Josh Ravensbergen received an early birthday present.
The day before he turned 18, the Prince George Cougars goalie made the most of his opportunity to play in net for Team Canada at the CNNHL USA Prospects Challenge Tuesday, Nov. 27 in front of a national TV audience in London, Ont.
Ravensbergen came close to blanking Team USA, stopping 15 of 16 shots in a 6-1 victory.
The only shot that beat him came on a power play for the Americans when Jack Murtagh took a cross-ice pass and connected on a hard one-timer into the net with just 2:14 left on the clock.
In the first of a two-game series, Ravensbergen held up well to the pressure of playing with and against players considered to be among the top players available for next year’s NHL draft.
He even joined in the offence, getting the primary assist on defenceman Matthieu Schaefer’s power-play goal that made it 4-0 five minutes into the second period.
Now in his second WHL season with Cougars, Ravensbergen sports a 12-2-4 record with a 3.08 goals-against average and .899 save percentage.
The game also showcased the talents of Prince George native Cameron Schmidt. The 18-year-old Vancouver Giants right winger collected the second goal for Canada in the opening minute of the second period and came close to scoring again later in the period.
Schmidt currently leads the WHL with 23 goals and ranks eighth in the scoring race with 35 points in 21 games.
The Prospects rematch will be played today in Oshawa, Ont. (4 p.m. PT, TSN).
In other Cougars news, former Cats winger Ondrej Becher scored his first American Hockey League goal Tuesday for the Grand Rapids Griffins in their 5-2 win over the Iowa Wild Sunday in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Becher has played seven games for the Griffins, the top farm club of the Detroit Red Wings, since his Nov. 3 return from an injury.
Becher, a 20-year-old native of Czechia, played two seasons in Prince George and was a key player for the Cougars last season in their run to the BC Division regular season banner and the Western Conference playoff final.
2026 Memorial Cup coming to Kelowna
The Kelowna Rockets learned Wednesday their team will be playing late into the spring next hockey season.
The Canadian Hockey League has selected Kelowna to host the 2026 Memorial Cup major junior hockey championship.
The Rockets’ bid was chosen over four other WHL cities – Brandon, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge and Spokane.
Kelowna was due to host the 2020 Memorial Cup that was cancelled because of the pandemic.
The 2025 Memorial Cup will be played May 22-June 1 in Rimouski, Que.
