The PeeWee Tier 1 Cougars are heading into their home tournament with the right momentum.
The city's top PeeWee team (age 11-12) came home from a pre-Christmas tournament with a gold medal around their necks and they're winding up for another when they host some top teams in Prince George next week.
The most recent success was at the Cloverdale PeeWee Colts Christmas Tournament where the locals went undefeated in the round robin segment, then faced the host Cloverdale team in the finals.
Prince George faced the Burnaby Winter Club's A2 team in the first game of the event, squeaking out a 3-2 victory.
Team spokes-parent Marco Myatovic recounted that "we were up 2-1, they tied it and were really pressing us, but then we scored the winner with less than one minute to go. The bench went crazy. Nathan Mackie scored it. It was really exciting."
Next up was the Cloverdale team and Prince George's lines were all firing as they cruised to a 6-2 win.
They stumbled a bit in the third game, but still took a point out of the matchup with North Vancouver.
"We had a big lead, but we got into penalty trouble, we gave them a 5-on-3 and they scored twice, and then they got the tying goal late, so it was exciting for them to finish with a tie, they were pretty excited.
"We came away knowing we had it but gave it back, and there's positive lessons in that, too," said Myatovic.
They got back on the winning track in the final round robin game, nipping North Delta by a final of 3-1.
That set up the finals - a grudge match against Cloverdale. The host team had put up some strong numbers throughout the tournament, the loss to the Cougars their only misstep. But Prince George head coach Don Gaboury dolled out an effective dose of preparation psychology because once again his players potted six goals and only gave up three in return.
The tournament's top scorers all came from the Lower Mainland, yet Prince George still handled each team they faced. The top point-getter for the Cougars was Brenden Gaboury with two goals and four assists, half the totals as the first place player at the event, but then three P.G. players had five points, two more had four, and both goaltenders - Carson Briere and Tysen Smith - maintained a Goals Against Average less than 3.0.
One of them, Smith, was named to the tournament's all-star team, as was forward Nico Myatovic.
They joined defenders Matthew Gallant of Cloverdale and John Babcock of North Vancouver and forwards Caleb Reimer of Cloverdale and Niall Crocker of North Delta.
The rest of the Cats roster included Daunte Auxi, Scott Cousins, Terrell Goldsmith, Zach Leslie, Linden Makow, Brady McIsaac, Matyas Mocilac, Decker Mujcin, Brooke Norkus, Tye Peters, Amar Powar, Dawson Davis (short-term injured) and Leighton Pillipow (called up from the Tier 2 team as a capable fill-in).
"There were a lot of different kids involved in generating our points. It proved that we don't rely on one or two players, we pass the puck a lot and get wins as a team," said Myatovic, praising the balanced system Gaboury uses among the lines.
It has been systematically working for the PeeWee Tier 1 Cougars. This is their fourth tournament of the hockey season, in addition to their league play.
Their first event was Oct. 7-9 in Calgary for 35th annual Crowchild Challenge where the local players got the bronze medal. Then in Kamloops on the Thanksgiving weekend they finished out of the medals but bounced back in a big way Nov. 11-13 in Kelowna where they earned the silver by losing the gold medal game to the famously powerful North Shore Winter Club's top Peewee team. Now they have gold to add to their collection.
It moves them confidently towards their home tournament coming up Jan. 6-8. Fans are encouraged to come cheer on these players and show the visiting teams northern hospitality.
"A lot of moms and dads can't get away to see the kids play for the out of town games, so it's pretty special to have a home tournament where everyone can come and cheer the kids on, and all the grandparents and aunts and uncles and family friends can watch as well and be part of that," said Myatovic.
"It means a lot to a kid to have supporters in the stands and it means a lot to the families to be able to enjoy some games and make those memories."
The team is building ultimately towards the Tier 1 Provincial Championship scheduled for March 19-23 in Nanaimo.
