Game Preview | Cougars at Rebels | November 29
RED DEER, AB – Tonight, in Red Deer, the Prince George Cougars begin a weekend set against a pair of central division opponents, beginning against the Red Deer Rebels at 6:00 PDT.
LAST GAME: 4-3 Loss at Vancouver Giants: The Prince George Cougars dropped a 4-3 decision to the Vancouver Giants on Sunday at the Langley Events Centre. In the setback, Borya Valis, Lee Shurgot, and Riley Heidt scored the Prince George goals. Cooper Michaluk stopped 24 Vancouver shots in the loss. The Prince George Cougars went a perfect 3/3 on the penalty kill and 1/5 on the power play.
VS. RED DEER: Tonight will be the only meeting of the season between the Cougars and Rebels. Last season, Prince George defeated the Red Deer Rebels by a 4-3 score in a shootout at the CN Centre. In the last five seasons, both teams have only met twice, and the Cougars are 1-1-0-0 against the Rebels in that span. Tonight marks the first time the Cougars visited Red Deer since January 20th, 2023 – a span of 677 days.
2024-25 REGULAR SEASON LEADERS:
Goals (19) – Koehn Ziemmer
Assists (23) – Viliam Kmec
Points (34) – Terik Parascak
PIMS (64) – Aiden Foster
Plus/Minus (+23) – Viliam Kmec
Wins (12) – Josh Ravensbergen
Save Percentage (.899) – Josh Ravensbergen
Goals Against Average (3.08) – Josh Ravensbergen
Shutouts (0) – N/A
WHO’S HOT:
Viliam Kmec has points in 5 straight games (1-8-9)
Riley Heidt has points in 6 straight games (6-10-16)
Koehn Ziemmer has points in 9 straight games (13-4-17)
Lee Shurgot has points in 6 straight games (4-4-8)
Hunter Laing has points in 4 of his last 5 (3-2-5)
Borya Valis has points in 10 of his last 12 (9-9-18)
Josh Ravensbergen has won 3 of his last 4 games
THRU 24: The Prince George Cougars enter tonight with a 13-6-3-2 record (31 points) after 24 games. The Cats are 8-1-3-2 at home and 5-5-0-0 on the road this season.
LAST GAME RECAP: On Sunday, November 24th, the Prince George Cougars dropped a 4-3 contest to the Vancouver Giants at the Langley Events Centre. Borya Valis, Lee Shurgot, and Riley delivered the Prince George offence, and goaltender Cooper Michaluk made 24 saves in the loss. For Shurgot, he extended his career-long point-streak to six games.
CHL TOP 10 RANKINGS: In the eighth week of the CHL Top 10 Power Rankings, the Prince George Cougars are ranked at number six. This marks the eighth consecutive week Prince George has been listed in the Canadian Hockey League’s Top 10 rankings.
HE’S SHUR-GOT IT GOING: Forward Lee Shurgot enters tonight with a six-game point streak. The former first-round selection of the Cats scored his first WHL goal against the Vancouver Giants on Saturday, November 9th. Throughout the six-game streak, Shurgot owns four goals and four assists.
RAVENSBERGEN SHINES ON BIG STAGE: Cougar goaltender Joshua Ravensbergen has returned from the CHL USA Prospects Challenge presented by Kubota. The draft-eligible netminder suited up in Game 1 and earned Team CHL the victory and made 15 saves in the win. Ravensbergen was one of two selected goaltenders for Team CHL at the event.
HE’S PLUS WHAT!?: Cougar overage and import blueliner Viliam Kmec has been a staple on the Cougar blueline to begin the 2024-25 season. A signed prospect of the Vegas Golden Knights, Kmec has a +23 rating, which ranks third among all WHL skaters. On top of that +23, Kmec has 27 points in his 22 games this season (4-23-27), which ranks fourth among WHL blueliners.
27/13 CHASING HISTORY: Veteran forwards and NHL prospects Riley Heidt and Koehn Ziemmer are on history watch. For Ziemmer, he currently sits at 110 goals which is 10 behind current Cougars’ record holder Chase Witala (120). For Heidt, he is also on track for history. Heidt is 19 assists away from eclipsing Mark Morrison’s all-time Cougars record (VIC & PG) who owned 235.
MILESTONE WATCH:
Riley Heidt – 96 career goals (4 away from 100)
Riley Heidt – 216 career assists (20 away from record PG & VIC)
Koehn Ziemmer – 110 career goals (11 away from Cougar record)
Hunter Laing – 95 career games played (5 away from 100)
Terik Parascak – 92 career games played (8 away from 100)
Terik Parascak – 138 career points (12 away from 150)
Jett Lajoie – 83 career games played (17 away from 100)
Borya Valis – 176 career points (14 away from 200)
COUGARS NEXT FIVE GAMES:
November 29th – @ Red Deer Rebels – 6:00 pm PDT
November 30th – @ Edmonton Oil Kings – 6:00 pm PDT
December 6th – vs. Regina Pats – 7:00 pm PDT
December 7th – vs. Kamloops Blazers – 6:00 pm PDT
December 11th – @ Tri-City Americans – 7:05 pm PDT
HOW & WHERE TO WATCH:
WHEN: Friday, November 29, 2024
WHERE: Peavey Mart Centrium – Red Deer, AB
RADIO: 94.3 The Goat
WATCH: WHL Live
