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Sput
03-10-2005, 10:46 PM
Cats keep on battling




Cougars forward Lee Zolasky found his scoring touch last weekend against the Spokane Chiefs. John McKenzie/Free Press


By harpreet sidhu
Free Press staff writer
Mar 10 2005

Curtis Cooper's glad the drought is over. The 18-year-old defenceman with the Prince George Cougars has been waiting for a while for his third goal of his career.
On Saturday night Cooper scored the game winner as the Cougars defeated the Spokane Chiefs 3-1. Cooper went 149 games between goals.
"I think everybody was in awe," said Cooper. "Petr [Jelinek] won the face off right back to me. I looked back and I thought about passing it to Wish [Ty Wishart] and then I moved into the centre lane and I just kind of flubbed it through. I just couldn't see it until Jelinek threw his hands up and I just assumed that I scored."
It wasn't the prettiest goal but Cooper will take it.
"I think I just got King Kong off my back and I think our team needed it so it's even better. It was a big boost for the team. We needed these points."
The Cats went into Tuesday night five points behind the Kamloops Blazers for the final playoff spot in the BC Division.
Cougars forward Lee Zalasky scored in both games over the weekend to get out of his 19 game slump.
"Certainly he may have been the best player these last two nights," said Cougars coach Lane Lambert. "He's blocked shots and competed. When we are running around in our own zone and he gets the puck on his stick he's got more composure and it's nice to see."
The Cougars dropped Friday night's game 4-3 after leading 3-0 after the first period. Zalasky scored once while Colin Patterson had a pair of goals.
Lambert was happy with the way the team came out for the second game.
"I thought we played more desperate. They weren't getting shots through as much and when they did get shots through [Real] Cyr made some big saves," said Lambert.
Even with the Cougars battling for a playoff spot, Lambert sent a message that players need to follow the rules to play and the players who aren't playing well won't play. Ty Wishart, Dan Gendur and Evan Fuller sat out Friday night for skipping school. On Saturday night Brett Parker was a healthy scratch and hasn't scored since January 5.
"I think that Brett needs to give us more. We got 24 healthy guys now and the guys who aren't going won't play. It doesn't matter if you are 16 or 20, that's the way it's going to be. He's a gritty guy on our team. And we need him out there and I hope he responds well," said Lambert.
The Cougars will be back in action against the Vancouver Giants for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday night. Game time is 7:30p.m., both nights.