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HARTLEY MILLER’S HART ATTACK – (Cougars feel slighted entering the playoffs) March 24, 2017 EDITION 620

The Prince George Cougars are built to win this season; the Portland Winterhawks are not.

Does this mean the Cougars should be able to coast through their opening round series against the upstart Winterhawks?

The answer is no but P.G. has the pressure of being the favored team and they should play with an axe to grind.

The Cougars have 15 players aged 19 or older.

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On the other hand, the Winterhawks have 14 players aged 17 or younger.

One can argue that although Prince George is a much older team, there are plenty of question marks with the Cougars because they have little playoff experience.

In fact, they haven’t advanced past the first round in 10 years.

Despite this being a match-up of a division winner against a wild card team, there were just five wins separating the two teams with Prince George 45-21-3-3 and Portland 40-28-1-3.

In the regular season, each club won twice on home ice with one of the P.G. victories coming in a shootout.

The Cougars secured their first division banner by going 3-0-1 in their last four.

The Cats last regulation loss (5-4) came in Portland, March 9th.

The Winterhawks went 8-2 in their last 10, but failed to finish 3rd in the U.S. Division after losing their last regular season game (7-2) to Spokane on home ice.

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Off the ice, there were intense negotiations between the two clubs about the playoff schedule.

The Cats wanted a 2-2-1-1-1 while the Winterhawks tried to insist on a 2-3-2.

In the end, P.G. won that battle but some of the dates were changed following the original announcement.

On the ice, the Cougars may not have a hatred for Portland since they are not a rival, but motivation should not be a problem.

Do the Cougars have league wide respect as a championship calibre team?

Indications are a resounding NO!

Have you ever had one of those days where you felt snubbed?

Welcome to the world of the Cougars on Wednesday, March 22nd, 2017.

Let’s start with they had no players named to the Western Conference first and second all-star teams.

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Next, the team had zero Western Conference award winners.

For what it is worth, Mike Johnston of Portland got the nod over PG’s Richard Matvichuk for Coach of the Year.

And to complete the no recognition hat trick on the same day, the Cougars were shutout in the final CHL Top-10 Rankings for the 2016-17 season.

It was the 6th straight week they were overlooked after an earlier stretch of 19 consecutive weeks in the Top-10.

Can I also remind you that none of the Cougars were invited to Canada’s world junior selection camp in December?

Health is always a key for any team to go on a playoff run.

The Cats are in good shape with every player available.

Brad Morrison is expected to be ready for game one after being on the injured list for a month.

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Naturally the Winterhawks are not saying much about the condition of their top gunner, Cody Glass.

The 17-year-old Glass, who is expected to be an early first-round pick in the 2017 NHL draft, had 94 points (32 goals) in 69 games but missed the last five periods on the weekend.

Portland has also been without 19-year-old forward Evan Weinger (20 goals and 18 assists in 62 games) for the last 10 games.

Goaltending will obviously be crucial and on paper 20-year-old Ty Edmonds of P.G. (53 GP, 31-16-2-3, 2.48 GAA, .916 SV%, 1 SO) gets the edge over 19-year-old Cole Kehler of Portland (56 GP, 32-17-0-3, 3.10 GAA, .910 SV%, 2 SO).

However, the 6-foot-4, 205 pound Kehler closed out his regular season by being named CHL Goalie of the Week.

In addition, Edmonds has just a 1-8 post-season record.

Winning the special teams battle in hockey is as crucial as winning the turnover battle in football.

The Cougars power play was just #17 at 17.6 % but went 11 for their last 30.

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The Winterhawks power play was #5 at 24.8 %.

On the penalty kill, PG was #4 at 83.1 % while Portland was #8 at 80.2 %.

The Cougars were able to overcome plenty of obstacles to become division champions for the first time going wire-to-wire.

The playoff road is much more difficult but clearly this is the time of year where the team will be graded the most.

It’s their biggest challenge yet and one that players and the entire organization insist they will embrace.

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Game Visitor Home Date Time
1 Portland @ Prince George Friday, March 24 7:00
2 Portland @ Prince George Sunday, March 26 5:00
3 Prince George @ Portland Wednesday, March 29 7:00
4 Prince George @ Portland Thursday, March 30 7:00
5 * Portland @ Prince George Saturday, April 1 7:00 if needed
6 * Prince George @ Portland Monday, April 3 7:00 if needed
7 * Portland @ Prince George Wednesday, April 5 7:00 if needed

 

#

The Cougars enjoyed success late Thursday night; the Coast Inn Cougars that is.

In a remarkable Provincial midget Tier 1 gold medal hockey game, host Prince George took the B.C. title for a second straight year.

Jake Sweet made 50 saves for the shutout and Chase Schurack scored in triple overtime taking a pass from Craig MacDonald to give Coast Inn a 1-0 triumph over Chilliwack to the delight of a
standing room only crowd of 1,000 at Kin 1.

NOW THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT!

With the Coast Inn Cougars setting the standard, the P.G. Cougars and Major Midget Cariboo Cougars have a tough act to follow.

 

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The numbers are in and the Prince George Cougars achievement on the ice has translated to a positive number at the gate.

The Cougars attendance rose by just over 16 per cent with an increase of just over 500 fans per game.

The average climbed from 3,122 in the 2015-16 season to 3,626 in 2016-17.

Source: http://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendance/att_graph.php?tmi=7553

In all three years under the EDGEPRO ownership group, attendance has spiked, yet the team has been “in the red.”

This season’s total was the highest for the Cougars team in 14 years (2002-03) when the average was 4,386.

The all-time high since the Cougars arrived in P.G. was 5,801 in 1999-2000.

Now that playoffs have arrived it will be intriguing to see how much the crucial attendance numbers continue to escalate at CN Centre.

 


From the Quote Rack:

 

I saw that (Republican) John McCain filled out a March Madness bracket for ESPN. When asked about what he feels best, he said, “I love Arizona.” When asked what pick he feels worst about, he said, “Sarah Palin.”

 

Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon

 

President Donald Trump did not fill out an NCAA “Bracket Sheet”. This is after he was told that “Traveling” was not only never called in basketball, it hasn’t even been banned.

 

Comedy writer Tony Chong of Vancouver

 

In a memo to team owners NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called the practice of teams resting star players “an extremely significant issue for our league.” Lakers fans are going “What star players?”

 

Comedy writer Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com

 

A craze has started in Philadelphia in which 76’ers fans ‘Raise the Cat’ after victories. Fitting–it’s the first time anyone there has celebrated basketball in nine lifetimes.

 

Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California

 

Receiver Julian Edelman of the New England Patriots posted pictures getting his beard cut off. And guess what?  When they shaved his beard, they found Tom Brady’s missing Super Bowl jersey.

 

Comedy writer Alex Kaseberg

 

Sunday was the L.A. Marathon. Actually there wasn’t supposed to be a marathon — people on the 405 freeway just gave up and got out of their cars.

 

Conan O’Brien of TBS

 

A Canadian woman (Amanda Mussio) last week proposed to her boyfriend at a (Vancouver Canucks) hockey game with a bouquet of Doritos made to look like roses. It even spawned a new flavor — Nacho Boyfriend Anymore.

 

Late Night host Seth Meyers

 

RIP Chuck Barris: Gong but not forgotten.

 

Comedy writer Marc Ragovin of New York

 

And in case you missed it:

 

Good news for Norwegian golfers: the European Challenge Tour is returning to Norway after a three-year absence. Have you driven a fjord lately?

 

Comedy writer RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com

 

Hartley Miller is the sports director and morning news anchor for 94.3 the Goat.

He also is the 94.3 radio color commentator for P.G. Cougars home games.

His column appears Fridays on myprincegeorgenow.com.

Send along a quote, note, or anecdote to [email protected]

Follow him on twitter: @Hartley_Miller

 

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