A starring role in the Mac's major midget tournament in Calgary was all it took for Marcus Beesley.
He got hot as the goalie for the Cariboo Cougars and took his team into uncharted territory as playoff contestants at the Mac's -- a first-time accomplishment for a Prince George team.
From that point on, Beesley was the Cougars' kingpin and he went on to lead the team to an unexpected second-place 17-5-4 record in the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League.
It seems his stellar play in net did not go unnoticed. On Thursday, the 17-year-old Beesley found out he's been named the BCMMHL's all-star goaltender.
"It was pretty exciting to hear about it today, I was really happy about it," said Beesley.
"The Mac's tournament was really a first-class event. This year we had a legitimate opportunity to win the tournament but unfortunately it didn't work out and we lost by one goal in the quarterfinals to the (Vancouver North West) Giants (who went on to win the final).
"I was kind of the go-to guy there and played all of the games except for a little bit of one and felt really strong in the nets that whole tournament."
The confidence Beesley gained in the Mac's set the tone for the rest of the season. The Cougars wrapped up a second-place finish to earn a first-round playoff bye, then swept the Vancouver North East Chiefs before losing to the Giants in the two-game championship series. One bad period doomed the Cougars to a 6-2 loss in Game 1, and Vancouver beat the Cougars 5-4 in triple overtime in Game 2.
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