The Prince George Cougars have found a new home on the radio dial.
The Western Hockey League team announced Tuesday that it ended its 19-year relationship with the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group and have signed on with Vista Radio.
"We explored options and accepted proposals - I didn't go out seeking proposals but you look at things that come across your desk," Cougars vice-president Brandi Brodsky said. "We had some meetings, we had some discussions and we just needed to pick the best fit for us going forward and I'm confident that's what we've done."
The Pattison group and the Cougars did have brief negotiations about renewing the contract, but were unable to reach terms acceptable to both sides.
The five-year deal with Vista means Cougars games will now be heard locally on 94X in Prince George and around the region on company stations from Smithers to 100 Mile House.
"We would like to make Prince George Cougar hockey a regional sports staple," Vista's regional general manager Gary Russell said.
Dan O'Connor will continue as the play-by-play voice and will be joined in the booth by longtime local radio sportscaster Hartley Miller.
"Dan's got his hands full now to get a word in edgewise," Russell said. "I know he's supposed to do the play-by-play, but those of you who have heard a Hartley Miller sports cast know that it goes on and on and on for 10 or 15 minutes."
The change in broadcast partners also spells an end to the Cougar View television program, which had aired on CKPG for 16 seasons.
"Cougar View was something that I didn't want to see go but it was going to go anyway," Brodsky said. "[CKPG] let us know that they weren't going to be running it anymore. I want to be clear that it was not a factor in this."
The team will compensate for the lack of a local television partner by beefing up the video content on its website.
Ken Kilcullen, the general manager of the local Pattison TV and radio stations, said he doesn't see the departure of the Cougars from his stations' airwaves as a negative.
"I didn't go, 'oh gosh, I've lost something here,' I made a full conscious business decision as to where we were going with negotiations," he said.
Pattison still has the local rights to Vancouver Canucks broadcasts and no longer will be pre-empting NHL games for WHL games. Kilcullen is looking forward to offering a full 82-game schedule to listeners next season.
"We've been a Canucks station before we were a Cougars station, so we've been around with the Canucks for a long, long time and we're excited about that," Kilcullen said.
The Cougars are in the midst of planning their 20th anniversary celebrations, which will include a special jersey for opening night, retro-themed in-game entertainment and a focus on the team's alumni.
Brodsky said the team wants to build more one-on-one relationships between players and the community with the hope of bringing more fans to the rink.
"I want that excitement, I want the energy that you used to feel when you walked into the rink on game night," she said. "The city knew it was a game night, you could ask anybody in town. That's what we want."
The team will continue with its community engagement efforts, but Brodsky is also looking for a strong buy-in from the general public.
"It's something that we need the community to engage in as well. It's something we need to build on with them," she said. "We can't do that alone. I need the community to want to meet the players."
