They’ve played their last game with the Prince George Cougars and now that the junior hockey season is over for overaged forwards Koehn Ziemmer and Borya Valis and defenceman Viliam Kmec they’re about to find out what it’s like to be professional hockey players.
All three signed NHL entry-level contracts and the next chapter of their hockey careers is about to begin with Kmec property of the Vegas Golden Knights, Valis destined for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ziemmer on his way to the Los Angeles Kings.
That last game did not end well – a Game 7 loss Centre to the Portland Winterhawks on Monday in front of a sold-out CN that meant a first-round playoff exit for the Cougars. But there was still much to celebrate looking back on their stellar WHL careers.
In his final junior season, the 20-year-old Ziemmer (37-34-71) set a team record for most career goals with 128. The Mayerthorpe, Alta., native tallied 132 assists and 260 points in 244 regular season games in five seasons in a WHL career that started when the Cougars chose him fourth overall in the 2019 WHL Prospects Draft.
“I’ve been here since I was 15 and time flies, for sure, and the organization has been nothing but great, said Ziemmer. “Between the city, the fans, my billets and everybody that’s been involved, all the trainers and it’s been a pleasure to be involved, I have nothing but good things to say.”
The Kings selected Ziemmer in the third round, 78th overall in the 2023 NHL draft and if not for a broken leg that forced him to miss nearly four months of the 2023-24 season he likely would have played pro in the AHL this season.
“I wasn’t sure it was going to happen this year but coming back (to the Cougars), from a development side, there’s nothing better that could have happened,” Ziemmer said. “Coming back and playing lots with a good team here and being able to play with a lot of good players and a lot of guys I played with before, they say junior hockey is the best time of your life and I couldn’t agree more.”
Always a fan favourite, Ziemmer will be remembered as the Pizza Goal Delivery Guy for the six times he scored the Cougars’ fifth goal of the game to guarantee a free pizza for every fan in the building at CN Centre.
“Year after year (Cougar fan support) has gotten better and if you look we’re in the top half of attendance in the league, which is unreal,” said Ziemmer. “I truly don’t think there’s better fans than the ones here, the way they come out. If you look at Game 6 and Game 7, it was unbelievable.
“The first two years were pretty rough, obviously, not winning many games and the (pandemic) bubble was a different experience, but year after year we’re just getting better. The organization’s on an upward trend here and we’re one of the top teams for the last three years and as a young guy this has to be one of your top destinations.”
Ziemmer says he will be in California to begin practicing Sunday with the Kings AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign.
Valis arrived at mid-season last year in a trade from the Regina Pats and was a big part of the Cougars’ extended playoff run, which ended in a Game 6 loss to Portland in the Western Conference final.
Born in Los Angeles and raised in Denver, Valis averaged more than a point per game during his time with the Cougars (47-70-117 in 98 games). This season he was third in team scoring (34-46-80). He had three goals and four assists in the playoffs, matching Ziemmer totals.
“Definitely tough to go out like that but we were down 3-1 and we never gave up and that was the mentality of our team, to keep going, and not to fold and I think that’s what we did,” said Valis. “I know it’s not the outcome we wanted but we truly left everything out there and it sucks to not get it done.
“The year-and-a-half I’ve spent here has been truly incredible, I love this city and I love this organization, they took me in like family, all guys from last year and this year it was such a close group,” said Valis. “The fans are unbelievable, they support us like crazy, honestly it’s the best place in the WHL to play for sure.”
Valis was Connor Bedard’s linemate with Regina Pats two seasons ago and didn’t start focusing on the defensive side of the game until after he was traded to Prince George halfway through the 2023-24 season. His commitment to being a two-way forward led to him signing his contract with the Leafs on March 1.
“Going into the season, the last couple years (before that) I didn’t play too much defence and this year I came into the season and that was one of the biggest things I wanted to improve on and take my offensive game and start it defensively,” Valis said. “When you start playing defence first then offence will always come. Those were the conversations we had with the coaching staff and tried to really put it into my game.”
Kmec led all Cougars defencemen in his fourth WHL season with 18 goals and 61 points - nearly doubling his point production from the previous year - and had a plus-43 rating (third among WHL rearguards).
Selected by the Cougars in the second round, 104th overall in the 2021 CHL Import Draft, Kmec was consistently productive (35-106-141) in a career that included 245 games over four seasons. He scored once and had four assists in the playoffs.
Coming from Slovakia as a 17-year-old was a culture shock and he says his teammates and the people of Prince George made that adjustment so much easier.
“It’s become a second home to me, four years is a big chunk of my life that I spent here and I love all the fans and the people here are awesome,” said Kmec, one of six finalists for the WHL’s Bill Hunter top defenceman award.
“I got introduced to the culture of you guys as Canadians and it’s been great. I’m really happy and proud I was part of the team. The whole group is like a family, we’re real close.”
He thrived under the coaching of former NHL defenceman Jim Playfair, who taught him what it takes to become a pro.
Kmec and Bauer Dumanski were paired together often as defence partners during their four years in PG and became good friends and billet roommates.
Dumanski, one of the key players expected back in the Cougars’ camp next year as a 20-year-old, strained his hip flexors on his first shift of the second period in Game 3 in Portland. He also missed Game 4 and the Cougars lost those two games to fall behind 3-1 in the series.
“It was brutal after it happened and I missed Game 4 but Dave (athletic trainer/strength and conditioning coach Adolph) got me going again and I was glad I could play Game 6 and 7,” said Dumanski.
The Cougars lost just 20 man-games to injuries this season and Kmec said Adolph deserves much of the credit for keeping the players strong and healthy and helping them stay in the lineup even when they were hurting.
“It was Dave, he took care of us, he’s been really unreal treating us,” said Kmec.
Dumanski, a native of Drake, Sask., has played the past five seasons with Cougars centre Riley Heidt, dating back to minor hockey in Saskatchewan who will likely forego his last season of junior eligibility to play pro in the Minnesota Wild organization.
“I met Heidter when I was eight or nine years old, when we played in a couple tournaments,” said Dumanski. “Seeing him get drafted (to the Cougars) and following right after him was so surreal and getting to play with him all four years was incredible, watching him grow.”
