The Vankleek Hill Cougars once again split their matches over the weekend, though, the two results came in dramatically different fashion.
On Friday, October 6, the Cougars traveled to Vanier to take on the Bytown Royals, one of the expansion teams to join the National Capital Junior Hockey League (NCJHL) for the 2017-2018 season. The Cougars would hold nothing back in their first meeting with the new club, skating to a lopsided 11-1 drumming over their neophyte opponents. Eight different Cougars scored in the contest, with Jonathan Leblanc and Kyle Giroux each picking up three points on the night.
The Cougars then returned home on Saturday evening to face the North Dundas Rockets, in what would prove to be one of the closest games in the Cougars’ young season. The first period opened without scoring from either side, forecasting the closeness of the game to come. The deadlock continued in the second, with both teams scoring two goals to maintain the tie heading into the third. Despite potting another two in the final frame, the Cougars would be unable to outpace the Rockets, who would score three of their own to take the game by a final score of 5-4.
With the split, Vankleek Hill moves to 2-3 on the season, placing them at seventh in the standings (out of 12 teams).
The Cougars play their next game against the Cumberland Bandits in a rare Saturday Night away game on October 14. The team does not play again until the following weekend when they face the Gatineau-Hull Volant in Vankleek Hill.
