Mintos' Travis Swanson gives assistant captain Jacob Cossette a celebratory hug after Cossette scored his first goal of the game against the Warman Wildcats Wednesday. Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff

By Jeff D’Andrea

Mintos back in the win column

Air Ronge’s Cossette can’t stop scoring points as his Mintos beat Wildcats

Sep 29, 2021 | 9:41 PM

A group of young fans, most of them gussied up in green tutus and puffy boas, decided to do a hot lap around the Art Hauser Centre track after every Prince Albert Minto goal on Wednesday. Mintos’ assistant captain Jacob Cossette made sure all of them were going to be doing a lot of running.

Cossette scored two goals himself and set up two more to Ryland Martin as the Mintos beat the Warman Wildcats 5-3 Wednesday at the Art Hauser Centre. Both teams are now 2-1 in the young Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League season.

The 17-year-old from Air Ronge has been shot off of a cannon to start the year. Through three games, Cossette already has more assists (seven) than any other player in the league has points (five). His nine points are almost double everybody else. In fact, his two-goal, two-assist performance on Wednesday would place in the top-ten itself in SMU18AAAHL scoring.

“He’s a key player for us,” Mintos assistant coach Bryan Swystun said. “He’s a big body out there, he handles the puck well, he’s got a man shot and we look for him for leadership in how he plays, and to add to the scoring of our team. He does that. He does it well and he does it quietly. That’s why he’s one of our assistant captains.”

Cossette played the first two games of the year as a winger on the top line but shifted to centre the second line with Ryland Martin and Travis Swanson on the flanks. The newly-formed trio was responsible for all five goals on the night, with Swanson scoring the Mintos’ insurance goal on a rebound in the third period.

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“I’m connecting with my linemates. I’ve been switching lines and putting the puck in the net, and helping them put the puck in the net, whether it’s one line or the other,” Cossette said. “I think our team’s really good about that, I think we can play with anyone and put pucks in the net.”

Mintos defenceman Danton Cox lays the boom on Wildcats centreman Connor Gabriel during Wednesday’s regular-season game at the Art Hauser Centre. Jeff D’Andrea/paNOW Staff

The Mintos had a 3-1 lead midway through the second period before the Wildcats clawed back to tie it with 56 seconds remaining in the sandwich stanza. Jaydon Jessiman scored on a rebound after the Wildcats trapped the Mintos in their own zone.

But Cossette grasped the game’s momentum by scoring 14 seconds later, restoring the Mintos’ lead as they headed into the third period.

“My line got scored on and we didn’t even go to the bench. We just gathered together and we realized we messed up and we had to go fix that,” Cossette said. “Then we went down and we did that. We put the puck in the net and it got us going again. That’s where we turned it around and that depreciated them.”

Ty Shumanski got the win for the Mintos, making 33 saves on 36 shots. Alex Worthington took the loss for the Wildcats, making 26 saves on 31 shots. Jessiman, Jeter Korte, and Mason Bueckert scored for the Wildcats.

The Mintos will play the Wildcats in a rematch on Saturday, 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.

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Jeff.dandrea@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW