In his last WHL game, Brogan O’Brien of Prince George made it memorable with two goals and an assist, but it wasn’t enough to propel the Cougars to victory.
Turnabout is fair play.
Friday night in Kamloops, the Cougars won 4-2 in the Blazers final home game.
Saturday night before 5,106 fans, the second largest home crowd of the season at the CN Centre, the Blazers returned the favor by winning 6-5 in a shootout in the Cougars final home game on Fan Appreciation Night.
It’s been a ride.
Thanks for the memories Aaron, Jared, and Brogan.Sincerely,
All of Prince George pic.twitter.com/BOCiSY0xG1— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) March 18, 2018
There were 10 goals in regulation time and O’Brien scored the first one, 6:10 into the game on the power-play, and the last one, with 7:04 left in the third period.
It was a sentimental night for O’Brien, Jared Bethune (2A), and Aaron Boyd, who all played their last game in a PG uniform.
“Yes, it was pretty special. Had a lot of family and friends here. It was an emotional one for my Mom, if anybody saw her on the ice. I think I made them really proud and it was really special to play here,” said O’Brien.
After starting in the Prince George Minor Hockey system, O’Brien joined the Cariboo Cougars before playing with the Prince George Spruce Kings.
He joined the Cats as an 18-year-old and completed this season with 41 points (17G, 24A) in 52 games.
O’Brien had a couple of glorious opportunities to win the game in overtime, including a two-on-oh after taking a pass from Bethune, but Kamloops goalie Max Palaga made a gigantic pad save to extend the game.
“There’s just so many emotions right now. It was a lot of fun the last few games here.” said Bethune, who led the Cougars in scoring this season with 69 points (21G, 48A) in 71 games.
“Feeling really emotional to be honest, sad, happy, a bit of everything,” said Boyd on 94.3 the GOAT‘s post-game show.
“Knowing it’s your last game, you kind of want to play it like any other game, but I’m happy with the outcome of it. We didn’t get the win in the end, but I think we played hard,” added Boyd who finished with 38 points (14G, 24A) in 67 games.
The Blazers scored five times in the middle period and won the shootout 2-0.
Connor Bowie, Reid Perepeluk, and Cameron MacPhee tallied once for the Cougars, who were outshot 36-34.
Taylor Gauthier made 31 saves to conclude his rookie season with Prince George.
Each team had one power-play marker.
Rookie Connor Zary notched two goals and an assist plus the shootout winner for the Blazers.
Zary had 11 goals this season, six of them against the Cougars.
Kamloops captain Nick Chyzowski had an assist and a shootout goal in his final game with the Blazers.
Defencemen Joe Gatenby and Brady Reagan also concluded their WHL career with Kamloops.
The Cougars finished with a record of 24-38-5-5 for 58 points and 21st out of 22 in the overall WHL standings.
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE:
BC DIVISION STANDINGS: (FINAL)
Kelowna, 72 games = 43-22-5-2 (93 points)
Victoria, 72 games = 39-27-4-2 (84 points)
Vancouver, 72 games = 36-27-6-3 (81 points)
Kamloops, 72 games = 30-37-1-4 (65 points)
Prince George, 72 games = 24-38-5-5 (58 points)
WESTERN CONFERENCE WILD CARD:
Tri-City, 71 games = 37-25-8-1 (83 points)
Seattle, 71 games = 34-27-8-2 (78 points)
Kamloops, 72 games = 30-37-1-4 (65 points)
Prince George, 72 games = 24-38-5-5 (58 points)
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