The gap is widening each week in the WHL Western Conference standings.
The top five teams are miles ahead of the bottom five.
Everett, Kamloops, Portland, Seattle, and Kelowna each have a winning percentage of .667 or better.
P.G., Vancouver, Victoria, Tri-City, and Spokane are all below .500 with a winning percentage as low as .359 for Tri-City and Spokane and as high as .464 for Prince George.
The Cougars are 6th, but nine points behind 5th place Kelowna, and the Rockets have six games in hand.
Prince George is five points ahead of Vancouver, 10 ahead of Victoria, and 11 in front of Tri-City, and Spokane.
(The last place Chiefs are coached by former Spruce Kings coach Adam Maglio).
Recently, P.G. has lost 5 of 6 (one of them in overtime), Vancouver has lost four in a row and has just two wins in its last 10, Victoria is on an 11-game losing skid (0-10-0-1), Tri-City and Spokane have just three wins in their last 10.
The 18-21-2-1 Cougars are a team that performs poorly against the top five and shines against the teams below them.
These numbers back that up as Prince George is:
0-2-1 against Everett
2-6-0-1 against Kamloops
0-2 against Portland
0-1 against Seattle
and 1-4 against Kelowna.
This adds up to 3-15-1-1 against the top five.
Now let’s look at the Cougars’ record against the four teams below them. They are:
5-4 against Vancouver (Cougars have won four of the last five against the Giants).
7-0 against Victoria
2-2 against Tri-City
1-0-1 against Spokane
That adds up to 15-6-1-0 against the four behind them.
The Cougars goalies have been bombarded with rubber in many of those games against the top teams.
For example, during a recent four-game losing streak that ended on Tuesday, the Cougars were allowing 50 shots a game.
In two games against Kamloops (January 21st and 22nd) and one each against Portland and Everett (January 28th and 29th), the Cats were outshot by a total of 202-100.
The Cougars are one of the youngest teams in the league, carrying just one 19-year-old along with the maximum allowed three 20-year-olds.
The team has shown improvement this season and is destined for its first playoff spot in five years as the top eight in the conference advance.
However, the distance between where the Cougars are and where they want to go still remains a large gap.
Sure they will have a veteran team with a large number of returning players in the 2022-23 season but that doesn’t mean they will automatically challenge for a division or a conference title.
Experience gained along with improving the remainder of this season will be paramount as to the Cougars’ success or lack thereof, down the road.
Cat Scan podcast:
CAT SCAN: @Hartley_Miller sat down with former @PGCougars owner Rick Brodsky in part one of a two-part series in this week’s episode of the podcast | #cityofpg https://t.co/aGjtgHpkxE #PrinceGerogeBC #Northernbc pic.twitter.com/51zt9igRrv
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) February 3, 2022
Column:
Does Minten have WHL’s best hands? . . . Wheat Kings, Ice preparing for return to home ice . . . Hey, KIJHL, it’s about those coaches https://t.co/0RyeYZfIxA
— Gregg Drinnan (@gdrinnan) February 4, 2022
FROM THE QUOTE RACK:
Former NFL Dolphins’ Coach Brian Flores claims Miami owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 for every loss his first season. NY Jets fans thinking “Hey, our team does it for nothing.”
*Comedy writer Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com
The Green Bay Packers had only 10 men on the field when the 49ers kicked the winning field goal in their playoff game. Apparently, the missing guy was off doing his own research on blocking kicks.
Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times http://www.seattletimes.com/author/dwight-perry/
Upcoming Super Bowl commercial: Peyton Manning in a bowling match against Steve Buscemi of ‘The Big Lebowski’. So, if Peyton loses, does he get ashes from a Folger’s coffee ‘blown into his face’?
*Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California
Aaron Rodgers is in trade rumors and the galloping joke is he’s taken so much Ivermectin he’ll have to play for the Broncos. To be candid, Rodgers is growing tired of the neigh-sayers.
*Comedy writer Alex Kaseberg
In Case You Missed It:
Wednesday was Groundhog Day, and Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow. This means six more weeks of hearing about Tom Brady’s legacy.
*Western Canadian comedy writer RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com
Hartley Miller is the news and sports director/supervisor plus morning news anchor for 94.3 the GOAT and Country 97fm.
He also is the radio color commentator for P.G. Cougars’ home games.
Hartley has been on the Prince George airwaves since 1979 and is the author of You Don’t Say (sports quotes).