In May 2014, when it became official the Prince George Cougars franchise had been sold to a group of local investors known as EDGEPRO Sports and Entertainment Ltd., the new owners promised they would do whatever it took to turn around a team that had a sorry reputation as the sad sacks of the Western Hockey League.
After years of weak teams, sparse attendance and dwindling sponsorship support, there was a real danger the Cougars were on their way out of Prince George permanently. The new owners put those rumours to rest and ever since have focused their efforts on making the Cougars the talk of the town again, for all the right reasons.
"The Prince George Cougars are here to stay," said Cougars president Greg Pocock, when introduced to a standing ovation that day to a large gathering of fans at CN Centre. "We did not buy the Cougars to sell it or move it or do anything but work our asses off to make it a success."
Now, 2 1/2 years later, that turnaround has never been more apparent. Attendance has steadily climbed and is up nearly 35 per cent over the 2015-16 season. On the ice, the Cougars are in uncharted territory. They've occupied the WHL's penthouse suite since September and at the halfway point of the season rank first overall in the league.
General manager Todd Harkins further embellished the talent pool of his veteran-stacked team in November when he acquired game-breaking defenceman Brendan Guhle, who has lived up to the hype. Now, for the first time since 2007, the Cougars are showing signs they have what it takes to go on a lengthy playoff run.
The breath of fresh air Pocock and his group brought with them to revitalize Cougars extends to the professional staff they have hired, people who know the hockey business and what it takes to sell the game to fans and the local business community.
Having already attracting investment in the team from minority owners Eric Brewer and Dan Hamhuis, both NHL defencemen, 2016 will be remembered as the year the Cougars hired two Stanley Cup-winning rearguards to take over the coaching reins from Mark Holick, who left the team in April after 3 1/2 seasons.
Head coach Richard Matvichuk and assistant coach Shawn Chambers, teammates with the Dallas Stars when they hoisted the Cup in 1999, are now behind the bench along with Steve O'Rourke having brought an entirely new approach they hope will take the Cougars to a championship. From the start of training camp, the players have talked about how much fun it is to come to the rink and that has a lot of do with Matvichuk's coaching style. He learned it firsthand from his NHL coaches, Larry Robinson, Dave Tippett and Ken Hitchcock, and that translated in to his own success as a minor pro coach in the Central League and ECHL before he joined the Cougars. Matvichuk holds his players accountable when they makes mistakes but doesn't tear them a new piece of anatomy when they mess up.
"I love teaching kids, and when this job became available and I spoke with Todd (Harkins) and I see the depth with this (team), and this seemed to be a great fit," Matvichuk said in June. "I looked at the style of play they played over the last couple years and it was very similar to how I played and that's going to continue here.
"With our systems we're going to be aggressive, if we don't have the puck we're going to get it and if we do have it, hold on to it," he said. "The old game, the dump-and-chase hockey is gone, the clutch-and-grab thing is gone, you have to have speed and tenacity. If you look back 30 or 40 years ago, the style we're playing now is the game the Russians used to play. Very aggressive, very physical, but when they had the puck they held on to it."
For the most part, the Cougars have followed that formula. With so many 1997-born Cougars to work with, Matvichuk's debut as a WHL coach has been mostly smooth sailing. Winning is fun, and the Cougars have made it a habit this season. They were the first team to hit the 50-point mark and first to reach 26 wins.
The 2015-16 Cougars showed promise aplenty and were one of the better teams in the league in the first half. They had a 20-10-1-1 record just before the Christmas break, but went 16-21-2-1 the rest of the season and were swept in the first round of playoffs by the Seattle Thunderbirds.
It was a disappointing ending for graduating 20-year-olds Chase Witala, Joe Carvalho and Luke Harrison. Witala led the Cougars in scoring with 40 goals and 79 points, capping a five-year career as the franchise's all-time regular season leader in goals (120) and points (239).
Now it's Ty Edmonds, Sam Ruopp and Colby McAuley heading for the twilight of their junior careers. They know the CN Centre rafters are now barren of banners, devoid of division title decorations or playoff pennants. That drought will surely end if the Cougars maintain the course they are now following.
