Friday, the 13th was a busy night at the Carlyle Sports Arena. The Cougars were hosting the Kipling/Windthorst Oil Kings, collecting donations for the Carlyle and District Food Bank, as well as having a Teddy Bear toss! It was a great crowd once again at the arena and the lucky winner of the 50/50, took home $388.
        It was a win for the Cougars, as they scored three goals in each period, while the Oil Kings scored their two goals in the game with under 5 minutes left in the 3rd period. McGonigal, scored a goal in each period and had 2 assists. Turgeon netted 2 and also had 2 assists. Johnstone had a 3 point night with 2 goals and 1 assist. Tyler Matthewson scored 1 and also got a helper. Greenwood scored in the 2nd for the Cougars and the other players getting credited for assists were: J. Matthewson, Struthers, Brown, Liboirion, S. Matthewson, Geiger with 3 and Currie with 1.
        Special thank you to everyone who came to the game, donated food items and threw stuffed animals out after the first period. Both worthy causes that we will continue to support.
        A special thank you to: Brityn Baker, Jaiden Riddell, Makenna Slykhuis and Logan Procyk, who went on the ice to collect all of the stuffies.
        On Dec. 15 the Cougars headed to Redvers to take on the Rockets in a hard fought battle. It was a physical match and both goalies stood on their heads, as they were pelted with shots. I wish they had kept track of the shots, as they would have been close and a lot. The Miller connection opened the scoring for the Rockets and it was 1-0 at the end of the first. Johnstone was awarded a penalty shot and their goalie got his foot out just at the right time to make the save, unfortunately for the Blue and White.
        The ref’s hand was up and the Cougars were going to get a penalty, when they passed a puck that slowly slid right into their net. We’re on the board just one minute into the second. Not pretty, but we’ll take it and Turgeon gets the credit. Redvers scored 3 this period, taking advantage of a powerplay or two and then Struthers decided to take advantage of a Cougar powerplay and sniped one in to end the second at 4-2.
        Onto the third and Struthers strikes first, scoring in just the first 2½ minutes. It was back and forth play with Redvers scoring with just under 28 seconds left on their powerplay. Rose made it a 5-4 game with 7 minutes left. Redvers gained a two-goal lead again with just under 6 minutes left. McGonigal scored with only 2 minutes left and crowd is on edge. The players are working their butts off and then the Cougars pull their goalie. So many chances, but the puck doesn’t find the back of the net. It was hard-fought battle with Redvers getting the two points with a score of 6-5.
        Games left in 2019: Friday, the 20th in Kipling, Saturday, the 21st in Yellow Grass and Monday, the 23rd in Wawota.
        When we get into 2020, The Pharmasave Chance To Win $25,000 will be back. The dates to get your number pulled will be at the games on the: 3rd, 5th and 17th, with everyone coming back the chance on the 31st.
        Merry Christmas and all the best In 2020! See you at the rink!
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