Team depth key to Cougars perfect start

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This article was published 06/10/2021 (1641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Despite having a young roster, the Southwest Cougars are a perfect four-for-four in Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League play.

Heading into a home-and-home series with the Yellowhead Chiefs this weekend, the Cougars are tied for the top spot in the league table with the 4-0 Brandon Wheat Kings and the 4-1 Eastman Selects.

“If you look at our roster coming into this year, there wasn’t a guy on our team that had more than eight games of experience in the U18 league,” Cougars head coach Troy Leslie said.

“We’ve been impressed with how quickly they’ve been getting better and how coachable this group is. We’re seeing improvements every week and we’re pleased with our start. There’s still a long way to go of course and there’s a lot of challenged to come, but we’re happy with our start.”

The Cougars opened up the season with 4-0 and 2-1 triumphs on Sept. 25 and 26 in Thompson against the Norman Northstars.

They followed that up with a 3-2 victory in Dauphin against the Parkland Rangers on Oct. 1 and earned a 6-1 decision in a rematch the following day in Souris.

“In our first two games of the year we were missing a couple of defencemen (Josh Fluker and Darren Hunt) who were at a provincial camp, but it was a good opportunity for guys to step up and we played well up in Thompson to get four points,” Leslie said.

“There are still some kinks to work out, especially after having a long time off, but I think that’s the case for everyone in our league at the moment.”

The Cougars defence has been a key to their successful start, with netminder Owen LaRocque also being an important component to his team’s backend.

The 16-year-old from Wawanesa, who was the league’s most recent player of the week recipient, has a 3-0 record with a 0.67 goals against average, a .975 save percentage and one shutout.

“Owen makes us feel like if we defend well and keep things to the outer part of the rink, he’ll give us a chance to win every night,” Leslie said.

“He’s done that so far and we also got (2006-born goaltender) Kai (Bennett) into the net in our season opener, where he had a very strong game. We’re very pleased with our goaltending but we realize as a team that we need to defend well if we want to have a chance to win.”

A balanced offensive attack has also been an important part of the Cougars’ success thus far.

Forwards Ashton Cuvelier and Luke MacKenzie lead the way with five points, while Nicholas Cullen has recorded four points in four games.

Rearguard Brett Laing is tied with forwards Kylan Anderson, Dawson Andries and Jayce Thompson for fourth in team scoring with three points each.

“I think that’s a credit to our guys and how they have bought into how we want to play,” Leslie said. “We have a group of guys that are very committed to playing a good team game.”

Four players from last year’s shortened campaign, which saw the Cougars post a 3-2-3 record, could have returned but are plying their trade elsewhere.

Blue-liners Zach Turner and Dexter Whittle are in the Western Hockey League with the Brandon Wheat Kings and the Everett Silvertips, respectively, while forwards Brayden Knox and Luke Robson have moved on to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s OCN Blizzard and Waywayseecappo Wolverines.

“We don’t think we’ll get Brayden or Luke back and while there’s a chance Zach or Dexter could return from the WHL, there’s obviously Junior A teams that would like to have them as well,” Leslie said.

“That’s a situation that is out of our control. If they happened to be released, we don’t expect them to be back with us.”

In their place – along with the holes left by graduating goaltender Eric Reid (Virden Oil Capitals), defencemen Brayden Mossett and Nolan Wickham (Dauphin Kings), and forwards Andrew Andries (Dauphin Kings), Parker Korman (Neepawa Titans) and Hunter Wallace (Brooks Bandits) – are 11 players who are eligible to be selected in December’s WHL Prospect Draft.

That group includes netminder Kai Bennett, blue-liners Jesse Brown, Fluker and Hunt along with forwards Kylan Anderson, Regan Anderson, Kelby Diehl, Jackson Hofer, Luke MacKenzie, Nate Robson and Drew Shiels.

“Between now and the draft (which will be held in December) there’s going to be a lot of eyes on them, especially with the way that the draft is going to go this year,” Leslie said.

“It’s a little different for our league too as generally we’re getting guys from the U15 teams that have already been drafted to the WHL or the MJHL. At the same time though, we realize the strength for us is to play well as a team, that everyone will get to show what they can do to the scouts.”

Fluker and Hunt will also get an extra opportunity to showcase their abilities later this month as they will compete for Manitoba’s U16 team at the WHL Cup in Red Deer.

“It’s good for our club and it’s good for those guys personally,” Leslie said. “To go out to Red Deer and have that experience is something that they can bring back to our team and really benefit everyone on the roster.”

The Cougars’ big goal for the 2021-22 season is to build towards the Telus Cup Western Regionals, which will be held in Virden from March 31 to April 3.

The squad was slated to be the host team for the event in 2020 and 2021, only to have that dashed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our goal is to get into the playoffs and get through a round, which will take us a little closer to that tournament,” Leslie said.

“That event is always in the back of your mind, but it’s important to stay grounded and take things one week at a time. We know that we are going to be playing at the end of the year, so it’s important for us to stay grounded and continue to get better.”

The Cougars are back in action Friday as they’ll travel to Shoal Lake for a 7:30 p.m. matchup with the Yellowhead Chiefs.

A rematch is slated for 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Souris.

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