If you weren’t there Saturday to watch the Prince George Cougars manhandle the Vancouver Giants, that’s too bad.
You missed a good one… if you’re a Cougars’ fan.
They pasted the Giants 7-1 in front of an electrifying sellout crowd of 6,038.
On Community Heroes Night at the old barn, the Cougars had a handful of heroes in their midst on the ice at CN Centre and they answered the bell by committee to defeat a division rival that’s been creeping upon them.
As lopsided as the score might seem on a night when Koehn Ziemmer rang up his second hat trick of the season and Borya Valis delivered a two-goal, two-assist effort, this one easily could have taken turn for the worse if not for the play of goalie Joshua Ravensbergen.
Looking every step of the way like the guy NHL scouts are ranking high for the draft in June, Ravensbergen was there to bail the Cougars out, especially in the second period when he truly shined when his teammates mysteriously left it up to him to hold off the Giants.
Leading by three after one period, the Cougars skaters went into hibernation in the middle frame. They were outshot 13-3 and gave up three breakaways, two to Cameron Schmidt, the WHL’s leading goalscorer, and one to Jaden Lipinski, now seven games into his return to the Giants from the AHL Calgary Wranglers.
Midway through the second, Ravensbergen stuck his glove out to deny Schmidt, in his Prince George homecoming, on a backhand deke that was probably the best save of the game for the 17-year-old North Vancouver netminder.
“It was a huge game for us and I liked a lot about our game, except the second period,” said Cougars head coach Mark Lamb. “We did a lot of good things, but we don’t win the game without Ravensbergen in the second period.
“He’s a real good goalie and he was dialed in tonight. He had a good week of practice and he applied it tonight. The results were there.”
The Giants outshot the Cougars 30-36.
The only goal Ravensbergen allowed was a thing of beauty for the Giants, and perfect pass from the slot made by Tyson Zimmer to Schmidt on the left wing, who had nothing but net showing to fire in his 18th goal.
The Cougars got back on their horse in the third period and had a few great chances right off the hop and their penalty-killers were flawless, blocking shots and generating more than a few quality shorthanded scoring chances. They finished the game a perfect 6-for-6 on the PK.
Ziemmer has scored eight goals in his last three games and his third of the night brought his season total to 15 in just 12 games.
Ziemmer’s second goal, a sharp-angled backhander from in close, 10 minutes into the third, cast away any doubt the Cougars were going to wrap up their 10th win and less than two minutes later he collected his third.
“Obviously the crowd was good there and to get that start we had with a quick one right away, we built off that and I think our group played a complete game, except for the second period,” said Ziemmer. “We had a tough second period, one of the worst periods I’ve actually ever played, and to get that second one felt pretty good. There was definitely a lull there, but we came back in the third period and found our game again.
“We have to give (Ravensbergen) a lot of credit there, he’s been the backbone of this team the last two years now and he does it on a nightly basis. I know he’s been getting a hard time here the last couple games, but he’s sticking with it. It’s a lot of pressure, especially for a young goalie. This is his draft year, but he’s sticking with it. He’s our starter, he knows what he’s doing.”
Ziemmer, a third-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings in 2023, completed his natural hat trick 11:51 into the third and that brought the house down. Standing just off the goal line he spun a low shot while rolling his wrists and it zipped into the net behind Burke Hood, who came off the bench to relieve starter Matthew Hutchinson in the first period, right after Ziemmer notched his first on a left wing rush he finished with a high snapper.
“I’ve always been able to score growing up and throughout my career and just right now everything’s going in for me, and hopefully I’ll keep it rolling here,” said Ziemmer.
“These are big points for us with our division rivals here, they’re right on our tail and it’s good to get separation in these games with them and we need another two points tomorrow.”
Four goals on their first seven shots, it was quite the start for the Cougars, obviously still mad at giving up an overtime goal to the Saskatoon Blades in their previous game Tuesday.
Valis touched off the fireworks just 14 seconds in, wiring in a slot shot on a lightning-quick feed from Terik Parascak, who blocked Hutchinson’s clearing attempt along the side wall.
Parascak scored his 11th of the season just past the five-minute mark and then it was Lee Shurgot’s turn to cash in his first career WHL goal. The 16-year-old rookie centre was there to bat in a puck that ricocheted off the stick of Giants defenceman Kolby Gapter, after Cougar winger Van Eger centred in into the crease.
“I’ve never hear our team cheer louder for a goal that that one,” said Ziemmer.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Cougars deepened their grip on first place in the BC Division, improving to 10-4-3-2. The Giants, who hadn’t lost in regulation the previous six games, dropped to 9-5-2-0… D Ephram McNutt missed his fourth game with an upper-body injury the Cougar veteran suffered in a game against Victoria Oct. 26…. Cougars D Carson Carels assisted on the only goal Canada Red scored Saturday in a 3-1 loss to Canada White in the gold-medal game at the U17 World Challenge in Sania , Ont…. Sunday’s rematch with the Giants starts at 2 p.m. and another sellout crowd is expected… The Cougars Mega 50-50 draw jackpot will have a minimum jackpot of $50,000. All proceeds will go to the Prince George Community Foundation.
