In a crucial battle for second place, the Cariboo Cougars came out victorious.
In a crucial battle for second place, the Cariboo Cougars came out victorious.
The Cougars swept the Okanagan Rockets in a B.C. Major Midget League hockey doubleheader at CN Centre on the weekend. The Cariboo squad defeated the Rockets 5-3 on Saturday and 8-4 on Sunday.
In Sunday’s contest, Logan Styler led the Cougars offensively with five points (two goals and three assists). Liam Blackburn, with three goals and an assist, recorded his second hat trick in the last three games. Braiden Epp, Eli Jarvis and Stephen Penner also collected goals for the home team.
Nathan Warren, with a 50-save performance, recorded the victory in the Cariboo net. His 17th win of the season improved their record to 26 wins, seven losses and one tie (26-7-1).
Blackburn’s first goal on Sunday, 35 seconds into the game, set a new team record for individual scoring in a season. The tally marked his 64th point, surpassing the previous regular-season points record of 63 set by Brett Bulmer in the 2008-09 campaign.
Now with 67 points (26 goals and 41 assists), Blackburn sits second in 2012-13 league scoring, behind only the Vancouver North West Giants’ Matthew Barzal. But it’s unlikely Blackburn will catch the league leader. With 28 goals and 67 assists, Barzal has a 28-point lead on Blackburn.
The Cougars, undefeated in their last eight games, have sole possession of second in the 11-team BCMML. They’re eight points behind the league-leading Vancouver North West Giants (29-2-3) and six ahead of the third-place Rockets (21-6-5). Although the Rockets have two games in hand, the weekend sweep means the Cougars control their own destiny in the race for second place.
Playoffs are just around the corner, with only six games remaining on the Cougars’ regular-season schedule. They’ll travel to Kamloops to play the Thompson Blazers in a doubleheader on Saturday and Sunday before returning home for their second half bye weekend. After hosting the South Island Royals in a CN Centre doubleheader on Feb. 23 and 24, the Cougars will conclude their regular season on the road, visiting the Vancouver North East Chiefs on March 2 and 3 in Coquitlam.
With a playoff spot already secured, the Cougars will begin their postseason with the best-of-three quarterfinal round on the March 8 to 10 weekend. With the league expanding from six to eight playoff teams for the 2012-13 season, there will be no automatic berths to the semifinals.
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