The unavoidable frustration of another lopsided B.C. Major Midget Hockey League loss was getting to Thompson Blazers goalie Aris Anagnostopoulous in the late stages of the game Sunday afternoon at Kin 1.
Down 5-1 to the Cariboo Cougars while being outshot badly late in the third period, Anagnostopoulous didn't like it when Cariboo Cougars defenceman Zach Smith fell on top of him in a scramble for puck possession in the crease and that touched off a bit of scrum that involved both teams.
The Blazer goalie wasn't penalized, but as the teams got themselves sorted out for the next faceoff, Anagnostopoulous yelled out a challenge to Cougars goalie Dorrin Luding just in case Luding felt the urge to drop his gloves and fight. Cooler heads did prevail and the game ended without further incident, but you had to feel for a Blazers team that has just one win and one tie to show for 21 games this season.
The Cougars certainly didn't go easy on them, winning 11-0 Saturday. The weekend sweep left the Cougars (18-2-1) six points ahead of the second-place Okanagan Rockets with four games left before the Christmas break.
The Cougars outshot the Blazers 68-20 on Sunday and Anagnostopoulous did all he could to keep the score from getting ugly. Justin Almeida led the way with two goals. Todd Bredo, Keith Redden and Riley Coish also scored. Luding was on his way to his second-straight shutout until Blazer forward Tyler Ward got his stick on Garrett Ewert's shot from the point and deflected the puck high into the net over Luding's shoulder with only six minutes left in the third period.
"I thought we played a lot better in the first game but with 68 shots in this game hats off to their goaltender, he played really well and that's a positive for them," said Cougars head coach Trevor Sprague. "For us, it's just making sure we didn't get into any bad habits moving forward. That's going to be the worst hockey we're going to play and from here on in everything gets tougher, which I'm excited about."
The Cougars host the North Island Silvertips this weekend, then travel to face the Greater Vancouver Canadians next weekend, leading up the Mac's tournament in Calgary starting Dec. 26.
On Saturday, Griffen Outhouse made 14 saves for his first BCMMHL shutout. Connor McEachern and Colton Thomas each scored two goals and Bredo finished with a goal and three assists. Almeida, Coish, Jesse Pomeroy, Austin Gray, Mitchell Williams, and Chase DuBois also scored for the Cougars.
"Playing in these types of games we just want to keep our systems going and not get into bad habits while we're preparing for the Mac's tournament -- we have four games left before that," said Cougars defenceman Joel Patsey, who had one assist Saturday.
"I have two friends on that team (Austen McKean and Jacob Boston) who played in my league back in Hazelton and it's pretty tough to watch them, but they'll keep improving and they'll get better."
The major midget Blazers have never had a winning record since the league began in 2006. Season after season they rank near the bottom of the standings and the main reason for that is the competition they face trying to recruit top-notch player talent in the Kamloops area. Nearby Kelowna has two private hockey academies, Pursuit of Excellence and Okanagan Hockey Academy, and there are six Kootenay International Junior (B) Hockey League in the Blazers' catchment area.
"The biggest problem is we lose the high-end skill level players to the academies, we lost eight players that could potential play for this hockey team who went to OHA or POE, and that hurts us at the end of the day," said Blazers head coach Mark Chase.
"But we have a very good character group and we pride ourselves on that. It's not easy, losing as much as we do, but we try every day to instill confidence and pride in being a Thompson Blazer. We have an extremely hardworking team and we're very proud of them. Overall, we're getting better every day and those are the small successes we look at. As long as we're developing players, then our program is doing something right."
