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scamperdog
12-16-2006, 09:01 AM
Cats cough up hairball


by JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor

Real Cyr showed up. So did Dana Tyrell -- but he always does.

Everyone else on the Prince George Cougars thought they could get away early for Christmas.

In a game so uninspired it's hard to put into words -- weren't the Cats and Kamloops Blazers mortal enemies at one point? -- the visitors stuck with it longer and slogged out a 3-1 victory Friday at CN Centre.

For a Cougars team striving to improve the work ethic from night-to-night, Friday was a step backward. You could almost hear the truck going in reverse -- beep, beep, beep...

"It was a completely unacceptable effort," said Prince George head coach Drew Schoneck, who then correctly added that "both teams weren't very good.

"They didn't come out with a lot of jump either, but they're the road team and we're the home team and we should be coming out a lot harder than that. That concerns me to let that one slip away. We had chances on our power play to get it done, and we didn't. There's no reason for us to be getting outshot in our own building after two periods."

Brock Nixon, with two goals including an empty-netter as time expired, and Reid Jorgensen handled the scoring for Kamloops, now 23-9-1-1 on the season and 18 points ahead of the Cougars (13-17-1-3) for second spot in the B.C. Division. The Cats can forget about starting the playoffs here.

Jorgensen's goal came on a power play in the third period with Prince George winger Evan Fuller in the box following a marginal interference call. The Jorgensen goal, more notably, came after the Cougars failed to convert on a pair of two-man advantages totaling 1:45.

"We stuck with things and our goaltender made some huge saves, particularly when we faced those two five-on-threes in the third period," said Kamloops coach Dean Clark, who might just be running away with coach-of-the-year considerations in the WHL this season, turning the playoff-shunned Blazers into an upper-tier club with very little in the way of big-name talent.

Clark conceded the game was lacklustre from his perch on the Kamloops bench. There was no doubt in Clark's mind that players were looking ahead to the nine-day break that begins Sunday.

"Usually we're a more high-energy team, but these last few games before Christmas we haven't been as sharp," said Clark, also the Kamloops general manager.

"It's no different for any team, guys are anxious to get home. For us, we've had a pretty good first half, but you can sure see both mentally and physically that guys need a break. Whether you've had a good first half or not, it's the same."

Cyr and Kamloops goaltender Dustin Butler were the best players on the ice, facing 28 shots apiece.

What Friday showed the mostly-empty seats at CN Centre on Friday is that, apparently, it is possible to be a prized NHL prospect and not care, not have one ounce of passion for the opportunity to play Canada's national sport at a very high level. With the trade deadline less than a month away, Prince George GM Dallas Thompson is being steered toward the reality that this Cougars team, littered with high draft picks, is nowhere near the sum of its parts.

If Schoneck was to send out just those who worked hard on every shift, Cyr would have been in the same spot and Tyrell would have been the Maytag repairman on the ice.

"That's the least desperation I've seen from our team in awhile, and that's not good news at all," said Prince George centre Nick Drazenovic, who set up Tyrell for the Cougars' lone goal.

"I don't know. We need to fix things here. We're coming into Game 35 here, and I'm rattled right now. Maybe that's the problem -- championship teams don't have a bunch of individuals, and we need to work as a team and battle hard. We can't just rely on our individual skills. It's obviously not working and needs to change."

Schoneck was finding it hard to understand his team's apathetic play. The Christmas break? Sure, but hockey players at this level have to bring more pride to the rink than the Cougars did Friday. No one is fooled, certainly not the paying public -- one long-time team supporter stopped by the press box at the end of the game and asked, "how can you not write that we sucked?"

The momentum builders were there early for the Cats, but they never took the cue. Kamloops had an apparent first-period goal waved off, ruled that it went off Terrance Delaronde's glove, and Prince George overager Brett Robertson had all kinds of time in front of Butler, but failed to convert. Perhaps out of frustration, Robertson ended up taking Butler down and any chance of getting the upper hand was killed when he was sent to the box.

The Cougars hit posts -- Drazenovic in the first period, Dale Hunt in the third -- but it's mistakes like the bad line change that left no one able to put a body on Nixon, tied with ex-Blazer Kris Hogg of Lethbridge for the WHL lead in goals with 25, on the first Kamloops goal that are haunting this Prince George team. Nixon's marker ended the Kamloops scoreless streak at 181:51, the product of shutout losses to Chilliwack and Seattle before making the trek north.

The Blazers remain here for tonight's rematch, the annual Teddy Bear Toss game, 7 p.m.

KITTY LITTER: Kamloops ended 1-7 on the powerplay, while the Cats deserved to go 0-6... Announced attendance was 2,541, giving the Cougars a total of 43,284 -- that‚s 2,886 per game through 15 home dates. That figure is more than 100 fewer fans per game than last season... With Jesse Dudas out because of a knee injury considered day-to-day, the Cougars have lost 86 man-games to injury this season -- Kamloops has lost just seven. Dudas has gone to Edmonton to have the knee looked at, and won't play tonight... Butler is 19-5 on the season, and 19-4 since being acquired from Portland... Drazenovic needs 16 assists now to catch Blake Robson's franchise record of 140... Tyrell passed the 100 mark in games played on the road trip, and has now suited up in 104 WHL contests... Devin Setoguchi needs two more points for 200 in his career...

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