The latest Western Canadian midget hockey rankings are out and to the surprise of many observers, the Prince George Coast Inn of the North Cougars are third down the line.
The list puts the Tier 1 Cougars ahead of all but two major midget teams - the Vancouver Northwest Giants and the Valley West Hawks of Abbotsford - and on top of the local major midgets, the Cariboo Cougars, who rank fifth.
Owners of a 23-1-1 record, the Coast Inn Cats have been virtually unbeatable against Tier 1 competition this season. But they have yet to play any major midget squads and head coach Ryan Howse says while their high ranking is a source of pride on the team the players know it really doesn't mean much with so much yet to prove on the ice. Nobody's bragging about it.
"They are really humble - it's a cool accomplishment for them to see that and see the work we've put in this year hasn't gone unnoticed," said Howse. "People are starting to realize, ourselves as well, that we have a lot of potential to do good things this year and that's exciting."
Just one other Tier 1 team, Kelowna, made the top-25 list of midget teams west of Ontario.
The Cougars take centre stage starting today at the Kin Centre when they host an eight-team Tier 1 tournament. Their opening game is at 10:30 a.m. at Kin 1 against Chilliwack, followed by a 7 p.m. game at the same rink against the North Shore Winter Club.
On Saturday, the Cougars face the Fort St. John-based Northeast B.C./Yukon Trackers at 11:15 a.m., then take on Seafair at 7:30 p.m.
The Cougars have played and defeated all of the teams entered this weekend except the Okanagan Hockey Academy of Edmonton, a new program which is an offshoot of the Penticton-based OHA.
"They've done fairly well in the academy league and they will probably be a strong team knowing they've played Delta and Yale, all those academies that have older players, and they should be good competition," said Howse.
"Seafair is a strong team and so is the North Shore Winter Club. We played them in the final in Abbotsford but I don't think we've seen their best."
The second- and third-place teams after round-robin play meet in a semifinal Sunday at 8:15 a.m. at Kin 2 and the winner advances to the final against the first-place finisher Sunday at 1:45 p.m. at CN Centre.
The Cougars play league games in the Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association (OMAHA). They are first in their division with an 8-0-1 record and are building toward their ultimate goal, the Tier 1 midget provincial championship. That tournament will be played in March in Comox.
In their most recent tournament two weeks ago in Kelowna the Cougars went undefeated, including a win over Ridge Meadows, the only team to defeat the Cats this season. That happened in their second game of the season at a Kamloops tournament, where Ridge Meadows won 3-2 despite getting outshot 52-14.
"It's just our chemistry and our will to win," said Howse, when asked to explain why his team has been so successful. "Every single person on the team is there for each other. I know if something goes sideways, someone is there to pick them up. These guys are so close and anything I ask them to do, they're willing to learn and willing to listen and work, and that goes a long way."
Howse says while a lot of people around town would love to see his Coast Inn Cats play the Cariboo Cougars, that's highly unlikely. Although the Tier 1 Cougars are entered in the major midget division at the Richmond tournament, Dec. 26-31, they won't face the major midget Cougars, who will be in Calgary trying to defend their Mac's tournament title.
"Our whole point in joining the major midget division is we'll see where we match up against those teams, because we've done so well against midget Tier 1 teams," said Howse.
Coast Inn still has three players on the injured list including forward Kyle Boshier (broken wrist), defenceman Jaymes Pattie (broken ankle) and defenceman Brennan Malgunas (broken wrist). All have resumed skating but won't be ready to play this weekend.
