Fresh off a shoot out victory, the Squamish Cougars headed into a Friday night (Oct. 12) rematch in Lumby with hopes of extending their three-game winning streak against the Fighting Saints. But with a string of injuries plaguing the Cats, the Saints would prevail 4-3.In what has almost become tradition between the teams, the match-up was hard fought. If anyone thought the summer could erase the animosity between the Cougars and Fighting Saints well I have an oceanfront property for sale in the Sahara.
All games between these two combatants have been very physical, grinding, emotional and exciting for the fans. This game saw tempers flare in third period that got Cougars bench boss Matt Samson tossed from the game. With no assistant to take his place, injured d-man Bruce Zimmerman became a WHA coach for five minutes.
The Cougars needed all of Graham Hallenbeck's broad experience for the match-up as their defensive core was down to three with Kyle Ritchie out nursing a sore groin, Bruce Zimmerman with a shoulder injury and Nils Hanfstingl favouring his shoulder.
The Cats' forwards also suffer from the injury bug as Garrett Unger is still recovering his knee strain suffered in the season opener. Despite the injury woes, the Cougars started strong, taking a 1-0 lead on a goal by Chase Haubursin. The Fighting Saints quickly countered to take a 2-1 lead before Aaron Obersen tied the game. The Halos scored the next two goals before Matthias Oertel close the gap to one.
Cats take a second loss
Saturday night (Oct. 13) the Cougars landed in Oliver to take on the Jets.
The Cougars were looking to rebound from the Lumby loss and the Jets were still smarting from being shutout by their rivals, the Osoyoos Spurs. The game was a sloppy affair with both teams allowing questionable goals, said Samson.
It was a back and forth quick tempo game but the Cougars still fell short losing 6-5 to the Jets.Cats' Jeremy Ennis opened the scoring but the Jets bounced back to take a 2-1 lead. The Cougars regained the lead on goals by Nick Johnston and Haubursin.
Unfortunately the felines could not hold the lead as the Jets roared back with two goals for a 4-3 lead. The Cougars tied it up on a Spencer Samson goal but it was short-lived as the Jets regained their one goal lead. The Cats would not quit as Kyle Marquette tied the game with 10 minutes to go.
Oliver was able to regain their lead and hung on to hand the Cougars their second straight loss. One highlight of the game was a four-point performance by Nick Johnston on the night.
Coach Samson acknowledged a few players are struggling right now including captain Troy McLean.
"Our top six forwards have to be going if we expect to be successful," he said. Samson lamented they had two 5-on-3 powerplays, each over minute, and the Cougars failed to capitalize.
Next up for the Cougars is a trip to Alberta for two games with the expansion Barrhead River Kings.
The Cougars next home game is Friday Nov. 2 at Brennan Park. They invite all the fans to join them for their Welcome Home Party.
