The Cariboo Cougars took three of four weekend points against the visiting Okanagan Rockets with a 4-4 tie Sunday.

Down two goals in the third, the Cats got one back early in the third with Cougar Captain Tanner Fjellstrom scoring on a penalty shot with just a minute left in the game to tie it at four.

Cougar defenceman Josh Connolly opened scoring midway through the first with a hard wrister for his first goal of the season, beating Okanagan goaltender Harrison Whitlock.  The Rockets responded just over two minutes later with their first goal of the season as Justin Marreck scored on the power play beating David Readman for the first time this weekend.

Fjellstrom scored 7:39 into the second to put the Cats back up by one.  But once again, the Rockets responded, this time with two goals in little over two minutes to take their first lead of the weekend.

Parker Bowles then added another Rockets goal early in the third to go up 4-2.  But a little over a minute later Nathan Craft cut the lead to one.  The Rockets appeared headed to the weekend split before a penalty shot was awarded with just 1:05 on the clock after the referee determined Whitlock knocked the net off its moorings on purpose.  Fjellstrom then made no mistake going forehand, backhand lifting the puck past Whitlock and tying the game, salvaging a single point.

Cougars Assistant Coach Bryan MacLean says the late break gives a bit of breathing room between the Cats and at least one other team in the tight BCMML.  "Three of four is nice, I guess we caught a bit of a break there but you're not allowed to knock the net off on purpose, they broke the rules and we got a fortunate break out of it and (Fjellstrom) put one home.  For us that's good to steal that point and get out of here with three of four because Okanagan's not too far off from us in the standings," said MacLean.

After Saturday night's 6-0 game ended in a bruhaha of sorts, the Cougars made sure to keep their heads about them going into Sunday's rematch.

"It was a pretty exciting moment, everybody was really happy about it and really excited but it's important to keep focused on the next game and just keep moving forward," said Cougar Forward Jake LeBrun.

The Cougars outshot the Rockets 43-27 going 0/6 on the power play Sunday, allowing one goal against on the penalty kill on five Okanagan opportunities.

The Cougars record now stands at 20-8-6 as the team heads back on the road next weekend to face the Thompson Blazers Saturday and Sunday in Chase.

A potent offence and a stellar goaltending performance gave the Cariboo Cougars a 6-0 win over the visiting Okanagan Rockets Saturday night.

The Rockets started out the first period strong dominating puck control and firing early and often on Cougar netminder David Readman who earned his 10th win and second shutout of the season.  The Cats grabbed momentum midway through the opening period when Ryan Forbes scored shorthanded, beating Rockets goaltender Harrison Whitlock.  Forbes then got his second of the game on the power play as the Cougars took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.

The Cougars doubled their lead in the second with goals from Tyler Povelofskie and Tanner Fjellstrom at which point Whitlock was pulled in favour of Brenden Mills.

Chase Astorino and Jake LeBrun scored three minutes apart in the third as the Cats cruised to the 6-0 victory.

The win was somewhat overshadowed by several simultaneous fights that occured after the final buzzer, including members of both teams' coaching staff.   Astorino and Okanagan defenceman Mackenzie Ferner have been assessed a one-game suspension for fighting.  Cougar Head Coach Trevor Sprague and Rockets Coach James Eccles were both given gross misconducts and mandatory minimum three game suspensions for their roles in the affair.

The Cougars win improves their record to 20-8-5, seven points up on both the Chiefs and Canadians for second place in the BCMML.

The Rockets loss is their first in 2012, dropping their record to 15-10-6, good for fifth.  The two teams face each other in their final meeting of the regular season Sunday morning at 10 at Kin 1.

The Cariboo Cougars are back in their own barn hosting the fifth-place Okanagan Rockets this weekend.

The Cats are coming off a three-point weekend in Nanaimo while the Rockets are playing some of their best hockey of the season going 5-0-1 in their last six games.

Now into the home stretch of the BCMML regular season schedule, the Cougars are looking toward the playoffs.  The team knows the value of a pair of wins this weekend and what that could mean down the road.

"We need to get these two wins.  If we do, we have a bye week in a couple weeks and then we're to going to fall a couple points back then, so if we don't get the three of four points this weekend there's a chance we don't finish in the top two and get that bye in week one of playoffs," said defenceman Josh Connolly.  "They're a really quick team so we can't give them too much space, or they'll make us pay."

Head Coach Trevor Sprague has been happy with his team's effort the last couple weekends and is wanting more of the same against the Rockets to finetune into playoff form.  "It defines if we're going to be a second place team in the league this year or if we're going to be playing in the first round of playoffs is what it comes down to.  Our guys are ready to go," said Sprague.

The two teams last met in November in Kelowna when the Rockets took three of four points with a 4-4 tie followed by a 5-4 win.  It's a weekend that hasn't been forgotten by the Cougars.

"When we went down to the Okanagan and played them last time I was really  shocked with how much speed they were able to bring," said forward Hayden-James Berra. "I always know with the Okanagan boys, they're a quick breed, but they brought it to us really hard last time and we definitely took it for granted, we definitely underestimated them."

The Cats see the return of team goal-scoring leader Nathan Craft after missing three games.  Tyler Povelofskie also returns up front for the Cats after missing the last four games with an upper body injury.  Defenceman Colton Manning is expected to miss Saturday's contest with AP Stephen Penner once again filling in on the blueline.  Saturday's puckdrop at Kin 1 is set for 7:15pm with Sunday's rematch at 10:00am.

Former Cariboo Cougar Jari Erricson and the Everett Silvertips made their lone trip of the season to Prince George last weekend giving the one-time Cat a chance to catch-up with family, friends, and former teammates, all the while helping his team to a big four-point weekend.

Erricson is entering the home stretch of his second season in the WHL playing left-wing for the Tips after scoring 36 points in 36 games for the Cougars in 2009-10.  Through 48 games this season, he has three goals and seven assists.  He credits his experience with the Cougar organization for helping him crack the regular Silvertips lineup.

"The MML is a really good league to play in and the program that the Cariboo Cougars run, it's very professional and it makes the adjustment a lot easier," said Erricson from the team hotel Saturday morning coming off a big 5-2 win over the Prince George Cougars the night before in which Jari earned an assist and a plus 2 rating.

But not all nights have been as positive for the Tips this season.  Jari got a taste of the WHL playoffs last year scoring a goal and an assist in three games, but this year the Silvertips are in a battle for their playoff lives, currently sitting on the outside of the Western Conference post-season picture.  The season of struggles for the inexperienced team is something Erricson looks to take with him as he becomes more of a leader.  "It's just a learning experinece right now having a young team like this, and we have to go day by day and learn from our mistakes and try to get better."

With over 100 WHL games now under his belt, Erricson knows the value of constantly trying to improve his game both on and off the ice.  "I try to form as much as a leadership role as I can and be more of a role player on the ice, just trying to get better day by day."

The Silvertips earned the weekend sweep of the Cougars with a 4-3 win Saturday night, leapfrogging Prince George into ninth place in the West, four points back of Victoria for the final playoff berth.

A Brett Roulston hattrick powered the Cariboo Cougars to a 5-3 win over the North Island Silvertips Sunday in Nanaimo.

Coming off a 2-2 tie Saturday night, the two teams continued to trade goals through the first two periods of Sunday's rematch.  Roulston opened scoring in the first period, his second of the weekend as the Cats took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.  The Silvertips answered with a pair of goals in the middle frame before Roulston got his second of the game tying it at two.  The Tips re-took the lead with 4:20 remaining in the second before Eli Jarvis and Roulston with his third scored just nine seconds apart to go up 4-3 heading into the final period.

Cougar Captain Tanner Fjellstrom scored four and a half minutes into the final frame giving the Cats an insurance marker as Cariboo improves to 19-8-5 on the season with a five point lead over the Greater Vancouver Canadians for second in the BCMML.

Ryan Forbes had four helpers Sunday while Fjellstrom had a three point night with a goal and two assists.  The Cougars outshot the Silvertips 39-17 with Nathan Warren earning his 10th win of the season in goal.  The Cougars went 2/5 on the power play allowing one goal against on four Silvertip man advantages.

The Cougars return home for a weekend set against the Okanagan Rockets Saturday and Sunday.

The Cariboo Cougars played to a 2-2 draw with the North Island Silvertips in Nanaimo Saturday night.

The close-knit affair saw the two teams tied at one after the opening frame with Ryan Forbes feeding Cougar Captain Tanner Fjellstrom on the power play for the Cats' lone goal of the period.

The Tips took a 2-1 lead in the second before the Cougars tied up the game once again thanks to an unassisted goal from Brett Roulston.

With a 2-2 score after two the goaltenders shut the door with a scoreless final frame.  

Cariboo went 1/4 on the power play killing off their lone penalty of the game.  The Cats outshot North Island 29-24 with David Readman backstopping the Cougars to the tie.  The Cats take their 18-8-5 record into Sunday's rematch at the Nanaimo Ice Centre, the final meeting of the season for the two clubs. 

The Cariboo Cougars are off to Nanaimo this weekend for their final matchup with the North Island Silvertips.

The Silvertips are coming off a big two wins over the Blazers in which they outscored Thompson 12-2 including a 5-0 shutout Saturday.  The Cougars meanwhile are 4-1-1 in their last six games following last weekend's split with the Kootenay Ice.

A surprising 4-3 loss to Kootenay last Saturday was followed up by a 10-2 destruction of the Ice.  But the weekend opening loss to the last place Ice was a lesson the Cats will take with them as they enter the home stretch of the regular season including this weekend against the 7th place Silvertips.

"We need to work harder and we can't take those teams for granted.  We need to keep continuing on and be consistent," said Cougar forward Chase Astorino.  "We need to make sure that we get the sweep and try to make sure we can catch up to the Giants and try to get that home ice advantage."

When the Silvertips visited Prince George in late October, the two teams split with North Island earning their first ever win against the Cougars on the road.

"We're playing a team that's aggressive, that takes away your time and space and don't give you a lot of opportunites to score goals," said Cougars Head Coach Trevor Sprague.

The Cougars will be without forwards Nathan Craft and Tyler Povelofskie due to injury.  Riley Pettit and Derek Bulmer, younger brother of former Cougar and current Kelowna Rocket star Brett, will step into the lineup while defenceman Colton Manning returns after missing the last four games.

Puckdrop Saturday night at the Nanimo Ice Centre is 5:00pm with Sunday's rematch set for 10:30am.

Young Jameson Jones was in Vancouver today to present a cheque for $3,000 to BC Children's Hospital on behalf of the Cariboo Cougars and their fans.

In mid November, Cougar fans opened their hearts and wallets during a weekend home series with admission by donation, all of which was given to BCCH.  Jameson has been an inspiration for the Cougars as he has battled through cancer for much of his young life.  The fundraising weekend was organized as a thank-you to all the doctors and staff at BC Children's Hospital.

Once again thank you Cougar fans for your generosity and thank you Jameson for continuing to be our biggest fan and inspiration!

After suffering a 4-3 loss to Kootenay Saturday night, the Cariboo Cougars responded with an offensive explosion downing the Ice 10-2 Sunday.

The Cougars got off to another rough start as Nathan Warren let in two goals on three shots with the Ice putting up a 2-0 lead by the 8:06 mark of the first period.  Cougar head coach Trevor Sprague decided to make a goaltender change which immediately turned the tide as Eli Jarvis scored 13 seconds later to put the Cougars on the board cutting the Kootenay lead to one.

Later in the period the Cougars tied the game at two as Jarvis once again beat Ice netminder Kimberly Newell.  The Cats then took their first lead of the weekend off a Ryan Gagnon power play slapshot taking a 3-2 lead into the first intermission.

From there on in it was all Cougars who added three more power play goals in the second from Jake LeBrun, Hayden-James Berra, and Gagnon with his second of the game.

Cariboo added a total of six goals in the middle frame with even strength markers from Brett Roulston, Brett Harris, and Berra who scored his fourth goal of the weekend and 11th point in his last six games.

Cougar Captain Tanner Fjellstrom scored his 12th of the season in the first minute of the third to give the Cats a season-high ten goals Sunday.

The Cougars finished the game 4/10 on the power play, killing off their only two shorthanded situations.  Gagnon and Harris finished the game with four points, Fjellstrom and Jarvis each had three points with Josh Connolly and Ryan Forbes each adding a pair of assists.

The Cougars take their 18-8-4 record back on the road next weekend for a pair of games against the North Island Silvertips Saturday and Sunday.

The Kootenay Ice continued their hot streak Saturday night defeating the Cariboo Cougars in their own barn, 4-3.

Despite outshooting the Ice by a whopping 54-13 margin the Cougars never led in the game as Kootenay goaltender Brett Soles put on an outstanding performance.

Ice forward Riley Brandt opened scoring 4:01 into the first on a long hard slapshot from the Cougar blueline getting it by Cariboo netminder David Readman.  The Ice took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission after Darren Medeiros put a strange bounce into the Cougar net.

The Cougars finally got on the board 6:23 into the second when Hayden-James Berra scored his 13th of the season, shorthanded.  Just over four minutes later the Cats tied the game at two on Nathan Craft's 21st on the year.

But the Ice responded as Mitch Foyle tapped a bouncing puck past the goal line to restore Kootenay's one goal lead making it 3-2 heading into the third.

The Cougars once again tied the game in the first minute of the final frame on the power play with Berra's second of the night.  Foyle then once again gave the Ice a go-ahead goal 7:48 into the third with his second of the game which stood as the eventual game winner.

The loss ends a four-game point streak for the Cougars who remain in second place in the BCMML with a record of 17-8-7.

The game marked the return of Cougar defenceman Josh Connolly who nearly scored on his second shift of the game hitting the goal post before getting his first assist of the season on Berra's second goal.

The Cougars and Ice play in their final meeting of the season Sunday morning at 10:00 at Kin 1.

After a successful road sweep of the Vancouver NE Chiefs last weekend, the Cariboo Cougars are looking to extend their winning streak hosting the Kootenay Ice this Saturday and Sunday.

The Cats are riding a two-game win streak with points in their last four while the Ice are coming off a three point weekend against the Canadians.

Saturday's game marks the return of defenceman Josh Connolly to the Cougars lineup after sitting out the entire season so far due to injury.

Puckdrop on Saturday night is 7:15 with Sunday's rematch set for 10:00am.  Both games are at Kin 1.

A pair of Cariboo Cougars have received a lasting recognition for their role in Team BC's gold medal in men's hockey at the 2011 Canada Winter Games.

At last weekend's BCMML All Star weekend festivities in Coquitlam, Josh Connolly and Brett Harris were presented with their championship rings.  The two Cougars helped lead BC to a 7-4 win over Quebec in the gold medal game last February in Halifax.  Congratulations once again Josh and Brett!

Cariboo Cougars defenceman Raymond Grewal has earned runner up honours for BCMML's December Player of the Month.

Grewal has had a solid year so far for the Cats providing veteran-like presence on the blueline.  The 16-year old boasts 15 points in 26 games with just 8 penalty minutes and has also played several times this season on a call-up basis for the WHL's Prince George Cougars having been selected in the fifth round of the 2010 bantam draft.

A three goal third period led the Cariboo Cougars to a 5-2 win over the Vancouver NE Chiefs Sunday and the weekend sweep.

A slow start had the two teams at a scoreless tie after the first as Cougar netminder David Readman stopped all 12 shots he faced in the frame.

Jake LeBrun put the Cats on the board in the second as Brett Roulston increased the lead to two mid frame.  The Chiefs scored soon after to cut the lead to one.

Michael Bell scored his second in as many games for the Cats in the first minute of the third making it 3-1 before the Chiefs answered back to once again make it a one goal game.  Midway through the final frame Brett Harris scored on a beautiful feed off the stick of Hayden-James Berra to go up by two.  Just over a minute later LeBrun added his second of the game to make the final 5-2 giving the Cougars their third win in their last four games and fourth straight with at least a point.

The Cougars improved their record to 17-7-4 holding onto second place in BCMML.  They return home for a weekend series against the Kootenay Ice Saturday and Sunday at Kin 1.

A late push from the Vancouver NE Chiefs Saturday afternoon wasn't enough as the Cariboo Cougars hung on for the 5-4 win at Coquitlam's Planet Ice.

The Cats went up to a quick 3-0 lead in the first period on goals from Michael Bell, Nathan Craft, and Raymond Grewal who scored on the power play midway through the opening frame.  Tanner Fjellstrom scored 3:11 into the second to put the Cougars up 4-0. 

The Chiefs finally got one by Cariboo goaltender David Readman at the 9:19 mark of the second thanks to Truman Gonzales.  The Chiefs added another in the final minute of the middle frame to cut the Cougars' lead to two.  Hayden-James Berra scored his 12th of the season just over four minutes into the third to restore a three goal lead.  But a Michael Willms tally three minutes later once again made it a two goal game.

The Cougars held off a Chiefs charge until Vancouver scored another with their net empty for the extra attacker with just eight seconds left, which turned out to be too little too late for the home team as the Cougars improve their record to 16-7-4. 

The Cats went 1/6 on the power play while killing off their only two penalties of the game.  The Cougars and Chiefs play in their final regular season meeting Sunday afternoon at 12:00 also at Planet Ice.