Prince George Cougars forward Josh Maser will likely remember Sunday, December 10th for as long as his hockey career takes him.
The Houston, BC native tallied the Teddy Bear toss goal and two more for his first career WHL hat-trick, but, along with his teammates, also witnessed a three-goal lead crumble at the hands of the Victoria Royals.
The BC Division leaders came back in the third period with three unanswered goals, ultimately winning the contest 5-4 in overtime.
.@PGCougars’ Josh Maser scores 2017 #TeddyBearToss goal on PP to take 1-0 lead against @victoriaroyals | #CityOfPG #Sports @mypgnow pic.twitter.com/QlcknWbOfw
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) December 10, 2017
On 94.3 the GOAT‘s post-game show, Cougars’ Head Coach Richard Matvichuk believes his team played a terrific game despite some ‘bad calls’ in the final frame.
“We played hard, we played a great five-on-five mentality game; do we ever want to give up four goals in the third period? No, of course not, and that’s a mistake that we’ll use as a learning curve for our young players and goaltenders, but this game wasn’t lost because of what Victoria did. It was because of two veteran referees that I wouldn’t even want them to ref a bantam game after what we just saw.”
Thanks to Maser on a power-play, the teddy bears, stuffed animals, socks, and jackets flew over the glass with six minutes left in the first period, one year after his first game in a Cougars sweater at the 2016 Teddy Bear Toss game.
He says netting the goal is a feeling unlike any other.
“I saw Brogan O’Brien got the puck, and then I went back door because there was a great screen out in front by Jackson Leppard. So I just tapped it in on a nice pass from him. It was a lot of fun out there when the bears came raining down on us.”
.@PGCougars Forward Josh Maser (@joshmaser88) showing excitement for lighting the 2017 #TeddyBearToss lamp against @victoriaroyals; donations going to @SallyAnnPG | #CityOfPG #Sports @mypgnow pic.twitter.com/xNyl06Lnyl
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) December 10, 2017
The Cougars carried the momentum into the second period, which saw Leppard and Maser once more lift the home team to a 3-0 advantage after 40 minutes, while 16-year-old goaltender Taylor Gauthier had the shutout in sights having stopped 15 shots thus far.
Matvichuk commends his young team with staying tough against a very skilled franchise.
“Maser and other young players have elevated their game on and off the ice. For him, he’s been developing quickly, getting bigger and stronger, and the strides he’s made from last year to now is just remarkable. He strives off adrenaline too; you know, he takes a whack and seems to like it.”
However, Victoria surged back into the contest, silencing the 4,175 fans with three goals within five-and-a-half minutes of each other early in the final frame.
Maser would also make hats fly over the glass after a video review confirmed his power-play goal with eight minutes left in regulation, giving the Cats a 4-3 lead for the next three minutes.
“If you play the game with more speed, you’re going to get more opportunities and today, the pucks were just bouncing my way,” says Maser on his game.
“You’re going to have to take a few cross-checks in the back and maybe get hit every now and then, but pucks are going to get to your stick and you’ll just put it in. So there is a positive to scrambling in front on special teams.”
.@joshmaser88 gets the #TeddyBearToss & ??? goal! @PGCougars lead 4-3 with 7min left in regulation against @victoriaroyals | #CityOfPG #Sports @mypgnow pic.twitter.com/ZhF2VZOaTT
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) December 11, 2017
The Royals would bury another tying goal, forcing an extra period, in which they scored the winner, from captain Matt Phillips, his second of the game, nearly two minutes in.
Likely, BC netminder Griffen Outhouse assisted on the winning goal for his Victoria team, handing Prince George it’s third OT loss of the 2017-18 season and decreasing the Cats’ record to 11-14-3-2.
Moving forward, Coach Matvichuk says being without Dennis Cholowski at Team Canada selection camp, Brogan O’Brien, and Kody McDonald (suspension), will be tough, but confidence is high.
“Our guys are always ready to come to work and battle; that’s what it’s all about with being young, and building this team to where we want to get to eventually. The kids have been fine, and they’re going to get their feet wet this week in getting to play some more hockey.”
The Cougars’ last home game of 2017 is slated for Tuesday, 7PM at the CN Centre to close out the home series with the Royals.
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