In an attempt to make an entire playoff run outside of their den, the Squamish Cougars were stopped in their tracks sinking two games straight against the Armstrong Sharks in the WHA semi-finals on Friday and Saturday (March 7-8).The Cats prepared with a busy practice schedule but showed rust under the bright lights because the regular season ended with a sparse game schedule, said head coach Matt Samson."Really, we only had one game in three weeks and again it was on the road," he said. "We hadn't played at home for I don't even remember how long."Key forward Nick Johnston and defenceman Kyle Ritchie returned from Nova Scotia where they were playing with the Antigonish Bulldogs of the Maritime Junior 'A' Hockey League (MJAHL). However, Ritchie was recovering from a concussion and couldn't play, said Samson.Despite ending the regular season with a better winning percentage than the Sharks (63 per cent over Armstrong's 56 per cent), the Cougars were expected to play all playoff games on the road because of limited ice available at Brennan Park, a problem stemming from the league's outstanding payments earlier in the season."You know, it's always better to be sleeping in your own bed and playing at your own rink," said Samson.The Cougars hit the ice slow on Friday night, earning just eight shots on net and falling behind a goal in the first period.They battled back in the second period but were blocked by hot Shark goaltender Steve Clark and had to dive into the third period down two goals.The Cougars scored in the third to reach within one goal and continued to pressure offensively, pulling goalie Graham Hallenbeck for the extra attacker.The Sharks scored an insurance goal on the empty net so Johnston's late goal wasn't enough as the Cougars lost 3-2.On Saturday, the Cats leaped ahead 3-1 but a fluke goal that deflected off a defender's back and past Hallenbeck led to a Shark rally and 4-3 victory. Armstrong now faces the Oliver Jets in the final. Now that the Cougar's sophomore season is over, it's still unclear whether they'll be back for a third, said Samson, who added he wants to return as head coach. "If the league has plans to come back to Squamish they're going to have to get that going as soon as the playoff series with the other teams wrap up or [Brennan Park] is not going to be saving any ice for the Cougars, let's put it that way."We've heard there are other leagues that are interested so they're going to have to be behind the ball pretty quick."The Cougars' trails covered some rough terrain this season, but Samson points out that many of the young players got a boost from their WHA experience. "It opened some doors for the kids and gave some of them experience that they wouldn't have otherwise."
