S P O R T S COUGARS CLOBBER CASTORS FOR NCJHL CUP
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
The Vankleek Hill Cougars beat the Clarence Creek Castors four games in a row in the playoffs to claim the National Capital Hockey League Cup. The fourth and final game took place Saturday night at the Vankleek Hill Arena, in front of a full house of more than 500 fans. The Castors got the opening goal in the first period but the Cougars clawed their way to a 3-1 victory against the visiting team. “I don’t even know what words to use,” said Cougars’ general manager Marc Ber- nique during a later interview. “They (players) were ecstatic.” The Cougars and the Castors were among the top three teams at the end of the regular play schedule for the National Capital Junior Hockey League (NCJHL). Both battled their way through the quarter and semi-finals of the playoffs series, to face each other in the finals starting over the March 23 weekend. The final game finished late Saturday night, at the Vankleek Hill Arena, with a 3-1 score for the Cougars. “When we clinched everything at the end, it was sort of a relief,” said Bernique, “but we knew we had a team that could go all the way.” He noted that the first 10 minutes of the opening period saw the Cougars make a number of mistakes on the ice because of nervousness, with the pressure of trying to finish the series and not end up with a fifth game scheduled for the next night in Clarence Creek. The Castors scored the opening goal of the night but then the Cou- gars settled down.
1 Les Cougars de Vankleek Hill sont les gagnants ultimes de la Ligue de hockey junior de la capitale nationale pour la saison 2018-2019. Les Cougars ont battu les Castors de Clarence Creek en quatre matchs de suite dans les séries éliminatoires de la ligue, terminant la série par une victoire de 3-1, devant une foule de plus de 500 personnes, à domicile à l’aréna de Vankleek Hill, le samedi soir 30 mars. —photo fournie
“We basically took control of the game,” said Bernique. “We swept them. We knew we could beat them.” Bernique credited “a sense of belonging” as the Cougars’ greatest strength during the past season. “Everybody was part of a team,” he said. “They knew what the goal was and they bought into it.” Next season for Castors Castors’ general manager Andr é Roy expressed himself as very satisfied overall with how the team and club has done for the 2018-2019 NCJHL season. “We had one of our best seasons ever in
the NCJHL,” Roy said during a Sunday phone interview. “We won quite a lot of hardware. Our veterans played well as expected, and our goaltending has been outstanding, and also our defensive play.” After the post-season banquet, the Cas- tors Club executive will start planning for the next season. Roy noted that the club will lose just four of their senior veterans from this season as Rapha ë l Payant, Mathew Clifford, Patrick Lemay, and Aiden Cannell all turn 21, which removes them from junior C hockey. “We should have a solid core coming back,” Roy said. “Next year we’re looking
to have a lot of local guys join our group.” Final game results The March 30 finale at the Vankleek Hill Arena finished 3-1 for the home team with Cougars’ goals from Hugo Blanchard, Nicolas Castonguay, and Keean McEachern. Assists on the scoring came from Nikolas Ayotte, Tyler Dopelhamer, Justin Labrosse, and Danny Plourde-Grenon, with Alexander Labr è che guarding the net.
Rapha ë l Payant scored for the Castors in first period, with help from Matthew Clifford. Corey Camirand was in the net. VANKLEEK HILL COMES TOGETHER FOR THE 15TH ANNUAL POND ROCKET TOURNAMENT
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9500, ch Côte-des-Anges, Sainte-Scholastique (Mirabel) Pour réservation : 450-475-8557 www.cabaneasucrebertrand.ca Produits d’érable sur place • Permis de la SAQ Musique et animation sur place Vous retrouverez de nouveau notre buffet des sucres à volonté le samedi soir et dimanche midi et soir MINI FERME GRATUITE • TOUR DE TRAÎNEAU $ N’oubliez pas que nous avons toujours notre brunch tous les dimanches de l’année de 9h30 à 13h. Pour la période des sucres : de 9h à 11h Cabane à sucre Bertrand Ouvert du jeudi au dimanche à partir du 2 mars, 16 h.
The 15th annual Pond Rocket Tournament took place over the weekend in Vankleek Hill. Sixteen teams played over 25 games during the two-day tournament on Friday March 29 and Saturday March 30 at the Vankleek Hill arena. The idea for the Pond Rocket tournament was cooked up between Jason Jackson, Danny Duval and Derek Duval in an effort to promote their business at the time, Pond Rocket Sports, when it opened back in 2004. —photo Alexia Marsillo
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