Statistically, the Thompson Blazers are the weakest team in the B.C. Hockey Major Midget League. Trevor Sprague wants his Cariboo Cougars to forget that fact.
The Cougars, who are fighting for first place in the MML, play the last-place Blazers today and Sunday in Chase. The Blazers have won just one game this season (1-30-1) and are a staggering 15 points behind the next-closest team, the Kootenay Ice.
But, points don't come for free, no matter the opposition.
"It depends on what the guys want to do," said Sprague, head coach of the Cougars. "We beat them up pretty hard in P.G. (13-0 and 9-1 on Nov. 6-7). We went into those games under the understanding it was a team we couldn't take lightly. Now we're six games away from playoffs, and what are we going to do? Are we going to go in like a playoff team or are we going to go in just like it's a regular-season game?"
The Cats enter the doubleheader with a third-place record of 23-10-1. In the 11-team loop, they are just one point back of the second-place Valley West Hawks and three behind the front-running Vancouver Northwest Giants. The Cats would love to claw their way to the top before the regular season ends but Sprague is more focused on making sure his club is already in playoff mode.
"We've got to get prepared for that next chapter and that next season," Sprague said. "We want our guys to be ready. Hurt or not, the guys that we have here today are the guys that are going to be playing."
If the Cougars do finish first or second, they will get a first-round bye in playoffs. If they finish third or fourth, they will host a first-round series.
The Cats do have some injury problems right now. Forwards Chase Astorino (separated shoulder) and Nathan Craft (broken arm) are on the shelf, and so is defenceman Colton Manning (knee). This weekend, affiliated players Michael Bell and Darcy Flaherty -- both forwards -- will fill roster spots.
The Cougars have also been forced to part ways with forward Brett Roulston, who has battled a season-long back injury and is still not ready to play.
"We had a meeting with the doctor and (physiotherapist) Rebecca White and they came down that he's done for the season," Sprague said. "He's going to be on a plan of talking to a specialist out of Edmonton and then will probably be doing physio for the next eight months before the next hockey season. Hopefully he'll be a part of our team next year and be able to play, or it might be a life-changing injury for him. That's something he and his family and physicians are going to have to deal with."
Roulston, a 16-year-old from Whitehorse, suffered a slipped disc and two minor fractures in his back in December of 2009 when he was playing for a Fort St. John team at the Richmond International.
Roulston's place on the Cariboo roster has been taken by Quesnel defenceman Colby Braaten.
"He has good offensive flair but he's also a d-man that's very good in his own end," Sprague said. "He pays attention to the smaller things and his first pass has come a long ways. I think his coach in Quesnel, and Quesnel minor hockey, have done a great job on making sure that when he did have the opportunity to come up here he was effective."
Braaten practiced with the Cougars last week and skated in weekend home games against the Okanagan Rockets.
