“Since I lost 17 players and had a complete rebuild, I think we’ve done great,” said Coach Tim Kosch.

The biggest challenge, Kosch noted, is making sure he has a full lineup of players ready to go on the ice during game time. Some of the Castors have had work or other commitments that conflicted sometimes with the weekend game schedule.

“But when my whole team is there, we’re good,” Kosch said. “We have a very strong defensive team.”

The past week didn’t go well for the Castors with a 7-1 loss to the Vankleek Hill Cougars, at the end of a makeup game January 29, then a 6-2 loss Sunday night in Saint-Isidore to the Aigles. Nicholas Gaumond scored for Clarence Creek against the Cougars while Sam Gaudet and Zach Payer popped in singles for Clarence Creek Sunday night.

As of the February 2 weekend, the Castors and the Aigles are tied at 34 points each, with 31 games played for Saint-Isidore compared to 30 games for Clarence Creek. The Castors have four games left on their schedule, including one more makeup game that was postponed from earlier in the season because of bad weather.

The Castors are in Gatineau this Friday night and then come home to host the Aigles in a rematch Sunday night.

Vankleek Hill

The Vankleek Hill Cougars may have to settle for second place in the regular season of the National Capital Junior Hockey League, and focus their efforts and attention now on their upcoming playoffs schedule.

The Cougars still sit in second place in the league standings with 44 points after 30 games played, following their February 2 weekend session. They are the East Division leaders in the National Capital Junior Hockey League (NCJHL) while the South Grenville Rangers hold the top spot in the West Division with 55 points after 30 games played. Both clubs still have at least three games left on their regular season schedule, which wraps up mid-February.

Vankleek Hill hosted Clarence Creek last Wednesday night, taking care of one of the makeup games that were postponed from earlier in the year because of bad weather. The Cougars chewed up the Castors 7-1, with Samuel Lemay, the goalscoring star of the night with four points to his credit, along with assisting on two other goals. Scoring singles for the Cougars on January 29 were Nikolas Ayotte, Jonathan Leblanc, and Maxim Rozon.

Saturday night, over the February 1 weekend, the Cougars hosted the Gatineau Hull-Volant, who are sitting in last place in the East Division. The Cougars gave the visiting team a 6-4 scratching with two goals by Nicolas Castonguay and singles from Jonathan Lacroix, Trystan Lavoie, Zacharie Leblanc, and Christophe Quann.

The Cougars are on the road for the first week of February, facing the Bytown Royals Friday and the South Grenville Rangers on Saturday.