The hospital report wasn’t good for Koehn Ziemmer and the Prince George Cougars.
The 18-year-old right winger suffered significant damage to his ankle in Monday’s game that will keep him out of the lineup indefinitely.
Ziemmer fell awkwardly to the ice while engaged in a fight with Everett Silvertips defenceman Eric Jamieson near the end of the first period of what turned out a 3-1 Cougars victory and had to be helped to the dressing room.
“He’s going to be out for a while,” said Cougars head coach and general manager Mark Lamb. “We don’t know if he’ll need surgery or not on his ankle, he twisted it up pretty good. It’s not good.”
Ziemmer has been an ironman throughout his WHL career since he joined the team in 2021. The four games he missed at the start of this season while he was still trying out for the Los Angeles Kings were the only Cougar games he’s missed.
Ziemmer has 11 goals and 31 points in 20 games, fifth in team scoring, and last week was chosen as the WHL’s player of the week. He and Cougar centre Riley Heidt have been on fire lately and Heidt is now tied with Moose Jaw Warrior Jagger Firkus as leaders of the WHL scoring race, each with 44 points.
Drew Peterson will take Ziemmer’s place in the Cougar lineup for the rematch against the Silvertips at CN Centre tonight (7 p.m.). The Cougars have also called up winger Lee Shurgot from the Saskatoon Blazers U-18s.
