Success in junior hockey is not just wins and championships but can be measured in the number of players who go on to play in the professional ranks.
Coming off their most successful regular-season finish and one of their all-time best playoffs runs, the Prince George Cougars know they must be doing things right when they see a dozen players from last year will be heading soon to NHL camps.
Only two of that group, scoring sensation Zac Funk and defenceman Hudson Thornton – both with the Washington Capitals – have aged out of junior hockey.
The Cougars boarded the bus Friday afternoon to head for Edson, Alta., where they’ll start the preseason today (1 p.m. PT) and Sunday (11 a.m. PT) against the Edmonton Oil Kings.
Two of the three players picked in this year’s draft – forward Terik Parascak (first round, 17th overall, Washington) and forward Hunter Laing (sixth round, 170th, Calgary Flames) are still camping with the Cougars but will soon be with their respective NHL teams.
The third, winger Ondrej Becher, picked the third round, 80th overall by the Detroit Red Wings, is focused on pro camp and might not be back in Prince George for his final year of junior eligibility. The same can be said for goalie Ty Young (Vancouver Canucks) and winger Koehn Ziemmer (Los Angeles Kings) who have been told by their respective teams to skip the Cougars' camp.
Undrafted defenceman Viliam Kmec, who did not come back to Prince George from Slovakia, will report to the Las Vegas Golden Knights’ camp.
Drafted Cougar centre Riley Heidt (Minnesota Wild) plans to head south of the border after the Edson trip for his second NHL training camp, and that’s not all.
Forward Borya Valis and defenceman Bauer Dumanski have been invited to join Becher in the Red Wings’ rookie camp.
Forward Carlin Dezainde has a flight booked to Boston to attend the Bruins’ camp.
‘All our older aged guys last year are a possibility (to return to Prince George for the season) but they’re all real good players that everybody knows,” said Mark Lamb, the Cougars head coach and general manager. “Hockey’s funny and you really don’t know what going to happen. They’re still at age-eligibility for junior and we don’t know and the NHL teams don’t know what’s going to happen either. It’s just a wait-and-see game.
“When you’re good you have good players and that’s what these pro scouts are looking at. They’ve earned it.”
Carsen Carels, the Cougars 16-year-old first-rounder in the 2023 WHL Prosects Draft, looked ready for the WHL when he joined the Cats late last season and he’s only improved with age. He’ll fit in well with a blueline group that now includes returnees Bauer Dumanski, Ephram McNutt, Keaton Dowhaniuk and Drew Peterson.
The Cougars have added two import defencemen – Czechian defenceman Vojtech Vochvest and Russian Arseni Anisimov – who just signed on Thursday and still has to get his visa cleared. Vochvest came over in a trade May 30 from Kamloops for forward Oren Shtrom.
The preseason blueline battle for jobs also includes WHL rookies Cooper Bratton, Ryan Richter, Dermot Johnston and Leith Hunter.
“(Vochvest) has been in camp and he’s a real good character player, defensive-first player who is tough to play against and he’s been really good,” said Lamb.
“(Carels) is a special player and everybody knows who he is now. He looks like a veteran already, he’d be right up there for the best player in training camp. We’ve got the two Euros and Johnston now - we have some really good players and we’ll have some tough decisions to make.”
Up front, including the aforementioned NHL prospects, are returning forwards Aiden Foster, Matteo Danis, Lee Shurgot and Jett Lajoie. The newcomers still with the Cougars are Evan Groening, Patrick Sopiarz, Ollie Reid, Dade Wotherspoon, Townes Kozicky, Kayden Lemire and Ethan Hamilton.
Groening, 19, a Brandon Wheat Kings’ pick who played junior A in Manitoba last year, could be a diamond in the rough, acquired from the Wheat Kings for a 10th-round draft pick. Lamb’s track record with trades over the past few years has been nothing short of outstanding lately, having acquired a succession of key ingredients such as Funk, Valis and Chase Wheatcroft without having to sell the farm.
In goal, coming off a spectacular rookie season and heading into his draft year, Joshua Ravensbergen is another inch taller at six-foot-five. He and Heidt both took part in Hockey Canada’s world junior team summer camp in Windsor, Ont., and both have their sights set on playing for their country in the IIHF tournament starting Dec. 26 in Ottawa. Brady Holtvogt, 16, has the backup role in net.
“The biggest thing that impressed me was how the guys came back in shape,” said Lamb. “We had the Mountain Lion Award (for most fit Cougar) and Valis won it, but we had a whole whack of guys, the veterans, that are all in great condition, and the young guys were in real great shape also. That’s part of a winning franchise, the work in the summer, and they all did it.
”We did a lot of trending in the right direction for the last few years and we expect to keep going that way.”
The Cougars won’t be playing any preseason games at CN Centre.
They visit Kamloops next Saturday (Sept. 13) and will head to Quesnel for the rematch against the Blazers the following day.
The Cougars start their 31st season in Prince George on Friday, Sept. 20 when they host the Spokane Chiefs.
