Cougars enter high school hockey playoffs with a win

The Carman Cougars boys high school hockey team is headed to the playoffs on a high note after winning their final regular season game. The Cougars finished the regular season with a 9-12-2 record, which is good for a sixth-place finish in the eight-team Zone 4 league.

Carman’s most recent game came on Feb. 7 in Carman against the Morden Thunder. The Cougars had a great game as they scored one goal in each of three periods for a 3-0 win. Ethan Wilde, Josh Hiebert and Ryan Penner had the Cougars’ tallies, while Maysen Mazurat stopped 54 shots for the shutout in net.

“It was nice to get a big win like that at the end of the season,” said Cougars’ head coach Michael Heatherington. “We were on a little bit of a losing skid before that game, so getting back on track definitely helps the mindset going into the playoffs. It was also our first game back with our captain, Ethan Wilde, who seemed to bring a lot of energy back into the lineup. You could see the rest of the team was excited for him to come back. I believe he was a part of all three goals that we scored while only giving him limited minutes.”

“For us to make some noise in the playoffs, everybody simply is going to have to buy into the ‘no passengers’ mentality, meaning everybody needs to be going every shift. It’s also going to take strong goaltending like we saw in our last game. Maysen was rock solid, making 54 saves for a well-deserved shutout. We’re going to need him at his best as well.”

Wilde led the team in the regular season with 41 points, followed closely behind by Hiebert (31) and Grant Friesen (30). Goaltender Mazurat has a 2.74 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage, which puts him as the league’s top netminder of the season.

The Cougars begin play in the Zone 4 playoffs this week with a best-of-three quarterfinal series against the third-seed Pembina Tigers.

“I truly believe that our team can make a run in these playoffs as it all comes down to who wants it more,” said Heatherington. “With eight Grade 12 students on the team this year, it should be a realization that it very well could be their last couple games of organized hockey and therefore making sure they leave it all on the ice when the final buzzer goes.”

Heatherington notes that his club matched up well against the Pembina Tigers throughout the season, going 1-2, with the two losses coming without its captain in the lineup.

“I think it’s going to be an awesome series. They’re a great hockey team who have played their best hockey down the last stretch of the season, so it’s going to be a great test for our team.”