In what seemed to be a goaltending battle until the end, a pair of Cougar goals in the third period sent the Cats to a 3-1 win over the Valley West Hawks Saturday.

Nathan Warren had an easy first period as the Cats outshot the Hawks 9-3 but entered the second in a scoreless tie.

Braiden Epp deflected a sharp angle shot from the side of the crease past Luke Stripp to open scoring five minutes into the second right after the Cougars killed off their only penalty of the game.

The Cats opened up a two goal lead early in the second as Epp put in his second of the game from Donovan Law and Liam Blackburn on the power play.  Blackburn made it a 3-0 game scoring on a breakaway at 6:03.  But just over a minute later Jake Fletcher beat Warren on a rebound to put the Hawks on the board. 

That's as close as the visitors would come, however, as the Cats improve to 19-6 on the year with a chance to earn the season series sweep of the Hawks Sunday.

The Cougars outshot the Hawks 33-27 with Warren earning his 13th win.  Blackburn finished the game with three points while Epp scored his 18th and 19th goals of the season.

Sunday's final regular season matchup between the Cougars and Hawks goes Sunday at 10:15am at CN Centre.

The Cariboo Cougars return to BC Major Midget League action this weekend hosting the Valley West Hawks Saturday and Sunday.

Coming off their most successful ever trip to the Mac's Midget Tournament in Calgary earlier this week, the Cats look to keep momentum going as they kick-off the unofficial start of the second half of the season.

In what seems like ages ago, the Cougars last league game was back in mid December when they whalloped the Vancouver NW Giants 4-0.  The Cats come into this weekend with an 18-6 record, four points behind the second place Rockets and six back of the leading Giants.

The Cougars swept the Hawks in Langley early in the season, coming from behind in both games to earn a pair of one-goal victories.  Going 7-3 in their last ten league games, the Cougars look to pick up right where they left off.  The same can't be said of the Hawks, however, who have gone winless in their last five games. 

The Cougars big guns continued to roll at the Mac's as Liam Blackburn posted 11 points in 5 games earning the tournament's leading scorer award while linemate Braiden Epp notched 10 points.  Along with winger Logan Styler who also had a very strong tournament, the trio look to continue to perform as one of the BCMML's most dangerous lines.

Puckdrop between the Cougars and Hawks Saturday is set for 1:00pm with Sunday's final regular season matchup between the two starting at 10:15am.  Both games are at CN Centre and will also be available live at cariboocougars.ca.

Cariboo Cougar defenceman Bryan Allbee has been added to the Kootenay Ice list of protected players.

Capatin of the Prince George Tier 1 Bantam Cougars last season, Allbee made the jump to major midget in his first year of eligibility and has met the task before him head on.

In 24 games, Allbee has recorded one goal and four assists along with 20 PIM's.  The 15-year old also had a solid Mac's Midget Tournament scoring the Cougars first goal of the tournament en route to an 8-1 win over the Winnipeg Wild.

A young defensive defenceman with lots of potential, Allbee also isn't afraid to jump up into the play and uses his 6'0" frame to lay some big hits. 

In being listed by the Ice, Allbee is the fourth Cougar to be added to a WHL team's protected list this season bringing the total number of protected players on the team to 8.

Congratulations Bryan!

Cariboo Cougar forwards Liam Blackburn and Brad Morrison have been honoured by the Mac's Tournament committee being named first-team allstars as well as recipients of several prestigious awards.

With 11 points in 5 games, Blackburn was the highest scorer in the entire tournament and has received the Lifemark Sports Physiotherapy Leading Scorer Award.

With 8 points, Morrison was not on the ice for a single goal against and received the Ricoh Plus/Minus Award.  Morrison has also been named the tournament's most sportsmanlike player earning the Stu Peppard Memorial Trophy.

Congratulations Liam and Brad!

While falling just shy of a semi-final playoff berth with a 3-2 overtime loss to Pirati Chomutov in the quarter-finals Monday, the Cougars finished round-robin play with the most goals of any of the 25 teams along with the best goal differential with a plus 15.  The Cats won their pool with a 3-0-1 record while also going undefeated in round-robin play for the first time in team history.