The Prince George Cougars are on a roll, but so are the Kamloops Blazers.
After five consecutive wins against the Victoria Royals in an unprecedented early-season WHL series between the B.C. Division rivals triggered by pandemic rescheduling, the Cats have erased memories of their 0-3 start and are now just four points behind the division-leading Blazers.
The Blazers (7-1-0-0) are back at on Prince George ice tonight (7 p.m.) to face the Cougars (5-3-0-0) for a third time this season. The teams began the season against each other Oct. 2 at CN Centre, where the Blazers won 5-4 on a goal from Connor Lewis with four minutes left.
The rematch in Kamloops Oct. 16 wasn’t close. The Blazers won that one 8-3. But that was five games ago and in those five games the Cougars figure they’ve learned a few things that could help the youngest team in the WHL surprise the ultra-experienced Blazers, who have won three straight and are showing signs they could be pushing for the franchise’s seventh Ed Chynoweth Cup championship next spring.
Since they last played in Prince George, the Blazers have added one of the league’s top defencemen with the return of 20-year-old Quinn Schmiemann following his release from the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the top farm team of the Philadelphia Flyers. Schmiemann scored two goals in a 7-4 win Oct. 22 over the Vancouver Giants but did not play in Friday’s game in Kamloops, a 7-1 Blazer win over the Royals. Through three games he has two goals and two assists, well ahead of his 17-point pace in the 22-game pod season.
Up front, the Blazers have plenty of potent sticks, led by right winger Josh Pillar, a top-10 scorer in the league with four goals and 12 points in just seven games. Blazer captain C Logan Stankoven (5G-6A-11Pts) is right after Pillar in the scoring race , while LW Caeden Bankier (6-4-10) and C Dylan Sydor (2-8-10) are also producing at a better-than point-per-game pace.
The Blazers besieged Royals goalie Campbell Arnold, outshooting the Royals 58-16 on Friday.
Two of the Cougars’ top four point producers are defencemen. In eight games, 16-yeasr-old sophomore Riley Heidt (2-8-10) leads the Cats’ scoring chart, followed by fellow forward Craig Armstrong (4-5-9), and right in that mix are d-men Hudson Thornton (2-7-9) and Slovakian import rookie Viliam Kmec (0-8-8).
Cougar RW Mitch Kohner remains sidelined with an ankle injury and is listed as day-to-day. D Kaden Hammell (lower body, one week) is on the Blazers’ injury list.
The Cougars are on the road next weekend, visiting Vancouver and Kelowna, and return to CN Centre for games against the Giants on Tuesday, Nov. 9 and Wednesday, Nov. 10.
