The Saanich Braves, with their hot start to the season, were the early talk of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League.
The Campbell River Storm, who will host the 2018-19 Fred Cyclone Taylor Cup sa国际传媒 Junior B championship tournament, also will have their say this season.
But the surging Victoria Cougars have suddenly stolen everybody鈥檚 thunder in the VIJHL with an eight-game winning streak. The Cougars (13-4-1) put their winning run on the line Thursday night when they host the Nanaimo Buccaneers (10-5-1) in a key contest at 7:15 p.m. in the Archie Browning Sports Centre in Esquimalt.
The Buccaneers are second to the Storm (12-5-1) in the North Division.
The Cougars lead the Braves (10-3-3), who have lost three consecutive games, by six points in the South Division, although Saanich retains two games in hand.
A big part of the Cougars鈥� recent resurgence has been the scoring of Prince George native Mateo Albinati, who has 15 goals and 15 assists for 30 points to lead the VIJHL.
Second in league points is Cougars teammate Booker Chacalias with 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points. They will be up against Darian Harris of the Buccaneers tonight, who leads the VIJHL in goals with 16.
