From start to finish, the Prince George Cougars ruled over the Western Hockey League’s B.C. Division this season.
Now they’ve got the crown to prove it.
With their single point in Saturday’s 2-1 shootout loss to the Kamloops Blazers, the Cougars clinched the division title to earn the first banner in the team’s 23-year history in Prince George.
To make that happen, the Cougars needed all 72 games and it took 60 minutes of their game Saturday before they knew for sure they had their title sewn up. Dylan Ferguson prolonged the suspense. The 18-year-old Blazers goalie played one of his best games of the season, stopping 47 shots to send the game to the shootout, then made six more saves for his 16th win of the season.
Brodi Stuart, a 17-year-old midget call-up, ended the game when Cougars goalie Ty Edmonds pushed the puck across the line with his arm while lying on the ice after making the initial stop on Stuart’s shootout attempt. Lane Bauer and Nick Chyzowski also scored in the shootout for Kamloops. Cougars Nikita Popugaev and Kody McDonald won their shootout showdowns with Ferguson.
A win would have made the celebration sweeter but 20-year-old captain Sam Ruopp was justifiably proud of the Cougars’ accomplishments, going wire to wire all season as a first-place team.
“It wasn’t easy, it came right down to the final buzzer,” said Ruopp. “I like having it that way, it builds character. It’s been a great season for the team so far and I just hope to keep it going in the playoffs.
“It’s been four full years for me and I couldn’t be more happy about the outcome.
“(Ferguson) stood on his head for sure and sometimes you get into games like that. Lucky for us we just needed the one point, it got the job done. I’ve never heard the crowd that loud before and it’s a very humbling and amazing feeling and with guys we have in this room I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
The history of the occasion was not lost on Cougars veteran winger Colby McAuley.
“It hasn’t happened in 23 years so obviously it’s a good feeling that we got a tie at least to get us a point and we’re B.C. Division champs now,” said McAuley.
“Whoever we play in the playoffs, we’ll take it to ’em.”
The game was heading into overtime with 80 seconds to play when Cougars defenceman Brendan Guhle got the puck behind the net and just stood there running time off the clock. Guhle wisely figured it was better to play it safe and lock away the point to clinch than try to go for the win in regulation and run the risk of the Blazers popping one in. He stayed behind the net a full 40 seconds. As the third period ended, the near-sellout crowd of 5,806 saluted the Cougars with a thunderous standing ovation.
In overtime, both teams had their chances. Colin Shirley and Garrett Pilon just missed converting a 2-on-1 threat thanks to a kick save from Edmonds, and Nolan Kneen was robbed by Edmonds’ glove hand with about a minute left in OT. At the other end, with less than a minute left, McAuley grazed the crossbar and Ruopp’s open shot at the net went high.
It should not have even got to the shootout stage if Ferguson hadn’t slammed the door on the Cougars in the first period. The Cats managed 18 shots and at least eight of those were of the dangerous variety. But the game remained scoreless until 23 seconds into the second period, when Shirley finished off a three-way passing play by going wide through the crease with the puck to tuck it in past Edmonds. That came with just one second left in a Cougars penalty to Jesse Gabrielle for putting the puck over the glass.
The Cougars made it a 1-1 count 14:56 into the second period on a play started by Guhle. The 19-year-old Buffalo Sabres prospect picked off a Kamloops pass at centre and fed the puck ahead to McDonald, who skated into the Blazers’ end and passed the puck back to Guhle cruising into the slot to collect his 15th goal of the season.
Both goalies were kept busy. The Cougars outshot the Blazers 48-31.
Like the rest of the Cougars, the 20-year-old Edmonds couldn’t wait to start celebrating in his final junior hockey regular-season game at the end of regulation time, with the winner still to be decided.
“It was nothing but excitement – it’s a great time for the team and the organization and all our fans,” said Edmonds, who posted his 100th career WHL win Friday in the Cats’ 3-1 victory in Kamloops. “It was a fun overtime and I was happy the fans were onboard and everybody realized what we were fighting for there.
“(About the delayed call on the shootout winner) they didn’t really give a clear explanation. They called it off and then for some reason called it a good goal but I’m not too worried about it. I’m just happy we came out with the banner. We got the point and that’s all that matters.”
Cougars head coach Richard Matvichuk knows the ups and downs his mostly teenaged players have been through this season and the scrutiny that comes with being ranked as one of the top teams in Canada, as they were through much of the season. As they proved in Saturday’s game, they’ve handled it like pros.
“There’s no doubt these kids – they’re young men and they’re growing into themselves – and to think they didn’t have pressure on them is crazy,” said Matvichuk.
“A lot of them had their parents here, a sold-out crowd and a chance to win a title that’s never been done here. The pressure was there and all we tried to tell them was to focus their energy in the right areas. I thought our veterans took over and did a great job. For these guys to come together the way they did, hats off to them.”
The Cougars knew before the game began there was a good chance the Kelowna Rockets would beat the Vancouver Giants Saturday in Langley, having thrashed the Giants 7-0 the previous night in Kelowna, and that indeed turned out the case. The Rockets won 5-2 Saturday to finish just one point behind the Cougars, the closest any B.C. team has come all season to catching the Cats.
As division champions, the Cougars will host the Portland Winterhawks in the first round of playoffs, a best-of-seven series which starts Friday at CN Centre. The second-place Rockets will host the third-place Blazers in another first-round series.
Portland finished off the season Sunday with a 7-2 loss at home to the Spokane Chiefs. The Winterhawks (40-28-1-3) finished seventh in the Western Conference to claim the first wild-card spot. They've been one of the hottest teams in the WHL, going 8-2-0-0 in March. Portland dropped from third to fourth in the U.S. Division when the Tri-City Amercans defeated the Everett Sivertips 6-5 in overtime Sunday in Kennewick, Wash.
