You’ve got to hand it to Prince George Cougars general manager/head coach Mark Lamb.
When he went down the WHL trade route looking to fill the Cougars’ last remaining roster spot for an overager, seeking to acquire a quality player without having to mortgage too much of the future, he couldn’t have done much better than to bring Cole Dubinsky into the fold.
His first week playing for the Cougars was nothing short of spectacular.
Fast and aggressive with his defensive coverage, Dubinsky knows what to do when he’s got the puck and he gave Cougars fans a taste of what he’s capable of when he set up the Cougar third goal late in the first period Sunday afternoon in their 6-4 win over the Vancouver Giants. Sprung into clear ice on a pass from Tyson Buczkowski, Dubinsky sped through the slot and dragged the puck in close to his body to avoid the check of Giants defender Will Subject, then slid a pass to an open Noah Boyko at the side of the net for an easy tap-in.
Dubinsky's memorable helper was his fifth point in three games since joining the Cougars. When he wasn’t creating offence or breaking up opposition rushes, Dubinsky was making use of his five-foot-11, 192-pound bulk to pound whatever Giant stood in his path.
In the three games since Lamb pulled the trigger on the trade that brought Dubinsky to Prince George from the Regina Pats in exchange for 17-year-old forward Zachary Shantz and a third rounder in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft he’s collected three goals and two assists. Dubinsky continues to hold the hot hand that dealt out three assists Oct. 30 in his last game with the Pats.
“Man, he’s been good,” said Lamb. “He plays with a lot of emotion and a lot of heart and he’s got skill. He’s going to be a very good player for us. He plays with an edge and our hockey team needs that type of leadership and for him it’s all about winning.
“He’s played all over the place, I’ve played him at wing and at centre and the versatility is there. He’s a good power-play guy, he’s a good penalty-killer and he’s got a lot of energy, with skill.”
In 14 games combined with Regina and Prince George Dubinsky has five goals and seven assists, which brings his career marks up to 49 goals and 108 points in 206 WHL games. Coming off his most productive season last year, when he picked up 20 goals and 49 points in 61 games with the Pats, he got caught in a numbers game this year with the Pats, who chose winger Jakob Brook and defencemen Luke Bateman and Tanner Brown as their three 2002-born players.
Dubinsky, who turns 20 on Dec. 4, was an assistant captain with the Pats when the deal went down. He grew up in Ardrossan, Alta. (population 900), the same hometown as Cougar winger Blake Eastman, and his introduction to Cougar fans in their two-game set with the Giants brought 9,284 fans to the rink.
“It’s been an awesome breath of fresh air, I was excited from the moment I got here,” said Dubinsky. “To have two of the biggest crowds all year, the fan support was awesome and it felt good to get a win after two games we weren’t happy with.
“We’ve got good team right now and we just have to use that individual success and turn it into more wins. Ultimately, what matters is the ‘W’ in the team category and guys scoring at a crazy rate is helping and I want them to keep going. We just need to tighten down on a few things but it’s been awesome. We’re a younger team and it’s going to take time to work out those things. We’re just getting started.”
After losing to the Giants 5-4 on Saturday, three days after an 8-6 loss in Kelowna, the Cougars had a team meeting to address their defensive shortcomings and they showed in Sunday’s game they were much more committed to playing well without the puck and Dubinsky led by example.
“I’m just here to help the team win,” said Dubinsky. “We’ve got a very deep team and from Day 1 I was excited and that won’t change. I love to play hockey and win and that’s what I came here to do. Winning is not easy, no team is a given, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing on any given night. It’s the WHL and you have to come to play every night or you’ll lose.”
WHL teams are allowed a maximum of three 20-year-old players. All three Cougar overagers are forwards and all were acquired this year by Lamb in trades.
Chase Wheatcroft came over from Winnipeg ICE in a June trade for a fourth-round pick in 2023 and he’s been consistently productive. Wheatcroft started Sunday’s game ranked eighth in the WHL scoring race and has since dropped to 13th with 14 goals and 10 assists for 24 points in 19 games. He ranks third in team scoring behind Koehn Ziemmer (15-18-33) and Riley Heidt (10-18-28).
Boyko was acquired during the WHL draft May 19 in a deal from the Lethbridge Hurricanes that sent the Cougars’ fourth-round pick (72nd overall) in this year’s draft to Lethbridge. Now with four goals and four assists in 19 games, Boyko has been heating up hot lately and scored three of his four goals in the past four games.
The Cougars (10-9-0-0, fourth in Western Conference) are in Victoria this weekend for a two-game set against the Royals (3-14-3-0, 10th place).
The Cougars host the Pats and centre Connor Bedard on Friday, Dec. 2 and momentum is building to have a sellout crowd at CN Centre there to watch.
Bedard joined the Pats as a 15-year-old in 2020, and as a teammate for more than two seasons Dubinsky has watched him blossom into a player many observers expect will be chosen first overall in the 2023 NHL draft. The North Vancouver native currently leads the WHL with 18 goals and 43 points in 20 games and through 97 career WHL games, Bedard has scored 81 goals and has 171 points.
“Obviously he’s an elite goal-scorer who has very good vision around the puck and he’s an unbelievable hockey player, said Dubinsky. “He’s doing stuff that hasn’t really been seen and scoring at a crazy rate and he’s mature for his age. If you give good players time and space, they’re going to make players and you’ve got to close the gap and make it uncomfortable for him.”
