The countdown is on in Cougarville.
As of today, there are 173 days until the Prince George Cougars open the 2015-16 season at home.
That seems like a lot of time to restock the cupboards and retool a team that, once September rolls around, could be equipped to last long into the Western Hockey League playoffs. That is, unless your name happens to be Greg Pocock.
The majority owner of the Prince George Cougars took time to reflect on his first season at the helm overseeing the transformation of a franchise seemingly headed for extinction to one that was reborn under the New Ice Age theme after the new ownership group took over last May. For Pocock, it's been a full-time endeavour which exceeded his own expectations and he doesn't see that changing much over the next six months. Whatever it takes, he's prepared to put in the time.
"I've spent a number of years coming to the games trying to look at it from the perspective of what I would do if I owned this team and at the end of the day it really was nothing like I imagined it would be," said Pocock. "There are so many variables and so many moving pieces and so many things going around the hockey team, it is a hugely demanding business.
"But having said that, it is five times more fun than I thought it would be and I've enjoyed every minute of it. It's been a bigger demand than I expected but I want to be here, I'm a both-feet-in kind of guy. This team really deserves and needed that kind of attention to get to where we are today."
Pocock and the other team owners -- Ray Fortier, Ernest Ouellet, John Pateman and NHL'ers Eric Brewer and Dan Hamhuis -- knew they weren't going to turn the Cougars from perennial losers into Memorial Cup champions overnight.
The Cougars did make the playoffs for the first time in four seasons and in extending the series to five games with the Victoria Royals the Cats won their first playoff game in eight seasons, and that's an accomplishment.
But it pales in comparison to the effect the new ownership group had in making the Cougars a franchise the people of Prince George can once again be proud of. Those fans showed they are willing to shell out for tickets to support their team, giving every indication the glory days of the late 1990's and early 2000s, when sellout crowds were the norm rather than the exception, could soon return.
Attendance at Cougars averaged about 2,800, an average increase of more than 1,100 per game. While that means CN Centre was still less than half full most nights, the feature games of the season -- the season-opener, Teddy Bear Toss Night, Mrkonjic ALS research fundraiser/mega 50-50 draw, and the two playoff games -- were a lot closer to capacity. Those weren't just hockey games. They were events which made the Cougars the talk of the town.
"There's a lot of room for growth but having said that, out of 60 teams in the Canadian Hockey League, we are heads and tales No. 1 in improved attendance," said Pocock. "The results are encouraging but realistically we thought it would be higher than that. We're right on our projection line, 2,800. But a lot of the things we did that it took to get to those numbers were bold initiatives we hoped would transpire into an higher average overall."
There's no doubt, the Cougars' owners spent more money than they made. They hired new front office staff, adding the likes of Andy Beesley and Marnie Hamagami. They expanded their coaching staff to three, giving head coach Mark Holick two assistants, Mike Hengen and Roman Vopat to work with the players. They hired a full-time athletic therapist, Craig Hyslop, and had sports psychologist Saul Miller on board as a consultant.
The improvements weren't lost on the players, who were treated more like pros, and that word spread around the league that Prince George is a good place to play. The Cougars got a new dressing room, equipped with a hot tub and cold whirlpool for treating their aches and pains. They were given their own weight training gym right outside the dressing room and the team did the little things right, like ordering sticks stenciled with each players' last name. On the road, they left earlier than Cougars teams did in the past and had the benefit of more hotel room stays to get rested for games, rather than being forced to sleep on the bus. Consequently, despite the team's brutal travel schedule, injuries were drastically reduced.
"The thing we're so happy about is the reputation has extended to other players in the league, everyone seems to know the things we've done or the things we're doing and the direction the team is going in," said Pocock. "I think there's a buzz in junior hockey about us, not just in the WHL but the rest of the Canadian Hockey League. Several of our initiatives we did this year, like the laser light show, we're the first team to have a system of that nature and we've got teams asking us how we did that. It's a bit of reassurance we're doing things right in a big way.
"Everything else we've done is because of the people we've put in place and their desire to make this thing special for the people of Prince George and northern B.C. and it's really worked out well. The season ended a little quicker than we wanted it to but we're proud of what we did."
The Cougars endured a terrible January skid in which they lost 12 straight games and dropped in the standings to the point where they were unable to clinch a playoff spot until the final weekend of the season. A lot of the blame for that was the road-game schedule the new management inherited, which allowed for just three practices that entire month. Pocock has already addressed the scheduling woes and says the team won't have to endure anything close to that again.
The Cougars' playoff experience adds to the depth the team should have in place for next season. They lose just four players -- 20-year-olds Jari Erricson and Zach Pochiro and imports Tomas Andrlik and David Soltes -- leaving behind a solid nucleus which includes Jansen Harkins, Brad Morrison and Tate Olson, all of whom are on NHL Central Scouting's final rankings.
"One of our focuses right out of the gate was we wanted a very cohesive group, we didn't want guys carrying any negativity with them and I really think we had as tight a dressing room as you're ever going to see in hockey," said Pocock.
"Our depth chart is so much improved. The competition we're going to have for positions next year in training camp is going to be very high. There aren't going to be a lot of positions available and there will be competition in every position and every age group and all that's going to do is make us a better team."
The Cougars are already planning a few surprises for next season. Pocock did reveal the team will have a new brand and logo, which should announced in the next month once the trademarking process is complete.
"We wanted a new identity and unfortunately the deadline passed prior to us buying the team to do it for last season," said Pocock. "There will be quite a few changes as far as the business side of operations and how we staff ourselves and the number of people. We're going to ramp it up and have already identified candidates for certain positions.
"I think the future of this team is looking brighter and brighter."
