The Cariboo Cougars continued to churn out victories on the ice this past weekend at Kin 1, sweeping a B.C. Hockey Major Midget League doubleheader against the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs.
But it came at a painful cost.
Chase DuBois, the Cougars' leading scorer and their most valuable player a couple weeks ago at the Mac's Midget Tournament in Calgary, broke his ankle midway through the third period Saturday when he got tangled up with a Chiefs player as they fell to the ice.
DuBois, a 17-year-old winger and native of Williams Lake, is done for the season, joining top-line centre Colton Thomas on the sidelines. Thomas, 17, suffered a dislocated kneecap during the quarterfinal round at the Mac's. His injury is also believed to be season-ending.
"That hurts, but what it does is it wakes up everybody else - there's no more coattails to ride on," said Cougars head coach Trevor Sprague. "We have (WHL) drafted players and guys committed to junior A teams and it's time for them to do their jobs every night and capitalize on their opportunities to step up and do things.
"Both of those kids have been with the organization three years and they mean a lot to our team and our staff. It's tough to have the season go the way it is. We have a little adversity, but we're a northern team and we'll get through it."
DuBois has 14 goals and 34 points in 25 games this season. Tied for sixth in the league scoring race, he was considered one of the top forwards at the Mac's tournament which wrapped up Jan. 1 in Calgary. The Cougars, trying to defend their Mac's title, made it to the semifinal round.
Thomas, who is also from Williams Lake, had 11 goals and 23 points in 26 games before he got hurt.
To replace Thomas, the Cougars called up Darian Long from the Coast Inn of the North midget Tier 1 Cougars and he'll remain with the major-midget team for the remainder of the season. The Cariboo club had four affiliated players in the lineup Sunday - goaltender Marcus Allen, as well as Devin Sutton, Jarin Sutton and Logan Morris.
"We all have to battle (to replace DuBois and Thomas), they're key players and now new players can fill their roles," said Cougars defenceman Chris Jandric. "We stepped up (in Sunday's game) and that was good."
The Cougars beat the Chiefs 4-3 on Saturday and won the rematch 4-2 on Sunday to stretch their BCHMML winning streak to eight games. The Cougars (19-6-3) are now tied for first pace with the Valley West Hawks (20-5-1), each with 41 points. The Hawks have two games in hand over the Cougars.
The Chiefs defeated the Cougars last spring in the league championship series at Kin 1, sweeping the regular-season champions in two games.
"We needed to own our rink again - the last two times they were here they best us and knocked us out of the playoffs," said Sprague. "Coming back from the Mac's, a lot of teams have that Mac's hangover and I thought we were good the whole game (Saturday)."
On Sunday, Jesse Pomeroy, Riley Coish, Tyler Ho and Tyler Maser scored for Cariboo. Harris Pearce and Brett Didyk were the Chiefs' goalscorers. All six goals came during power plays. The loss dropped the Chiefs' fifth-place record to 12-9-7.
Allen, called up from the Coast Inn of the North Cougars, made 19 saves to get the win in the Cougars nets. Allen was called into service with starting goalie Dorrin Luding out with a sprained ligament in his index finger, which happened at the Mac's tournament. Luding is not expected to play this weekend when the Cougars travel to Shawnigan Lake and Victoria to play the South Island Royals.
On Saturday, Ho, Maser, Coish and Jeremy Gervais accounted for the Cougar scoring. Didyk, Pearce and TJ Prexler were the only Chiefs to beat Cougars goalie Aaron Jakubowski, who made 23 saves to earn his eighth win of the season.
The game, designated Jameson Jones Night, raised more than $1,700 for the B.C. Children's Hospital Foundation.
