PREVIEW: Cougars Make First Trip of Season to Wenatchee
Tonight, at the Town Toyota Center in Wenatchee, the Prince George Cougars continue their final road trip of the first half of the season against the Wenatchee Wild.
The Prince George Cougars’ six-game win streak on the road came to an end with a 5-2 loss to the Everett Silvertips at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett. Hudson Thornton and Terik Parascak had the Cougar goals in the setback, while Josh Ravensbergen was busy in the net, making 32 saves.
2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
Oct. 6/2023 – at Prince George (6-4 PG)
Oct. 7/2023 – at Prince George (6-4 WEN)
Dec. 15/2023 – at Wenatchee
Jan. 3/2024 – at Wenatchee
Jan. 28/2024 – at Wenatchee
2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON SERIES
Oct. 15/2022 – at Prince George (4-1 WEN*)
*Formerly known as Winnipeg ICE
2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS
Goals (32): Zac Funk
Assists (40): Riley Heidt
Points (55): Riley Heidt, Zac Funk
PIMS (59): Aiden Foster
Plus/Minus (+21): Terik Parascak
2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON GOALTENDING LEADERS
Wins (11): Ty Young, Joshua Ravensbergen
Save % (.935): Joshua Ravensbergen
Goals Against Average (1.85) – Joshua Ravensbergen
Shutouts (6): Joshua Ravensbergen
COUGARS CAREER MILESTONES WITHIN REACH:
Viliam Kmec – 49 career assists (1 away from 50)
Terik Parascak – 46 career points (4 away from 50)
Hudson Thornton – 45 career goals (5 away from 50)
Zac Funk – 191 games played (9 away from 200)
Keaton Dowhaniuk – 190 games played (10 away from 200)
WHO’S HOT
Zac Funk has points in 10 of 11 games (16-4-20)
Riley Heidt has multi-point games in 7 of his last 11 games
Terik Parascak has points in 6 of his last 7 games (2-9-11)
Hudson Thornton has points in 9 of his last 11 games (2-12-14)
Joshua Ravensbergen owns 6 shutouts in 14 starts
AFTER 31: The Cougars enter tonight with a 22-9-0-0 record (44 points) on the season through 31 games which leads the BC Division and the Western Conference. The Cats are 12-5-0-0 at home and 10-4-0-0 on the road so far this season.
AGAINST THE WEST: The Cougars enter tonight’s contest against the Wild with a 14-7-0-0 record against Western Conference opponents and are 6-4 against the US Division.
CHL TOP TEN: The Cougars were ranked 3rd in the CHL Top 10 – Week 11. With a pair of home games against the Royals on the schedule this past weekend, the Cougars (22-9-0-0) managed to only score two points out of a possible four. They dropped the first game against Victoria 5-3 on Friday, before coming back and shutting the door on the Royals in a 1-0 shutout victory on Saturday. During their Friday night loss, 20-year-old Zac Funk continued to showcase his scoring ability, nabbing a point on all three (2G-1A) of Prince George’s goals. With 32 goals on the season, no one has more goals in the CHL so far than Zac Funk. On Saturday, rookie netminder Joshua Ravensbergen registered a couple of impressive records with his CHL-leading sixth shutout of the season. By stopping all 16 shots he faced for shutout No. 6 in his 13th start, Ravensbergen not only tied the Cougars’ franchise record for shutouts in a single season, but he also matched the WHL’s all-time rookie record. The 2025 NHL Draft prospect now has a 1.69 GAA and a .940 SV%, which both rank first in the CHL. This week, Ravensbergen and Prince George will aim to keep their place among the CHL’s top-three clubs when they travel to face the Silvertips, the No.9-ranked Wild and the Giants.
ALL ABORD THE HEIDT TRAIN: Cougars forward Riley Heidt has dazzled for his team in 2023-2024. Heidt enters tonight with recording at least a point in 25 of the 29 games he has played. On Friday, November 24th against the Lethbridge Hurricanes, the Saskatoon, SK product recorded his 200th career point in the WHL. He is just the ninth Cougar in franchise history to hit that milestone.
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 1.85 goals against average and a .935 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 four hat-tricks which leads the Western Hockey League. Entering tonight’s game against Wenatchee, Funk owns 32 goals and is second in league scoring.
THE SUPER ROOKIE: Cougar rookie sensation Terik Parascak has surprised many in 2023-2024. Parascak currently owns 43 points entering tonight’s game (24-19-41). 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.
WORLD JUNIOR BOUND? Both of Prince George’s European players are going to have a crack at representing their respective countries at the upcoming World Junior Hockey Championship in Sweden. Viliam Kmec has been named to Team Slovakia’s preliminary roster as he is aiming to represent the Slovaks for the third consecutive season. Ondrej Becher will have the opportunity to represent Czechia. Becher, 19, just missed the cut last season and is hoping to make the club this Christmas Break after the team earned a silver medal in Halifax.
CAPTAIN CHASING HISTORY: Cougar captain and 20-year-old Hudson Thornton is in a fantastic position to set another team record. The captain enters tonight’s game against the Wild with 156 career points which is two shy of the franchise record among defencemen. Alumnus, long-time NHL’er, and part-owner Dan Hamhuis is the current leader with 157 points.
WHAT’S AHEAD: Following tonight’s game, the Cats will complete their first half schedule tomorrow night against the Vancouver Giants at the Langley Events Centre.
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
WHEN: Friday, December 15 at 7:00pm PDT
WHERE: Town Toyota Center – Wenatchee, WA
WATCH: WHL Live
LISTEN: 94.3 The Goat
