Trey Thomas knows how to feels to go from almost being the goat to emerging as the playoff hero.
After giving his team some unnecessary grief in a 1-1 semifinal elimination game when he took a penalty with only about a minute left in regulation time, the 16-year-old Cariboo Cougars forward made up for his mistake.
He ended the Vancouver Northwest Giants’ B.C. Hockey Major Midget League season when he scored 6:33 into double-overtime to give the Cougars a 2-1 win Sunday afternoon at Kin 1.
Thomas’s linemate Mason Richey stripped the puck behind the goal line from Giants defenceman Will Warm and fed a pass right to the tape of Thomas’s stick, whose low one-timer ripped into the net under the glove of goalie Beck Warm.
That clinched the best-of-three series 2-1.
“It’s a great feeling -- we had a pretty solid game and the first overtime was good and to able to get that one nice and early was nice,” said Thomas. “(Daine DuBois) chipped it off the glass and they waived it off for icing and Richey got in there and the d-man thought he was going go behind the net and he put it out to me in front.”
After two close-call post-clangers, one by Tyler Maser in the first period and the other by his twin brother Josh, one minute into the second, the Cougars finally made one of their shots count. The Cougars won a face-off in the Giants’ end and Darian Long got the puck on goal. The rebound kicked out to Devin Sutton and his low shot opened the scoring, 2:59 into the second period.
Neither side yielded many great cracks at the net and it remained a 1-0 Cougars’ lead until the late stages of the third period. Giants captain Carter Stephenson tied it with 5:03 left in regulation time. Carter’s point shot was blocked by Reid Perepeluk but Stephenson held the puck in at the line, went wide on Thomas and lifted a wrist shot into the top corner behind Dorrin Luding.
“It was tough getting pucks through, they’re a real good team and I thought we did all we could,” said Stephenson. “Our bodies are really banged up and it took a toll this weekend. It’s just a tough loss.”
The Cougars had the best chance of the first 10-minute OT session 15 seconds before the buzzer when Josh Maser nailed his second goalpost of the game.
“We’ve had some good battles with them and to get to the finals is awesome,” said Cougars captain Riley Coish. “It was back and forth all game and they got that goal to force OT but we stuck with it and got the ‘W.’ We had a few unlucky bounces and posts but we just had to stick with it.”
The Cougars finished with a slight edge in shots – 36-34.
Luding got plenty of help from his defencemen – Joel Patsey, Jesse Pomeroy, Logan Archer, Jonas Harkins, Jeremy Gervais and Chris Jandric – who rarely made mistakes the entire series and had great success moving the puck quickly our of their zone.
“They cover my butt so much,” said Luding.
“We wanted it more. I think we have the biggest hearts in the whole league. We just came out flying and their guys got tired. With such fresh legs we could press so much more and tire those guys out even more.”
One of the keys for the Cougars was the job they did neutralizing the Giants’ top line of Justin Wilson, Mitch Williams and Josh Latta – all top-10 pointgetters in the league this season.
The Cougars used four forward lines most of the game and that had an effect on a Giants team that leaned heavily on its top-six forwards. Ultimately, the Cougars’ depth and scoring balance trumped the Giants edge in experience in the series.
“For us to be able to play the bench we did right up till overtime gave us a little more jam,” said Cougars head coach Trevor Sprague. “Us finishing our checks, especially seeing that last turnover, they were scared to get hit and we pressured that (way the whole time.
“It was good for Thomas (to net the winning goal), he got two penalties that were a little undisciplined and he felt like he needed to get one for the boys and he did.”
The Cougars lost the opener Friday 3-2 and won Saturday’s game 3-1.
“It doesn’t get much tighter than that, that has to be one of the best series I’ve been part of my coaching career,” said Giants head coach Clint Thornton. “We’re two very different teams; we’re a faster skilled team and they’re a bigger stronger team and they were able to wear us down.
“Unfortunately it was just an unlucky bounce by one of our defenceman, but you can’t blame Will, he was a warrior. His legs were cramping up the entire period there and he could barely skate so just for him to be on the ice I give him all the credit in the world.”
The Cougars advance to the league final series, starting Friday in the Lower Mainland against the Valley Hawks. The Hawks defeated the Okanagan Rockets 6-4 Sunday afternoon on South Surrey to wrap up the other semifinal series two games to one. The Hawks won Game 2 Friday 6-2 and lost 2-1 to the Rockets on Saturday.
