Challenge Cup: CBC Hockey Enjoying Lengthy Layoff

The CBC Cadets are playing in top form at the perfect time. It remains to be seen how 12 days off will impact the team's quest for a championship.

CBC had nine different goal scorers on its way to an impressive 10-0 victory over the Eureka Wildcats last Saturday night (Feb. 12), propelling the Cadets to the semifinals of the Challenge Cup.

Now, CBC is gearing up to begin play in the Challenge Cup semifinals. The Cadets will meet Webster Groves, who defeated Oakville, on Thursday at 8:45 p.m. in Game 1 of the semifinals at Hardee’s IcePlex. Game 2 will be Feb. 26 at 6 p.m.

The Statesmen, a No. 12-seed, are a veteran team and have already proven they can knock off high seeds in the Challenge Cup tournament.

“I told our team that was our best effort all season,” CBC coach John Jost said. “We were able to roll our lines and our power play looked sharp and we got great defense and goaltending.”

“Webster always seems to be in the thick of things so it will be a great series,” Jost said.

The scary thing is that CBC senior captain Jack Ryan thinks the Cadets have not reached their full potential yet.

“I don’t think we’ve seen our best yet,” Ryan said. “I don’t think we’ve done our best getting everybody to keep going but tonight was our best effort and pretty close to what we can do.”

Jost added, “I’d like to see us sustain a forecheck a little more. Sometimes we’re getting in there and making contact but having a little problem getting possession.”

CBC defeated Eureka 5-1 in Game 1 of their series, and dominated both games throughout.

Among the Cadets who scored in Game 2 were Ryan, leading scorer Tanner Bulejski and senior captain defenseman Brennan Devers. The 2009 champs had 33 shots while only yielding a staggering seven shots on their way to a shutout. CBC has outscored its opponents 26-1 in four games in the first two rounds of the Challenge Cup tournament.

“We want to win this thing real bad,” Devers said. “It all starts with the seniors and we’re pushing our younger guys to work together as a team and we’re really practicing well.”

CBC has something to prove after losing to DeSmet in last year’s Challenge Cup final in overtime. The Cadets have won seven of the last 10 Challenge Cups, but are hungry as ever for the 2011 title after the way last season ended.

“It would be unbelievable to get back to the final and win this year after what happened last year,” Ryan said. “This is an exciting time of the year so this is where we need to step up our game and really have some fun.”

Webster Groves won Game 1 against Oakville 5-2 and won Game 2, 5-4.

Despite the way the season ended on the scoreboard, the Eureka Wildcats made huge steps this year with their hockey program. Since the program’s inception in 2002, this was only the second time Eureka made it to the Challenge Cup tournament and it was the first time they made it to the second round.

“Our program has been steadily building over the past few years and expectations are high now,” Markovitz said. “This was the best season in our program’s history and we hope to continue our success as a Challenge Cup team in the postseason.”

Eureka’s 10 seniors were a major reason why the Wildcats made it to the second round of the Challenge Cup with some of them being in the program for six years starting as junior high students.

“I spoke to the seniors and told them I was very proud to coach them this year,” Eureka coach Kevin Markovitz said. “They brought a lot of heart and leadership and I’m not sure I’ll ever have a team like this again.”

Eureka’s top five leading point scorers (Kenny Janssen, Clay Link, Greg Ormson, Matt Hoffman, Teddy Jones) were all seniors.