They are the good Cougars! They are the bad Cougars! They are the unpredictable Cougars! With four games left before their mid-season Christmas break, it’s difficult to assess the 2014-15 Prince George Cougars.
Just when one thinks the Cougars are a competitive middle of the pack team with potential, they give an uninspiring dumbfounding performance. On the other hand, when one believes it’s the same old Cougars, in a turtle derby to avoid the basement, they deliver a fired up energetic masterpiece. Like many teams searching for an identity, the Cougars on some nights look like a bottom feeder and on other nights they compete admirably against the best of the WHL.
Yes, a team that has hovered around the .500 mark all season will have many teeter-totter type of stretches as the Cats can attest.
Recently, the bad Cougars looked lethargic losing back to back home ice games one week apart to the Regina Pats and Prince Albert Raiders, a 5-2 score in both encounters.
After some soul searching, the Cougars moved on to Kelowna to play the WHL leading Rockets, who easily won the first four match-ups at CN Centre by a combined score of 27-9. The Rockets scored in the first minute and enjoyed a 2-0 lead after one period. The general consensus at this point is here we go again, just how much will Kelowna win by this time? Then the good Cougars showed up with four unanswered goals in the 2nd and with goalie Ty Edmonds and a strong penalty kill leading the way, the Cats held on for the upset 4-3 victory, a game televised throughout Western Canada.
The next night in Kamloops (they lost two weeks earlier there 5-2), the Cougars spoiled the Blazers Teddy Bear toss game and won 6-3. The team returned home for their Teddy Bear toss game and before 4,800 fans won for the third time in five days 4-3 over the Saskatoon Blades.
Here’s a closer look at the good Cougars and bad Cougars:
Good—Winning road record of 7-6
Bad—-Just a .500 home record of 9-9
Good—Sitting in a playoff spot and 3rd in BC Division
Bad—-Worst Penalty Kill & 4th worst power play in the WHL
Good—Six points ahead of last season’s pace after 31 games
Bad—-Most penalized team in the league
Good—Two season high winning streaks of 4 games
Bad—-Two season high losing streaks of 4 games
Good—8-0 in one goal games
Bad—-They have been outscored 127-98
Good—16-0 when allowing 3 or less goals
Bad—-0-15 when allowing 4 or more goals
In addition, the Cougars are 7-4 combined against Kamloops (3-1) and Vancouver (4-3). If they can continue to stay ahead of both of these teams, the Cats would place no worse than third in the B.C. Division and a likely first round playoff date against the Victoria Royals. Of course, this is getting far too ahead of ourselves with the half-way mark not here yet.
The Cougars play tonight in Everett as they face the U.S. Division leading Silvertips for the first time this season. Then, it’s three in a row against the Chiefs: Saturday in Spokane and Tuesday and Wednesday at CN Centre. They beat the Chiefs 6-2 in the previous meeting October 4th in Spokane.
Yes, the Cougars are on a mini roll having won three straight, but trying to forecast game to game is more difficult than predicting the stock market on a day-to-day basis. However, with the pendulum swinging in all directions, it makes the season long journey intriguing. The most predictable aspect of the 2014-2015 Cougars is that they are unpredictable. If the Cougars stay compelling, this can be interpreted as being relevant to many local fans, which in itself is a big victory.
From the Quote Rack:
Rumors have it that Tim Tebow is now dating one of the Duggars (19 kids and counting) daughters. Which means the former NFL QB still isn’t scoring.
A Hawaii football announcer has apologized for referring to Fresno as the “armpit of America.” As well he should have. Everyone knows that’s New Jersey.
Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com
Mickey Rourke, 62, won a boxing match in Russia. Mickey’s prize move was the Ali Shuffleboard.
The Florida Marlins signed Giancarlo Stanton to a 13-year $325 Million contract. The Marlins will pay for this by holding a Fire Sale of the rest of the team.
Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California
Lindsey Vonn returned to competitive skiing in Alberta while boyfriend Tiger Woods returned to competitive golf in Florida. Of the two, Tiger is going downhill faster.
Ex-NFL centre Jason Brown, who recently left football and a $37-million contract, has reportedly harvested his first sweet potato crop. Might be the first pro who volunteered for the farm system.
Comedy writer RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com
And in case you missed it:
Dale Scott is the first major league umpire to announce he’s gay. The replay showed he is definitely out.
Comedy writer Tim Hunter
Hartley Miller is the sports director and morning news anchor for 94.3 the Goat. His column appears Fridays on hqprincegeorge.com. Send along a quote, note, or anecdote to [email protected]
Follow him on twitter: @Hartley_Miller