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We’re No. 8! |
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Written by
JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor
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Thursday, 25 September 2008 |
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Cougars realistic about placement in this week’s CHL top 10 ranking
Introducing your Prince George Cougars, the eighth-ranked team in the entire Canadian Hockey League...
Say what?
Yes, the Cougars, the young-and-rebuilding Cougars, appeared at No. 8 in the weekly CHL top 10 rankings, which are compiled through votes cast by a panel of NHL scouts.
And, yes, more than a few chuckles went up around the league when the Cougars appeared on a list that was devoid of the highly-touted Kelowna Rockets, the projected Eastern Conference powerhouse Lethbridge Hurricanes, or the Regina Pats, considered a serious contender.
The Cats were one spot ahead of the defending Memorial Cup champs, the Spokane Chiefs, and one spot behind the Swift Current Broncos, while the Brandon Wheat Kings were slotted third overall.
Want a sample of the yuks? Here’s Rockets play-by-play man and blogger Regan Bartel, perhaps the most-respected bingo-caller in the league:
“The panel was so impressed with the Prince George Cougars’ start to the season, a team projected to struggle to make the playoffs, that they are now the eighth-best team in the nation. Give Cougars head coach Drew Schoneck a raise! But hey panel members, the Portland Winter Hawks were 1-1 on the weekend. Why didn’t they cut the top 10?”
Or Gregg Drinnan of the Kamloops Daily News, the league’s leading beat writer, on his blog, dripping with sarcasm:
“The CHL has released its Mosaik MasterCard Top 10 for the week and, uhh, the Prince George Cougars are ranked No. 8.”
Well, guess what? The Cougars themselves, who already in the Lower Mainland to get ready for tonight’s game in Vancouver, aren’t putting much stock in what is clearly a premature bolt up the rankings.
“It’s after two games, and we have 70 more to go,” said Schoneck.
“The rankings at the end of the year certainly mean a lot more than the rankings at the start. We haven’t thought about it, and we haven’t talked about it. Someone had to be ranked, and that’s the way I’m looking at it -- we’re carrying forward because we want to win two games this weekend.
“I haven’t heard our players mention it. We had a good weekend and we want to continue that along.”
The Cougars started the season 2-0 for the first time in the franchise’s time in Prince George, defeating a depleted Seattle Thunderbirds squad 5-2 and 2-0 last weekend. The T-birds came north without their top goalie, star defenceman, and first-line centre.
The Cougars will be facing the Giants for that club’s home opener, and should mark the return to action of starting netminder Tyson Sexsmith, who has yet to see WHL game action because he was in camp with the San Jose Sharks. The Giants are still without top defenceman Jon Blum, and Craig Schira is wearing the ‘C’ while Blum remains with the Nashville Predators.
The Giants lost in Kamloops on Wednesday, blowing a lead and dropping a 4-3 shootout decision.
The Cougars will have everyone available tonight and for Saturday’s game in Chilliwack -- something they didn’t have for the Seattle games. Dana Tyrell (Tampa Bay) and Cameron Cepek (Detroit) were returned by their NHL teams this week.
“Cameron has practiced with us twice now, and Dana will join us down here because he got waylaid by flights,” said Schoneck.
“It’s nice to have our full complement going into a big game in Vancouver. I’m not concerned about others sitting back now with those two players back, and that’s because I don’t think we have that kind of group. That’s a factor to consider, maybe, but everyone has to do their job.”
--- Tickets are moving fast for the Meet The Pack promotion Oct. 4, a partnership between The Citizen and the Cougars in which 1,000 tickets are being given away to Citizen subscribers. That night, the Cougars will face the Chilliwack Bruins, a team which features local products Ryan Howse and Brandon Manning, along with Los Angeles Kings prospect Oscar Moller.
There is a limit of two tickets per subscriber family. Tickets can be claimed at The Citizen’s office at 150 Brunswick Street.
The day after the game, kids aged 5-12 are invited to the CN Centre parking lot for a ball hockey game with Cougars players, running from 3 to 4 p.m.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 25 September 2008 )
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