Three Cougars Ready for Final OJHL Playoffs
By Jeff Gard | Northumberland Today
http://www.northumberlandtoday.com/2015/02/24/three-cougars-ready-for-final-ojhl-playoffs
COBOURG - Connor Armour has played five Ontario Junior Hockey League seasons for the Cobourg Cougars. Connor Hogg has played four seasons. Taylor Gauld has played three.
Like every season previous, the end goal is to win the OJHL championship.
Even though the three have been in Cobourg for different lengths of time, they all have one thing in common. Armour, Hogg and Gauld are all 20-years-old and tonight begins their final playoff run with the Cougars.
Cobourg hosts Game 1 of their North-East Conference quarterfinal series against the Whitby Fury on Wednesday, 7 p.m., at the Cobourg Community Centre.
“There's obviously a little bit more on the line knowing that this is the last time you get to go through this,” says Armour, who is the Cougars captain. “Playoffs are what you play for. It's the best time of the season. It's obviously a do-or-die mentality. Everyone is just really excited to get started.”
Win or lose, every game is one step closer to the end.
“It just makes you want it more really,” Gauld says. “It's your last year and you want to go as far as you can. Everyone wants to win a junior championship. It's hard to do, but that's the goal when you come back every year is to win a championship.”
Hogg says “it's a lot of mixed emotions.”
“I'm a little disappointed that it's coming to an end, it's been a great ride, I've met a lot of great people,” he continues. “I'm just excited to get (playoffs) going and hopefully it has a great result.”
Cobourg finished the regular season with a record of 36-13-1-4 for 77 points, which was second in the tough East Division, third overall in the North-East Conference and fourth overall in the 22-team OJHL.
There's no doubt the Cougars three overagers provided the leadership and on-ice production expected of them.
Armour led the Cougars with 64 points (23 goals and 41 assists). Hogg had 24 goals and 24 assists for 48 points and Gauld 14 goals and 28 assists for 42 points. Both Hogg and Gauld played in all of Cobourg's 54 regular season contest. Armour missed just three. He did finish in the team-lead for most game-winning goals with six.
Cobourg's 20-years-old trio also proved to be a factor on special teams.
Armour was tied for the team-lead in power play goals with eight in addition to 11 assists during man-advantage opportunities. Meanwhile, Hogg had four power play goals and six assists and Gauld registered two goals and eight assists.
They also accounted for six of Cobourg's eight shorthanded goals this season; Hogg had three of them, Gauld two and Armour one.
“We certainly rely on those three guys,” says Cougars head coach Curtis Hodgins. “They are obviously key members of the team, play a lot of minutes both on the power play and PK and they're our only 20-year-olds and have a lot of experience behind them. They've been great Cougars and we expect them to go out with their best hockey.”
Special teams are certainly important, especially in the playoffs. Power play goals for the team can certainly swing momentum and as far as that's concerned, the Cougars also do a great job limiting goals when opponents have the man-advantage.
In fact, the Cougars led the OJHL in penalty killing this season with a 90.48 percentage. They allowed just 24 power play goals in 252 times shorthanded.
It's never surprising to see Gauld use his speed to get a breakaway opportunity in a game, especially during times shorthanded. It's those kinds of chances that can be the difference maker in a series and Gauld has no plans to slow down.
“You definitely want to take the chances, you don't want to sit back because that can ultimately cost you a series if you sit back,” Gauld says. “If you get those chances I think you've got to take them.”
Being through enough playoff series – which include several Game 7s and even a big upset over Trenton two seasons ago – during his tenure, Armour knows nothing can be taken for granted, whether you finish high or low in the standings.
“I think the biggest thing you learn is to stay composed,” Armour says. “You just have to stay calm and not let stuff bother you throughout the game and throughout the series. Things are going to go a certain way and you have to stick with it.
“You're never out of a game in playoffs and we've seen that in the last couple years,” the captain adds. “Anything can happen in playoffs.”
Cobourg players who have returned from last season certainly haven't forgotten the way the season ended a year ago. The Cougars were leading the Aurora Tigers 3-2 in the conference semifinals heading back to a big crowd in Cobourg. The Tigers rallied to win the final two games and advanced to the OJHL championship series before losing to the Toronto Patriots.
“That's obviously a bitter taste for sure, especially last year going into Game 7 and we were up 3-2 in that series,” Armour says. “There's obviously, especially for the guys who have been here, some unfinished business. Ultimately we want to win a championship this year and if you look around that room it's definitely a championship team. It's just going to come down to how bad we want it.”
Part of the unfinished business is during Armour's tenure, so it goes the same for Hogg and Gauld, the Cougars have never made it past two rounds in the playoffs. The reward for a series victory in the tough conference is another strong opponent.
“Our conference is so tough,” Hogg remarks. “Every team is almost a league contender. We just have to take it game-by-game, series-by-series and hopefully we can do better than past results. Every team in our conference is hard-hitting, they play two-way games and are offensively skilled. It's attention to detail which is what our team really pays attention to and hopefully we can stick to our game plan and play well.”
Adds Gauld, “it's a battle every night. In playoffs the level goes up and everyone wants to win so you have to come prepared to play every night. The bounces may not go your way every night but you have to fight through that.”
The fact the Cougars only have three 20-year-olds is a testament to the club's development over the course of the season. Of the three teams that finished ahead of them in the overall standings; Trenton has nine 20-year-olds listed on their roster, Georgetown has eight and Aurora five. Even Kingston, which finished fourth in the conference behind Cobourg, has nine 20-year-olds.
In addition, the Cougars have just four 19-year-old players as compared to nine for Georgetown, eight for Trenton and six for Aurora.
Hodgins is fine with not being heavily loaded with veteran players as long as he has the right leaders for his team, such as Armour, Gauld and Hogg.
“I'm a big believer in that age is simply a number. If the kids are ready to play, they're ready to play,” Hodgins says. “I've had a lot of 20-year-olds (with other teams) that have taken the team in the wrong direction at times. It's one thing to have a lot of experience, a lot of older guys, but it can also work to your detriment.”
Cobourg already led the league in attendance during the regular season and the crowds are likely to only get larger with the start of the playoffs.
“Having that fan base behind you and that energy every night makes you want to win even more, Gauld says.
jeff.gard@sunmedia.ca
Twitter.com/NT_jgard
