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Sput
03-14-2005, 03:28 PM
March 14th, 2005


Cougars give themselves a chance


by JIM SWANSON
Citizen Sports Editor
So this is what it comes down to.
The Prince George Cougars are five points out of a playoff spot with four games to play. Two of those games are on the road Tuesday in Vancouver, Wednesday in Kelowna - and the other two are home dates on the weekend against the team directly above them, the Kamloops Blazers.
Thanks to their 4-0 win over the Vancouver Giants on Saturday, and the Blazers' 3-2 loss in Kelowna, the Cougars now need to gain a single point - a tie, an overtime loss, or additional points from a win or two - to make the weekend series against Kamloops meaningful.

With one point from the road games, the Cougars would have to beat the Blazers twice, and in regulation time. Should Kamloops, sitting idle with just those two games to play in the regular season, even force a game to overtime, that would end Prince George's season and send the Cougars franchise to its third-consecutive fifth-place finish in the B.C. Division.

Of course, it isn't all that cut and dried. Should all that play out and the Cougars and Blazers wind up tied in the standings after Game 72, a one-game playoff would be held to determine who would move on to a best-of-seven series against either Kelowna or Kootenay. That game would be in Prince George, tentatively set for Tuesday, March 22, because the Cougars would hold the first tie-breaker, that being number of wins.

Bottom line, the Cougars control their own destiny, as hard as it is to believe for a team staring at a five-point deficit with four games to play. "It's exciting, an exciting time of the year, and what can be better than battling right down to the end to get into the playoffs, then hopefully getting in and going from there," said Cougars head coach Lane Lambert.

The Cougars earned the two points on Saturday, and did it with bumps and bruises as evidence. Goaltender Scott Bowles stopped 31, many of them by acrobatic means, for his sixth shutout of the season, but he benefitted from players in front of him who didn't hesitate to lay down their padded bodies to keep shots from going through. An unscientific count had the Cougars blocking, deflecting or redirecting some 25 Vancouver attempts.

"They did a great job blocking shots, you have to give Prince George a lot of credit there," said Giants coach Don Hay. "Their desperation level was very high, and we certainly didn't match it. They really paid the price tonight. Our power play was non-existent, and (Friday) it was sharp. They just competed a lot harder than us."

The telling stat at the end of the game was under the "power play" header - Vancouver was 0-8, while Prince George was 1-3.
"I thought we were very desperate, I thought our penalty kill was extremely good, and we blocked a lot of shots," said Lambert.
"I thought Brett Parker came up with a phenomenal effort - everybody. Curtis Cooper was blocking shots. Our focus is to be in the shooting lanes, and we were. Our older players showed grit, determination and leadership."

Colin Patterson was part of that leadership, scoring twice as part of a three-goal opening period. Patterson's first goal was on a two-man advantage and added to the lead obtained when Blair Stengler, who has turned into the best player the Cougars added from Swift Current in the Josh Aspenlind deal, dangled and took every bit of room given him by a lax Giants defence to open the scoring.

Eric Hunter added a goal in the second period to complete the scoring.
"We won a lot of individual battles out there, and we have to continue to do that," said Lambert, whose team will face Vancouver for the third time in five nights on Tuesday.

Saturday's win did not come without a damper. In the first period overager Petr Jelinek was flipped - call it a mini-Hancock - by a Vancouver defenceman, landing flat on his back. Jelinek, who broke his neck in a game two years ago, left the game and is questionable for the key games this week. Also, rookie defenceman Ty Wishart is possibly gone for the year with a shoulder injury suffered in Friday's 6-3 loss to Vancouver. He'll miss the rest of the regular season for sure.
n Good news for Prince George fans - the Wednesday game in Kelowna is a Shaw Cable broadcast, a 7 p.m. start.

The Cougars handed out part of the hardware package on Saturday. For the second year in a row, Cooper was rewarded as the most dedicated player, and it was fitting that he did so on a night where the 18-year-old played his 200th WHL game. Goaltender Real Cyr is the team's nominee for scholastic player of the year. The rest of the award-winners will be announced next weekend

Jovorock
03-14-2005, 04:57 PM
Good luck Tuesday against the Giants, might be pretty tough against the Rockets with a 26 game home winnng streak! At least the game Wednesday will be on Shaw so you guys can watch it.

Sput
03-14-2005, 06:58 PM
From the way the guys played saturday, and if they keep playing that way, I can see a win on tuesday. With the injuries that seem to have hit the Rockets They could (hopefully) have their hands full of wild Cats wed. night. I sure hope I can sit back on the couch with a couple wobbly pops and enjoy this game. :thumb:

Jimmy
03-16-2005, 06:29 AM
Point is given :o
Make it interesting.

Chipper
03-16-2005, 03:37 PM
go Cougers go this is your last chance to get a playoff spot go for it and show no mercy to those Rockets.