As a player, Mark Van Helvoirt lit the lamp more than just a few times over his four-year career with the Victoria Cougars, winning a Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League scoring title in his last season in 2002.
His 85 points earned him the Doug Morton Trophy as the Junior B circuit’s top tally man.
Eleven years later, Van Helvoirt, now a veteran head coach, is watching one of his charges lead an offensive assault on the scoring race that has left opponents crumpled on their knees as the Cougars continue to dismantle defences across the VIJHL.
Cougars captain Brody Coulter is on a 26-game point streak as the slick forward has amassed 23 goals and 54 assists for 77 points in 29 games. His 2.7 points-per-game average is almost a full point better than last season when he averaged 1.8 on 27 goals and 41 assists in 38 games.
“I don’t really keep track, but now that you mention that, yeah it’s a nice little run,” said Coulter, who looks to extend it tonight against the Westshore Wolves at 7 p.m. at Archie Browning Sports Centre.
Coincidentally, the last time these teams met — on Nov. 28 — Coulter was 32 seconds away from being shut out before he popped an empty-netter in a 5-2 win.
“I hadn’t made a mental note of this streak until I saw the Cougars’ website at 21 games,” said Coulter. “You try and keep it out of your head and play them one game at a time and whatever happens, happens.”
What happens more often than not is Coulter and linemates Sam Rice (14 goals and 50 assists) and Dane Freeney (20 goals and 27 helpers) tend to burn the opposition.
Rice was kidding around earlier this year when he said 100 points would be a good target for him and Coulter, who have played together the last two seasons.
No one’s laughing now.
“It would be a cool kind of milestone. You don’t see those numbers much anymore,” said Coulter. “But I have a couple of great players, skilled players with me and that goes a long way.”
The last time the 100-point plateau was cracked in the VIJHL was 2003 when Campbell River’s Jason Jaques had 104. Prior to that it was Spencer Gordon of the Saanich Braves who managed 103 in 1995.
But there’s more to Coulter’s game than just points.
“I know his points get a lot of attention and he has natural offensive abilities, but from a coaching perspective, he’s such a nice player to have,” said Van Helvoirt. “He’s an all-around player, solid defensively, he plays on both special teams and he obviously wears the ‘;C’ on our team.
“He’s a natural leader and he’s a special person. He’s one of those kids that is very difficult on himself, but demands perfection from his teammates. He’s an all-around good hockey player and a great kid and I’m happy he’s having such a great year.
“He’s a great poster boy for our league right now, along with Ty Jones in Saanich and Sam Rice with us and a couple of goaltenders in the league as well.”
But for now, Coulter continues to terrorize netminders.
“I don’t want to put any numbers on what I might be able to achieve,” he said. “I just want to keep doing what I’m doing and see what happens. But 100 would be awesome.”
