If Josh Maser ends up getting drafted this year by the Chicago Blackhawks he will only have himself to blame.
On the night the 18-year-old Maser scored all four Cougar goals in a 4-3 overtime win Wednesday over the Vancouver Giants - his biggest offensive outburst since his Tier 4 peewee hockey days in Houston - Blackhawks scout Kirt Hill was in the CN Centre pressbox watching and taking notes.
This is Maser's first year of NHL draft eligibility and it seems he's making the most of his opportunity to live the dream of hearing his name called by any of the 31 teams at the draft, June 22-23 in Dallas.
Heading into tonight's game in Spokane and following the deadline trades of the past week which sent the Cougars' top two pointgetters, Dennis Cholowski and Kody McDonald, to other teams, Maser now has a team-leading 20 goals and also has 29 points, second only to 40-point man Jared Bethune.
"Josh is opening eyes, there's no doubt, he's one of those kids who goes to the ugly areas, he's a big strong kid that wants to stand in there and pay the price and that's why he's having so much success," said Cougars head coach Richard Matvichuk.
Maser's fourth of the night, 2:49 into overtime, gave the Cougars (16-19-4-3) their 16th win of the season. He gave them their first lead of the night with only 2:25 left in regulation time but Giants' sniper Ty Ronning forced OT with his 39th goal this season - his third of the game - with just 29 seconds left on the clock.
In overtime, Maser followed up on Ryan Schoettler's shot from the deep slot that nailed the crossbar and dropped down in front of the net and Maser tapped it in to end it, prompting a noisy outburst from the small but appreciative gathering in the stands that was probably half the announced crowd of 2,495.
"It was a pretty special moment, I can't remember much of it to be honest, I was so excited," said Maser. "(Schoettler) made a nice move in front there and hit the crossbar and everyone on the ice thought it went in and I just poked it in there.
"It's been a pretty busy last couple weeks we've had here. We have a lot of new faces around the room now and we haven't had much time to practice with them and figure out our systems and get a lockdown, so we just kept it simple and it worked."
Maser was playing the left side on a line with two veterans - 20-year-old centre Aaron Boyd and 19-year-old right winger Josh Curtis. Together they thrived in the second game against the Giants.
"I've played with Maser a couple times this year and he's a really simple guy to play with, he keeps it simple and chucks his body and he shoots a lot too, which is good for me - I pass the puck and he shoots it," said Curtis, who set up two of Maser's goals.
"He's feeling a lot more comfortable here this year and the more icetime he gets the better he plays. I hope he keeps playing this way."
The Cougars are 4-4-1-1 in their last 10 games. Wednesday's win left them six points behind the Spokane Chiefs (21-18-1-2) for the eighth and final playoff spot in the WHL's Western Conference.
The Cougars made it apparent as the trade deadline approached Wednesday they were going to be sellers. With every announced deal of a veteran, the remaining players couldn't help but wonder if they would be next on the transactions list.
"We had a lot of moves at the deadline and there's a lot of new guys coming in and it's just a matter of time for us to gel and I think we made a big step (Wednesday)," said Curtis.
"It was stressful. We knew they were in a rebuild stage and they were going to make some moves and you just try to focus on playing and that's exactly what we did. It's hard to play when you know what's going on but thought we did a really good job. Since the (Christmas) break we've been playing really well."
With eight new faces as a result of six January trades, which also brought several high WHL bantam draft picks, the average age of the Cougars roster is now close to 17 and this weekend's two-game trip to Spokane and Tri-City will give them a chance to get to know one another. The Cougars needed a good response, coming a day after the red-hot Giants beat them 5-1 in one of their worst games of the season. Matvichuk would love to see more of the same this weekend.
"Right from the drop of the puck I thought the guys competed like they'd been together all year and with what they've been through in the last 24 or 48 hours it's hard to bond," said Matvichuk. "But when you have a jump like that, everyone was so pumped after the game I didn't even have to say anything. It was just good to see all the kids that happy.
"The more we can walk through systems and get these guys to know each other so they know where to go on the ice and when to go, it's a learning curve. Its like we're back in training camp with most of these young guys but give them credit. The will work more than the skill will."
Prince George opened the season at home against Spokane and lost both games to the Chiefs, 4-2, and 5-1. The Cougars also play the Tri-City Americans Saturday in Kennewick, Wash. They just played the Americans Jan. 5-6 at CN Centre, taking three of a possible four points after a 4-3 win and a 6-5 shootout loss.
The Chiefs are on a three-game losing streak, but with the likes of forwards Kailer Yamamoto, Hudson Elyniuk, Jaret Anderson-Dolan and high-scoring defenceman Ty Smith the Cougars are well aware Spokane is a fast-skating and dangerous team.
Brogan O'Brien (knee) is the only injured Cougar and the team hopes to have him back playing sometime next week.
