And so the Kamloops Blazers are 40-12-1-3 record, good for the lead in the WHL. I had joked earlier this month that this is like the 1994-95 season all over again, the Cougars are last and the Blazers are first (even attendance is close, as the Cougars played the 1994-95 season out of the Coliseum and could only get a maximum of 2,000 fans a game). While the Cougars were fairly competitive from 1997 to 2002, they've been mediocre since (2007 playoff run excluded). The Blazers were also consistently below average for better than a decade. Yet they appear to finally be turning the corner and turning into a success story again (still too easy to get ahead, and playoffs will tell the real story).
Kamloops meets the Edmonton Oil Kings tonight in a battle of the two conference leaders. Yes, Kamloops and Edmonton! Who would've predicted that at the beginning of the season?
The Cougars are back to rebuilding for the millionth time with talks about a positive future, while another two franchises have showed the ability to improve substantially in only one year. Last year, Kamloops missed the playoffs and Edmonton was knocked off in the first round as a seventh seed.
Also is it really that good for a franchise to have this many young players in the lineup? I know they can learn from losing, but can't it also hurt your development to be getting shown up on home ice? Having also watched my share of Cougars games, some of the youngsters are already showing signs of apathy on the ice. Either that or the opposition is playing so well I'm not noticing them. At least they have Owsley in net, he's the biggest reason they're in the playoff hunt.
It wasn't really all that long ago that Portland was a laughing stock as well. Oh, how ownership and management changes and change things. In P.G., it's still the status quo. I know I'm beating a dead horse here, it's nothing new. But it doesn't make it any less frustrating when you look around the league and see other teams turning things around. Again, maybe I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.

Otherwise a legitimate read...

1) The Cougars have not been mediocre since 2002 (very kind indeed), they have been dismal.
2) However by my, and debateably other's, definition, the Bloozers have been worse as they have had the horses (on paper) and expectation to actually be able to do something. I still say it is much more painful to have a team that is supposed to do something that falls on their face(see Bloozers last year, the Blades of the last couple of years, and, uggg...this hurts, the Cougars of 99/00 I believe) than to have little to no expectations and meet or well exceed them (see Cougars of 2007).
3) C'mon now, this is Edmonton's very first expectation of ANYTHING since their inception and they could easily get knocked out in the first round with their lack of playoff experience...so could the Bloozers...now THAT would be epic failure
4) This many young guys? Potentially yes. Great cycles have been started in the past by this kind of movement. Will it here? Tell you in 2-5 years (hopefully 5 years ) What I do know is that there is no room for hyperbole and the Cougars (IMHO) have NEVER PROPERLY re-built...not even once...in their entire time here. You could debate that for the 1995-96 team BUT it was still "rejects", reclamation projects, cast-off, and unexpected lottery winners.
This appears actually strategic to me...again...for the first time. Again, will it work? We can answer that in 2 years...start to question it even next year...I, for one am anticipating the journey.
5) Sorry but I would doubt the apathy statement...this team has had a very healthy compete level all year IMO.
6) Agreed with Portland except they were worse than PG for a while and were able to draft higher to capture many superstar draft picks. I would debate with you that they are on the edge of "dissappointing" performance when it counts in the last couple of years...and, especially, this year.
7) Definitely more dead horse beating here but done in a refreshingly different way Again, IMHO a big point regular season means nothing to me if you choke in the playoffs...in fact, it is worse.

Here's to a strong finish for a young team that really deserves the "reward" of a potential first round exit...that being said, if it is the Bloozers...


GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGS!!!!

You make some good points. I typed that to get a reaction as much as anything else, interested to see what others think about this latest effort to rebuild.
Even someone like Dallas Thompson, who only has his position because his father-in-law is the owner, should improve his reputation at least a little over time, right? Maybe? Haha. At least they've made improvements in the scouting department and seem to be doing a better job these days of signing draft picks. There appears to be more players reporting.
We'll see in two or three years. Good point about the regular season, although I think everybody would agree if the Cougars performed better in the regular season it would generate more buzz and as a result, more fans would show up. Playoff upsets happen but they aren't as common as the higher-seeded teams winning.
Again, stating the obvious here, but if the Cougars were a successful franchise, nobody would care that they're a family-run organization with top management positions held by relatives.
Playoff runs are sure fun, and yes, we'll see about Kamloops in the playoffs. The Cougars have missed the playoffs more than the Blazers over the last 12 years, but they've gone deeper in the playoffs. The Blazers haven't advanced beyond Round 1 since 1999.
Barring a major choke job, Kamloops should end that streak this year. They appear to have the tools. I really like the way P.G. minor hockey product Dylan Willick has played for them. Maybe the biggest difference I've noticed with this Kamloops team compared to past seasons is in goaltending. Cole Cheveldave has been fairly consistent in goal for them. But he has no playoff experience. So who knows come mid March when Round 1 starts.
Edmonton is young and we'll see about that franchise as well. What could make the playoffs exciting is with teams like Kamloops and Edmonton at the top, it's maybe even more unpredictable this year than the past. Tri-City is good too, but can Ty Rimmer get the job done between the pipes when it really matters?
We'll see about this rebuilding effort for the Cats. We won't know how it turns out for a while. We'll see where they sit at this time next season, and how much progress the youngsters make from Season 1 to 2.
You're right about Edmonton. A young franchise, we'll see about them.

Thank you SportsFan82 for some refreshing new reading...all but extinct on this board amidst the hyperbole of COOG's delusions.

It does annoy me that some fans still think that merely eking out a playoff berth is some kind of victory or a sign of improvement for this pathetic franchise. Seriously? We are talking about a conference where 80% of the contenders make the playoffs. This is not the MLB or NFL playoff where true talent and hard work in the regular season is rewarded...this is the WHL Western Conference...where making the playoffs is akin to the philosophy of "even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes". Or perhaps an elementary school sports day---"thanks for showing up, here's your participation ribbon and 2 extra home games for your empty arena".

Oh sure, they won last night against a 9th place Rebel team...but remain in the basement and almost any victory is more a product of Owsley standing on his head than it is an improvement in any one area. Another 40 shots given up last night for a total of more than 1500 on the season. That'll take you far.

expert who obviously wasn't even there. If you could speak with ANY first hand knowledge of what actually happens at any given game, it MIGHT lend some credibility to your ramblings but alas you continue to have your head so far up you tush, no one should EVER take you seriously. Go ahead...be annoyed...for a team of this particular make-up, it would be a significant victory to make the playoffs...it doesn't matter what you think in this regard as you are not a participator or promoter, you are a non-event in the major Junior hockey scene in PG and will probably disappear completely yet again when they win a few more games here. You'll probably sulk for months if they make the playoffs so see ya later...GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGS!!!

Even in the Eastern Conference 4 out of 12 miss the playoffs. Red Deer is 9th in the east yet they sport a .500 record. Their point total is roughly the same as the sixth-place Kelowna Rockets.
In the West, it's a boat race to the finish line for the bottom 4 teams. Each of those 4 teams might think they're special because they're in the hunt. But look at the record of the last 10 games for each of those squads? Everett has the best results lately, as a 5-5 mark has put them back in the race.
The Cougars giving up a lot of shots? That hasn't happened this year. LOL.
It'd be interesting if either the Cougars or Royals made the playoffs because both have been horrendous in different areas. Victoria's goaltending has been atrocious (277 goals against) and the Cougars' offence is so bad (124 goals) they could become the lowest scoring team in P.G. Cougars history. How many times have they recorded less than 25 shots in a game? More than a few games, that's for sure. Yes, you could say it's the chances that matter more than the shots. Well, with a team having this much trouble scoring, they shouldn't be worrying about quality chances so much. Go for garbage, crash and bang, mix it up. A goal is a goal.
It's not a stretch to suggest that if the Cougars weren't getting exceptional goaltending from Owsley, their goals against would be similar to Victoria's.
As for the inexperience factor, they should be past that more. It's Game 56 of a 72-game schedule. Certainly, if merely making the playoffs is that important, the players should have no shortage of motivation.

The REALITY in this situation is that a team with this many 16 year olds playing 18 year old minutes is that there will be a lot of mistakes made, a lot of goals against, and fewer goals for. Any other expectation beyond this is pure naivety. When the decision to play a team of this make up was made early on in the season, the goals had to change to allowing the loses (some very lopsided) to pile up and allowing the 16's to fail ... but continue to learn.

If you have been to most of their games, I challenge you to form an argument that this group of relative "babies" has not had a very high compete level on the large majority of nights...a good number of cloes 1 or two goal games this year actually. That is a really good thing is it not? IF they make the playoffs, it IS a significant victory...FOR THIS TEAM. It was NOT a significant victory for a Setoguchi led team to simply make the playoffs BUT is was a victory to knock off the CHL #1 and go to the Western Conference Final.

It was a MASSIVE disappointment for a team with the make up of the Bloozers to NOT make the playoffs last year...actually a complete joke to say the least...or for the Blades to lose in the first round. THOSE are beyond pathetic results in real hockey minds. You can't be a pathetice team if the management has never built a team right (you can have poor management, and we have).

The questions should change if we are going to be even half mature and objective about this. They have done something completely unique to their status quo this year...Will it produce a better product as desired next year, the year after, and the year after that as planned? Guess we will see but to rip THIS particular batch players, or the organizataion that put them together, at this stage is simply showing an unobjective bitterness that is showing an illogical bias to the specific situation IMO.

In any case, the playoffs are still completely in their control at this time so GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGS!!!!