聽 聽 聽 聽 聽The Novice Cougars (Chris) left the comfort of the 306 when they crossed the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border for a tournament in Virden the weekend of Jan 25 and 26, where they brought home a 4th place finish out of 14 teams.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The boys flew out of the gate with an 11-3 win over Elkhorn where they played great on both sides of the puck. Led by 鈥淒igger of the Game鈥澛爎ecipient. Griffin 鈥淐oast to Coast鈥� Eaton, who I鈥檓 sure was the top defensemen of the tournament both offensively and defensively.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 A shootout challenge followed for any teams in the tourney that wanted to partake, and the tournaments 鈥淭eam Saskatchewan鈥� Cougars elected to show off the skills of the Fab 4, and Tender 鈥淏rickwall鈥� Brown. 聽鈥淭op Cheese鈥�, 鈥淭he Flash鈥�, 鈥淗ands and Hair鈥�, and 鈥淐oast to Coast鈥� finished in 2nd.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Leading up to the evening game against a host Virden team Reed 鈥淭he Rifle鈥� Coffey was listed as questionable to play with an LBI (lower body injury) sustained in a freak hottubbing accident, but just in time for puck drop, he got the medical go ahead, so the complete line up stayed intact.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The boys played a great defensive game and scored on 10 of their many chances, When asked what the key to success was for this game 鈥淭op Cheese鈥� didn鈥檛 beat around the bush when he told me, 鈥淧assing鈥�. The team pulled some new tricks out of their bags when they treated every fan in the rink to a few perfectly executed One Timers, first 鈥淐oast to Coast鈥� Eaton slid one over to 鈥淭op Cheese鈥� Light , for a goal that was met with gasps and awe from the hockey crazed Virden fans, then minutes later like a carbon copy 鈥淭op Cheese鈥� put the puck on a tee for 鈥淗ands and Hair鈥� Puskas with the same result. Both these one timers were very Alex Ovechkin-esque. 聽Digger Award went to Reed 鈥淭he Rifle鈥� Coffey for his gritty play through the pain mentality.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Some downtime followed, so the boys ended day one in Virden celebrating 鈥淏rickwall鈥� Brown鈥檚 birthday with a team party full of dips, pizza, fried chicken, chips, cupcakes, and of course all the mini sticks they could handle. Mini stick Injuries to 鈥淐oast to Coast鈥� Eaton鈥檚 nose and 鈥淗ands and Hair鈥� Puskas forearm occurred, but didn鈥檛 affect their play in the slightest.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Day 2 is where the high-flying Cougars hit a little turbulence. The opening game of Sunday was a 14-5 loss to Russell. The boys played hard but happened to run into some great goaltending, and couldn鈥檛 quite get in sync, maybe the jet lag from the travel day prior or a tired bunch from the big birthday bash caught up with them, who knows. 聽Digger Award went to Nik 鈥淭he Brickwall鈥� Brown who played great despite the outcome.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The final game for the group representing Sask. was in the A-side consulation game where they would take on Grand Plains. 聽Shuffling the lines slightly for the game, saw 鈥淐rash the Crease鈥� Knelson defending the blue paint and 鈥淭he Brickwall鈥� get offensive for a second straight weekend. 鈥淭op Cheese鈥� played Lights out and secured himself the 鈥淒igger of the Game鈥� Award. The boys fell just short and lost 14-9 to end the tourney in 4th spot.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 A special thanks聽to Leanne 鈥淭he Waterboy鈥� VanDresser who was tossing out Gatorades like Oprah handing out her favourite things, 鈥淎ND YOU GET A GATORADE!, AND YOU GET A GATORADE!!!!, and also to the coaches Light, Eaton and Faber,聽who proved that their exquisite physiques aren鈥檛just for show, as they lifted players over the boards to and from the ice every 2 minutes for the duration of four games without even breaking a sweat.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 As it鈥檚 been said, 鈥淏efore you can really win, you must first learn how to lose.鈥� so the boys can take lessons learned from this 4th place finish, get in a week of practice, and then get back in tourney mode for Moosomin this upcoming weekend.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Good work boys, you鈥檝e made your province proud.
