Westshore came into the Cougars barn Thursday night down 1-4 on the season series. Victoria has been bolstering their roster lately. Desmond Arthurs made his return to the VIJHL against the Wolves. Arthurs played with the Cougars has a 16yo and is expected to add a power-forward role and scoring touch. He did not score last night, but he did show the ‘power’ part of his skill set. After a slow start to the game he made his presence felt in the 3rd after a dust-up broke out in-front of the net. Check the highlights at the end of the story to see for yourself. You can also see Tory McClintick make his PxP debut. I am hoping to add Tory to the broadcast team in a learning role. He will also be calling the Predators game tonight in Saanich.
Westshore was the better team of two good teams in the opening frame. Quintyn Sidaway collected the lone goal of the 1st and Westshore outshot the Cougars 16-11. Fraser Wyatt got the start for Victoria for the first time this year against Westshore. If it wasn’t for him playing extremely well the score would have looked far more skewed.
The middle period shifted the momentum. Victoria scored 3 times. The Aiden Turner, Jacob Pang, Connor DeLay line stood out as the best line for the Cougars. They are the ‘energy’ line. Typically the Cougars don’t do a 1-4 lines like most teams. Their lines have roles instead. This line is meant to be high-flying puck movers to crank up the energy. They did that to great effect. Turner collected 2 goals, player of the game, and his line had 6 points on the night.
Blake Bentham made things interesting in the 3rd with 2 goals of his own. Both on the power-play. The Cougars have the best PK in the league, but Bentham was given too many chances and made the Cougars pay. The Turner/Pang/DeLay line collected 2 goals of their own in the final frame to even things out and allow for the Cougars to hold on and move their current streak to 4 wins.
Originally posted on: https://www.victoriacougars.com/