A loss at the wrong time kept the Coast Inn of the North Cougars from skating for gold at their own tournament.
They picked up bronze on the rebound.
At the eight-team Columbia Bitulithic midget Tier 1 hockey tournament, held Friday through Sunday at the Kin Centre, the Cats fell 3-2 to the Coquitlam Chiefs in a Saturday semifinal and that set up a Sunday tilt against the Vernon Vipers for bronze. With pride and a medal on the line, the Cougars fought their way to a 4-3 victory.
In their last game of round-robin play, the Cats hammered Vernon 7-1 so the Vipers came into Sunday's match-up with revenge on their minds.
"Vernon was keyed up and wanted to really ruin our weekend but the guys came out and battled and persevered and ended up with the win," said Cougars head coach Jason Garneau. "We went 4-1 on the weekend and any time you do that it's a good weekend."
Garneau said he's proud of his team's Sunday effort because it's never easy to play for bronze when a tournament championship was the true goal.
"There's definitely an abundance of good character on that team," he said. "Especially at your home tournament, who wants to play in the bronze-medal game? It's hard to get up for that because you've left everything on the ice in the semifinals so for them to get over that disappointment of not making the final says a lot about them. We said even though it was a bronze-medal game we wanted to make it a gold-medal performance and that's what the fellas did."
In their other round-robin games, the 15- to 17-year-old Cougars beat the Mission Stars 7-3 and edged the Chilliwack Bruins 3-2.
In Sunday's tournament final, the Kelowna Rockets slipped past Coquitlam in a shootout.
With only a handful of 17-year-olds in their lineup, the Cougars are at the young end of the age spectrum this season. But, every weekend, Garneau has seen growth in them individually and collectively.
"They're embracing the season and the stuff they're learning -- the whole team concept," he said. "I was talking with our coaching staff after the tournament and if you compare where we were in our first tournament in Kamloops, where we went 2-2, to where we are now, we're one of the teams to contend with now in midget Tier 1 in the province. I don't think anyone is going to look forward to seeing Prince George on the scoresheet when they go to play us in any tournament or league games."
Team members are Mitch Profeit, Riley Druskin, Nathan Powar, Todd Bredo, Carson Stephen, Zach Schlitt, Kyle Serup, Jordan Low, Austin Gray, Thane Anderson, Cole Morris, Justin Schwing, Markus Plamondon, Treavor Gagne, Michael Bhatoa, Derek Bulmer, Brogan O'Brien, Riley Hawes and Isaiah Berra.
The Cats now have a break in their schedule. Their next action will be Dec. 9-10 when they host Kamloops in a pair of Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association league games. In league play this season, the Cougars have an impressive 7-1 record and have outscored their opponents 39-13. To date, Kamloops has gone 3-3.
During the Christmas holidays, the Cats will be in the Lower Mainland for the annual Richmond International tournament.
