If cats do indeed have nine lives, then perhaps the Northland Dodge Cougars are proof of that.
The Cougars survived not only a sudden-death double overtime game but a triple overtime game en route to win the B.C. Female Triple-A Midget League title with a 2-1 series victory against the Fraser Valley Phantom on March 22 at home.
It was the first B.C. title for the Cougars, who are now one step closer to earning a berth to the 2015 Esso Cup, the national female midget championship slated to begin in Red Deer on April 19.
First things first, though. The Cougars leave Thursday for Edmonton to take on the Thunder in the Pacific regional championship this weekend.
The winner of the best-of-three series that begins Friday advances to the Esso Cup.
"The team is nervous, we've never been in this situation before," said Cougars head coach Mario Desjardins. "No B.C. team has won a Pacific regional championship before. The Phantom hosted it one year. It's a pretty special situation. We're going into this representing B.C. and representing the north. We're going to go there and compete and let the cards fall and see what happens."
The Thunder defeated the Red Deer Sutter Fund Chiefs 3-1 in the championship final of the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League on March 22 in Spruce Grove, Alta.
The Thunder was the top team in the Alberta five-team round-robin championship, posting a 3-1 record prior to advancing to the final.
As fate would have it, the Cougars and Thunder met in an exhibition tournament in Langley in early February. They played to a 3-3 tie in the first game and the Thunder defeated the Cougars 5-3 in the semifinal.
"They were pretty close games and reflecting back on that loss, we could've been better," said Desjardins. "We've got some game tape on them and we've been reviewing a lot of it. If the girls go and compete with the right mindset, they should be fine."
Game 1 of the Pacific regional series is Friday at 7 p.m. Game 2 is Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and Game 3, if necessary, is Sunday at 6:30 p.m.
