In what could’ve been a game described as ‘Jack and Giant,’ the Prince George Cougars put up a good fight in their first competitive game in more than 380 days.
Even more impressive, several of the team’s 10 rookies stepped up on the biggest stage of their hockey careers thus far with three nabbing their first Western Hockey League (WHL) goals Saturday night (March 27).
As a result, the Cougars were able to maintain the offensive edge, that is, until the third period when the ice seemed to favour the hub-host Kamloops Blazers, completing a comeback and handing Prince George a 5-4 loss in its 2020-21 season opener.
General Manager and Head coach Mark Lamb believed his team played a good game all things considered, and was very delighted to see the new Cats make a statement.
“It’s very exciting and it’s very exciting for those kids, you know, to get their first goals,” he said when asked by PrinceGeorgeMatters, referring to Kyron Gronick, Carter MacAdams and Koehn Ziemmer, who all lit the board.
“Those guys have a lot of skill, we’ve seen it in practice all week long, but you gotta play the game two ways and you got to be able to play without the puck also.”
Following Ethan Browne’s opening goal to tie the game at 1-1 with 14:26 left in the first period, Gronick tipped a shot from Captain Jack Sander in front of the net on a power-play for his first major junior goal.
The 17-year-old Regina, Sask., product was also given the honour as one of Prince George’s starters alongside forwards Connor Bowie and Tyson Upper.
“It means a lot that my coach has that kind of trust in me,” he explained.
“I think it’s a great opportunity and I think I worked for it all summer, and all of COVID-19, and just trying to be the best player I can be when the season started. Hopefully I can keep up that and keep the trust in myself and Mark has trust in me.”
Gronick’s PP goal is his first in the WHL 🚨 pic.twitter.com/S2XMyYJuqD
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) March 28, 2021
MacAdams’ goal came with two seconds left in the opening frame for the 3-1 Cougars’ lead.
Now, in the Kamloops-Kelowna dual hubs, no fans are allowed, which may have provided a weird and unusual feeling for the players.
For Ziemmer, he was elated to earn that all-important first goal as a WHL player, but said he’s now focused on the next game.
“[Lamb] knew it was our first game for lots of guys for more than a year. So we were expecting a couple mistakes there, but I thought we played a good game all around. We just didn’t get the bounces our way.”
His marker was the 4-3 go-ahead goal for Prince George, who were the designated home team, coming with less than five minutes remaining in the second stanza on a partial breakaway.
First career WHL goal for the Cats’ 4th overall pick in the 2019 WHL Draft 🚨 pic.twitter.com/3IRUylgn6U
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) March 28, 2021
In the third, defence appeared to come up short as the Cougars allowed two goals on seven shots, one short-handed by Blazers’ captain and Calgary Flames prospect Connor Zary.
Frustrations were then taken out in intense scenarios in various corners of the Sandman Centre ice in hopes of a burst of energy before the final buzzer.
But the Kamloops’ veteran core prevailed for a second consecutive win.
“There’s a lot of things you have to improve on,” said Lamb, but is also looking to the next battle and will tighten up some loose ends in between.
“I was just happy seeing the guys out there playing and creating. There’s a lot of things that we can work on and we will work on it.”
Goaltender and Canadian 2021 World Junior member Taylor Gauthier stopped 27 of 32 shots.
Other notable rookies from Saturday...
Rookie blue-liner Keaton Dowhaniuk, who played eight games as a call-up for the Cougars in the 2019-20 campaign, put his six-foot stature on the line when he slid on his belly to prevent a potential two-on-one goal by Kamloops in the third period.
Riley Heidt, the second overall pick in the 2020 WHL Draft, and just turned 16 years old, was minus-two (-2) on the evening and notched his first pair of minutes in the box after committing a tripping penalty early in the third.
The Cougars are set to face the Victoria Royals on Monday (March 29) at 7:05 p.m. in Kelowna.
