The Prince George Cougars open training camp Aug. 29 and will be on the road in Red Deer for their first preseason game four days later.
Part of the four-team Rebels tournament, the Cats take on the Calgary Hitmen in an afternoon game on Friday, Sept. 2, then face the Edmonton Oil Kings the following day, a 3 p.m. MT start.
The Cougars will return to CN Centre but won't be sticking around very long. They will travel the following week to Kennewick, Wash., home of the Tri-City Americans, and will play the Americans on Wednesday, Sept. 7. They also meet the Kootenay Ice on Sept. 8 and the Portland Winterhawks on Sept. 9.
The Cougars wrap up their preseason with a game at CN Centre on Friday, Sept. 16 against the Kamloops Blazers.
The Western Hockey League season starts for the Cougars the following weekend, Sept. 23-25, against a yet-to-be announced B.C. Division opponent. The home-opener in the Cougars' 23rd season in Prince George is set for Sept. 30, the first of a weekend doubleheader at CN Centre against the Kelowna Rockets. The league plans to release the regular-season schedule later this month.
The fifth annual Northland Auto Group Prince George Cougars Alumni Hospital Charity golf tournament is set for July 15-16 at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club and is sold out.
Cougars owners Eric Brewer and Dan Hamhuis are among the alumni golfers expected, as well as former players Tyler Bouck, Ian Walterson, Nick Drazenovic, Myles Zimmer, Quinn Hancock and Chase Witala.
The public is invited to a meet-and-greet autograph session with the players on Friday, July 15 from 4-5 p.m. at the golf club.
The tournament will raise money to help the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation to purchase a Medtronic Paceart Optima System, which stores and organizes data gathered from cardiac devices. The money will also be used to buy blood pressure monitors for the cardiac lab at UHNBC. In four years, the tournament has raised more than $232,000 to improve health care in the region.
