The Pee Wee Cougars finished off league play with two games against Lampman and one against Redvers. The first Lampman game was a physical one. Both sides came out hitting hard, despite the fact that it was the day of loveValentine's Day. Jake Macleod got a hat trick with assists from Tommy Cappo, Austin Dovell, and Mac Niven. Niven didn't just get an assist in this game though. He once again demonstrated that you can hit him, but he keeps coming at you. Lampman's size didn't intimidate the Cougar speedster who worked hard in the corners and showed toughness in the face-off circle. In the end, the score was tied 3 to 3. Five days later, these two teams met again. The extreme weather changes of that week seemed to result in some shifting of the rink's ice surface. In all 3 periods, these ice surface shifts seemed to tilt the ice toward the Carlyle end. As a result, despite goals by Dalton Loustel and Jake Macleod, the Cougars lost 6 to 2. The Cougars finished the regular season with a game against Redvers that didn't go the Cougars' way.
With the regular season completed, the Carlyle Pee Wees found themselves in playoffs against the Oxbow Huskies. This round would determine the League Consolation Side Winner. The first game was at home. Jacob Chalus had an opportunity to shine on defence in this game and showed he can poke check with the best of them. His ability to transition from skating forward to backward caught the Oxbow forwards off guard and resulted in Chalus stealing many pucks from the opposition. Kirk Zacharias played well, preventing Oxbow attacks in the Carlyle end and holding in the puck at the Oxbow end. Zacharias's speed continues to frustrate opposition would-be checkers who find themselves merely checking the boards where Kirk used to be. The first period belonged to the goalies. Despite numerous chances by both sides, the score remained 0 to 0 at the end of the first period. But you can't keep Jake Macleod off the scoreboard for long. Macleod, as always, played this playoff game with passion. His desire to make a play was obvious whether he was taking in the puck himself, making a perfect pass to a teammate in front of the net, or checking Oxbow players in our end. In this game, he scored once in the second and once in the third after catching a breakaway pass from Chalus. This game saw Dalton Loustel playing forward, and doing a great job moving the puck. He showed some quick hands and feet in the opposition end and demonstrated how effective he can be at both ends of the ice. He also blocked two powerful Oxbow slapshots to help out Wilson in net. Riley McCrimmon continues to play physical hockey. He may end up in the box occasionally, but it's his hard-nosed style which the Cougars have come to rely on to help thwart opposition attacks. In this game, he always seemed to be in the right spot to pick up teammate passes and help move the puck down the ice. Ashton Magotiaux played great defence against Oxbow and had some impressive rushes on their net. At times it looked like she was doing a pylon drill as she zigged and zagged her way through 4 to 5 Husky players to get a shot. Her linemate, Clayton Hill, also moved the puck well. Hill's play in short-handed and powerplay opportunities stood out in this game. When short-handed, he has the strength to easily ice the puck and during powerplays he is the player who is setting up scoring opportunities from the point. In the last few games, Jory Dyck has been on fire. He never quits on a play and in this game he had numerous scoring chances and demonstrated that he is also a checking menace. In one loud mid-ice collision, the other player was left on the ice while Jory continued on with the puck. Sam Matthewson played with determination in this playoff game. Matthewson is always a scoring threat and is a hard player to move off the puck, but in recent games, Mattewson has demonstrated that he can play defence too. His slapshot from the point and ability to stand up opposition forwards make him a dominant presence playing D. Tommy Cappo showed off his speed in this game. On numerous occasions his backchecking resulted in Oxbow coughing up the puck allowing Cappo to move the game back to the Oxbow end. He also made some beautiful passes in this game to help Carlyle get scoring chances. Austin Dovell had a great game against Oxbow. In this game, he was in the right position to collect passes and get 2 partial breakaway opportunities. Though these did not result in goals, Lostell did find the back of the Oxbow net in the third period when he scored after a pass from Loustel via Jett BigEagle. This assist wasn't the only contribution from BigEagle. His size is an intimidation factor and combined with his hustle to get to the puck, has oppositions dumping the puck when they see Jett bearing down on them. In this game, Jett showed speed and stick handling to move the puck through the Huskies from one end of the rink to the other. During this game, Kruz Wilson made some great saves including a quick glove save to stop a breakaway goal. Wilson was also able to glove numerous shots fired by an Oxbow player who has a blistering slapshot for a 12 year old. His shots are fastbut Kruz is faster.
So, the Cougars came away with the first win in their league playoff series against Oxbow. The final score was Carlyle 3, Oxbow 1. Great job Pee Wee Cougar players and coaches!
