PREVIEW: Cougars at Americans – Game #60
I guess we could say that the official home stretch of the 2015-16 WHL season has arrived and for the Prince George Cougars, their path towards the postseason still looks very promising, albeit with an uncertain final destination. Tonight in Kennewick, WA the Prince George Cougars start a four game road trip with their first of what will ultimately be two games against the Tri-City Americans this week. Tonight’s game also signals the first of four games over the next five nights against two teams that are beneath the Cougars in the Western Conference standings and two teams that are also jostling for playoff positioning.
TRI-CITY AMERICANS
Overview:
Mike Williamson’s Tri-City Americans come into tonight’s game with an overall record of 28-27-2-1. With 59 points the Americans currently find themselves on the outside looking into the WHL’s Western Conference playoff picture. They currently trail the eight placed Kamloops Blazers by four points, but they do hold two games in hand. They are 7-2-0-1 in their past 10 games and are easily playing their best and most consistent hockey of the season. Their goal differential for the season though is -12 and like all teams at this point of the season they are battling the injury bug. Over the past five seasons the Ams’ are 10-6-1-1 against the Cougars and are 4-2-1-1 against them at home.
Who’s Up Front:
Offensively the Tri-City Americans are led by 20-year-old veteran Parker Bowles. The product of Kelowna, B.C. leads the Ams’ in goals (34) and points (75). Bowles’ biggest obstacle over the course of his career has been health but this season he’s managed to suit up in all 58 games, which has been a huge boost offensively for a young Americans squad that is on the rise. He’s always been near a point-per-game over the course of his career and in two games this season against the Cougars he’s recorded a goal and an assist. Coming into tonight’s game he’s recorded goals in four straight games and has eight points during that span. Ending Bowles’ point streak needs to be high on the Cougars checklist tonight.
Who’s on D:
One of the major strengths for the Tri-City Americans this season has been their back-end and they boast two of the most underrated defencemen in the WHL in Parker Wotherspoon and Brandon Carlo. Wotherspoon, the offensive puck-mover is a New York Islanders prospect and he’s got 11 goals and 50 points. Carlo, a Boston Bruins draft pick is more of a tall, rugged defense-first type of player and together they compliment one another very well. Tonight the Cougars can expect a steady diet of both of those players head coach Mike Williamson relies on both of them heavily.
Who’s in Goal:
Expectations were big for 18-year-old Evan Sarthou this season as he took over the reigns from Eric Comrie full-time. His numbers aren’t necessarily eye-catching, but he’s played a ton and lately he’s played well enough to merge his record back to an even 24-24-2-0. His goals-against-average is 3.36 and his save percentage is an even .890. He’s 1-1 against the Cougars this season with a 2.52 goals-against-average and a .915 save percentage. He’s been excellent in February going 5-2 with a 2.20 goals-against-average and a .923 save percentage. Assuming he gets the nod tonight it will be his seventh straight start.
X-Factor:
It has been a very strong second full season in the WHL for Tri-City forward Jordan Topping. The product of Salt Spring Island, B.C. has registered 24 goals this season to go along with 30 assists for 54 points in 58 games, and has been provided an excellent compliment all season long for Parker Bowles. Topping has already ‘topped’ his 2014-15 goal total by 14 and when all is said and done he could very well surpass the 30 goal mark for the first time. Parker Bowles is definitely the offensive catalyst, but Topping must be contained as well. If the Cougars can limit Bowles’ and Topping’s chances they are going to give themselves every opportunity to be successful tonight.
PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS
Overview:
Mark Holick’s Prince George Cougars come into tonight’s game looking to put an end to a thee game road winless stretch that started back in early February in Prince Albert. Altogether the Cougars record sits at 32-23-3-1 and heading into action tonight the Cougars are 18 points ahead of their pace from last season and are five points up on the Kamloops Blazers for third in the B.C. Division with a game in hand. That game in hand is important, because a victory tonight for the Cougars would not only provide some much needed confidence to start off the trip, but it would also help create further separation between the Cougars and their closest rivals. The Cougars haven’t faced the Ams’ since early October 2015, so naturally there might be a bit of a feeling out process tonight for the Cougars who are are looking to shrink that magic number in order to clinch a top three spot in the B.C. Division.
Who’s Up Front:
Offensively the Cougars hit somewhat of a wall last weekend against the Red Deer Rebels managing just four goals in two games. Now over the course of the season the Cougars have little trouble scoring goals, and odds are that they are going to score plenty of them over the course of this road trip against two teams defensively that have surrendered more goals against than they’ve scored. But the road is a different animal compared to at home, and tonight the Cougars are going to need a collective effort from all four of their lines in order to be successful. It can’t be just the trio of Chase Witala, Brogan O’Brien and Jesse Gabrielle. The trio of Jansen Harkins, Jared Bethune and Brad Morrison are due to break out while Kody McDonald, Luke Harrison and Colby McAuley are all very capable offensively as well. Tonight they’re going to need it from everybody. No passengers.
Who’s on D:
Coming into tonight, Tate Olson is riding a modest two game goal scoring streak and still remains the top scorer among Cougars defenceman with eight goals and 35 assists for 43 points. His 35 helpers ties him with Brogan O’Brien for the team lead overall in that category. Lately Olson has been forced to play a ton, especially given the injury to Josh Anderson, but the Vancouver Canucks prospect has shown that he’s more than capable and during this upcoming road-trip it’s going to be paramount for the veteran defensemen like Olson, Sam Ruopp, Joe Carvalho and Shane Collins to make the most of their minutes while also calming the game down when needed. The Cougars can feel encouraged by the fact that they held a high powered Red Deer offense to just three goals against last weekend, and that’s certainly something that can be built upon positively heading into tonight’s game.
Who’s in Goal:
With four games coming up over the next five days, odds are good that both Ty Edmonds and Nick McBride are going to get some a look or two this week. Last weekend Edmonds was outstanding Friday making 34 saves in a 3-1 victory, and on Saturday Nick McBride gave his team a chance to win making 25 saves on 27 shots faced in a hard-luck 2-1 loss against the same Red Deer Rebels. Edmonds is 1-0 this season against the Tri-City Americans and always seems to enjoy playing in Kennewick. Fun fact: Ty Edmonds made his first career WHL start in the Tri-Cities back in 2013 and won that game by a 2-1 score.
X-Factor:
In 2016 the Prince George Cougars are 9-11-2-0 and haven’t been able to gain the type of traction that we saw during the months of November and especially December. With that said the Cougars still have 13 games left in their season to pick it up, and even though the Cougars only snagged three of eight available points during their recent homestand there were some encouraging signs. Confidence right now appears to be a big sticking point with this team and when the Cougars are a confident club, they are physical, defensively responsible and TOUGH. The US crowds are often loud and intimidating and the Cougars generally seem to feed off of those types of environments. Tonight the confident Cougars need to embrace the hostility and play to their strengths, and if they do that they’ll give themselves a terrific opportunity to defeat the Tri-City Americans and earn their 33rd victory of the season tonight.
