Twin brothers Tyler and Josh Maser have played hockey together most of their lives so it's no surprise the 16-year-olds from Houston are linemates in the B.C. Hockey Major Midget League.
It was a natural decision for the Cariboo Cougars coaching staff to keep the rookie wingers together and that combination helped the Cougars to a weekend sweep of the South Island Royals at Kin 1.
Tyler, the older of the twins by four minutes, scored three times in the second period Saturday to complete a natural hat trick playing on a line with Riley Coish at centre and brother Josh at left wing. Josh assisted on two of Tyler's goals and also set up Chris Jandric for the only goal of the first period in a 4-0 victory. The Cougars followed that with a 5-2 win on Sunday.
The Maser brothers were held off the scoresheet Sunday but were effective in other ways, using their big bodies and physical work habits to make life miserable for the Royals. They like to finish their checks and they come by their hockey talents and work ethic honestly. Their dad Brian played two seasons for the Vernon Vikings in the B.C. Junior (A) Hockey League in the mid-1970s.
"We worked on getting into the gritty areas of the ice and that's basically what we did throughout both games this weekend," said Tyler, who stands six-foot-two out of his skates and weighs 200 pounds. "Everyone was doing their part as a player on the team, the lines were rolling and the goalies played good. Obviously it's nice playing with my brother, we have that chemistry out there. Two of my goals were direct passes from him. Usually I'm the passer and he buries it."
Tyler now has five goals and nine points in 12 games, while Josh has four goals and seven points in six games.
The Cougars have been scouting the Masers since they were playing as peewees. Both played at the Okanagan Hockey Academy based in Penticton last season. Josh was with the midget prep team while Tyler was on the OHA elite 15 team.
"I think we have a pretty good connection out there, we know where each other is," said the six-foot-three, 210-pound Josh. "He was in the right places at the right times (Saturday) night, working hard, and it paid off for him.
"We wanted to set the tone right off the start, play the body and a physical game and we outshot them and outplayed them in every zone."
Chase Dubois scored a pair of goals Sunday and Darian Long, Trey Thomas and Coish fired singles. Sean Strange, on a 5-on-3 power play, and Jordan Guiney, with the Royals skating with a 4-on-3 advantage, scored on Cougars goalie Aaron Jakubowski.
Shots were 41-10 in the Cougars' favour Sunday and they outshot the Royals 48-16 on Saturday. Dorrin Luding pitched the shutout Saturday.
"I don't think that's a bad team over there, I think they don't match up well with us when we play that way," said Cougars first-year assistant coach Tyler Brough. "That's probably the most solid weekend we've had and the style we need to play. We want to put the fear around the league that if you come to our house you're going to get hurt and you're going to have to play a tough game to beat us. If we play a heavy game like that, we'll be fine."
The Royals swept the highly-ranked Okanagan Rockets in Victoria two weekends ago but got taken by surprise by the bigger, more aggressive Cougars.
"It's our first road trip and early on in the first game they were really physical with us and that kind of set the tone for the weekend," said Royals head coach Trent Brand. "They have a good power play and they just outworked us. We're young, we're inexperienced and they were a bit scared, hearing the footsteps. It's a good eye-opener for our team, we haven't faced competition like that this season."
The two wins left the Cougars (6-4-2) in fifth place, four points ahead the Royals (4-4-2) who have played two fewer games. The Cougars will be in Cranbrook this weekend to take on the Kootenay Ice in a two-game set.
LOOSE PUCKS - The Cougars wore eye-catching pink-on-white jerseys with pink-striped black pant shells and pink skate laces - the result of a $5,000 sponsorship from The Taba Group of Fort St. James. The Paint the Rink Pink fundraiser Saturday collected $2,300 for breast cancer awareness and research... Former Cougar goalie Griffen Outhouse made 24 saves Saturday for the Victoria Royals in a 3-0 win in Spokane. It was the first WHL start for the 17-year-old goalie from Williams Lake.
