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12-06-2005, 06:22 PM
Tuesday, December 6, 2005


Coach pining for more production


by JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor

Dead giveaway that a WHL team is struggling -- the existence of a players-only meeting.
Such gatherings almost never take place when a hockey club is riding high, raking in wins and points. But, with two wins in a dozen games, no one will accuse the Prince George Cougars of flying in the clouds.

Cougars players held such a meeting Sunday in Kelowna, where the team is in the middle of a five-game road swing that resumes tonight in Everett. Stops in Vancouver (Wednesday) and Kamloops (Friday) are still to come before the Cats get to play nine straight at home beginning Sunday, when Josh Aspenlind and the Swift Current Broncos arrive.

"The players had a private meeting, and I think I know the topics addressed because I talked to a few of them before it happened," head coach Mike Vandekamp said of the one-hour discussion.

"I know some people have been challenged from within -- start to make a contribution or go somewhere else. We need people here who want to play for each other. Everyone on our team has something to play for this year, whether it be Ty Wishart, Evan Fuller and Jesse Dudas and their draft year, or Eric Hunter and Jared Walker trying to get contracts. They all have a story like that. They all need their teammates to help them get there.

"Wishart, in my mind, his status in the draft next year could differ by two or three rounds depending on how our team does. That's the truth of it, and they have to realize they need to be accountable to each other. Most guys are getting that, but there are four or five of them who aren't and they haven't done anything yet."

The Cougars practiced at Prospera Place in Kelowna on Sunday, and then held an on-ice workout Monday in Vancouver, their base camp for the rest of the trip.

The lack of offence for the Cougars in this ugly stretch of hockey -- one regulation win since Nov. 2, a 2-7-0-3 record over those 12 games -- is striking. In the those dozen games, the Cats have been outscored 42-19. Key players are not helping produce goals, as Colin Patterson has one goal and five assists in 12 games, Eric Hunter has two goals and one assist and is minus-6 with 24 penalty minutes in his past nine, and Nick Drazenovic has but one assist in nine games.

Those numbers had a large impact on Hunter and Drazenovic being left off the Team Canada invitation list, released Monday. Andy Rogers, who hasn't been healthy but still was named to the national junior team's final camp on Monday, has just three assists in 16 games this season, and no points in his last 10.

But those veterans are far from the only ones on a skid. Myles Zimmer has two goals and an assist in 10 games, while third-year forward Greg Gardner is minus-5 and has one goal in 14 games.

In fact, it's hard to find a Cougar who is on a hot streak.

"A guy like Patterson, his play has been so indifferent, and that's not going to cut it," said Vandekamp, naming just one of many players who need to start producing.

"We have to start doing some damage on this trip, and we might as well start in Everett. After this trip is over, we get to go home and work to get everyone to show up like happened Friday in Kamloops."

• Vandekamp did not divulge a decision on his starting goaltender for tonight's game. Real Cyr has been the guy the last two games, a 1-0 win in Kamloops on Friday and a 6-2 defeat in Kelowna on Saturday.

• The Cougars and Silvertips, who hold down first place in the U.S. Division at 16-13-1-0, have met once previously, with Everett outshooting the Cougars 45-25 and winning easily, 5-2. The Cougars gave up four goals in the third period in that game, played Oct. 1.

• The Cougars have made a move with their 50-player protected list, adding 17-year-old left-winger Steven Kajic of the Okanagan Rockets major midget team. Kajic, playing on a team stocked with WHL list players (10 players are on protected lists), has eight goals and 14 points in 17 games. One of his teammates is Kyle Beach, a first-round pick by the Everett Silvertips.

To make room, the Cougars removed Tyson McCarty from the list. McCarty, from Saskatoon, was listed at six-foot-one and 155 pounds when he was selected in the ninth round (164th overall) of last spring's bantam draft.