend in the other semifinal, winning 6-0 of Friday and 2-1 on Saturday.
“We like the matchup,” said Cougars head coach Tyler Brough.
“Watching the games on the other side, the Rockets deserved to win that series, they took control of the Giants, it wasn’t really surprising to me.
“They’ve got some elite scorers, but we’re going to rely on our depth and rely on our age and we’re pushing here. We’re rolling and we feel good about ourselves.”
The regular season series between Cariboo and Okanagan was close.
Cariboo split in Kelowna (Nov. 9-10), beating the Rockets 8-5 before losing the rematch 3-2. The Cougars topped the Rockets 5-2 Feb. 1 at Kin 1 and the teams tied 3-3 the following day.
Dion Schrader led the Rockets this season with 39 goals and 62 points in 36 games and finished second in the league scoring race.
Gavin Wood (11-30-41) and Nathan Jack (10-27-37) also produced at a point-per-game pace or better. Kylen Martens (11-14-25) was the highest scoring Rockets’ defenceman.
Okanagan also has one of the league’s top goaltending tandems in Finn McKiernan (10-4-2-1, 2.57 goals-against average)and Elijah Henson (11-8-0-0, 3.85 GAA).
The Rockets were league finalists last year, losing the two-game championship series to the Vancouver North East Chiefs.
The fans at Kin 1 have been loud and plentiful and that’s bringing out the best in the Cougars, who are 4-1 in the playoffs.
“We’re pretty excited about the support from the community and from our team families, it’s awesome to see a full building and we’re getting a lot of support from the Cougars and Spruce Kings,” said Brough, now on his 10th season behind the Cariboo Cats’ bench.
“We play fast, hard hockey, heavy on the forecheck and it’s exciting and when we’re playing good we feel we have a chance to win against anybody.”
Cougars goalie Jaxson Dikur, who made 35 saves to shut out the Hawks Sunday, says his team will have to dig deep to defeat the Rockets but he’s confident they will use the Olympic-sized rink at Kin 1 to their advantage, with the crowds behind them.
“Playing at home is such an advantage against a team like the Okanagan Rockets, they’re a tough grinding team and I think if we do what we did (last) weekend and feed off the energy of the crowd we’ll bang it out and get it done,” said Dikur.
The Cougars started the playoffs with a first-round sweep of the Thompson Blazers of Kamloops. Okanagan also needed just two games to defeat the Vancouver North East Chiefs in their quarterfinal series.
Friday’s game starts at 7:45 p.m., with opening puck drop for Game 2 Saturday scheduled for 4:45 p.m. If a third game is needed that would be played Sunday at 10:45 a.m.
This weekend in Coquitlam, the Northern Capitals of Prince George will take on the Greater Vancouver Comets for the BCEHL female triple-A division championship.
Game 1 starts at 5 p.m. Friday at Planet Ice in Coquitlam, with Game 2 to follow Saturday at 5:45 p.m. Game 3, if needed, is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday.
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