The Mount Royal Cougars are off to another great season. Despite having 11 new faces in the lineup this season, the Cougars have started the year with a 5-1 record. Head coach Bert Gilling says he’s happy with the start. “I’m still trying to get a feel for our group and our players and chemistry and all of that stuff,” he said. “The one thing that they’ve done is they’ve been very coachable and they’ve worked extremely hard.” New faces Two of the new players come to the Cougars from the BCHL’s Brooks Bandits. Goaltender Zach Zahara and defenceman Harry Ahlberg played big roles in the Bandits winning the championship and have made an immediate impact with the Cougars. Zahara is 5-1 with a 1.82 goals against average and a 0.927 save percentage. He says coming to Mount Royal was a no-brainer. “Obviously, you hear a lot of great things about the MRU program here,” said the 21-year-old, who also spent time in the WHL with the Medicine Hat Tigers. “They’ve had a lot of success in this league but are still trying to find a national championship. ”They’ve had a lot of success at the Canada West level, and obviously, being pretty close to my hometown in Airdrie, it’s nice not being too far from home.” Swede music Ahlberg is from Sweden. He played forward with the Bandits last season but has moved to defence with the Cougars. In six games, the 21-year-old has two goals and three assists. He says playing Brooks was a great experience. “It taught me a lot, being in Brooks with a winning atmosphere,” he said. “Just the way they talk every day and the way they go about their program and stuff. “I’m just trying to bring the habits and the mentality.” Gilling knows adding two winners to the dressing room can only help the team’s quest to win a national championship. “Watching Zach in net for all of those games, I think he played every minute of every playoff game (with the Bandits),” he said. “That series with Nanaimo was great, and with Harry getting an overtime winning goal, those experiences are lifetime experiences for those guys. “It gives them confidence when they’re in that same situation with us.” The Cougars host the UBC Thunderbirds in a two-game series this weekend.
