Sometimes you must clip the wings off your opponent to soar past them.
In the case of the U18 Cariboo Cougars, that was a pre-requisite as they collected a pair of convincing victories over the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds Saturday (5-2) and Sunday (5-0) from Kin 1.
Cariboo scored five unanswered goals against the T-Birds en-route to a 5-2 victory in the first half of the double-header.
After Koltin Herfst drew first blood for Fraser Valley, the Cougars put their work boots and flipped the script the rest of the way.
The blue-collar approach led to some quick-strike offense in the last minute of the first period as Nic Gordon and Kadric Mujcin lit the lamp 25 seconds apart to put the hosts up 2-1 after 20 minutes.
In the second, Dylan Stanley’s hard point-blast got past T-Birds netminder Mason Clegg extending the Cariboo advantage due to a deuce.
However, the pesky birds from the Fraser Valley didn’t go away quietly as Wyatt Van Tongeren scored on a late power-play trimming the deficit to a single goal at the second intermission.
Easton Goulet and Riley Lettington added key third period markers to deliver the knockout blow for the U-18 Cougars giving them a 5-2 victory.
Oscar Hicik made 22 saves in the Cariboo net while Clegg stopped 32 Cariboo shots in defeat.
Sunday was a totally different outcome as the Cougars suffocated the Thunderbirds from start to finish skating to a convincing 5-0 victory.
Colton Campbell opened the scoring with a well-placed slapshot that went top corner, under the bar past goaltender Grayden Van Der Sweep.
PG Cougars prospect Jaxon Larmand notched his first of two on the power-play driving hard to the blue paint, tipping a point shot from Ryan Richter.
Larmand added his second of the contest in the middle frame on a play that was started by Connor Feeney.
Cariboo got more offense from the blueline thanks to goals by Richter and Feeney on the power-play.
Ivan Anderson collected the 24-save shutout. His best stop came off a Lukas Woods turnover inside the Cariboo defensive zone.
The U18 Cougars (7-5-1-1) are back at home Saturday (6pm) and Sunday (10:30 am) when they entertain the Thompson Blazers (7-6-0-1).
Cariboo sits third in the seven-team league.
In U15 action, Cariboo collected 5-1 (Saturday) and 6-3 (Sunday) wins against the winless Greater Vancouver Canadians.
On Saturday, a three-goal second period from Ryland Lemp, Wyatt Callender and Jaxon Pankhurst put the Cougars in the driver’s seat with a 4-1 lead after 40 minutes.
Max Pellegrino capitalized on a Taylor McKay feed to add to the Cariboo lead in the third period.
The Cougars held a 1-0 edge after the first period thanks to a well-placed shot from Madden Weldon.
Carter DeWolff scored in defeat for GVC.
Linden Green picked up the win in net for the Cougars turning aside 16 shots.
A bright and early 7am start at CN Centre on Sunday saw Cariboo jump out to a 3-1 lead after the first period.
After Mattias Wolf made it 1-0 Canadians, Warner Callender, Trysten Schmidt and Jackson Malo put the Cougars offense into high gear lightning the lamp.
The flood gates continued to open in the middle frame with both teams scoring a combined five goals.
Carter DeWolff collected his second of the weekend for GVC trimming the deficit to 3-2.
Callender notched his second of the day shorthanded off a Hendrick Hesselgrave feed followed by a Taylor McKay marker assisted by Max Pellegrino and Ryland Lemp.
Kayvon Salamatian put the Canadians back to within two with less than five minutes remaining in the period.
Luke Broster provided the back breaker for the Cougars as his point shot beat the buzzer and GVC goaltender AJ Kwok to give the hosts a 6-3 edge.
Jayden Avery made 24 saves in the win for Cariboo who improves to 8-6-0-0.
The U15 Cougars are in the Lower Mainland this weekend taking on the Valley West Giants (3-10-0-0) Saturday at 7pm in Surrey and Sunday morning 9:30am in Langley.
In addition, the U17 Cariboo Cougars were on a bye and sit second in the league standings with a mark of 12-4-0-1.
Cariboo is three points back of the Thompson Blazers (13-5-1-1) for first place in the nine-team league with three games in hand.
The U17 Cats finish a stretch of six straight on the road this weekend with a pair of matchups against the Vancouver NE Chiefs (7-7-1-0) in Burnaby Saturday (3:30pm) and Sunday (10:45am) from the Scotia Barn.
In female U18 hockey action, the Northern Capitals dropped a pair to the Greater Vancouver Comets by scores of 6-2 (Saturday) and 4-1 (Sunday).
Marianne Campbell and Hana Nishi put the Comets ahead early in the first period of Saturday’s tilt.
Khya Swanson and Paxton Fraser replied for Capitals to even the score prior to intermission.
Greater Vancouver stymied the Caps scoring four consecutive goals in the second and third.
Nishi collected her second of the game followed by singles from Lucy Peloso, Zoe Wilcox and Diana Wang.
Taylor Rutter took the loss in net for the Capitals while her counterpart, Madison Kong picked up the win for Greater Vancouver.
On Sunday, an early first period goal by Swanson wasn’t enough as the Capitals surrendered four straight markers to the Comets.
In the final 40 minutes, Wilcox scored twice for the host’s while Nishi and Carolyn Koo tallied once each.
The Capitals are 6-9-0-1 and host the Vancouver Island Seals (2-13-0-0) Saturday at 1:15pm and Sunday at 8am from Kin 2.
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