The Premium Truck & Trailer Cougars cranked their offence into high gear and nobody could catch them.
The Cougars, a peewee Tier 2 rep team from the Prince George Minor Hockey Association, skated to their first tournament title of the season last weekend in Sexsmith, Alta. In four games, they outscored their opponents 42-6.
"The offence was going well," said Cougars head coach Alex Patterson.
"We've got some very good puck-moving defencemen that can get it up to the offensive kids. It was pretty evident this weekend and the kids continue to buy into the systems that we're putting in place."
In the tournament final, the Cats got a five-point performance from forward Joshua Sales and beat the Grande Prairie Knights 9-4. Sales finished the game with three goals and two assists.
"He's a high-energy player," Patterson said of the 11-year-old Sales. "He leads by example. On the ice, he's by far our fastest skater and probably our hardest-working overall player."
The Cougars also opened the tournament against the Knights and won that game 8-1. After that, they beat Peace River 11-0 and downed Sexsmith 14-1.
In the four games, Sales struck for 10 goals and six assists. Teammate Parker White - with four goals and six helpers - also had a big weekend.
"Parker is one of our smaller players but he's a very hardworking, tenacious hockey player," Patterson said. "He drives hard to the net and has a very good set of hands on him."
Other key shooters for the Cougars included Leighton Pillipow (hat trick in the first game against Grande Prairie), Dylan Illett (four goals against Sexsmith) and Caleb Poitras (three goals against Sexsmith).
Not surprisingly, Cougars goaltenders Jasper Tait and Noah Maki weren't terribly busy but both did their jobs well.
"When we needed the timely saves they were there, for sure," Patterson said.
One of the defencemen in front of Tait and Maki is female player Jayden Kraska. The Cougars also have forward Brooklynn Hutchins in uniform. Both girls are second-year peewees and have been important parts of the lineup this season.
"They're both tremendous young ladies - very hardworking and certainly worked their way onto the team and beat out some pretty competitive male hockey players," Patterson said. "It's been a real treat for me and the other coaches to coach a co-ed team.
"They (Kraska and Hutchins) are very well-respected by the boys on and off the ice."
On the bench, Patterson is assisted by fellow coaches Duane Maki and Bobby Hutchins, while Ross Lennox is the team manager.
Next up, the Cougars will host the Williams Lake Timberwolves in a pair of league games on Sunday. Patterson predicts good things for his team as the season moves along.
"More than anything, it's (the players') attitude around hockey," he said. "They have a great attitude, they're fun to be around and they really enjoy the game of hockey."
