Game Preview | Cougars at Winterhawks | 12/13/24
PORTLAND, OR – Tonight, at the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum, the Prince George Cougars battle the Portland Winterhawks in the final meeting of their season series. Puck drop for tonight is at 7:00 pm.
LAST GAME: 4-3 Shootout Win at Tri-City Americans: The Prince George Cougars collected their third straight victory with a 4-3 come-from-behind shootout win over the Tri-City Americans on Wednesday, December 11th at the Toyota Centre in Kennewick. Koehn Ziemmer tied the game in the final 26 seconds, and Jett Lajoie scored the shootout winner. Josh Ravensbergen was outstanding in the Cougar net, making 30 saves in the win. Lee Shurgot and Terik Parascak also tallied for Prince George in the win. The Cougar power-play went 1/2 while the penalty kill was a perfect 3-3.
vs. PORTLAND: Tonight, will be the fourth and final meeting between the Cougars and Winterhawks. Portland has won all three contests thus far this season, with all three games being decided by one goal. For Prince George, Koehn Ziemmer leads all Cougars in scoring against the Portland Winterhawks with four points (3-1-4).
2024-2025 REGULAR SEASON STATS
Goals (21) – Koehn Ziemmer
Assists (26) – Terik Parascak
Points (41) –Terik Parascak
PIMS (79) – Aiden Foster
Plus/Minus (+22) – Viliam Kmec
Wins (15) – Josh Ravensbergen
Save Percentage (.901) – Josh Ravensbergen
Goals Against Average (3.01) – Josh Ravensbergen
Shutouts (0) – N/A
WHO’S HOT
Riley Heidt has points in 9 of his last 10 (8-12-20)
Terik Parascak has points in 3 straight (2-4-6) // 8 of his last 9 (4-13-17)
Koehn Ziemmer has points in 3 straight (2-3-5)// 10 of his last 13 (14-6-20)
Borya Valis has points in 3 straight (2-4-6) // 12 of his last 15 (9-12-21)
Carson Carels has points in 3 straight (1-5-6) // 4 of his last 5 (2-5-7)
Josh Ravensbergen has won his last three starts // 4 of his last 5
MILESTONE WATCH:
Riley Heidt – 98 career goals (2 away from 100)
Riley Heidt – 219 career assists (17 away from record PG & VIC)
Riley Heidt – 242 career games played (8 away from 250)
Koehn Ziemmer – 112 career goals (9 away from Cougars record)
Terik Parascak – 97 career games played (3 away from 100)
Corbin Vaughan – 99 career games played (1 away from 100)
Terik Parascak – 146 career points (4 away from 150)
Terik Parascak – 88 career assists (12 away from 100)
Jett Lajoie – 88 career games played (12 away from 100)
Borya Valis – 183 career points (17 away from 200)
Bauer Dumanski – 49 career assists (1 away from 50)
Aiden Foster – 94 career games played (6 away from 100)
Viliam Kmec – 86 career assists (14 away from 100)
Van Eger – 85 career games played (15 away from 100)
A LOOK AHEAD:
December 13th – @ Portland Winterhawks – 7:00 pm PDT
December 14th – @ Spokane Chiefs – 6:05 pm PDT
December 17th – @ Kelowna Rockets – 7:05 pm PDT
December 27th – @ Victoria Royals – 7:05 pm PDT
December 28th – @ Victoria Royals – 6:05 pm PDT
December 31st – @ Seattle Thunderbirds – 6:05 pm PDT
January 3rd – vs. Seattle Thunderbirds – 7:00 pm PDT
January 4th – vs. Seattle Thunderbirds – 6:00 pm PDT
January 7th – vs. Vancouver Giants – 7:00 pm PDT
January 8th – vs. Vancouver Giants – 6:00 pm PDT
January 10th – @ Kelowna Rockets – 7:05 pm PDT
January 11th – @ Kamloops Blazers – 6:00 pm PDT
January 17th – @ Spokane Chiefs – 7:05 pm
January 18th – @ Everett Silvertips – 6:05 pm
29 DOWN: The Prince George Cougars enter tonight with a 16-8-3-2 record (37 points) after 29 games. The Cats are 10-1-3-2 at home and 6-7-0-0 on the road this season. Prince George leads the BC Division and sit in second place in the Western Conference.
CORBIN THE COUGAR: On Sunday, December 8th, the Cougars acquired defenceman Corbin Vaughan (06) from the Regina Pats in exchange for defenceman Ephram McNutt (05) and a second-round pick in 2025. Prior to joining the Cats, Vaughan played 98 WHL games with Regina. Entering tonight against Portland, Vaughan will suit up for his 100th WHL game.
27 HEADS TO OTTAWA: Cougars captain Riley Heidt has been invited to Team Canada’s National Junior Selection Camp on December 10-13 in Ottawa, ON. Heidt is one of 12 WHL skaters to the selection camp. For Heidt, this will be his first opportunity in his young career to try and crack a World Junior roster spot.
PICKING UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF: For Washington Capitals’ first-round selection of 2024 in Terik Parascak, he has picked up where he left off from last season. The product of Lethbridge, AB, leads all Cougar skaters this season in points, compiling 41 (15-26-41) in 25 games played.
BIG BAD BORYA: Forward Borya Valis has been on a tear in his 20-year-old season with the Prince George Cougars. The Denver, CO product has been on a streak as of late owning points in five of his last six games, consisting of eight points (3-5-8) in that span. On the season, Valis owns 40 points.
HOME COOKING: The Prince George Cougars have been no short of terrific at the CN Centre. The Cats have suffered just one regulation loss in the regular season at home since January 21, 2024. This season, Prince George is 10-1-3-2 at the CN Centre.
NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING: Three Prince George Cougars have been named to NHL Central Scouting’s Preliminary List. Goaltender Josh Ravensbergen and forwards Jett Lajoie and Aiden Foster were three Prince George Cougars named to the list. In total, 55 WHL players were named to the list. Ravensbergen was named an ‘A’ rating, which indicates the North Vancouver, BC product as a potential first-round selection. For Lajoie and Foster, they have them named a ‘C’ rating, which classifies the duo as a possible fourth or fifth-round pick.
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.
