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Greg Gardner, the 20-year-old captain of the Prince George Cougars, is now the all-time games king of the franchise.
Gardner
played in his 337th regular season game on Saturday night, eclipsing
the mark held by former Cougars captain Chris Falloon, as the Cats fell
6-2 in Kelowna.
Gardner had a goal, his career-high 23rd
of the season. Gardner's games-played mark is the highest for any
Cougars player in history, including the seasons played in Victoria
before the franchise shifted north to start the 1994-95 season. Gardner
broke in as a 16-year-old after being a second-round bantam pick, and
is concluding five seasons played in just the one uniform.
Jamie
Benn and Brady Leavold each had two goals Saturday to pace the Rockets,
with singles coming from Cody Almond and James McEwan. Colin Long had
two assists to become the first WHL player to hit the 100-point mark
this season, and he has a one-point lead over Chilliwack Bruins centre
Mark Santorelli for the league lead. Long's season is over, while
Santorelli has a game Sunday against the Vancouver Giants, the team the
Bruins will face in the opening round of the playoffs.
Justin
Maylan had the other Cougars goal, his seventh of the season and sixth
in 30 games since joining the Cougars in a trade from Moose Jaw prior
to the trade deadline. Goaltender Real Cyr faced 46 shots in the Prince
George nets.
The Cougars (19-48-1-3) will see their
season end Sunday evening in Kamloops, with no playoffs for the club
this season. The game will mark the final junior outings of Gardner,
defenceman Kalvin Sagert and Cyr.
Head coach Drew
Schoneck is working the bench on his own on this season-ending road
trip as assistant coach Wade Klippenstein, who also doubles as the
team's assistant general manager, is in Saskatchewan to scout the Sask
First prospect camp. General manager Dallas Thompson is in Colorado
scouting a tournament there.
The Cougars played Saturday
without G Ian Curtis (shoulder), D Trevor Bauer (wrist), RW Brad Riege
(concussion) and C Jan Kupec (shoulder). Nick Buonassisi was a healthy
scratch, while 15-year-old D Bruin McDonald played his fifth WHL game.
In
other WHL news Saturday, Prince George native Don Nachbaur, a long-time
head coach in the WHL, has brought a regular season championship to the
Tri-City Americans for the first time. Nachbaur and the Americans
(52-16-2-2, 106 points) clinched the overall title with a 2-1 win over
the Spokane Chiefs, and the overall pennant and U.S. Division
championship will mark the first pennants captured by the Tri-City
franchise. The Americans will face the Kamloops Blazers in the first
round of the Western Conference playoffs.
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