With one game left, the Viking Construction Cougars are still seeking their first win at the B.C. Hockey peewee Tier 1 championship.
The Cougars, the host team for provincials, saw their record slip to 0-4 after a Tuesday loss to Kelowna. The Cats trailed 2-1 part way through the third period but then gave up an insurance marker and an empty-netter and stepped off Kin 1 ice on the wrong end of a 4-1 score.
"It was our game to win," said Cougars head coach Adrien Chabot. "We were so close so many times. It almost seemed like the boys were a little bit nervous or something -- clutching their sticks a little too tight.
"Defensively we were pretty good," added Chabot, whose team fell by scores of 10-1, 14-1 and 6-1 earlier in the tournament. "There were a few times we got stuck and couldn't get out of our own zone. [Kelowna] still had 34 shots and Rylan [Anderson] did pretty good in net for us. It just would have been nice to bury one or two more."
Mitchell Williams scored the lone goal for the Cougars. He knocked home the rebound of a James Gordon shot. The Cougars managed 15 shots on goal.
"We had a lot more but they blocked quite a few," Chabot said. "They do a good job at that -- not giving too many good chances."
The Cougars, the lowest seed in the six-team event, will face Nanaimo today at 12:30 p.m. Nanaimo has the same 0-4 record as Prince George.
"They're in the same boat as us so both teams are really going to be trying hard for that win," Chabot said. "It would be nice to end the year with a win. That's our goal."
The Burnaby Winter Club, with a 3-0-1 record, is on top of the standings. Two teams -- the North Shore Winter Club and Kelowna -- sit at 3-1, while Langley is 2-1-1. Burnaby and Langley tied 5-5 on Tuesday, with Burnaby getting the equalizer in the final minute.
The other two round-robin games today are Burnaby versus North Shore (7 a.m.) and Langley versus Kelowna (9:45 a.m.). The top two teams will meet in the championship final at 5:30 p.m.
