Home ice is nice.
The Prince George Cougars announced Tuesday they will open the 2024-25 Western Hockey League season at home.
They’ll host the Spokane Chiefs on Friday, Sept. 20 in the first of a two-game weekend doubleheader at CN Centre against their U.S. Division rivals.
This will be one of the shortest off-seasons in recent memory for the Cats, who pushed the Portland Winterhawks to six games in the Western Conference final, a series that ended May 6 when the Chiefs scored a 2-1 overtime series-clinching win in Prince George.
This week in Buffalo, Cougars forwards Terik Parascak and Ondrej Becher are participating alongside with 98 other top prospects at the NHL Combine. It's a series of physical and medical tests that will help NHL teams decide on who they will pick at the NHL Draft in Las Vegas, June 28-29.
Parascak, who turned 18 on May 28, is ranked 15th among North American skaters for the 2024 draft. The native of Lethbridge was named the Canadian Hockey League’s All-Rookie team for 2023-24 after a 43-goal and 105-point season that established Cougar rookie scoring records.
Becher, a 20-year-old from Ostrava, Czechia, is considered by NHL Central Scouting as the 69th-ranked North American skater on the draft list. He put up 32 goals and 96 points in 58 \WHL regular season games.
