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View Full Version : Cougars/Rockets on SHAW tonight



PGFlyfisher
11-15-2006, 08:23 AM
For anyone interested, I believe the game is on SHAW cable tonight. 7:00PST :)

old_time_hockey
11-15-2006, 12:36 PM
Indeed it is. If the Giants weren't at home tonight I would have tuned in.

Could always set the PC-PVR I guess.

Sput
11-16-2006, 02:12 PM
Well, surprise surprise. The Cougars found some offense. Hopefully it wasn't just a flash in the pan and these guys found out how to score, and how to go for the kill when they have a team down. I don't think we have seen a 5 goal period from these guys since sometime last season. Nick with 1G-4A, Tyrell and Vandynhuven with 3 point nights, and Hunter with his first multi goal game this year. I think the only one that didn't make the score sheet was Setoguchi, tho I may be mistaken (not wrong, just mistaken) so its time for Gooch to start netting a few.

I can't comment on how the game was as I was at a course last night and missed the whole thing. For a Cougar fan it seemed like it was a great third period. Gotta see more of this for the rest of the season. A nice little 8-12 game win streak would do wonders for the team, and the fans, to get back into some shape of contending.

Sput
11-16-2006, 02:18 PM
Courtesy of:
http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Third period flurry saves Cats
by JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor

The Prince George Cougars found their offence. Apparently, it had been hiding in Kelowna.

It took one period — one 20-minute stretch with five goals, more than double their per-game average to date — for the Cats to remind themselves what was projected this season. The outburst, which was mixed with a fright from giving up a third-period lead, pushed Prince George to a 7-3 road victory over the Rockets.

The result puts the Cougars (8-11-0-2) in a tie with Kelowna (8-13-0-2) for third place in the B.C. Division. More importantly, many of the struggling veterans took their frustrations out on Rockets netminder Kris Westblom, who had seemed unbeatable at times in the previous meetings between the two teams.

“Kelowna came out in the third period and scored bang-bang to take the lead, and getting Eric Hunter’s goal to tie it right away gave our guys a lift,” said Cougars head coach Drew Schoneck, now 2-1 since taking over from interim bench boss Dallas Thompson, the team’s GM who is helping Schoneck on the bench. The Cougars are 3-3-0-0 since the firings of Mike Vandekamp and Stew Malgunas.

“The guys could’ve looked at each other and said they were done, but they didn’t. It was good to see the guys stick with it and bury their chances, which is something they haven’t been able to do since I’ve been here. Hopefully some guys get some confidence from that and it carries on.”

The Cougars and Rockets are a dozen points back of the second-place Kamloops Blazers, who lost 3-2 on the road in Everett on Wednesday. The Silvertips, the No. 1-ranked team in both the WHL and CHL which is on a 12-game winning streak, play host to the Cougars on Friday as Prince George starts a three-games-in-three-nights weekend — continued Saturday in Chilliwack, and Sunday in Seattle.

“Hopefully we can carry that scoring into the next 35 games,” laughed Schoneck.

“Guys were working for the goals and they got them. They deserved it.”

The offensive explosion overshadowed the first WHL win for rookie goaltender Jordan White, an 18-year-old who earned that victory against the Bruce Hamilton-owned Rockets. Hamilton also owns part of the BCHL’s Penticton Vees, where White played last season.

Schoneck gambled in starting White, who hadn’t played since that fateful 9-2 loss to Brandon on home ice on Nov. 2 that was the final night for Vandekamp and Malgunas. But Schoneck indicated the team may have adjusted its focus on defence knowing the rookie was in net.

“Jordan played really well and gave us a chance to win,” said Schoneck.

“He hadn’t played in awhile and he’d been working hard and we wanted to get him into a game. It’s good for him to get that first win, and I thought the guys played well in front of him and limited his chances. He faced lots of shots (31), but I thought they limited the good scoring chances he saw.”

Kelowna got the lone goal of the first period. Lucas Bloodoff was allowed too much time and space in front of White and he swiped home his fourth of the season.

Jordie Deagle, with a tip of a point shot from Kalvin Sagert, and Nick Drazenovic, banging home the rebound of a Jesse Dudas blast for his fourth goal, put the Cougars up 2-1 in the second period.

White and his defence seemed to have the game in control until Troy Ofukany and Craig Cuthbert scored in a 22 second span. But Hunter tallied a further 22 seconds after Cuthbert’s goal, finishing a great two-on-one feed from Dana Tyrell to get the Cougars back on even terms.

Tyrell and Evan Fuller, the Vancouver Canucks draft choice with his first of the season, beat Westblom within 90 seconds of each other to keep the offensive momentum flowing. Dan Gendur, with his second of the season, and Hunter, on his second of the night and sixth of the year, completed the run of five unanswered Prince George goals.

Drazenovic left the building with a goal and three assists, while Tyrell and sophomore defenceman Chris Vanduynhoven each had three-point nights against Westblom, one of the league’s best netminders.

“Westblom has really stuck it to us in the last few games and played really well,” said Schoneck, who was equally pleased to get his first road win in Kelowna, where he was formerly an assistant and interim head coach.

“It’s nice for me to go back in there and get a win.”

The Cougars will skate in Kelowna today before heading to Everett. Schoneck said there were no further injuries in the game, so Ty Wishart (groin, day-to-day) and Dale Hunt (charleyhorse, day-to-day) remain the only health problems. Wishart is not on the trip.

n The all-out style of Dana Tyrell has NHL scouts taking notice.

The Prince George Cougars forward appears as the eighth-ranked skater in the initial rankings of draft eligible WHL players, released Wednesday by NHL Central Scouting.

Tyrell, undersized at five-10 and 180 pounds, is impossible to miss because of his gutsy play. Through Wednesday’s 7-3 win in Kelowna, Tyrell is leading Prince George in scoring with eight goals and 11 assists.

Tyrell, 17, is the only Cougar on the Central Scouting list — Lance Redden, Chris Vanduynhoven, Jordie Deagle and Patrik Vrana are not mentioned among the top 25 skaters in the WHL. Kamloops defenceman Keaton Ellerby is first, followed by Vancouver blueliner John Blum and Saskatoon centre Colton Gillies, who the Cougars passed on with the first overall pick in the 2004 WHL bantam draft.

Seattle right-winger Radek Meidl is fifth, Regina defenceman Nick Ross is sixth, and Red Deer centre Brandon Sutter is seventh. Drayson Bowman, a centre from Spokane, follows Tyrell, and Seattle defenceman Thomas Hickey is 10th.

Aside from Blum, the Giants have four players on the list — Spencer Machacek at No. 11, right-winger Michal Repik at No. 13, and goaltender Tyson Sexsmith is second among netminders, trailing only Linden Rowat of Regina.