Even in a higher division, the Coast Inn of the North Cougars were the best of the bunch.
The Cougars, a midget Tier 1 rep team from the Prince George Minor Hockey Association, skated to a championship at the Richmond International Bantam Midget Hockey Tournament during the Christmas break. And the Cats were golden despite the fact they were playing in the major midget category.
In the final, held on Dec. 31, the Cougars beat Okanagan Hockey Academy 3-0. Overall, they went 5-2 in the six-team division.
"The amount of effort and togetherness we had down there was incredible," said head coach Ryan Howse. "Words can't describe how proud I am of these young men and what they've accomplished so far this year, let alone at Christmas time there."
The 15- to 17-year-old Cougars have been among the top midget Tier 1 teams in Western Canada this season. The Cats have now won five tournaments in a row but the latest victory held extra significance because the club was facing major-midget competition for the first time.
"As a group, ourselves, we knew that we could compete there," Howse said. "That was the biggest message for me to send to them: 'believe in yourself and you can accomplish some special things.' For us, it seemed like we were the underdog for the first time all year so we kind of embraced that role.
"We definitely rose to the occasion, accepted the challenge, and the boys really stuck together as a group," Howse added. "They helped each other when needed, really got excited and had the energy going. We did what we wanted to do - we wanted to win that thing and we didn't expect anything less."
In the final, the Cougars scored all three of their goals in the third period. Braeden Young, Kyle Boshier and Brandon Sande were the marksmen, and Marcus Allen was flawless in the Coast Inn nets.
"He was tremendous," Howse said of Allen. "He was good throughout the whole tournament and then he really turned it on in the final. (Cougars goaltender) Jake Sweet was tremendous too. In the semifinal (a 2-1 win against Coeur d'Alene Hockey Academy) he was easily the best player, and Marcus was one of the best players in the final for us so either goalie could have played. On top of that, how we played defence, how guys sacrificed to block shots, it was something we haven't seen all year. The compete level showed there."
The Cougars, naturally, opened some eyes about just how good they are as a team.
"I think a lot of people were surprised, especially the academy teams not knowing how we are and how we play because it was our first time playing against them," Howse said.
The Cougars started the tournament with a 3-2 loss to Yale Hockey Academy, a game in which they carried much of the play but ran into a hot goalie. Next, the Cats thumped the Anaheim Jr. Ducks 18AA squad 7-0 and dumped the Pacific Coast Hockey Academy 4-0. Then came a 5-3 win against Coeur d'Alene and, to close out round-robin play, a 4-0 loss to OHA.
After the semifinal decision against Coeur d'Alene, the Cougars made some adjustments against OHA and were rewarded with gold.
"The biggest thing that first game against OHA, we competed but in the second period we ran into some penalty problems and they capitalized," Howse said. "They're a skilled team. They're by far the best team we've played and best competition we've had all year. Going into that final game, after playing them in the previous game, we knew we could compete with them. We knew if we stuck together as a group that we could win and that's what we ultimately did. We cleaned up our penalties, we learned from our mistakes and we were successful."
Offensively, the Cougars were led by forward James Gordon. In the seven games, he had three goals and 10 points, which tied him for fourth place in tournament scoring.
Other members of the Cougars - who have an equal mix of 15-, 16- and 17-year-olds - are Jaymes Pattie, Jarin Sutton, Carl Ewert, Devin Sutton, Brennan Malgunas, Craig MacDonald, Rob Raju, Dylan Krahn, Tyson Ghostkeeper, Brevin Gervais, Garrett Hilton, Mateo Albinati, Darian Long and Logan Morris.
The Cougars, according to Howse, now have a 36-4-3 record this season. They'll be in for another great test next week when they head to Phoenix for another high-calibre tournament.
"It's all American teams so we're going in there blind, not knowing much," Howse said. "It's our last tournament of the year before provincials so we're going to try to make it six in a row."
The midget Tier 1 provincial championship tournament will be held March 13-17 in the Comox Valley.
