Cariboo Cougars Top Major Midget League

By Kelly Sharp

 Cariboo Cougars celebrate 3-2 major midget victory over Vancouver Northeast        

The celebration spoke volumes about the importance of the Prince George based Cariboo Cougars final regular season game in the BC Hockey Major Midget Hockey League. The Cariboo midgets skated onto Kin one ice realizing a victory over the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs would secure first place and more importantly, a first round - bye plus home ice throughout the BC Hockey Major Midget best-of-three playoff series.

Trailing 2-0 early in the third period, the Cougars scored three consecutive goals, the winner from Nic Desousa for an emotional 3-2 triumph.

“It’s an awesome feeling,” said Desousa, a Fraser Lake minor hockey product.

“The kids didn’t give up,”said Cariboo Cougars assistant coach Dave Keough. “They never get down on themselves.”

 The Cougars, who entered the weekend in a three-way tie for first place, needed a pair of victories against the Chiefs and loss or tie by the Okanagan Rockets to earn their first-ever MMHL regular season title. On Saturday, the Cariboo Cougars handled Vancouver Northeast 7-1 while fourth-place Fraser Valley Bruins upset the Kelowna based Okanagan Rockets.

The Cariboo Cougars, under head coach Grant Williams, assistants Dave Keough and Brent Williams finished the BC Hockey Major Midget League regular season at 28-7-5.

“We really only lost 5 games on the ice,” noted Keough. The Cougars were stripped of 2 earlier victories because of a registration problem.

The goal at the beginning of the season was to build a fast, gritty and competitive team, mission accomplished. The next challenge for the Cariboo Cougars will begin the March 17^th weekend in Prince George.

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