Even the most accomplished Hollywood script writer would have been hard-pressed to create a more dramatic ending to match what Ben Riche did to earn his place in all-time Prince George Cougar lore Wednesday night at CN Centre.
The newest Cougar, acquired in a trade from the Saskatoon Blades late Tuesday night, in his first game with his new team against the Vancouver Giants, scored what will surely go down as one of the most memorable regular season goals in Cougar history.
The Cats had just tied a wild back-and-forth game 5-5 with a power play goal with less than two minutes left and just when it appeared overtime was inevitable, the 19-year-old Riche pulled off a masterful heist.
He used his speed to catch Giants defenceman Colton Roberts from behind as he circled with the puck out and came out from behind the Vancouver net and with one poke of his stick he stole it from Roberts and swept that puck between the legs of goalie Brady Smith.
The goal came with 43.8 seconds left and the Cougars hung on to win 6-5, sweeping the midweek series from the Giants.
“It was a pretty exciting one for me for sure, at home, with a new team, yeah I’m really excited about that,” said Riche. “Obviously we would have liked to jump on them a little earlier but that’s hockey and we’re glad to come out with the win."
Riche (pronounced ‘RYEtsh’) played his first shift as a Cougar centring a line with Lee Shurgot on the left side and Koehn Ziemmer at right wing and Cougars head coach and general manager Mark Lamb also sent Riche over the boards to join the top power-play unit. He had three shots on net, including the one that won it, and it was obvious his speed is one of his top assets. He covered a lot of ice at both ends, living up to his reputation as a two-way forward who works as hard to prevent goals as he does trying to generate points.
“That’s a big part of my game and I think that’s a very important part of winning and that’s something I can bring to this club and go deep into the playoffs,” said Riche. “That’s a very skilled team in here in the dressing room and I’m just excited to keep building here with them.
“It was a bit of shock and a quick turnaround but I’m very excited to be here. That was a great game, lots of fun. This was a Wednesday night and that was a loud crowd.”
The pro-Cougar audience of 3,123 justifiably went nuts after watching Riche show why he’s one of the leading scorers in the Western Hockey League. His first goal as a Cougar was his 24th goal and 55th point in 38 games and it was likely witnessed by most of the 500 or so residents of the tiny farming community of Bethune, Sask. Riche said the folks back home were probably glued to their computer screens and phones watching all that drama unfold.
The tying goal came 14 seconds into a slashing penalty assessed to Giants sniper Cameron Schmidt when he got caught whacking Riche’s stick out of his hands and the Cougars got Ravensbergen to the bench for a 6-on-4.
The point shot from Koehn Ziemmer resulted in Borya Valis gaining possession at the side of the net and he fed the puck to Terik Parascak, who lit the lamp for his 18th. Just before Riche scored, Valis and Parascak got the crowd going with their penalty-killing antics, freezing the puck against the boards in the Giants end, when the Cougars had to kill one off late in the third.
Cougars defenceman Viliam Kmec scored twice and Heidt had a goal and two assists to pave the way for the Cougars, who improved to 24-10-3-2 for the season, while the Giants dropped to 19-16-4-0.
Both teams generated oodles of quality chances in a highly-entertaining back-and-forth game between two divisional rivals.
“You have a couple of those games every year where you’re up, down, it seems like you can’t keep it out of your net and they can’t keep it out of theirs either, and it was kind of a nice script for the new guy, that’s for sure,” said Lamb.
Having already scored a highlight-reel that kickstarted the Cougar offence in the first period, Kmec showed the stuff that earned him a three-year entry-level contract with the Vegas Golden Knights when he walked in on the left side and rifled a screamer into the net off the crossbar for his ninth of the season.
That came two seconds after the Giants had killed off a penalty that carried over and it gave the Cougars a 4-3 lead just 29 seconds into the third period.
But less than a minute later, Giants right winger Schmidt, one of the most talented hockey players the city of Prince George had ever produced, showed why he’s considered a sure bet to get picked early in the NHL draft in June. He seemed to have the puck on a string whenever he entered the Cougars zone. He showed off his big-league shot the previous night, scoring WHL-leading 29th of the season in Tuesday’s 4-2 loss to the Cougars.
Schmidt didn’t score Wednesday but his assist on the Giants’ fourth goal in the second period was a beauty. He gained the puck behind the Cougars net and fed it out to Jaden Lipinski in the slot and he buried it to tie the game 4-4.
The Giants continued to pour it on and Jacob Oreskovic nailed the crossbar. The puck caromed out to Maxim Muranov, who shovelled it in for his second goal in his first game with Giants since being traded from the Calgary Hitmen.
The Giants opened the scoring in the first period with a rebound goal after Brett Olson’s backhander was turned aside by Josh Ravensbergen. Tyus Sparks raced in to jump on the loose puck and he fired it in past the feet of the Cougar goalie.
Kmec tied it up with a spectacular end-to-end rush down the right wing and he used his speed to beat Mazden Leslie with an outside move and lifted a perfect shot into the far top corner.
The Giants took advantage of a 4-on-3 to grab the lead again in the second period. Leslie’s one-timer from the left circle sailed in over Ravensbergen’s shoulder just past the two-minute mark of the period.
Heidt got that one back at 8:22. Ziemmer snapped a shot-pass towards the net from the sideboards and Heidt was there to deflect it in. That ended an eight-game point slump for Ziemmer and he had two great chances to score not long after, just missing the net on a one-timer and denied by goalie Brady Smith on a shot from the slot. Kmec then nailed the crossbar during another flurry of pressure in the Giants’ end before defenceman Corbin Vaughan finally found the net.
The 18-year-old Vaughan, acquired a month ago in trade from Regina, got everything into the shot and slapped Bauer Dumanski’s pass high in to the net. It was the first goal in 11 games for Vaughan since the deal with the Pats was made.
But just 50 seconds later, the Giants won the draw in the PG end and Muranov slipped a low shot and the teams went into third period tied 3-3.
Shots were 34-31 in the Cougars’ favour.
Riche learned about the trade Tuesday night in Red Deer after the Blades played the Rebels. He didn’t get much sleep before he boarded a plane in Edmonton that took him directly to Prince George and he arrived at about 9:30 a.m.
The price to get him in a Cougar jersey was steep, but he’s no short-term rental.
Riche plans to remain with the Cougars for the next year-and-a-half until be moves on to the NCAA with Quinnipiac University. The package the Cougars sent to the Saskatoon Blades included 18-year-old centre Hunter Laing, 15-year-old defenceman Luke Dumas, a first-round pick in the WHL Prospects Draft and a fifth-rounder in 2028.
It’s the first time in seven seasons as Cougars general manager that Lamb had dealt away a first-round pick and his track record the past few seasons on the trade front has been mighty impressive. Prince George fans only have to think back to what forwards Chase Wheatcroft and Zac Funk did for the team’s fortunes when they became Cougars after trades Lamb engineered and remember how those two blossomed into elite point producers.
The Cougars hit the road for games Friday in Kelowna and Saturday in Kamloops.
LOOSE PUCKS: The WHL trade deadline arrives Thursday at 5 p.m. PT... Newly-acquired defenceman Alexey Chichkin was in attendance after making the long drive from Calgary. He came over in a deal from Regina… The Spokane Chiefs pulled off a blockbuster deal Wednesday to get high-scoring forward Andrew Cristall from the Kelowna Rockets. Heading to Kelowna are 17-year-old Hayden Paupanekis, a first- and third-round pick in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft, a first-rounder in 2027, and second- and sixth-round picks in 2026… Cristall is closing in on his second-straight 100-plus-point season with 26 goals and 34 assists in just 28 games and is fifth in the WHL scoring race.
