Their roster is set, and the Prince George Cougars have 28 games left as they try to get back into the Western Hockey League playoffs for the first time in four years. Right now, a playoff appearance is far from certain, as the Cats find themselves in a battle with the Vancouver Giants for the third and final guaranteed spot in the B.C. Division.
The Cats are currently third, one point up on the Giants, but Vancouver has two games in hand.
If the Cougars slip out of the top three in B.C., they'd have to qualify for the post-season as one of two wildcard teams in the Western Conference and that's not a chance they want to take. If they were outside of the top three and the playoffs started today, they'd be spectators instead of participants as both the Seattle Thunderbirds and Tri-City Americans - fourth and fifth respectively in the Western Conference's U.S. Division - have more points.
With last Saturday's trade deadline now behind them, the Cougars are preparing to face the Portland Winterhawks tonight and Saturday at CN Centre. And what the Cats need, more than anything, is to use this doubleheader to start establishing some consistent, winning habits. If they can't perform consistently well between now and the end of March, they may as well forget about the playoffs for yet another year.
In the 2015 portion of their schedule, the Cougars have yet to go on a hot streak. Heck, they haven't even managed a lukewarm one. Since the calendar flipped over, they have lost five times (once in overtime) and posted just one victory.
The last time the Cougars were on a roll was Dec. 5 through 12 when they won four in a row (victories against Kelowna, Kamloops, Saskatoon and Everett). At that point, they seemed poised to head into the Christmas break with some serious momentum on their side but then they dropped three consecutive games against the Spokane Chiefs and have been hit-and-miss ever since.
Heading into tonight's game against Portland, the Cougars have a 20-23-1-0 record. They'll be in tough against the Winterhawks (23-19-0-3), who feature such NHL prospects as Nicolas Petan (Winnipeg Jets), Chase De Leo (Winnipeg Jets) and Oliver Bjorkstrand (Columbus Blue Jackets). All three players skated in the recent world junior championship, Petan for Canada, De Leo for the U.S. and Bjorkstrand for Denmark.
Regardless of the quality of their opponent, the Cougars have to find a way to pick up some points - preferably four. To do that, and to put the wraps on a playoff spot in the coming weeks, they'll need their best players to step up and lead the way. That starts in goal with Ty Edmonds, who has just one win in his past five starts and now faces the prospect of having the newly-acquired Patrick Gora trying to take away some of his minutes in the crease. In front of Edmonds (or Gora), pretty much everybody has to be better, but that's especially true for defenceman and team captain Sam Ruopp and 20-year-old forwards Jari Erricson and Zach Pochiro.
The Cougars made an excellent choice when they named Ruopp as captain in early November and he has done well in the role. But now, the 18-year-old has to put his stamp on this club and make sure he does everything possible, on and off the ice, to push it into the playoffs. That's what guys who have a 'C' on their chests are supposed to do.
As for Erricson and Pochiro, they are the only two overagers left on the roster now that Chance Braid is a member of the Kelowna Rockets. As such, they need to set an example for the rest of their teammates each and every shift. In particular, they are relied upon for offence and they haven't been producing lately. Erricson has just one goal and three assists in his past 14 games, while Pochiro has only two goals and one helper in his past eight contests.
Even 17-year-old Jansen Harkins, who leads the team with 49 points in 44 games, could be lighting the lamp a bit more. True, he's a playmaker before a shooter, but he hasn't scored in six games. Harkins does have nine assists during that span, so at least he's still providing a spark.
On the flip side of the coin, skilled forwards Chase Witala and Brad Morrison have been strong lately. Witala has six goals and four assists in his last seven outings and Morrison has four goals and five assists in his past six games.
The Cougars should be a playoff team. They have all the elements to get to the post-season and can only blame themselves if it doesn't happen.
The stretch run starts now.
