COUGARS IN SECOND PLACE IN NCJHL

The Vankleek Hill Cougars may have to settle for second place in the regular season of the National Capital Junior Hockey League, and focus their efforts and attention now on their upcoming playoffs schedule.

The Cougars still sit in second place in the league standings with 44 points after 30 games played, following their February 2 weekend session. They are the East Division leaders in the National Capital Junior Hockey League (NCJHL) while the South Grenville Rangers hold the top spot in the West Division with 55 points after 30 games played. Both clubs still have at least three games left on their regular season schedule, which wraps up mid-February.

Vankleek Hill hosted Clarence Creek last Wednesday night, taking care of one of the makeup games that were postponed from earlier in the year because of bad weather. The Cougars chewed up the Castors 7-1, with Samuel Lemay, the goalscoring star of the night with four points to his credit, along with assisting on two other goals. Scoring singles for the Cougars on January 29 were Nikolas Ayotte, Jonathan Leblanc, and Maxim Rozon.

Saturday night, over the February 1 weekend, the Cougars hosted the Gatineau

Hull-Volant, who are sitting in last place in the East Division. The Cougars gave the visiting team a 6-4 scratching with two goals by Nicolas Castonguay and singles from Jonathan Lacroix, Trystan Lavoie, Zacharie Leblanc, and Christophe Quann.

The Cougars are on the road for the first week of February, facing the Bytown Royals Friday and the South Grenville Rangers on Saturday.

Saint-Isidore

Saint-Isidore and Clarence Creek are battling for third place in regular season standings of the National Capital Junior Hockey League.

As of the February 2 weekend, the Aigles and Castors are tied at 34 points each, with 31 games played for Saint-Isidore compared to 30 games for Clarence Creek. The Aigles had a good weekend with wins against the Gatineau Hull-Volant and the Clarence Creek Castors.

The Aigles clipped Gatineau 5-4 with two goals by Patrick Rangers and singles from Jakob Brunette, Mathieu Grandmont, and Xavier Leclerc. Sunday night at home the Aigles soared over the Castors 6-2 with two goals each from Grandmont and John Paquette and singles by Nicholas Roy and Jérémie Arbour.

Saint-Isidore has two games left this week in its regular schedule, with Saturday night at Clarence Creek and Sunday night at home