PREVIEW: Cougars Begin Second Half with Clash Against Edmonton
Tonight, at the CN Centre, the Prince George Cougars begin their second half of the 2023-2024 season with a battle against the Edmonton Oil Kings.
The Prince George Cougars finished the first half of the regular season with a convincing 9-2 win in Langley over the Vancouver Giants. Riley Heidt, Zac Funk, and Hudson Thornton led the way for the Cats, combining for 10 points in the win. Joshua Ravensbergen collected the victory in goal, making 21 saves on 23 shots.
2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
Dec. 27/2023 – at Prince George
2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
Jan. 21/2023 – at Edmonton (4-3 PG/OT)
2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS
Goals (36): Zac Funk
Assists (46): Riley Heidt
Points (63): Riley Heidt, Zac Funk
PIMS (61): Aiden Foster
Plus/Minus (+27): Terik Parascak
2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON GOALTENDING LEADERS
Wins (12): Ty Young, Joshua Ravensbergen
Save % (.934): Joshua Ravensbergen
Goals Against Average (1.86) – Joshua Ravensbergen
Shutouts (6): Joshua Ravensbergen
COUGARS CAREER MILESTONES WITHIN REACH:
Hudson Thornton – 46 career goals (4 away from 50)
Zac Funk – 193 career games played (7 away from 200)
Zac Funk – 79 career assists (1 away from 80)
Zac Funk – 88 career goals (2 away from 90, 12 away from 100)
Keaton Dowhaniuk – 192 career games played (8 away from 200)
Chase Pauls – 190 career games played (10 away from 200)
Terik Parasack – 26 career goals (4 away from 30)
Oren Shtrom – 139 career games played (11 away from 150)
Arjun Bawa – 94 career games played (6 away from 100)
Riley Heidt – 186 career games played (14 away from 200)
Riley Heidt – 65 career goals (5 away from 70)
WHO’S HOT
Zac Funk has points in 3 straight games – 12 of last 13 games (20-8-28)
Riley Heidt has eight points in his last two games – (2-6-8)
Terik Parascak has points in 6 consecutive games (4-8-12)
Ondrej Becher has points in 3 of his last 4 games (3-4-7)
Joshua Ravensbegren has 12 wins in 18 WHL appearances (12-3)
THRU 33: The Cougars enter tonight with a 23-9-0-0 record (46 points) on the season through 32 games which leads the BC Division and the Western Conference. The Cats are 12-5-0-0 at home and 11-4-0-0 on the road so far this season.
WELCOME ABOARD, CHASE PAULS: The Cougars have acquired veteran blue-liner Chase Pauls from the Lethbridge Hurricanes in exchange for a third-round selection in the 2024 WHL Prospect’s Draft. Pauls, 20, owned nine points in 30 games (2-7-9) with Lethbridge in the 2023-2024 campaign. Hailing from Osler, SK, the right-handed blue-liner who stands at 6’5” has had a robust WHL career, suiting up in 190 games and accumulating 55 points (18-37-55) over four seasons.“Pauls is a big veteran defensive defenceman that will fit in our group very well,” commented GM & Head Coach Mark Lamb. “He is a top penalty killer, defends hard, and makes a good first pass.”
AGAINST THE EAST: The Cougars enter tonight’s contest against the Oil Kings with a 7-2-0-0 record against the Eastern Conference and are 4-0 against the Central division.
ALL ABORD THE HEIDT TRAIN: Cougars forward Riley Heidt has dazzled for his team in 2023-2024. Heidt was the first CHL skater this season to reach 60 points and enters tonight with eight points in his last two games.
THE BERGER: Cougars’ rookie goaltender Joshua Ravensbergen has been incredible this season. The North Vancouver, BC product enters tonight with a 10-3-0-0 record on the season with a 1.86 goals against average and a .936 save percentage with a league-leading six shutouts. Ravensbergen has tied a WHL record for most shutouts by a rookie goalie. The North Vancouver, BC product also tied alumnus Scott Bowles for the teams’ single-season shutout record.
ZAC ATTACK: Cougar forward and 20-year-old Zac Funk has had a memorable final junior hockey season thus far. The product of Coldstream, BC was the first WHL skater this season to reach the 30-goal mark. On top of that, Funk has netted five hat-tricks which leads the Western Hockey League. Entering tonight’s game against Edmonton, Funk owns 36 goals and is first in league scoring.
TOP PROSPECTS GAME: Cougar rookie sensation Terik Parascak has been invited to the CHL/NHL Kubota Top Prospects Game in Moncton, NB. The Lethbridge, AB native has surprised many in 2023-2024. Parascak currently owns 52 points entering tonight’s game (26-26-52). Parascak was named the WHL’s Rookie of the Month for September/October. Parascak, 17, recorded 29 points (17G-12A) in 14 games to start the season and sits second in WHL scoring behind his teammate Zac Funk, who was named WHL Player of the Month for September/October.
O CANADA: Cougars Associate Coach Jim Playfair has been named an Assistant Coach for Team Canada at the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland. This marks the first time Playfair has gotten the opportunity to rep the maple leaf behind the bench. The head coach for the tournament is former NHL Head Coach Bruce Boudreau. Canada is currently 1-0 at the Spengler Cup.
AT THE WORLD JUNIORS Both of Prince George’s European players are in Sweden at the World Junior Hockey Championship. Viliam Kmec is with Team Slovakia for the third consecutive season. Ondrej Becher is with Team Czechia for the first time at the World Junior. Slovakia is leading the group thus far with a 2-0 record, while the Czech’s are 1-1.
CAPTAIN STANDS ALONE: On December 16th, captain Hudson Thornton became the Cougars franchise leader for points (158) among defenceman, surpassing alumnus Dan Hamhuis. The Winnipeg, MB native broke the record with a wrist shot inside the blue line to help his team to a convincing 9-2 win over Vancouver.
WHAT’S AHEAD: Following tonight’s game, the Cats will battle the Calgary Hitmen tomorrow night at the CN Centre. PG then embarks on a ten-day road swing that begins Saturday night in Kamloops.
CHL TOP TEN: Sitting in first place in the WHL, the Cougars (24-9-0-0) jump back up to No. 2 in this week’s CHL Top-10 Rankings. Through 33 games, Prince George owns a +63 goal differential, which is tied with Baie-Comeau for the best mark in the CHL. The Cougars are also averaging 4.61 goals per game this season, which ranks third in the CHL behind only the No.4-ranked Kitchener Rangers (4.85) and the Portland Winterhawks (4.71). This past week, following a 5-2 loss to Everett, Prince George was dominant in victories against Wenatchee (6-3) and Vancouver (9-2). Minnesota Wild prospect Riley Heidt was excellent in those two games against the Wild and the Giants, collecting two goals and six assists. Heidt leads the CHL with 63 points alongside his teammate Zac Funk, who also had a solid week. Funk registered four goals and nine points in the Cougars’ three games, which included recording his fifth hat-trick of the season against the Wild.
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
TICKETS: HERE
WHEN: Wednesday, December 27 at 7:00pm PDT
WHERE: CN Centre– Prince George, BC
WATCH: WHL Live
LISTEN: 94.3 The Goat
