The good news for the Prince George Cougars is they are 9-5 on the road.
No team in the WHL Western Conference has more away victories.
The bad news for the Cougars is they are 5-8 at home.
I am not sure anyone has a definite answer to why the Cougars play a lot better away from CN Centre.
There is no other team in the Conference with as big a discrepancy in having a significantly better away record.
The Cougars are averaging 2,818 fans in 13 home games.
They have had four home dates above the average and they are just 1-3 in those games.
On October 15th before a crowd of 2,941, they lost 4-1 to Winnipeg.
On November 12th in front of 4,463 fans, they fell 5-4 to Vancouver.
The next day on November 13th, before 4,821 fans the Cats did get the win 6-4 on a Sunday afternoon over Vancouver.
One week ago on Friday, December 2nd, the largest crowd to ever watch the Cougars play in Prince George saw Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats score a 5-1 victory over the Cats.
A large reason why the Cougars have been much better on the road is their powerplay.
Prince George has the number two away PP in the entire WHL at a whopping 37.9 % only behind the Kamloops Blazers who sit at 40 %.
On home ice, the Cougars are just 17th out of 22 teams with the man advantage at a paltry 17.2 %.
Having thought about this some more it just donned on me that the schedule has played a significant part in why the road record and stats are far better.
The two worst teams by far in the Western Conference are the (5-18-0-1) Spokane Chiefs and the (4-21-3) Victoria Royals.
Just past the 1/3 mark of the regular season, the Chiefs and Royals are already 11 points out of a playoff spot.
To give one a perspective of where Spokane and Victoria are in the overall league standings, the Chiefs are 20th and the Royals 21st out of 22 teams, 11 points behind the 19th-place Prince Albert Raiders.
The (4-23-1) Edmonton Oil Kings are last overall with a measly nine points.
The (14-13) Cougars are a combined 4-0 against the Royals and Chiefs with all four of those games on the road.
Prince George has outscored Victoria and Spokane 26-8 (7-2 and 5-3 over Spokane and 9-1 and 5-2 over Victoria).
Sometimes stats can be misleading but there are always quirks.
The Cougars are 3-0 against the Vancouver Giants at the Langley Events Centre this season and they have won their last six games in that building going back to January of 2022.
On the other hand, P.G. is just 1-1 at home this season against the Giants and just 1-3 vs. Vancouver dating back to January of this year.
The Cougars will be a playoff team come the spring, that is a near certainty.
Right now they sit 5th in the Conference and if they stay there or drop to 6th, 7th or 8th, they would start the playoffs on the road.
Based on this season’s results to date, for the Cougars that may be preferable.
Cat Scan podcast:
He was a pioneer in radio sports talk & was the @whl voice on Shaw TV. In this week’s Cat Scan author @DanRussellST talks about documenting his shows, memorable interviews, highs & lows of a 30-year run, details on one of his well-known callers The Pauser, & much more in Part 1. https://t.co/GnOAm4Gv8Q
— Hartley Miller (@Hartley_Miller) December 8, 2022
FROM THE QUOTE RACK:
With the world safely back on its axis — the Mariners finally back in the playoffs and the Huskies reclaiming the Apple Cup — I guess I can safely retire now.
*Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times http://www.seattletimes.com/author/dwight-perry/
Editor’s Note: Enjoy your retirement Dwight and congrats on 23 years of writing for the Seattle Times.
I hear they’ll be a reboot of an old American TV show that features the San Francisco Giants in their part of the Aaron Judge negotiations with the New York Yankees. The show is called ‘Leverage’.
*Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California
Well; if I didn’t already hate the Yankees…
New Orleans Saints blow 13-point late 4th quarter lead against Tampa Bay Bucs and Tom Brady. Las Vegas Raiders blow 13-point late 4th quarter lead against LA Rams and …Baker Mayfield? Hold our beer. (Both the Bucs and Rams won 17-16)
*Comedy writer Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com
In Case You Missed It:
It’s been said weather forecasting is a great job because you can be wrong most of the time and still get paid. The same goes for running the Houston Texans.
*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 is in his 10th season as the radio colour commentator for Prince George Cougars’ home games. Hartley has been on the airwaves in PG since 1979 and is the author of You Don’t Say (sports quotes).