The final score was 7-0 but Jaxson Dikur played it like it was 1-0 squeaker.
From start to finish in Sunday’s deciding game of the BC Elite Hockey League U18 semifinal series against the Vancouver North West Hawks, the 17-year-old Cariboo Cougars goalie was a six-foot-five 190-pound human eclipse intent on wilting the Hawks’ hopes of advancing to the league championship.
Dikur stopped all 35 shots he faced to put the cap on a 2-1 series win for the Cougars that moves them on to the best-of-three final starts Friday at Kin 1 against the Okanagan Rockets.
“Early in the game he made the saves he needed to, he battled right to the end – it’s 7-0 with four minutes left and he’s diving from post to post,” said Cougars head coach Tyler Brough.
“That’s the grit and determination that we need and that’s what got us through. We weren’t at our best (Saturday) and we showed up today and I think our depth shone through and we ran ‘em out of gas. Obviously it was unfortunate their goalie who had played a lot of games for them went down, but at the end of the day I’m not sure it mattered. I think we had too much today and it showed.”
As valuable as Dikur to the Cougars, the Hawks were leaning heavily on starting goalie Matthew Bowman, who was lost to a shoulder injury 12 minutes into the game. Bowman, who played exceptionally well in the first two games of the series, was injured when he extended his shoulder and fell to the ice trying to stop the shot from Ryan Bissett that opened the scoring.
Bowman had to be helped off the ice and was taken to hospital to pop his shoulder back into its socket, an injury that first cropped up last season.
The Cougars were relentless on Bowman’s replacement, Mowat Sweet, peppering him with 13 more shots in the first period and one of them, from Cariboo winger Nicholas Gordon, found the net.
The Cougars scored four more in the second period to pull away. Jack Tidsbury, Bissett (on a power play), Miller Tedesco and Beau Murray all found the net behind Sweet, and Jaxon Larmand completed the scoring in the third period.
“We had depth scoring all season and lacked it in (Game 2) and that’s what you need to see to continue on,” said Brough. “When we play with everyone aboard we’re hard to beat.
“We’re playing exciting, hard and fast hockey, heavy on the forecheck and when we’re playing good we feel we have a chance to win against anybody. There’s a nine-hour bus ride for anybody to come up here and we want to take advantage of that. We do that all year and teams don’t understand how hard it is on them and we’re ready for it.”
The Cougars outshot the Hawks 44-35.
Playing three games in less than a three-day span, including a triple-overtime 4-3 Cougars’ win Friday, and the fatigue factor taxed both teams. The Hawks won Game 2 Saturday by a 3-2 count.
“I think we just battled hard and ran them out of gas, and that’s why we had success today,” said Dikur, a native of Williams Lake who looks ready to make the jump to the WHL next season with the Seattle Thunderbirds.
“That was a busy game. Our defence kept me seeing the puck, they help so much, more than they’re given credit for.”
Dikur was looking forward to another duel with Bowman and was sorry to see him forced to leave the game.
“You never want to see that with anyone going down like that and having to be helped off the ice but that’s how hockey is, that’s the game,” said Dikur, who can’t wait to face the Rockets in the final next weekend.
“Playing at home is such an advantage, especially against a team like (Okanagan), they’re a tough grinding team and if we do what did this weekend, feed off the energy, we’ll bang it out and get it done.”
Near-capacity crowds created an electric atmosphere for all three weekend playoff games and no doubt Kin 1 will be rocking again for the final. Seeing all those people, most there to cheer on the Cougars, provided added motivation for the home side.
“9 a.m. and the crowd looks like that, that’s all the energy you need to go out and compete and our team, from goalie and D-line was great and up front we found ways to score,” said Cougars captain Grady Gustafson, who fired the OT winner on Game 1.
“Credit to the Hawks, they came to play today and all series. They gave us a good series and there’s nothing more you can ask. (Dikur) stood tall in there, that was a great performance by him and he stepped up when he needed to and had a great game.”
Hawks captain Spencer Huth thought his team played much better Sunday than the score indicated.
“It just one of those games, the score didn’t really predict the outcome, I’m so proud of these guys and the way they fought and never quit right to the last whistle,” said Huth.
He admitted Dikur was the difference and without Bowman the Hawks weren’t the team they were earlier in the series.
“(Dikur’s) a great goalie and he’s got a big future ahead of him,” said Huth. “Matthew’s a huge piece on our team, he’s our team in a nutshell, and we can’t do everything without him, but things happen. He’s played amazing all year and he’s a great goalie. Even though 7-0, I’m super proud of these guys, they’ve got a lot of hockey ahead of them.”
The Cougars started the playoffs with a two-game sweep of the Thompson Blazers.
The Rockets dispatched the Vancouver North East Chiefs in a two-game quarterfinal series, then swept the Valley West Hawks in the other semifinal, winning 6-0 of Friday and 2-1 on Saturday.
