Cougars having trouble staying at new home in the win column

The Vankleek Hill Cougars held their heads up high after adding another win to their mediocre record on Saturday evening.

But despite two consecutive wins under their belts, head coach Marc Berniqué says his team and its offensive talent "has not played up to its potential" this season.

After the 10-2 blowout victory last weekend against the North Dundas Rockets, the Cougars welcomed the Papineauville Vikings to town on Saturday, December 3.

After being acquired in a trade for defenceman Pat Garreau, new Cougars goaltender Sébastien Faubert was given the opportunity to take to the ice against his former team.

"Sébastien was very pumped to play against his old team," said Berniqué, noting Faubert's ability to control the puck is expected to help the Cougars defense core.

The Cougars were once again off to a slow start, an affliction that has plagued them in numerous games this season.

"Most of the play appeared to take place in the neutral zone," said Berniqué. "I felt that there was a lot of sloppy play by both teams early in the game. We had trouble in our defensive zone and did not fore-check hard."

The team found its way onto the scoreboard after Julien Martel beat the Vikings goalie in the only goal of the opening frame.

Both coaches seemed to light a fire under their respective teams during the first intermission as the early stages of the second period featured a flurry of scoring chances at both ends.

Faubert was clearly the star for the Cougars, shutting the door on his former team and stopping three consecutive breakaways early in the frame.

The Cougars again solved the Papineauville goaltender with 3:35 left in the period when Pier-Olivier Poulin fired a one-timer off the post and in the net, thanks to a perfect pass from Christopher McPeak. Alex Cournoyer also assisted on the goal.

The Cougars started the final frame with a 5-on-3 power play but were unable to muster up any bonafide scoring chances until after both penalties expired.

Karl Walcott, who currently ranks second in team scoring and tenth in the league, scored his seventh goal of the season at 18:13 of the third period. Yannick Boudrias drew an assist on the goal.

Less than a minute later, after the Cougars were penalized for tripping, defenceman Maxime Bourgon fired a puck on the Vikings goal from his own zone with the intention of clearing the puck and killing some of his teammate's penalty.

However, as the slapshot skipped down the ice, the Vikings goaltender misplayed the puck - watching as it bounced over his pad into the back of the net.

Bourgon's fluke goal, assisted by Martel, gave the Cougars a 4-0 lead and seemed to put the game out of reach for the frustrated Vikings.

But Faubert's flawless performance came to an end before the midpoint of the third period as he was finally beaten by his former squad, cutting the Cougars lead to 4-1. The Cougars also lost control near the end of the match and found themselves in penalty trouble for the better part of the final frame.

With McPeak in the box after an ill-advised tripping penalty, the Vikings scored a power play goal and cut Vankleek Hill's lead in half with less than seven minutes remaining.

"Just when we appeared to be well-settled, we started playing undisciplined again," said Berniqué, insisting the issue of playing a well-disciplined game has been and will again be addressed in an attempt to limit his team's short-handed situations in future games.

Thanks in large part to the dominating play of Faubert, the Vikings were unable to complete a comeback - even after pulling their goaltender in exchange for an extra attacker with a couple of minutes left in the final frame.

Jimmy Berniquez added an empty net goal with 12 seconds remaining, handing the Cougars a 5-2 victory - their second in as many games.

Although he is not entirely pleased with his team's defensive zone play and lack of discipline, Berniqué admitted winning in the NCJHL is not an easy an easy thing to do.

"Tonight was definitely not our best game, but we were able to pull out a win, so we will take it," he said.

The win also came with the loss of forward Andrew Charlebois, who separated his shoulder during the game and is expected to be out of the lineup for four to six weeks.

Trades, new acquisitions

But Vankleek Hill has been just as active off the ice lately, also trading the rights of defenceman Matthew Lalonde to the St-Isidore Aigles for 18-year-old David Gravelle and 21-year-old Jocelyn Lamarche.

Gravelle, a young stay-at-home defenseman, is expected to bring some physicality to the Cougars defensive core - and at 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, Berniqué hopes he will be a force to be reckoned with in the defensive zone.

Lamarche, a native of Hawkesbury, has been tagged as an offensive-minded defenseman who can also play a strong defensive game.

The addition of Gravelle and Lamarche should add another threat to the already powerful Cougars blue line. Both players were given a chance to showcase their talents on Sunday, December 4 as the Cougars traveled to nearby St-Isidore for a showdown with the Aigles.

Prior to the game, Vankleek Hill sat in sixth position in the NCJHL standings, a single point ahead of the seventh place team from St-Isidore. But after a disappointing 5-1 loss, the Cougars win streak would come to an abrupt end, almost as quickly as it began.

The game began with a scoreless first period, after which Vankleek Hill fell behind by a goal five minutes into the second. The team was quick to answer back with a goal from Poulin, assisted by McPeak and Martel, but it was all downhill from there as St-Isidore scored four unanswered goals.

"This was a very big game," said the Cougars head coach. "Our guys appear to have difficulty motivating themselves, especially for away games. I am very disappointed in our performance tonight."

A note to all Cougars fans: the team will be playing back-to-back home games this weekend. Friday night will give the Cougars a chance to avenge the loss at the hands of St-Isidore as the second half of the home-and-home will take place in Vankleek Hill. Saturday's matchup with see the Cougars face off against the Gatineau Express.

Both games get underway at 7:30 p.m. at the Vankleek Hill Community Centre.