It's the small victories that count for the Prince George bantam tier 2 Cougars this season.
The Cougars had their best finish of the season last weekend in a hockey tournament in Williams Lake where they were able to post their first season wins over a couple of nemesis before falling 6-0 in the final to the host Timberwolves.
Prince George finished the round robin first in their pool with a 2-0-1 record.
In the gold-medal game fatigue caught up with the Cougars as it was their fourth game in a 24-hour period. The T-wolves showed no mercy in a ferocious attack of body-checking to start the game. Prince George only had 12 skaters for the final, including two players added to the recent lineup, Landon Kitchen and Dylan Lukinchuk, after season-ending injures to Austin Heidt and Tanner Riplinger.
The Cougars opened the tournament with a 3-3 tie against Fort St. John. It was the first point the Cats earned against Fort St. John this season who had won all five previous encounters. In their second game, the Cougars received stellar goaltending from Rylan Anderson in a 6-0 victory over Terrace. Cougars captain Rob Raju had a hat trick in the Terrance game. It was the third meeting of the season between the tier 2 Cougars and Terrace but the first win for the Cats who lost the earlier games.
Prince George won their second game by a 6-4 margin over Abbotsford after Corbin Normand broke a 4-4 draw in the third period for the Cougars and Raju added the empty-net goal to seal the 6-4 win.
The best-of-three Cariboo League playoff begins this weekend in Williams Lake with the Cougars and T-wolves facing off Friday night and Saturday afternoon. If necessary Game 3 would be played the following weekend in Prince George. The series winner advances to the B.C. Hockey Tier 2 provincial tournament in Kelowna.
