When the Prince George Cougars take on the Brandon Wheat Kings tonight at CN Centre, they won't have to worry about slowing down one of the top young stars in the Western Hockey League.
Brandon centre Nolan Patrick, who received an invitation from Hockey Canada to attend the world junior team selection camp Dec. 10-14 in Blainville, Que., is sidelined with an upper body injury he sustained on Oct. 11. On Monday, Hockey Canada announced he has not been medically cleared to play and therefore won't be part of Team Canada for the annual tournament, which starts on Boxing Day in Montreal and Toronto.
The 18-year-old Patrick, a six-foot-three, 198-pounder from Winnipeg, is the consensus No. 1 pick for the 2017 NHL draft. In six games this season, he put up four goals and five assists. Last season, he had 102 points (41 goals, 61 assists) in 72 games and then led the Wheat Kings to a playoff championship. In the playoffs, Patrick racked up a league-leading 13 goals and 30 points in 21 games.
Hockey Canada will now have 31 players at the selection camp instead of 32.
Without Patrick, the Wheat Kings haven't been the formidable force they were last season but they still have a winning record of 13-11-4-0 and currently hold the first wildcard playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Offensively, they're being led by Minnesota Wild draft pick Reid Duke (16 goals, 31 points in 20 games) and by Ty Lewis (16 goals and 30 points in 29 games).
The Cougars, meanwhile, remain in first place in the B.C. Division and are coming off a weekend split against the Victoria Royals. The Cats (20-7-2-0) beat Victoria 4-2 on Friday and lost 2-1 on Saturday.
In its past 10 outings, Prince George has posted a 6-4 record.
Tonight's game (7 p.m. start) is the first and only time the Cougars and Wheat Kings will meet this season.
