The Squamish Cougars had a purr-fect Remembrance Day weekend with three wins in three days, lifting the catsto fourthplace in the WHA standings, tied for points with third-place Bellingham at 16. The Washington team is ahead as it has played one game less.
It was weekend of contrasts, with a "classic" away game against the Sharks in Armstrong, a complete mauling of league leaders New Westminster Whalers at Brennan Park, followed by a bad-tempered, scrappy home game against Lumby which saw 10 fights and a game misconduct handed out to a player from the aptly named Fighting Saints.
The Cougars met the Sharks on Thursday (Nov. 9) in Armstrong and soon took control of the action, ultimately defeating the home team 3 - 1. The Shark's net-minder, despite some great saves, wasno match for the Cougar's lead goal scorer Troy McLean, and the other forwards Spencer Samson and Jeff Brown.
Squamish coach Matt Samson was happy with the result, and was equally impressed with the high quality of play from both sides.
"It was a good game for spectators," he said. "There were a lot of good hits, great chances. Both goalies played really well. The game could have gone either way."It was a six-hour commute for the Cougars to their job in Armstrong, broken up for the players by watching hockey flicks Young Blood and The Mighty Ducks on the team bus. Samson said the drive back was a chance for the team to rest upand prepare for their game against New Westminster the next night at Brennan Park.
The home crowd had a treat of a game, with the Cougars beating the WHA's leadingteamby an "awesome" 11 - 3.
"Friday's game was our biggest this year," said Samson. "We scored two quick goals and were up 4 - 1 after the first period."Suffering from battle fatigue, New West pulled their goalie, which proved a mistake, giving the Cougars greater success in front of the net. A new goalie went in for the Whalers, but after he got into a fight the starting goalie returned. This apparent panic attack on the part of the Whalers' bench aided the Cougars in their quest for goals and resulted in the outstanding final score.
"They beat us the last two times so it was great to get a win," said Samson. He added that the Cougars started a new goalie at Friday's game, John Douglas from Whistler, who stopped a blistering 55 shots on goal.
More than anything, said Samson, the win against New West proved the quality of his team.
It shows we can play any team in this league and brings our record closer to 500," he said. "We play the Whalers this coming Sunday [Nov. 19] so we expect them to be a little more prepared this time."The game against Lumby on Remembrance Day was definitely more about war than peace, with the Cougars winning 4 - 1 at Brennan Park. Samson was not impressed with the refereeing, which he felt lost control in the second half of the game with 10 fights and a game misconduct handed out to a Lumby player. Samson said more major penalties should have been handed out.
"The first half of the fame was clean, but the ref didn't take control when he needed to," he said. "It's hard in the heat of battle to keep that in check sometimes, but I talked to Lumby's coach after and we agreed not to let it out of hand in the future."Samson commended his goalie Graham Hallenbeck, saying he had two superb games that weekend. He also highlighted the efforts of Jeremy Ennis on Saturday after the number 18 player was named Star of the Game with two goals.
Samson said the season was still wide open for all the teams and added that the Cougars' rise of two places in two weeks in the team standing only proved this.
"It's early in the year," said Samson. "The standings are really close between first and second teams, with only five points difference. It's an exciting league because anything can happen."There are two games for the Cougars this coming weekend: Osoyoos this Friday (Nov. 17) at 7:30 p.m. at Brennan Park, as well as an away game at New West at 2:15 p.m. on Sunday (Nov. 19). Advance and seasontickets can be purchased at Brennan Park. Visit for more info on the team, players and league.
