If the Cariboo Cougars want to avenge last year’s finals heartbreak from the Okanagan Rockets, they must hear some hard truths now and then.
That means taking care of a wounded opponent for a second time after blowing them out the night prior.
That was not the outcome for the U18 program as they blew the doors off the Vancouver North West Hawks 6-0 on Saturday’s Pink in the Rink Night only to stumble Sunday morning, dropping a 3-2 decision in Kin 1.
A four-goal second period propelled the Cougars to the lopsided win thanks to a four-point effort from hulking forward Easton Goulet.
The 17-year-old opened the scoring in the second period finishing off a Kadric Mujcin feed beating Hawks netminder Mowat Sweet.
Mason McGinnis made it 2-0 for Cariboo as he shovelled home a rebound via a point shot from Ryan Richter that Sweet failed to cover.
Later in the period, Mujcin was on the receiving end of a Goulet pass, which he finished adding to the multi-goal advantage.
Carter Krueger showed off some of his flashy mitts with a shot inside the VNW blue line to give the hosts a 4-0 edge after 40 minutes.
In the third, Nic Gordon and Blake Lambe added insult to injury capping off a picture-perfect Pink in the Rink night in support of the Kordyban Lodge.
On Sunday, the Hawks pushed back and took advantage of a Cariboo squad that was without Krueger (suspension), Mujcin (Team BC WHL Cup) as well Brody Bustard (suspension) and Miller Tedesco (injury).
Goulet got the Cougars off on the right foot as his bank shot trickled off the pas of Hawks netminder Owen Hurlbut.
Max Saar responded for VNW seven minutes later as a wrist shot down the wing squeaked past Cariboo netminder Oscar Hicik.
Gordon made it 2-1 Cougars capping off a Goulet pass.
In the second, the Hawks slowly found their legs and chipped away on the empty gas tanks of some Cougars players.
Xavier Atmore’s point shot got past Hicik to even the score at 2-2 and then Braeden Payne squeaked one in to put the Hawks up by one for good.
The U18 Cougars are 4-3-1 on the season, good enough for third in the eight-team league. Cariboo is off to the RINK Tournament in Vernon.
In U15 action, Cariboo dropped a pair of 4-1 (Saturday) and 7-1 (Sunday) decisions to the top-ranked Okanagan Rockets from MNP Place in Kelowna.
Rowan McGrath (Rockets) and Hendrik Hesselgrave (Cariboo) each scored for their respective sides to make it 1-1 after one in the opener.
Hudson Bishop scored the game winner at 12:03 of the second period to put the Rockets in front.
Ryoma Shin and Nathan Steele added singles in the third to close out the victory for Okanagan.
On Sunday, the Rockets launched past Cariboo with seven unanswered goals after Jaxon White scored first for the Cougars.
In the second, McGrath lit the lamp twice while Aiden Potash added a single.
Okanagan continued to pour it on in the third with goals from Steele, Kendal Knox, Jake Black and Eric Lamoureaux.
Cariboo U15 (5-3-0) is back in action Saturday (6:30pm and Sunday (9:00am) in Kin 1 when they host the Vancouver North East Chiefs (4-3-1).
In U17 action, Cariboo went win less (0-4) during the Canadian Crown Tournament in Edmonton.
Cariboo fell 5-1 at the tournament opener on Thursday to the Leduc Junior Oil Kings.
Leduc held leads of 2-0 and 5-1 after the first two periods with Morgan Reed scoring the only goal for the Cougars.
Brennen Purych made 28 saves in defeat for the Cougars.
On Friday, Cariboo fell 8-1 to the host Northern Alberta Xtreme and 6-3 to the Red Deer Chiefs.
NAX lit the lamp five times in the second period enroute to the lopsided win. Seth Kshyk and Channon Fumerton scored twice each for the Xtreme.
Sawyer Latkowski replied for the Cougars.
In the night cap, Cariboo blew a 3-2 lead in the second period, allowing four unanswered goals to the Chiefs.
The Cougars and Red Deer were tied at two after 20 minutes. Jayden Brideau and Brett de Gans lit the lamp for Cariboo.
After Gavin Parmar made it 3-2 Cougars, Jace Lapp notched his second of the game to even the score before Maddux Pears, Zach Silger and Owen Kramchynski blew the game open.
In the Saturday morning finale, the Calgary NorthStars jumped out to a 3-0 lead and hung on to beat the U17 Cougars 6-4.
Damien Lavallee and Easton Barry scored twice each for Calgary while Gavin Parmar also lit the lamp twice, while Andrew Ludwig and Sawyer Latkowski added singles.
Cariboo is second in league play with a mark of 8-0-1, a single point back of the Thompson Blazers (9-3-0-0) for top spot.
The Cougars face off against the VNW Hawks (6-3-0) Saturday (6:30pm) and Sunday (11:00am) in North Vancouver.
In Female U18 action, the Northern Capitals earned a split on the road against the Thompson-Okanagan Lakers.
On Saturday, the Caps skated their way to a convincing 5-1 victory at Kal Tire Place in Vernon.
Tylor Jensen, Khya Swanson and Paxton Fraser tickled the twine for the visitors in the second to give themselves a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes.
Sofie Passeri and Claire Johnson added singles in the third.
Taylor Rutter picked up the win in goal for the Capitals.
On Sunday, the Lakers skated to a 3-1 victory in the rematch.
Kenzie Bragg took the loss in goal.
The Capitals (3-4-0-1) host the Fraser Valley Rush (7-4-0-0) Saturday (5:45pm) and Sunday (9:45am) in Kin 2.
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