Mathew Ens had no shortage of motivation to turn himself a human wall in front of the net for the Prince George LJ Contracting Cougars.
Playing in front of his home fans Thursday in the midget Tier 2 provincial championship bronze-medal game at Kin 1, the 16-year-old goalie desperately wanted to beat the Cougars' archrivals, the Williams Lake Timberwolves, and bring home a medal.
It was his way of rewarding his teammates for a successful season. Ens was also thinking about Cougars head coach, Wes Scott. Winning a provincial medal on home ice would be the ultimate send-off for Scott in his last game behind the bench after more than four decades of coaching minor hockey in Prince George.
As it turned out, Ens and the Cougars got what they came for, a 5-3 win over the T-wolves to end their season on a high.
"Nothing really lives up to a gold medal but I'm happy with bronze," said Ens who stopped 34 of 37 shots. "We had a rough morning (in a 7-2 semifinal loss to Aldergrove) and all the boys were emotional and it kind of sucked but I'm happy we pulled through as a team and came out here and got the win.
"I didn't think I had the greatest game but I'm happy with the saves I made. We wanted to do it for all the third-year players, we knew it was their last week and it was also our head coach's last week so we really wanted to do it for him. He's a great coach, but an even better guy."
The Vernon Vipers and Aldergrove met later Thursday in the championship game at Kin 1, which was still in progress at press time. The Vipers beat Williams Lake 3-1 in the other semifinal.
Cougars centre Dean Whitcomb provided the offensive spark for his team with two goals in the bronze-medal game. Leading 2-1 after one period, Whitcomb's first goal gave the Cougars some breathing room in the second stanza when he drove to the net and beat Timberwolves goalie Hayden Lyons with a low shot.
"We knew we were going to win - we beat them in the (zone) playoff finals 8-1 but they worked their butts off this time," said Whitcomb, who averaged two points per game in the tournament. "But we had a solid 'tender. Mathew has been on point all year, he's just amazing.
"We always work hard and there's never any fighting in the dressing room with this team. I'm very happy and very proud. It was great having a crowd every night, we just enjoyed the cheers."
A minute into the third period, with the Cougars killing a penalty, Whitcomb dealt out a dagger to the T-wolves. He took a pass off the sideboards a step ahead of defenceman Braeden Boyd and scored shorthanded. Eight minutes into the period, Corbin Normand went to the net and was set up perfectly for a tap-in from Cougar captain Matthias Urbanski to put Prince George ahead 5-1.
But the T-wolves did not quit. Brett Hare made the game a lot more interesting in the late stages when he potted a pair of power-play goals three minutes apart to make it a 5-3 game with seven minutes left to play. They kept Ens busy but he was equal to the task, making 34 saves to preserve the victory.
Tanner Riplinger and Urbanski staked the Cougars to a 2-0 lead before the game was five minutes old. Spencer Neufeld netted the other Williams Lake goal.
"They never let up, even if you get a lead on them, they never let off the gas pedal and we had quite a series with Williams Lake," said Cougars coach Scott. "We came out on top most of the season but they were right there, the battles were tight with several tie games.
"Mathew has been a big part of the hockey club all year and as much as anything he's been consistent and really calm through all the tough times. We relied on Dean in so many different areas and he seems to snipe that big goal which gives us a lift."
Lyons was also solid in net, making 30 saves against the Cougars. He didn't think his team brought its best effort when the medal was on the line.
"We pushed hard and really battled through our spots in the earlier games but we didn't really show up to play this game, we had a lot more potential," said Lyons. "I think we could have beaten them today but we didn't have our passes going and there wasn't a lot of forecheck for us. We started to come back in the third period but it was just a little late."
Scott, who turns 57 at the end of the month, began coaching in 1974 when he was 15, while still a midget triple-A player in Prince George. One of the teams at the time didn't have a coach and he volunteered and his career behind the bench was born that day. He coached in the '70s, '80s, '90s, '00s and took one year off but has coached every year since 2000.
"It's just time to let other people do it, I think as much as anything (he wants more) family time," said Scott. "I've met a lot of great people and hockey has been just fabulous. I've got quite a few (provincial medals) but it's never about me, it's about the kids. A lot of people gave up their time to coach me and the more you give the more you get, and I've got a lot back."
In Coquitlam, at the six-team bantam Tier 1 provincial championship, the Farr Fabricating Cougars finished third in the province with a 2-3 record. The Cats lost their final game 5-2 Wednesday to the Burnaby Winter Club Bruins.
Burnaby shut out North Shore 3-0 in the championship game.
The Cougars opened Sunday with a 6-2 win over Kamloops and beat Coquitlam 8-3 later that day. On Monday they took on the North Shore Winter Hawks and lost 3-1, then fell 12-8 Tuesday to Nanaimo.
At the Tier 1 peewee provincials in Abbotsford, the Viking Construction Cougars lost 5-4 to Abbotsford Wednesday to finish the six-team tournament 0-5. Burnaby defeated Kamloops 4-2 in Wednesday's final.
