The smile of the face of Cariboo Cougars centre Mitchell Williams said it all.
Winning is fun, and the Cougars have made that a habit this season in the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League. Their 4-1 win over the North Island Silvertips Sunday morning at Kin 1 came on the heels of a 7-1 victory over the 'Tips on Saturday and that stretched the Cougars winning streak to 12 games.
"It feels great, the electricity in that room feels great," said the 16-year-old Williams. "We have lots of depth and every line can go out there and face the top line on the other team. Everybody is contributing."
Centring a line with Riley Coish and Brendan Moore, the six-foot-one, 198-pound Williams was rewarded with scored two goals Saturday. He also picked up a goal and an assist in the rematch.
"In practice last week my line pushed and pushed for more icetime and the coaches saw that and threw us out on power play and we capitalized on that. I have to play my role as a big power forward and not try to be a sniper or a grinder. I have to give props to my linemates, Moore and Coish, we've been together basically all year and they've helped out a lot."
All four Cougar goals came on power plays. After setting up Coish in the first period, Williams tipped in a Todd Bredo shot three minutes into the second period to give the Cougars the lead. Steven Jandric scored a beauty in the third period, his second of the game, on a high-speed wraparound after taking the puck behind the North Island net. The Silvertips opened the scoring 57 seconds into the game on an odd-man rush and captain Matthew Cahill cashed in a drop pass.
Heading into next weekend's two-game series on the road against the Greater Vancouver Canadians, the Cougars lead the league with a 21-2-1 record. The Silvertips, ninth in the BCMMHL, dropped to 3-17-3.
Since Oct. 26, the Cougars allowed one goal or less in those 12 games. Part of the reason for that has been the play of goalies Griffen Outhouse and Dorrin Luding, who both were on top of their games on the weekend. Outhouse made 30 saves Saturday as the Cougars outshot North Island 37-31. Luding faced just 15 shots Sunday while the Cougars put 44 on Silvertips goalie John Hawthorne.
"Their goaltending was good both games and I thought we executed better in our d-zone than we did [Saturday] night," said Cougars head coach Trevor Sprague, who celebrated his 37th birthday Sunday. "When we come out as five-man unit I think we're a team you can't reckon with in our own end. I loved our power play today -- Williams's unit has been banging in some goals. It's something that's been haunting us a little bit and it came out well this weekend."
Austin Gray led the way in Saturday''s game with a goal and two assists. Jandric, Justin Almeida, Wesley Shipton and Chase DuBois also scored. Kyle Topping was the lone Silvertip goalscorer.
Cats defenceman Joel Patsey left Sunday's game in the first period with a shoulder injury.
The Cougars open play in the Mac's Major Midget Tournament in Calgary, Dec. 26, and Williams says he can't wait to show the hockey world what his team is capable of.
"The Mac's last year was a blast, even though we didn't win any games, and we're looking forward to it," said Williams, an affiliate player for the Vernon Vipers. "There are so many fans and big buildings with a lot of electricity."
