The Prince George Cougars are back on the ice tonight (7 p.m.) at CN Centre to take on the Swift Current Broncos.
Coming off a disappointing 5-2 loss to the Kamloops Blazers, the Cougars are trying to get back to their winning ways after losing five of their last six games.
They’re going to have their hands full against a red-hot Broncos team that’s won six of its last seven.
The Broncos started their BC Division tour with a 5-4 shootout win in Victoria on Friday, then beat Vancouver 3-2 in overtime on Saturday.
Tonight’s game marks the return of 20-year-old centre Carlin Dezainde, traded from the Cougars to the Broncos seven games into the season. Dezainde has 20 goals and 51 points in 44 games this season.
The Cougars made the trade Oct. 8 to free up a 20-year-old spot for Koehn Ziemmer, who was returned from the Los Angeles Kings. The Cougars also sent a ninth-round draft pick to Swift Current in exchange for 19-year-old winger Van Eger, a second-round pick in 2025 and a fourth-rounder an 2027.
Left winger Luke Mistlebacher leads Broncos in scoring with 31 goals and 66 points in 44 games, seventh in the WHL scoring race.
The Cougars will be getting back rugged defenceman Corbin Vaughan, back from serving a four-game suspension. In his absence, 17-year-old Leith Hunter has been taking regular shifts and lately has stood out as one of the Cougars’ top defencemen. In 26 games Hunter has four assists including his stretch pass off the glass to set up Ziemmer’s breakaway goal against the Blazers.
“We’ve got eight defencemen here now and two extra forwards and what we’re trying to do is create extra competition,” said Cougars associate coach Jim Playfair. “So if you play well you stay in, if you’re struggling you’ll probably come out of the lineup.
“Leith’s pushed himself into the lineup which is good for him and good for us. We’ve got to make sure that internal competition stays really strong and really committed to figuring out we’re going to have the internal push in the dressing room every shift to find a way to win.”
The Cougars (25-15-3-2) have fallen three points back of the Victoria Royals for first place in the BC Division and they now rank fifth in the Western Conference.
The Broncos (24-18-1-1) are 7-2-1-0 in their last 10 games. The rank third in the East Division and seventh in the Eastern Conference.
