The atmosphere at Brennan Park last Friday night was electric, exciting and intense as the Cougars faced the Whalers in their first ever WHA playoff game.
Fans were clapping their yellow balloon sticks as the players were individually introduced during a pre-game ceremony.
Both teams came out with solid body checks and excellent chances. The Whalers scored the first goal as Derek Pimental found himself alone in front of Cougar stopper Graham Hallenbeck and slipped the puck through the five hole.
Despite being down 1-0 the Cats continued to press for the equalizer with many excellent chances. Jeff Brown tied the game up for the Cougars with a wrist shot high over Whalers keeper Jonathan Hull's glove. Sinclair Kim and Alex Wilkes picked assists on the goal.
The Cats got their first and only lead of the game with Nick Johnston and Nils Hanfstingl broke out on a two on one. Johnston passed to a patient Hanfstingl in the slot who sent the disc high over Hull's glove. Cougars went ahead 3-1 when Ross Pattison pounced on a rebound and slid the puck into the empty net. Brown and Spencer Samson received assists on the play.
With Ross Pattison out of the game with a shoulder injury, the Cougars looked very disoriented in the third period and the Cats allowed the Whalers, led by Clay Wyrrick with two, to score four unanswered goals and skate away with a 5-3 victory much to the disappointment of the fans.
Saturday night the Cougars headed to Bellingham for game two of their round-robin playoff series.
On the bus the Cats were a somewhat quiet bunch. Coach Matt Samson took some time to talk to players about the previous night and what they could do to correct it. Disembarking from the bus the Cougars had the look of hungry felines on a long hunt.
That determination and the Bulls nervousness allowed the Cats to strike early. Jeremy Ennis got his stick on a loose puck at his own blue line. He used Johnston as a decoy and slid a backhander behind a sprawled Bulls netminder, Tyler Zetting.
Ishmael Duncanson put the Cougars ahead 2-0 on a pass from Brian Kim. Sinclair Kim gave the surging Cougars a 3-0 lead with a lazy wrist shot that hit the crossbar and bounced in.
The Cats continued their first period domination on Ennis' second goal of the period. Hanfstingl intercepted a Bulls pass and sent the puck towards the Bulls zone.
Jason Lee knocked the puck out of the air onto Ennis's stick and he slid a backhander through Zetting's pads. The Bulls leading scorer, Alex Valenti, scored a power play goal early in the second period to cut the Cats lead to 4-1.
Ennis grabbed a loose puck at the Bulls blueline out hustled the Bulls along the boards and in behind the net sending a pass across the crease to Lee who slipped the puck through the five hole to restore the Cougars four-goal lead.
The third period had a very familiar tone to it as the Cougars came out flat again and let the Bulls back in the game. Chase Haubirson scored to make it 5-2. The Cougars soon found themselves in penalty trouble, and faced being shorthanded for a minute and a half.
Bulls coach Dennis Sobchuk, in a creative move pulled his goalie to give his team an extra skater. Despite facing a six on three, Troy McLean was able win a battle for the puck at his own blueline and he sent the puck into the open net to regain that four-goal lead.
Any momentum from that goal was quickly erased as the Bulls scored twice on the same powerplay to narrow the gap to 6-4. Jeremy Ennis scored late in the third, his hat trick goal, to quash any momentum the Bulls had. Final score was 7-4 giving the Cougars their first playoff win.
The Bulls and Whalers battled in New Westminster on Sunday with the Whalers prevailing 4-2 and now they sit 1st in the Coastal division with a 2-0 record.
Your Cougars are still in the hunt with a 1-1 record and the Bulls are out of contention due to injuries, as of Thursday. Tonight (Feb. 16) the Cougars face New West. Should the Cats emerge victorious it will set up a final showdown in New West with the winner going to the WHA Championship final.
Game time is 7:30 p.m. at Brennan Park. Don't forget to watch highlights on YouTube.
