Thursday, December 15, 2005

Commanding win for Cats
But just 2,512 there to see it, smallest crowd ever for a WHL game at CN Centre

by JIM SWANSON Citizen Sports Editor
The Prince George Cougars didn't need the goaltending to play a major role Wednesday.

That's because the power play showed up in the first period, and the penalty killing arrived for the second.

The Cougars scored two first-period man-advantage goals then fended off a short two-man disadvantage and rode the momentum to an easy 6-1 victory at CN Centre over the suddenly hapless Portland Winter Hawks.

The injury-riddled Hawks, at one point considered an upper-echelon WHL team, have been outscored 14-2 in their last two games when Sunday's 8-1 loss to the Spokane Chiefs is added in.

The Cougars were 4-11 on the power play and held Portland to one goal on eight chances, dominating that area of the game. Actually, there wasn't any area of this game the Cougars didn't dominate against a Hawks team that forgot to pack intensity and looked like it wanted to be anywhere else on Wednesday.

"Before the game we looked at a stat where (Portland) hadn't won a game when they were trailing after the first period this whole season, so we knew if we could get on them early then that stat would come true," said Cougars head coach Mike Vandekamp.

"It did. Our start was excellent, it's one of the best starts we've had all year. We really beat them in the first 10 minutes of the game. There seems to be something out of sync (with Portland), their back end is struggling with injuries, but we were able to win a lot of races to loose pucks. We caught them on what seems to be a bit of a downer."

Jared Walker showed those on hand - hardly any, a paltry 2,512 for announced attendance, for the second-straight home game a new record low - why the Cougars made last month's deal, sending Mike Berube to Red Deer for the hulking 19-year-old centre. Walker set up the first goal on the game's first power play with a dandy no-look backhand to Colin Patterson, who found the empty net for his ninth of the year, then Walker did the job himself to put the Cats up 2-0.

"Walker's been very good for us, and he's a real calming influence when we need it," said Vandekamp.

Nick Drazenovic extended the lead to 3-0 before the first was done, and Myles Zimmer, with his first of two, made it 4-0 early in the second. From there, it was cruise control for the Cats, who rounded out the scoring when Eric Hunter fired his 17th of the season and Zimmer connected in the third.

"It was a fun night for us for a change," said Vandekamp.

"We were saying in the coaches room, we beat Lethbridge 5-0 earlier in the season but most of the nights it's been nail-biters. I think the guys played with lots of pride."

The Cougars' penalty killers did allow a second-period goal by Brandon Dubinsky, but that was it. With the score 4-1 in the second, Portland had 1:25 of two-man time staring at them, but Hawks forward Kyle Bailey was called for interference and the Cougars scored on that power play.

Through it all, Cougars netminder Scott Bowles might as well have taken a Gameboy on the ice with him, particularly in the first 40 minutes. Bowles did allow a second-period goal to Brandon Dubinsky, but was rarely tested. The Cougars outshot the Hawks 18-6 in the first, 17-6 in the second, and 11-9 in the third - by game's end, the totals fittingly read 46-21 in favour of Prince George.

Bowles's best saves were glove thieveries on Frazer McLaren in the last seconds of the second period, and on Garth Collins on a third-period breakaway.

"It's embarrassing - I feel like our players are using all these excuses like we're hurt or tired, but there's no reason why we can't put an effort in," said Portland coach Mike Williamson.

"I have to give Prince George a lot of credit, they won all the battles on the wall and just plain wanted it more. It looked like a bantam team against a junior team."

Cougars rookie defenceman Chris Vanduynhoven picked up his first WHL point when he assisted on Zimmer's first goal. Blueliner Curtis Cooper had two assists, the sixth multi-point game of his career. Twice, both times coming when he was a 16-year-old, Cooper has picked up three helpers in a game.

The Cougars, 2-0 to start this nine-game homestand, are now three games above .500 at 17-14-0-3, and have a one-point lead over the Kamloops Blazers for fourth in the B.C. Division. The Cougars, who have a game in hand on the Blazers, play host to Kamloops on Friday and Saturday in the final pre-Christmas games for both clubs.

KITTY LITTER: Cougars rookie winger Dana Tyrell, 16, has been named to Team Pacific for the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, an injury replacement for Portland's Colton Sceviour, who is out with a broken jaw. The tournament takes place in Regina after Christmas... Due to a lack of healthy and available bodies, made worse if Andy Rogers makes Team Canada for the world juniors, the Cougars have listed rugged 19-year-old winger Jamison Orr, who plays for the BCHL's Williams Lake Timberwolves. The Winnipeg product has played for Vancouver, Lethbridge, Saskatoon, Brandon and Medicine Hat in the WHL, including a one-game stint for the Tigers earlier this season... The Cougars will bring in 15-year-old forwards Dale Hunt and Matt Belich for their WHL debuts Dec. 26-27, when the Spokane Chiefs are at CN Centre for a two-game series. Hunt was the Cougars' first round pick in the most recent bantam draft, while Belich, from Red Deer, was tabbed in the second round. Hunt has 14 goals and 26 points in 21 games for the midget AAA Pembina Valley Hawks. Belich was going to play for the Cougars in Red Deer last month, but the feisty winger was suspended at that time.


©Copyright 2005 Prince George Citizen

IT SEEMS MORE PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN NUMBERS OF FANS THAN THE GAME. GIVE IT A REST PLEASE AND STICK TO HOCKEY OF THE GAMES BE POSITIVE AND THE NUMBER OF FANS WILL TAKE CARE OF IT SELF.I DONT SEE A BIG DEAL MADE OF THE SPRUCE KINGS NUMBERS OR FOR THAT MATTER ANY OTHER WHL FAN SUPPORT.ALL ANYONE TALKS ABOUT IS THE NEGATIVE SIDE OF EVERYTHING.THIS MORNING ON A LOCAL STATION THE FIRST THINK THAT WAS MENTIONED WAS ATTENDENCE AND THEN THE 6-1 SCORE.MAKES YOU WONDER WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT.

i guess if there was any excitement there to cheer about,even when they win it's boring,it dosen't help to look to the future,because they trade that away,until brodsky sells the team,they will be fighting for that last spot once again,Dallas is totally useless,as well as all the scout's,when's the last time they've had a decent europeon??Petrovicky??seems all the other teams get decent one's,talking about the cat's is like hitting yourself in the head,after awhile you gotta quit!!!

QUIT. Quit going to games, quit posting on here or whatever other sites you post on, quit talking about the team and the players and the owners. All you ever do is bitch and whine about how useless everyone is and how you'll never see anything positive until the team is sold. I got your point the last time(s) you posted and it's the same old broken record. If and when the team gets sold, then you can come back and be happy. Otherwise, why subject yourself, and all of us, to the misery. And, by the way, I was excited to see the team get a run away victory last night. It was well deserved after the recent struggles and some guys got to contribute a bit more on the scoreboard, so good for them.

Hey RIGHT ON , great post, can't believe someone can be so negative, as the man said stay off if you have nothing good to say.

Many regular posters are negative, its not just a few.

There's a difference between being critical and being negative. If a person has a legitimate concern with something and wants to be critical, they have the right to express themselves and I, for one, will read or listen. Hell, I've criticized on this board myself (scroll down the board and read SLAM) However, this person has had 3 recent posts on the same point about the team being crap, the owner being crap, the scouts being crap, the players being crap, seemingly unhappy with anything other than "sell the team", which just ain't gonna happen! (If anything, Brodsky would take his team and move somewhere else, which might make that individual happy but not me, that's for sure.) I don't agree with everything the owners/G.M. do but I think this year's team has something I haven't seen for a few years and it's only going to get better, judging by our crop of rookies and prospects. And, what's wrong with this year's team anyway? 3 games over .500 not quite halfway through the season and putting some heart and soul into the effort to make for some very entertaining hockey. As for a team of grinders, sorry but I see that there's a nice balance between the finesse players and the physical players with which the team can do something. So, Johnson can do what he wants because it is a free world but I suggested he give it up and move on, thus sparing us his terminal misery.

are you? Must be a truly depressing existance to be unable to pull any positive from a negative situation. Not only that, your memory, and therefore your facts, are very faulty. Last time I looked Chara did not exactly suck. Last time I looked, our young guys are looking great (of course you have to actually ATTEND the games to notice this). Last time I looked, there were plenty of teams well below the Coogs (who play in the toughest division by far), so if Dallas is useless what does that make Sutter, Mac Crimmon, Chenowyth etc.? As suggested elsewhere, why don't you just not talk about the team you can find no good in and go away? Do you think anyone enjoys reading your type of verbal diarhea? GOOOOOOOOOO COOOOOOOOOOGS!!!!

Go get 'em Coogs!!

The game I saw had plenty of excitement. 6 goals!!!

I would have paid just to see Hunter's goal.

I would have paid just to see Bowles glove save.

I would have paid just to see the look on Vanderhovens face when he fired it over the glass. He looked so disgusted with himself it was funny. It also means he cares about his play.

I would have paid to hear 2500 people yell the guts out SIX, YES SIX times when the Cougars scored.

And another thing I saw was when Prab got hit from behind I saw Hunter hammer the first Winterhawk he saw, and then after he nailed that guy, he slammed the one that actually hit Prab. How often do you see a veteran lay it on the line for a rookie?

Come on people. We're over 500. I remember walking around the Plex and hearing lots of people say if only the team could be at least 500 they would support it. Well it's over 500 and that's after one of the most grueling road trips.

And something else to consider. It isn't Dallas or Rick that go out there on the ice to represent PG, it's these kids. Other than Rogers I haven't seen anyone deserving of fan contempt. Hate Dallas and Rick as much as you want, but don't take it out on the children.

that "johnson" is not even from PG. If he is, he hasn't seen a game this year. For the most part, the hockey on home ice has been pretty damn entertaining . . . easily the best in YEARS.

I still have HUGE concerns about the off-ice operations/management, but I do find it difficult to say anything negative about the team itself. Sure they've had some tough times as of late, but I think they are getting back to their early season ways and they have put together a respectable record thusfar when you look at the big picture. There are only 7 other teams in the 20 team league with more points than us . . . unfortunately 3 of them are in our Division so it tends to make things look worse than they actually are.

Overall, I think this season (on-ice) has been a huge step in the right direction . . .

Zimmer, Patterson, Featherstone and Hunter how the team is doing. They were the ones who took it on the chin for so many years, the lean times, and I bet they'll tell you how good it feels to be where they are right now. I'll also lay odds that they are pretty optimistic about how the rest of the season is going to go and those 4 are going to give it their best to make sure it's a battle every single shift, every single game!