Against their toughest opponent so far, the Viking Construction Cougars played their best game.
Monday night at the Kin Centre, the Cougars battled the Burnaby Winter Club and lost 6-1. The result dropped the Cats to 0-3 at the B.C. Hockey peewee Tier 1 championship.
But, given the fact Burnaby could stack up well against any peewee team in Canada, Cougars coach Adrien Chabot was impressed by how well his players handled the challenge that was placed in front of them.
"We played quite a bit better defensively," said Chabot, whose 11- and 12-year-old Cougars started provincials with Sunday losses to Langley (10-1) and the North Shore Winter Club (14-1). "Rylan Anderson played goal for us and he did a good job. I think we had 47 shots [against us]."
Chabot considers Burnaby the class of the six-team provincial field.
"They just have so much depth," he said. "Nobody really stands out because they're all so good. They move the puck so much better and, positionally, they're very sound."
Burnaby looked like it was on its way to shutting out Prince George but, with 38 seconds left to play, Viking defenceman Jeremy Gervais got his club on the board. The scoring play started when Korbyn Chabot fired a shot from a bad angle and Gervais pinched down low, in anticipation of a rebound. It came to him, and he cashed it in.
Burnaby bumped its record to 3-0 and will skate against Langley at 10:15 a.m. today. The Cougars will try to step into the win column when they take on Kelowna. That game will start at 5:30 p.m.
"We've been real close with Kelowna a few times this year," coach Chabot said. "We've been up on them in some games and we've tied them once so we have a much better chance for a win, and then even better probably against Nanaimo on Wednesday."
Viking's game against Nanaimo will start at 12:30 p.m.
Wednesday is the final day of the tournament. The top two teams from round robin will play in the championship game, scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
