Third line forward Alex Hanson of Whitehorse and his Prince George Cariboo Cougars won the prestigious Mac’s AAA Midget Tournament in Calgary Thursday.

It’s seen as one of the top midget tournaments in the country, and drew 24 teams from as far away as Germany, New York and San Jose.

“There was a lot of representation from Western Canada,” Cougar spokesman Adam Donnelly said in an interview this morning.

“For us it was a testing ground, a proving ground to show that we can compete with the top teams.”

The Cats won the tournament championship by defeating the Regina Pat Canadians 2-1 in a double overtime thriller at the ScotiaBank Saddledome, on the strength of a 40-save performance by the tournament’s top goaltender, Griffen Outhouse. Chase Dubois scoring the winning goal just seconds into the second OT frame.

The Cariboo Cougars finished the round robin event with three wins and one loss, and moved into the playoff round as the wild card, defeating the German Under-17 team 5-1 in the quarter finals. They then dispatched the Calgary Buffaloes in the semi-finals with a 5-4 overtime win.

“Alex for us is real character player,” Donnelly said. “He plays a rugged physical game, and definitely contributes offensively when he can.”

Hanson didn’t register any points in Calagary but has three goals and seven assists in his 23 regular season games with the Cougars who are sitting in first place in the 11-team B.C. Major Midget League, the province’s top midget league.

The 17-year-old Hanson was in transit today and could not be reached for an interview.

Donnelly said this year’s goal for the Cariboo Cougars is to win the Telus Cup, the national midget championship, and yesterday’s victory proved they have what it takes to compete at that level.

There’s been a number of high-end NHLers who’ve played in the Mac’s AAA Tournament such as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Edmonton Oilers, he pointed out.

Donnelly said it’s still a tough road to the national championship, first having to win the province and then go up against the best of Alberta to earn the right to represent Western Canada.

The Cougars, however, displayed their grit in Calgary, he said, adding the national German U-17 club was among the teams favoured to win the Calgary tournament.

The Cougars opened the scoring yesterday early in the first, as Wesley Shipton stole the puck deep in Regina territory.

Shipton buried it, bar down on the short side to give the Cariboo Cougars an early 1-0 lead.

That lead was short-lived, though, as the Canadians broke in on an odd man rush, which was finished off by some pretty passing and a nice shot by Regina’s Owen Sillinger, to tie the game 1-1. That was all the scoring seen in regulation, as both goaltenders stood tall.

After a furious 10 minute overtime frame, that saw the Cats kill off a two-minute tripping minor to Darren Hards, the Cariboo Cougars used the full intermission to rest and regroup. The break seemed to energize the Northern B.C. boys, as early in the second overtime period, Chase Dubois fired a shot from a tough angle past a surprised Curtis Megar for the game winner.

It was the Cougars first-ever victory at the illustrious tournament, which has a history dating back nearly 40 years.

Their previous best finish was an OT loss in the quarterfinals.

As mentioned, Outhouse was named the event’s Top Goalie, while Conor MacEachern was named Top Defenceman for the tournament. Both players were also named First Team All-Stars for the event.