Losing in overtime in Swift Current last weekend was tough, and their visit to Prince Albert left the Prince George Cougars without a point.
Nobody said the longest roadtrip of the season was going to be easy.
Despite those two losses, the Cougars posted convincing wins in Moose Jaw and Saskatoon and have picked up five of a possible eight points in the first four games of a six-game, 12-day tour of the WHL's East Division,
Tonight in Brandon, the Cats face what could be their stiffest test of the trip when they line up to play the Brandon Wheat Kings. The defending Eastern Conference champions are second only to Lethbridge in the 12-team conference and the Wheat Kings have been playing well lately, winners of seven of their last 10 games.
The Cougars (31-19-2-1, third in the Western Conference) are 5-4-1-0 in their last 10 and will need a win tonight to make up some lost ground to the Victoria Royals, the hottest team in the league, in the chase for top spot in the West. The Royals (32-15-2-3) went 8-1-1-0 in their last 10 to creep within four points of the first-place Kelowna Rockets (35-13-3-0) and are now four points ahead of Prince George.
The Cougars started the trip with a 4-3 overtime loss a week ago to the Swift Current Broncos, followed by a 6-2 win Saturday over the Moose Jaw Warriors. On Tuesday, backed by goalie Nick McBride's 27-save shutout, they blanked the Saskatoon Blades 7-0, then lost 3-1 Wednesday to the Prince Albert Raiders. Following tonight's game (5:30 p.m. PT), the Cougars travel to Regina to play the Pats on Saturday in the final game of the trip.
In Prince Albert, Cougars 20-year-old winger Chase Witala broke the Cougars' Prince George franchise record for career goals when he scored in the second period. It was the 112th goal of Witala's five-season career with the Cougars and 32nd goal this season, which left him tied with linemate Jesse Gabrielle for the team lead.
The Cougars announced Thursday they've signed 1999-born forward Adam Kadlec to a standard WHL agreement.
Picked in the 10th round of the 2014 WHL bantam draft, the dual Canadian-American citizen from Edina, Minn., has played four games this season for the Boston Junior Bruins under-18 team and has recorded two assists. Last year, with the Boston Jr. Bruins under-16 team, Kadlec collected 16 goals and 41 points in 25 games. The Omaha Lancers selected him in the seventh round of the USHL draft last summer.
"Adam absolutely fits the mold of the type of player and the type of person that we want to represent the Prince George Cougars," said Cougars general manager Todd Harkins, in a team release. "He plays the game with a strong mix of size, skill and speed and has proven during his first two WHL training camps in Prince George that he can compete at this level. We feel very fortunate to add a player of Adam Kadlec's calibre to our organization."
Kadlec is the sixth player from the Cougars' 2014 draft class to sign with the team, joining forwards Justin Almeida (first round) and Ethan O'Rourke (third round) and defencemen Max Martin (second round), Peter Kope (fifth round) and Ryan Schoettler (seventh round).
Kadlec will practice with the Cougars next week and expects to remain in Prince George as an affiliated player for the rest of the season.
