Cougars, Capitals aiming for playoff titles

The Cariboo Cougars and Northern Capitals both need two wins to lay their hands on playoff championship banners. Each team will try to get the first of those two victories today.

The Cougars, who skate in the B.C. Hockey Major Midget League, open a best-of-three playoff final against the Greater Vancouver Canadians at 3:15 p.m. at Kin 1. Game 2 goes Saturday, same time and place, and if a third game is necessary it will start at 9:45 a.m. on Sunday.

The Capitals, meanwhile, are in Coquitlam for their best-ofthree affair against the Greater Vancouver Comets. The first game is slated for 6 p.m. and the teams will be back on the ice at 1:15 p.m. on Saturday. A third game, if required, would begin at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. The Northern Capitals and Comets are part of the B.C. Hockey Female Midget Triple-A League.

The Cougars head into their series as favourites to win. During the regular season, they went 4-0 against the Canadians and outscored them 22-6. The Cats won 3-1 and 5-1 on Nov. 19-20 in Richmond and then beat the Canadians 3-2 and 11-2 in Prince George on Feb. 18-19.

In the final standings, the first-place Cougars (34-5-1-0) finished 20 points ahead of the fourth-place Canadians (22-133-2).

So far in the playoffs, the Cougars have knocked out the eighth-seeded Kootenay Ice (5-1 and 3-0 wins) and the sixth-ranked Vancouver Northwest Giants (7-1 win, 4-3 loss in double-overtime, 6-3 win).

As for the Canadians, they eliminated the fifthranked Fraser Valley Thunderbirds (3-2 and 6-2 victories) and then upset the second-seeded Vancouver Northeast Chiefs (6-4 win, 7-3 loss, 5-3 win).

The Cougars and Canadians feature four of the top seven offensive players in their leagues. For the Cats, those guys are Daine DuBois (27 goals, 67 points in 40 games) and Mason Richey (30 goals, 55 points in 40 games). The Canadians are powered by Scott Atkinson (38 goals, 66 points in 36 games) and Sasha Mutala (20 goals, 63 points in 39 games).

Overall on the season, the Cougars scored a leaguehigh 214 goals and surrendered a league-low 75. The Canadians scored 175 times and were scored upon 145 times.

In the Northern Capitals-Comets series, the Capitals are definite underdogs. They finished the year in third place with a 14-13-3 record, while the firstplace Comets rolled to a mark of 29-1-0. However, their only loss was to the Caps, who beat them 3-1 on Feb. 3 in Prince George. In the other games between the teams, the Comets prevailed 2-1, 5-1 and 4-2 in Coquitlam and 3-1 and 6-1 in Prince George.

In the playoffs, the Capitals – two-time defending champions – have knocked out the sixth-seeded Fraser Valley Rush (3-0 and 3-2 in double overtime) and the second-ranked Thompson-Okanagan Lakers (3-2 and 4-1 wins). To get to the final, the Comets got a first-round bye and then eliminated the fourthseeded Kootenay Wild with 2-1 and 3-2 victories.

Jenn Gardiner of the Comets led the league in scoring this season with 15 goals and 34 points in 30 games. Caily Mellott of the Capitals was right on her heels with 20 goals and 31 points in 30 games.