Last week, Prince George Cougars goalie Tyler Brennan distinguished himself from rest of his age-group peers in North America when he topped NHL Central Scouting’s mid-season list of draft-eligible prospects available for the draft in June.
Given the chance to prove those scouts made the right choice in their rankings, Brennan ran with it. He was superb in back-to-back road victories in Langley over the Vancouver Giants, which pulled the Cougars even with Vancouver in the B.C. Division standings and earned Brennan the WHL award as goaltender of the week.
That started with a 37-save performance Friday in a 3-2 overtime victory which ended the Cougars’ five-game losing streak. Then in the rematch on Saturday, the six-foot-three, 190-pound Winnipeg native stood tall while backing the Cats to a 4-2 triumph.
In the two games combined, he compiled a 1.97 goals-against average and .941 save percentage, stopping 64 of 68 shots in the two games combined.
So far this season in 19 games, Brennan sports a 7-11-0-1 record 3.36 GAA and .901 save rate wit two shutouts.
The Cougars (15-17-1-1, third in B.C. Division) host the Victoria Royals in a two-game set Tuesday and Wednesday at CN Centre. These are the makeup dates for a series that was supposed to be played last week but was postponed with both teams having players isolated in COVID protocols.
The Royals (12-16-4-0) are four points behind the Cougars and have played two fewer games than the Cats. Victoria has made an abrupt turnaround after a 1-11-2-0 start. Included in the Royals’ early-season woes were five back-to-back losses to the Cougars from Oct. 16-27.
The Cougars have a busy week ahead of them and also face the Kamloops Blazers Friday in Prince George and Saturday in Kamloops.
The WHL trade deadline arrived at 2 p.m. PT Monday and the Cougars did not made any deals.
The Blazers sent forward Josh Pillar to Saskatoon Monday for conditional second-round draft pick in 2024 and a conditional third-round pick in 2022. The 19-year-old Pillar, a native of Warman, Sask., is recovering from a private medical condition and the trade was made to accommodate his recovery closer to home. He was a fourth-round pick of the Minnesota Wild in 2021.
The Blazers acquired 20-year-old forward Luke Toporowsky from the Spokane Chiefs got 19-year-old forward Nick McCarry and a second-round pick in 2025. Also on Monday, Kamloops picked up 19-year-old forward Drew Englot from the Regina Pats for 17-year-old forward Tye Spencer.
