The 樱桃视频Cougars won their first game last Friday (Oct. 6) with a 3-1 victory over the New Westminster Whalers.
Nick Johnston of Garibaldi Highlands opened the scoring for 樱桃视频mid way through the first period, and Alex Wilkes scored before the Whalers made it a one-goal game after 20 minutes. Jeremy Ennis added some insurance in the second frame and that's all the Cats needed as 樱桃视频goalie Graham Hallenback closed the door on the Whalers. New Westminster turned up the heat in the third, out-shooting 樱桃视频12-6. Overall, the Cougars edged the Whalers in shots on goal 28-26.
"It was definitely nice to get our first win under our belt, especially in front of our home crowd," head coach Matt Samson said. "I expect more of that; if we play more like that there is no reason why we can't win the majority of our games".
But Hallenback and the Cougars didn't fair as well in their second road game of the season, on Saturday (Oct. 7) in Bellingham. 樱桃视频got off to a good start, taking a 2-nothing lead, and later led the game 3-1. Bellingham then scored seven unanswered goals to win the game 8-3. Hallenback was pulled three minutes into the last period. Back-up Taylor Scott played well, surrendering only one goal in the final 17 minutes.
Samson doesn't blame his starting goalie for the loss. "I'm sure he'd like to have a couple back. Their second, third and fourth goals were all pretty much giveaways and they were all point blank in the slot chances, so we really didn't give him any chance on those."
And the coach wants more offence from his team.
"Scoring three goals a game is not going to cut it, we need to start putting in five, six goals and burying our chances. We are working on it in practice and I think its going to come because we have some talented guys that don't have any points right now and I think its some bad puck luck," he said.
The Cougars are still trying to sign local talent Russ LaForest, who made his Cougar debut verses New West with two assists. LaForest, who has experience in the Ontario Hockey League, is still weighing some Junior A options. He did not travel with the team on their road game to Bellingham. The Cougars have signed a new player from Colorado who will likely suit up tonight (Friday, Oct. 13). Bruce Zimmerman is expected to be one of the team's top four defensemen. He'll be wearing jersey 6.
Samson is expecting a much better effort when his team faces Bellingham again tonight in the second half of the home and home.
"We are not going to let down for five minutes, not going to let down for two minutes. I think it's going to be the same situation [as last week]. We went into New West, we kind of got embarrassed by losing 6-1 and we came back and played a really nice game at home. We know we can compete with Bellingham, I think we are a better team," he said.
The Bellingham Bulls are made up entirely of Americans, with 10 players coming from the Bellingham Minor Hockey system. Skaters to keep an eye on tonight at Brennan Park are Bellingham forwards Alex Valenti (97); Trent Hansen (17) and Chase Haubursin (7). Valenti has eight goals and five assists in only six games this season, while Hansen and Haubursin each have three goals and four assists to start the year.
Top scorers for the 樱桃视频Cougars are forwards Troy McLean (8) with one goal and five helpers, Jeff Brown (14) and Bobby Leetch (9) both have three goals and two assists on the year.
Tonight's game starts at 7:30 p.m. The Cougars then take to the road this weekend for an afternoon tilt with New Westminster. Tickets for all home games can be purchased at Brennan Park, as can season tickets. Call 604-898-3604 for more information.
