After getting schooled by the Kamloops Blazers last Saturday in front of home audience at the CN Centre, the Prince George Cougars will find out if there were any lessons learned in that humbling 3-0 loss.
The Cats hit the ice for games against the Vancouver Giants Friday in Langley, followed by a visit to Kelowna on Saturday to take on the Kelowna Rockets.
The loss to the Blazers was the third in three games this season against the Cougars’ closest geographic rivals and it ended the Cats’ five-game winning streak.
The Blazers broke a 1-1 tie with two goals in a dominant second period, then put the game into lockdown mode in the final period. They’ve learned what it takes to win in three seasons as one of the elite teams in the league and continue to put that experience to work for them. Their 9-1 record is setting the pace in the B.C. Division.
The Cougars (5-4-0-0), despite being the youngest team in the WHL, still hold down second place in the division, but they’re just one point ahead of the Giants (4-3-1-0), who hold two games in hand over Prince George.
The Rockets (4-3-0-0), fresh from their 7-6 overtime win over Vancouver Wednesday in Kelowna, are just two points off the Cougars’ pace heading into Friday’s game in Kelowna against the Portland Winterhawks. The ‘Hawks became the first U.S. Division team to cross the border into Canada for a game when they took on the Blazers Wednesday in Kamloops and lost 7-1.
The Cougars are back to full health now that winger Kyren Gronick has recovered from a lower body injury. Giants forward Cole Shepard remains sidelined with lower-body injury that’s listed as month-to-month.
Cougar forwards Riley Heidt and Ryker Singer have been invited by Hockey Canada to play for one of the three Canadian squads in the weeklong Capital City Challenge in Ottawa, Nov. 30-Dec. 6. The three teams of 2005-born male players will also face the women’s national team to help that team prepare for the 2022 Olympics in Beijing in February. The Capital City Challenge replace the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, which has been cancelled due to the pandemic.
