Cariboo Cats hosting Silvertips
The Cariboo Cougars won’t have goalie Dorrin Luding to lean on this weekend when they take on the North Island Silvertips.
He’s going to be two provinces away in Saskatoon, after getting a WHL call-up to the Saskatoon Blades.
The 16-year-old Luding has been the go-to guy in net for the Cougars. In 14 B.C. Major Midget Hockey League games with the Cougars he has an 8-4-1 record with a 2.13 goals-against average.
He backed up 18-year-old Brock Hamm in the Blades’ net for Friday’s game in Saskatoon against the Kamloops Blazers and will be available for Sunday’s game against Regina. Luding is not expected back in Prince George until next week.
That leaves the Cougars netminding duties to 16-year-old Aaron Jakubowski when they host the North Island Silvertips in a two-game weekend series at Kin 1 tonight at 7:15 p.m. and Sunday at 9:15 a.m.
Jakubowski sports a 5-2-0 record with a 2.79 goals-against average through 10 games. He played both games last weekend against the Thompson Blazers and Cougars head coach Trevor Sprague says there’s a chance midget Tier 1 Cougars call-up Marcus Allen will get to play with the major midget team.
The Cougars (13-6-3) are currently tied for third in the BCMMHL with the Okanagan Rockets, each with 29 points, four back of the league-leading Valley West Hawks. The Silvertips (2-17-3) are 10th in the 11-team league, two points ahead of the last-place Thompson Blazers of Kamloops. The Cougars beat the Silvertips in both games in Nanaimo this season, Oct. 10-11, winning 2-0 and 7-2.
“It’s pretty easy to motivate our guys because they lost to Kamloops (a 2-1 decision on the road Oct. 18) and they already know not to underestimate who they play and make sure they have the respect,” said Sprague.
“This weekend has to work into next weekend when we play the Canadians in Vancouver. It’s pretty important to stick to our game plan and stick with our pace and play a heavy (hardhitting) game and not let our foot off the pedal.”
The Cougars won both games at home last weekend over Thompson, 7-2 and 11-3, but Sprague said there were a few breakdowns on the ice which led to goals against – faults in defensive play he wants his team to correct.
“We still need to put 60 minutes together and be consistent at that,” said Sprague. “If you only get 20 shots against (in two games) you shouldn’t be giving up five goals against as a team. We have four more games to find that consistency.”
Following next weekend’s league games in Vancouver, the Cougars will have a few days off before they travel to Calgary to try to defend their Mac’s tournament championship. That starts Dec. 26.
Forward Reid Perpeluk is the only injured Cougar heading into the weekend. Forward Dylan Cousins, a 14-year-old from Whitehorse who plays for the South Delta Hockey Academy bantam team, will see his first BCMMHL action this weekend playing for the Cougars.