Cougars looking for return to early season form

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This article was published 06/01/2022 (1549 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League’s hottest team in the opening weeks of the 2021-22 season were the Southwest Cougars.

With a spread-out offensive attack and stifling defence, the Cougars rattled off eight wins to kick off the campaign.

Since then though, things have been a little tougher for the host of this year’s Telus Cup Western Regional.

Following a 2-0 loss to the Yellowhead Chiefs in Shoal Lake on Tuesday night, the Cougars have posted an 8-12-1 record since their eight-game win streak to start the season.

While injuries have played a part in their tough stretch, Cougars head coach Troy Leslie is pleased with where the 16-12-1 squad stands, as they are tied for fifth place with the Winnipeg Thrashers ahead of their weekend doubleheader in Winnipeg.

“Even though we haven’t had our full lineup for the last month-and-a-half, we’re still happy with where the guys are at, especially as they’ve gone through the challenges of playing with a short lineup,” Leslie said.

“There were some games in the stretch before Christmas where we played well. I was really pleased with our last game at home (in Souris) against Brandon. We had a short lineup and were beat pretty bad by the Wheat Kings the day before in their rink, but we came back and battled hard before losing in overtime. I really liked the way our guys adjusted and how much better we were on defence. That’s what allowed us to get a point.”

The positive news for the Cougars is that the holiday break allowed the squad to return to full health, as forwards Jayce Thompson, Luke MacKenzie and Jackson Hofer were back in the lineup Tuesday night.

Blue-liner Brett Laing was also on the injured list before he resumed play on Dec. 11 against the Eastman Selects.

“We’re really looking forward to this next part of the season now that we have some key guys back in our lineup,” Leslie said. “With how young we are, having a full roster gives us the best chance of being successful on a nightly basis.

“The last couple of months were a challenge for us, but it was also a good experience for some guys as they were able to step up and play some key minutes for us. Every team goes through these injury challenges during the course of a year and hopefully we’ve got that behind us now.”

While the Cougars’ 97 goals have them ranked seventh overall in the league, they have a number of players that can do damage on offence.

Killarney’s Nicholas Cullen leads the way with 31 points, with Ashton Cuvelier (28), Dawson Andries (27), MacKenzie (26), Nate Robson (24) and Thompson (21) making up the rest of the top six.

“We knew coming into this season that we would probably have to do our scoring by committee,” Leslie said. 

“We don’t have any guys that are in the top part of the league scoring standings, but we are pretty consistent in terms of spreading out our production through the lineup. I think that’s pretty promising for the rest of the season.”

The Cougars defence is led by 16-year-old Ty Plaisier, who has six goals and 13 assists in 29 games after recording two points in eight games during the COVID shortened 2020-21 season.

“Ty’s eaten up a lot of big minutes for us this year,” Leslie said of the Virden product, who was a fourth-round pick by the Regina Pats in the 2020 Western Hockey League draft.

“It’s been a bit of an adjustment for him to be going up against the best lines from the other teams, but he’s really shown a lot of growth here for us since the season got underway.”

Rookie Josh Fluker has also enjoyed a strong season on the back end.

The Boissevain native — who turned 16 on Monday — has 16 points in 24 games and was picked seventh overall by the Swift Current Broncos in December.

“Josh’s skating ability is elite,” Leslie said. “I think that’s why you saw him get picked that high in the draft as he’s able to skate his way out of trouble at times.”

MacKenzie was also selected in last month’s draft as he was an eighth-round choice by the Kelowna Rockets.

“For those guys and any 15-year-olds that are in this league, you’re always excited to see them take a step forward after the holidays,” Leslie said. “You get the Christmas break to recharge the batteries and when you get back on the ice, that experience that you gained in the first half really shows.

“I know Luke is pretty excited to be back in the lineup and show what he can do as he only played in one game after the draft. He’s a guy that we need out there for sure as he’s someone that can score timely goals.”

Sixteen-year-old Owen LaRocque of Wawanesa has handled the starting goaltending duties for the Cougars and has posted an 11-10-1 record with a 2.98 goals-against average, a .920 save percentage and a shutout.

Kai Bennett, who is 15 and calls Souris home, has a 5-2-0 mark with a 2.90 gaa and a .898 save percentage so far in his rookie season.

“We knew that Owen was going to be big for us this year and a lot of our success earlier on came from how well he was playing and the confidence our team had playing in front of him to get some big wins,” Leslie said.

“Kai’s a bigger goalie (at six-foot-two) but he’s also been very good for us so far. He’s given us a chance to win every time he’s played.”

With the Telus Cup Western Regional slated for March 31 to April 3 in Virden, the Cougars will be looking to get back on track in the second half so that they are playing their best hockey ahead of hosting the tournament.

“We’re just looking to see further growth from the guys,” Leslie said. 

“It’s always been neat to see the strides the young guys we’ve had on our teams in the past and we expect to see the same thing this year.”

 

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