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Sput
08-29-2007, 09:58 PM
courtesy of www.pgfreepress.com

Roster down to 32

By Alistair McInnis
Free Press

Aug 29 2007


With two sets of cuts already made and training camp over, the Prince George Cougars are giving fans an early idea of what to expect on the ice this season.

As of Monday, the Cougars roster had been reduced to 32 hopefuls, a vast decrease over the 90 that registered for training camp last week.

The biggest question mark remains at the forward position with goaltending and defence already molding into place. On one end of the ice, the Cougars have already formed a goaltending tandem. Picking the starter was an obvious choice with 20-year-old Real Cyr back in action for the club. Given the opportunity as his backup is Joel Danyluk, a 17-year-old from Yorkton, Sask. While they’re currently down to two goalies, Cougars head coach Drew Schoneck understands more work is ahead for Danyluk to prove himself.

“Joel’s going to get an opportunity to show that he can deserve to stay there and if Joel can’t then obviously decisions have to be made. He’s a young guy and he’s going to be hungry to get ice time and that’s what we want out of our backup goaltender. Anytime you get in a situation when your number one guy doesn’t feel a threat from behind then sometimes they get a little stale and [aren’t] working as hard.”

Of 18 forwards battling to make the regular season roster, eight are listed as rookies. Schoneck said they have about five veteran forwards back. Last year the forward lines were full of experience with an average age of 19. This year that number’s been reduced to about 17 and a half, Schoneck noted.

“The thing that’s apparent, that everybody who knows hockey [understands] is we’re going to be a little bit challenged to score some goals up front. It’s not a fact that we don’t have guys that can, but last year we were a little bit spoiled and we had some older guys that could put the puck in the net. This year we’ve got younger guys that can do it but it’s going to take them a little while to get adjusted to the speed of the league. We knew [we’d be inexperienced on offence] going in, but in saying that we’re going to manufacture goals through hard work and playing to our systems.”

With the real season not beginning for another few weeks, exhibition games offer the perfect opportunity for Schoneck to juggle players around and try different line combinations. This weekend the team is in Edmonton for an exhibition tournament hosted by the expansion Edmonton Oil Kings. Four other WHL teams are participating - the Kamloops Blazers, Kelowna Rockets, Swift Current Broncos and Regina Pats.

The Cougars play Swift Current on Saturday, Regina on Sunday and Edmonton on Monday.

With only a few proven Western Hockey League scorers on the team, finding balanced scoring may be the Cougars key to success this season. Forwards like Dana Tyrell, Greg Gardner and Evan Fuller will have to take on bigger leadership roles in the absence of Nick Drazenovic and Devin Setoguchi.

“I don’t think we can be as run and gun as maybe we were last year with the guys we had,” Schoneck said.

Ty Wishart will also be leaned upon to pick up the offence on the powerplay. Schoneck won’t be able to throw Wishart and Tyrell into the lineup until later next month since they’re participating in the Canada/Russia Super Series until Sept. 9, before attending NHL training camps. Tyrell was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning while Wishart is a San Jose Sharks selection.

The next action for the Cougars after the Edmonton tournament is a home-and-home exhibition set with the Blazers, Sept. 7 at the CN Centre and Sept. 8 in Kamloops.

Schoneck is hopeful they’ll have a regular season roster set shortly following the set with Kamloops. He also said the team should be cut down to three 20-year-olds in time for their regular season opener versus the Spokane Chiefs, Sept. 21 at the CN Centre. The team has four 20-year-olds, a number that under WHL regulations must be reduced to three by October.

An exception is made in the case of expansion teams like the Oil Kings, who are allowed to carry five overage players this season.

The four 20-year-olds on the Cougars are Cyr, defencemen Curtis Patterson and Kalvin Sagert, and Gardner.

“We’re comfortable with the guys we have and our jobs as coaches, and our job as a hockey team and a league is to develop these hockey players so they move on,” Schoneck said.

habsfan12
08-30-2007, 06:55 PM
i think the Cougars made a great choice with there 4, 20 year olds... Cyr will be a big asset in goal this year!! i hope they do great this year!

WestLEAFfan
08-30-2007, 09:12 PM
Are the BLADES hosting their annual ice breaker tournament this year? The COUGARS usually attend this.

habsfan12
08-31-2007, 03:46 PM
i have heard that The Blades are not hosting the Ice Breaker Tournament this year... i dont know for what reasons though... i always liked going to watch when they were playing there!!

WestLEAFfan
08-31-2007, 05:20 PM
Maybe it's due to the fact that the CUC is hosting a Super Series game? I'm disappointed as well. I like listening on the radio and internet. Too cheap to drive to S'toon!! :thumb:

habsfan12
08-31-2007, 07:50 PM
yeah that could be a reason or another reason might be because the Cougars always win every game that they play at that tournament..but i think it might be because of the Super Series!! yeah the internet is always good to listen too!! :) :bounce: :groovy:

Sput
09-01-2007, 04:56 PM
The Cougs are playing in the Edmonton tourney tho. Game on tonight!!