With more than 60 per cent of the Prince George Cougars season complete, it’s time for the Cat Attack!
The Cougars were not buyers or sellers at the WHL trade deadline. The Josh Connolly acquisition from Kamloops for Marc McNulty was a rare swap of veteran 19-year-old offensive defencemen that both teams hope will flourish in a new environment. Connolly wanted to play in Prince George, his hometown, which of course is refreshing to hear since many players have been reluctant to come to P.G. This deal appears to be a favourable one for the Cougars as McNulty, superb at times, was inconsistent, while Connolly should be highly motivated to be a leader.
# I wasn’t surprised the Cougars traded forward Chance Braid, but I was flabbergasted the Kelowna Rockets wanted him and that the Cats did not find another 20-year-old. The Cougars have just two
overage players (Jari Erricson and Zach Pochiro) one under the limit. The writing was on the wall for Braid when he was a healthy scratch in Kelowna January 3rd. When the Cats acquired Braid and Lance Yaremchuk from Prince Albert in June for Jordan Tkatch, GM Todd Harkins stated in a news release: “He (Braid) provides the right mix of size, experience and leadership.” Needless to say, the Cougars expected more toughness, presence and leadership. Braid had just 13 points (8 goals) and 42 penalty minutes in 35 games with the Cougars. The Rockets are hoping with a championship calibre team that Braid will provide those physical intangibles. It’s a gamble to say the least.
With Yaremchuk in Junior A and Braid in Kelowna, all the Cougars have left to show from that PA deal is Brogan O’Brien (WHL rights obtained from the Rockets) who is with the PG Spruce Kings and may not play a game for the Cats. If you’re wondering, the 19-year-old Tkatch has 33 points (8 goals) and 22 penalty minutes in 43 games with the Raiders.
# Adding Patrick Gora in net is worth the risk but carrying three goalies isn’t the answer. 16-year-old Tavin Grant needs to play, regardless of league. The 18-year-old Gora had impressive stats with the Camrose Kodiaks but that’s Junior A. How he adjusts to the WHL is a question that only gets answered by playing. He stopped 30 of 35 shots in a 5-2 loss to Victoria in his debut. 18-year-old Ty Edmonds deserves to remain the starter but having someone his age “push” him for crease time should be advantageous to the team.
# It’s almost remarkable that the 20-23-1 Cougars remain in 3rd place in the BC Division considering they are allowing one more goal per game (4) than they score (3). In addition they are the WHL’s most penalized team with a power play ranked 18th in the league and a penalty kill last at 22nd. Although the Cougars are 6th in the Western Conference standings, they may drop to 9th if Vancouver surpasses them; the Giants are just one point behind with two games in hand. Last place Kamloops appears to be a good bet to be one of the two Conference teams to miss the playoffs. At this time, Vancouver, P.G. and Tri-City are the front-runners to be the other team to miss the post-season.
# It’s too early to play the schedule game but let’s have a peek anyway. The PG Cougars have just 28 games left; half at home. The Cougars have 8 of their next 11 at CN Centre. After that, with the Canada Winter Games dominating the Prince George sports scene, the Cougars play 7 of their following 8 on the road. The Cats still have four games remaining against Kamloops but they are among their final six games in March. The Cougars have three games left each against Portland, Everett, Seattle and Edmonton and two each against Medicine Hat, Victoria, Calgary. They have also singles vs. Lethbridge Kootenay, Kelowna, Red Deer, Moose Jaw and Tri-City. In an odd twist, the Cougars only play the Tigers twice this season with both games in Medicine Hat. Huh!
# After 22 CN Centre dates, the Cougars average home attendance is 2,724 and that number should climb with three “feature” games remaining. This is an increase of more than a 1,000 from last season’s average of 1,693. Yes, these are encouraging numbers, especially since fans want to be at the games without trying to give their tickets away. The first year of new ownership change has been positively received and should continue to elevate with improvement on the ice.
PG Cougars remaining schedule:
January
16 host Portland
17 host Portland
20 host Everett
21 host Everett
23 at Medicine Hat
24 at Lethbridge
25 at Kootenay
30 host Seattle
31 host Seattle
February
6 host Edmonton
7 host Edmonton
9 at Kelowna
11 at Calgary
13 at Medicine Hat
14 at Red Deer
16 at Edmonton
21 host Moose Jaw
27 at Seattle
28 at Everett
March
4 host Calgary
6 host Victoria
7 host Victoria
11 at Kamloops
13 at Tri-City
14 at Portland
18 host Kamloops
20 host Kamloops
21 at Kamloops
From the Quote Rack:
Aaron Rodgers was calling “New York Bozo” at the line during the Green Bay -Dallas game. Silly man. Chris Christie is from New Jersey.
New York Jets RB Chris Johnson was arrested in Orlando and charged with open carry of a firearm. This may not be what the Jets had in mind for having higher caliber players in the off-season.
Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com
Ted Williams’ condoms are going up for auction. The National Geographic is expected to lead the bidding—they’re interested in controlling a recent Antarctic penguin population explosion.
Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau has filed a trademark application for ‘Johnny Hockey’–the office told him that he’s three off-rink incidents away from qualifying.
Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California
Having seen Peyton Manning struggle against the Colts, I think it’s about time that he retires to ….. I don’t ‘ know …… Omaha?
Comedy writer Marc Ragovin
New Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan in his first interview promised to take the team to the playoffs. Now he has to figure out how to fit them all into Jerry Jones’ private suite.
Police fired tear gas at Ohio State University to break up potential rioting after the game. Who knew there were Canucks fans living in Columbus OH?
Comedy writer TC Chong of Vancouver (http://alwaysfunny.com/)
And in case you missed it:
Holly Sonders of Fox Sports is one of Golf.com’s Most Beautiful Women in Golf 2015. So many male admirers voted for her in December, one could deck the halls with beaus of Holly.
Comedy writer RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com
Hartley Miller is the sports director and morning news anchor for 94.3 the Goat. His column appears Fridays on myprincegeorgenow.com. Send along a quote, note, or anecdote to [email protected]
Follow him on twitter: @Hartley_Miller
