The Eastern Conference-leading Saskatoon Blades are in Prince George Tuesday to take on the Cougars (7 p.m., CN Centre) and the Blades are still smarting after a pair of close losses to open their BC Division tour.
Last season’s Western Hockey League regular season champions came out of the losing end of a 7-6 decision to the Vancouver Giants on Friday, then on Sunday in Victoria the Blades fell 5-4 to the Royals.
Saskatoon (10-3-1-1, 22 points) still has a four-point lead over the Medicine Hat Tigers atop the Eastern Conference standings.
The Cougars (9-4-2-2) have gone four games without a regulation loss and currently lead the BC Division standings with 22 points, five off the pace of the Western Conference-leading Everett Silvertips, who rank first overall in the WHL.
The Cougars are coming off a 6-3 win Friday in Kamloops. The Blazers came back from a 4-0 to make it a 4-3 game 14 minutes into the third period when Koehn Ziemmer put it out of reach with his third goal of the game when he cashed in a power-play chance at the 16:17 mark - the second hat trick in four years with the Cougars.
Ziemmer’s second goal Friday was the 100th of his WHL career. He now has 10 goals to lead the team.
He now has 10 goals to lead the Cougars. Terik Parascak (who also had two assists), Kaden Lemire and Borya Valis, into an empty Blazer net, also scored. Emmit Finnie, Tommie Lafreniere and former Cougar Oren Shtrom scored for Kamloops.
Cougar goalie Joshua Ravensbergen made 27 saves to improve to 9-1-2-1.
Tuesday’s game is the start of a six-game homestand for the Cougars. They host the Giants Saturday night and Sunday afternoon on Community Heroes Weekend. There’s a guaranteed $50,000 jackpot in the Mega 50-50 draw with proceeds going to the Prince George Community Foundation.
Cougar d-man Carels playing for Canada Red in Sarnia
Carson Carels got his first taste of national duty Sunday at the U17 World Challenge in Sarnia, Ont.
The 16-year-old Cougar defenceman from Cypress River, Man., helped Canada Red to a 3-1 win over Finland in their tournament-opener.
Canada Red plays the United States today (4:30 p.m. PT).
Canada White, 6-2 winners over Czechia on Sunday, will face Sweden in their next game on Tuesday (4:30 p.m.).
