Having starting the season with 14 wins and just one loss, the Prince George Coast Inn of the North midget Tier 1 midget Cougars know there's science at work.
They've obviously got chemistry on the ice. Winning that often doesn't just happen. The players know they're in it together and feed off each other's individual hockey talents.
Biologically, the 17 skaters and two goalies who make up the Cougars roster are prime-time athletes whose well-nourished, gradually-built cellular construction gives them the strength to move fast, shoot hard and and take the pain that comes with blocking shots and absorbing bodychecks in the pursuit of excellence.
And you can't deny the laws of physics. It takes well-trained athletic minds to learn how to play the game at a high level so players know when and where to channel their energy and how to apply the rules of time and space on the ice. Whatever it takes to engineer a championship team.
The Cougars are still a long way away from achieving that ambition and time will tell if they have what it takes to be tops in the province, but they're certainly on the right track. They won the Kamloops tournament two weekends ago and are 5-0 in the Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association Tier 1 midget league.
"We've gotten off to a great start, the biggest thing for these guys is they came together in a short amount of time and have been really close as a team," said Cougars head coach Ryan Howse.
"There's not a single individual player on this team. There's an all-for-one mentality in the way they work and the way they communicate and that's why they've been successful."
The Coast Inn Cats opened the Kelowna tournament Friday evening with an 8-2 win over Kamloops.
"We're fast, skilled and have a lot of firepower up front," said Howse. "We've got some guys who know how to score and the biggest thing is their chemistry and the way they work. They put it away every time."
The Cougars' strength starts in goal with Marcus Allen, a 15-year-old from Fort St. James who played in Vanderhoof last season. Allen was a late cut for the provincial under-16 team which is playing this weekend in the Western Canada Challenge Cup tournament in Calgary. He's splitting the goaltending duties with 16-year-old incumbent Jake Sweet.
On defence the Cougars have an even blend of 15-, 16- and 17-year-olds, including Jaymes Pattie (who played at Yale Academy), Carl Ewert and Brandon Sande (both from the Prince George Tier 2 team) and Brevin Gervais, Brennan Malgunas and Jarin Sutton (up from the Farr Fabricating Tier 1 bantam team). Gervais was picked by the Calgary Hitmen in the fourth round of the 2015 WHL bantam draft.
James Gordon, Darian Long, Devin Sutton, Dylan Krahn, Tyson Ghostkeeper and Rob Raju are the top-six forwards, and they've been getting plenty of support up front from Craig MacDonald, Braeden Young, Mateo Albinati and Logan Morris. First-year midget forward Kyle Boshier broke his arm in a game two weeks ago and is expected to be sidelined until January.
Mackenzie Allen and Kalen Spoletini are the Cougars' assistant coaches. Jim Ewert is the team manager.
Their only loss this season was in Kamloops in the round-robin tournament, when Ridge Meadows beat them 3-2, despite being outshot 52-14. The Cougars hosted Kamloops in league games Sept. 26-27 and won 8-1 and 7-1, then took a three-game set at home against Kelowna Oct. 16-18, winning 5-1, 5-1 and 7-1.
Prince George will play Ridge Meadows tonight, after a morning game against Seafair.
The Cougars won't play at home again until the weekend of Nov. 27-29 when they host their own tournament.
