Are You Ready! Cougars & Blazers Open 2010-11 Season

Although the scoreboard read 5-2 Kamloops Friday night, it didn’t tell the whole story of the Prince George Cougars opening night clash with the Blazers.  The Cougars out-shot Kamloops 41-28 and dominated play at times, but Blazers goalie Jon Groenheyde held the Blazers fort in helping the hosts to their victory.

The Cougars got some welcome help just minutes before the game, as 18-year old forward Brett Connolly returned to the Cougars after spending time with the Tampa Bay Lightning at their main training camp.  Connolly played Wednesday in Winnipeg and again in Edmonton Thursday.  He put the Cougars uniform on Friday with the C on his chest, as he was named Captain of the team Friday morning.  20-year old forward James Dobrowolski and 18-year old forward Charles Inglis are full time Assistant Captains, while 17-year old defenceman Jesse Forsberg is an Assistant Captain on the road and 18-year old forward Brock Hirsche will wear an A at home games.

19-year old goalie James Priesnter got the call in net for Prince George and weathered the storm in the first half of the opening period, as the Cougars took three consecutive penalties at the start of the game.  But on their fourth man advantage, Prince George product Dylan Willick caught a fortunate break after Linden Saip let a drive go from the blue line that went off one skate in front of the Cougars goal, then off Willick before going behind Priestner.  Then just 34 seconds later at 11:16, Chase Schaber scored to put the Blazers up 2-0.  The Cougars out-shot the Blazers 11-8 in the opening frame.

For the third consecutive opening night, Connolly would find the back of the net.  After blowing by a Blazers defender down the left wing, Connolly went in alone on Groenheyde a put a perfect shot under the cross bar to cut the Kamloops lead to 2-1, just under five minutes into the second period.  Troy Bourke got the lone assist on the Connolly goal.  But the Blazers would score two goals 58 seconds apart, with JT Barnett and Brendan Ranford each notching goals to up the Kamloops lead to 4-1.  The Cougars would get one of those tallies back when Martin Marincin let a point shot go that got through the crowd in front of the Blazer net for his first WHL goal at 17:45 on the power play, making it 4-2 Kamloops.  Taylor Makin and Jaroslav Vlach each got an assist, as the Cougars out-shot the Blazers 20-10 in the middle frame.

But Willick rounded out the scoring with an empty net goal late in the third to give the Blazers a 5-2 win.  Shots were even at 10 a piece in the third and the Cougars out-shot Kamloops 41-28 in the game.  The Cougars went 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Blazers were 1-for-8, which included a 58 second 5-on-3 power play, which the Cougars successfully killed off.

The Cougars face the Kelowna Rockets Saturday night for the first of nine meetings this season.  The Cougars lost three shoot-outs in Kelowna last year.

The Cougars home opener is on Friday, October 1 against the Vancouver Giants, with it also being the Pink Power Play Game.  Fans have the opportunity to win a fantastic prize, courtesy of WestJet.  The winner will earn a flight for two to any WestJet destination, with proceeds going towards the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation’s CIBC Run For A Cure, which takes place on Sunday, October 3.

The Cougars will be holding their annual tailgate party from 5:30 – 7:30pm outside CN Centre. Save On Foods will be selling hot dogs and pop with proceeds to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Prince George. The event will also feature live entertainment, the 99-3 The Drive Prize team and many family activities. Northern Health and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation will be on hand to offer face painting and other fun games for young Cougars fans to take part in.  There will also be a booth display from the Huble Homestead Historic Site.

The Cougars, in conjunction with the YMCA, are delighted to have former WHL star and Vancouver Canucks Captain Trevor Linden available during the Cougars 2nd intermission at the home opener.  The City of Prince George will award a “Trevor Linden Day” proclamation on ice to Trevor during the second intermission.  To accommodate this, the Cougars game on Oct 1st will begin at 7:30pm.

Tickets are available by calling Ticketmaster at 250-564-5585.