It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the Vankleek Hill Cougars, who have lost four straight games while battling injuries, but the upcoming Christmas break could be just what the doctor ordered.
The Cougars (14-9-0-0) suffered two losses last weekend, falling 11-0 to the league leading Gatineau-Hull Olympic 11-0 on Sunday (December 17), the day after a Saturday evening (December 16) 8-5 home loss to the St-Isidore Eagles (13-10-0-1). The two losses dropped Vankleek Hill into third place in the National Capital Junior Hockey League standings, just one point ahead of St-Isidore.
Connor Cook, Justin Duchesne, Alexi Gaudreau, Cedric Hughes, Kyle Huneault, Samuel Levesque, Tyler Proulx and Jean-Miguel Savage scored for St-Isidore in the win over the Cougars. Gaudreau also had two assists, while Jacob Levac assisted on four of the Eagles goals. Justin Casault earned the win in goal. Bruno Laframboise, Maxime Laliberte, Andy Lightle-Blais, Malcolm Seguin and Zachary Sullivan replied for Vankleek Hill, with netminder Tristan Paquette taking the loss.
Injuries have taken their toll on the Cougars, who are without team captain Joshua Desjardins, along with forward Jason Crete and starting goaltender Brayden Prevost. However Vankleek Hill’s netminding received a boost with the return of Jeremie Tessier, who was with the team for the 2022-2023 season.
Upcoming games
The Cougars are off until Friday, January 5, when they will travel to Gatineau for a rematch against the Volant. They will then face the Cumberland Castors at the Vankleek Hill Arena on Saturday, January 6, in a 7:30 p.m. start.
Mac Hinton with his nephews Reid Cunning (left) and Garrett Cunning, prior to last Saturday’s game against St-Isidore. (Submitted Photo)
