Captain James Gordon gladly accepted the miniature Stanley Cup replica on the ice Sunday afternoon at CN Centre, then handed it off to his elated teammates.
It was piece of hardware he and his Prince George Coast Inn of the North Cougars will cherish, a symbol of their utter domination of the seven-team midget Tier 1 hockey tournament they hosted.
Their opponents in Sunday's final, the newly-formed Okanagan Hockey Academy Edmonton prep team, hung with the Cougars for two periods. But with Gordon and company intent on building their season record to a remarkable 31-1-1, it was only a matter of time before they pulled away on the scoreboard, winning 5-1.
The Cougars have made it a habit of blowing away their hockey opponents and gave their home fans a chance to see why they're the team everyone in B.C. is trying to beat.
Gordon and Devin Sutton each had two-goal efforts and Braeden Young also scored for the Cougars. Zach Boniser, in the first period, was the only OHA shooter to put the puck past goalie Jake Sweet.
The Cougars opened the tournament with a pair of one-sided victories -- 8-0 over Chilliwack and 9-0 over North Shore Winter Club, then beat the Northeast Trackers of Fort St. John 5-0 and Seafair 7-2 on Saturday to advance to the final.
OHA lost its opener to Seafair, then reeled off wins over Semiahmoo, North Shore and Chilliwack to qualify for the semifinal. They beat Seafair 6-2 in that game Sunday morning. As second-place finishers, the Edmonton team was also was presented its own Stanley Cup-like trophy, a classy decision by the tournament organizers.
Cougars defenceman Carl Ewert, 17, says there's no team in the province they haven't defeated and they knew they were heavily favoured going into the weekend tournament, but didn't let that take away from the task at hand.
"For a lot of us third-year (midgets) this is our last home tournament so this is huge for us that we win something like this," said Ewert. "Sometimes it is a little hard to get motivated but we find a way and that's how we get out on top of all the other teams. The big thing is to go down to Comox in March and win provincials."
Sunday's win was the Cougars fourth tournament-clincher this season. Seventeen-year-old centre Dylan Krahn said his team remembered the sting of not winning its home tournament last year and used that for added incentive.
"We played really good all weekend and feels good to come out with a win, that will be four in a row now," said Krahn. "We go into every game with the same attitude, to come out with our best. It's tons of fun when everybody's scoring tons of goals. That team (OHA) was a really good team to play against, they came out hard and we just played the way we always do and got the best of them, I guess."
Cougars head coach Ryan Howse watched the final from the press box after he unknowingly used an ineligible player, Darian Long, earlier in the tournament. The view from the top gave Howse a rare chance to see his team from afar while assistant coaches Mac Allen and Kalen Spoletini ran the bench and Howse was suitably impressed.
"Every day I come to the rink these kids put a smile on my face every time, they work so hard and they earned everything they got," Howse said. "I see some things we can improve on, we can't always be perfect, and we'll get that ironed down in the next couple weeks. These kids are willing to learn and willing to listen and if I ask them to do something they're going to do it and that's almost a coach's dream. This team is very special and I'm excited to see what our future holds in the next two months."
Gordon, 17, was a standout in the tournament with two hat tricks playing on a line with Young and Devin Sutton. Gordon's second goal Sunday was highlight-reel worthy, an offensive zone rush he finished with a goalmouth deke to complete the scoring in the third period.
Howse says Gordon's value to the team goes beyond his considerable hockey abilities.
"He's probably one of the best captains I've seen in all my of time in hockey, the way he takes care of his team and himself, and he's a heck of a hockey player with extreme talent -- he drives the bus on this team," said Howse.
The Cougars will now prepare for their next major tournament in Richmond, Dec. 26-31, where they will enter the major midget division.
