The Cariboo Cougars and Northern Capitals will be taking the game outside this weekend.
Both under-18 teams will be playing an outdoor game at the Ernie Sam Memorial Arena on Nak’azdli Whut’en Territory in Fort Saint James as part of the B.C. Winter Classic.
The Capitals take on the Greater Vancouver Comets Friday night at 6:30.
Caps goaltender, Taylor Rutter who is from Houston told Vista Radio it’s a great feeling to play in the game after sitting out due to injury last season.
“I’m really excited to experience it since I wasn’t able to play in it last year and it was a pretty close call this year.”
Rutter added they would love nothing more than to exact some revenge on the Comets after losing to them in last year’s league final.
“We definitely have a bit of a rivalry with the Comets because we lost to them in the playoffs last year and I think it will be good to try and beat them this year in the outdoor game.”
The Capitals sit fourth in the five-team B.C. Elite Hockey with a mark of 8-12-1-1 but have been in a lot of close games this year only posting a minus ten goal differential.
Paxton Fraser leads the Capitals in scoring with 15 goals and 10 assists.
Captain Nicole Bateman and first-year forward Khya Swanson are often excellent distributors of the puck dishing out 11 and 12 assists respectively.
Other secondary scorers include Johana Ketter, Reese Overton, Paige Umbach and Sofie Passeri.
The Comets who sit 15-4-0-0 are led by Zoe Wilcox who leads the team with nine goals followed by Lucy Peloso, Hana Nishi and Carolyn Koo.
Greater Vancouver often wins with defence allowing a paltry 26 goals.
Both teams play the second half of their double-header Saturday at 9am from the Vanderhoof Arena.
On the boys side, Cariboo takes on the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds Saturday at 6:30pm from the Ernie Sam.
The Cougars, who have won four straight, sit third in the seven-team league with a record of 13-8-2-1.
Fraser Valley is last with a mark of 6-12-3-1.
Cariboo captain and Prince George Cougars prospect Jaxon Larmand believes the team is rounding into form after dealing with injuries and inconsistencies during the first half.
“This past weekend was the first weekend with our full lineup. It was good having Callander (Wyatt) back so that was great and I think we figured out some of our inconsistencies.”
Larmand added no one on the roster takes the opportunity of playing outdoors for granted.
“You don’t get to play outdoors very often, especially at this level and last year and the year before was so much fun so its going to be great this year.”
The 17-year-old is tied for the team lead in scoring with fellow forward Nic Gordan at 31 points each.
Fellow PG Cougars prospect Kadric Mujcin has 21 points in 23 games. Cariboo has 11 players on its roster with double-digit points.
Between the pipes, Cariboo is led by Ivan Anderson who has a 8-3-0-2 record with a 2.15 goals against average.
Offense has been much harder to come by for the Thunderbirds who have scored a league-low 48 times.
Ryley Green leads Fraser Valley in goals with nine while Koltin Herfst, Riley Charlton and Wyatt Van Tongeren are the only other players on the roster who have ten points or more.
The second half of the men’s double header is Sunday at 10am from the Fort Forum.
During the weekend, the Capitals and Cougars will also visit local schools and participate in minor hockey practices with the kids prior to any games.
“It’s huge since girls hockey often struggles with the younger ages, it is really nice to see a lot of young girls want to push themselves and get involved with the sport,” added Rutter.
“The kids are so excited when we go to the schools. It’s so much fun to see how happy they are when you spend time with them because out there, they don’t watch too much hockey,” said Larmand.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
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