Cougars start 2012 with convincing home win

The Vankleek Hill Cougars rang in the new year with a convincing 5-1 victory over the North Dundas Rockets. Cougars head coach Marc Berniqué was content with his team's performance in their defensive zone throughout the game and was proud to see his team play some inspired hockey.

"Our guys played more inspired hockey and were able to put together a good 60 minutes of hockey," he said.

Although Vankleek Hill got into some late-game penalty trouble, Berniqué praised his players for sticking up for each other, noting, "Most of the penalties were for sticking up for teammates especially our goalie as they ran him over twice in the game."

The Cougars hope to continue their winning ways in 2012, but in order to do so their coach says they will "need to continue to play with the emotions they displayed in Saturday's game," putting emphasis on the phrase "controlled emotions."

The Cougars made a several changes to their team over the holidays and believe that things are starting to look up for the seventh-place squad.

Check back next week for a full article detailing the many changes to your local team. This Saturday, January 14, the Cougars will face off against the Rockland Nationals at the Vankleek Hill Community Centre.