Ty Edmonds began his WHL career with the Prince George Cougars on Feb. 8, 2013 just the way he wants it to end - with a victory.
Then just 16 years old, Edmonds entered the game at CN Centre to start the second period as a relief goaltender against the Vancouver Giants. The Cougars trailed 3-1 at that point and Edmonds rose to the occasion. He stopped 18 of 19 shots while his team scored five goals to complete a 6-4 comeback.
That was the only game he played that season, and Edmonds didn't know it at the time, but his role with the Cougars was about to change dramatically. He was about to become the Cougars' backbone.
He made a splash as a 17-year-old in the fall of 2013 when, after just two relief appearances that season, he put together a five-game stretch in which he allowed just three goals in five games.
Edmonds stopped 81 of 82 shots, posted two shutouts and four victories as the CHL goalie of the week.
But it wasn't until December of that year when 18-year-old incumbent Brett Zarowny went down with a groin injury that Edmonds became the Cougars' workhorse.
He went on to play 55 games that season, played 60 games the following season, and got the Cougars back into the WHL playoffs for the first time in four years.
"That was definitely a learning experience with a lot of ups and downs and it seemed more downs at times but it helped me get to where I am today - it helped a lot," said the 20-year-old Edmonds.
Last season, with Nick McBride on the scene, Edmonds' workload was reduced to 45 games and he continued to thrive, making saves and piling up victories, but not enough to get the Cougars beyond a yet-another disappointing first-round playoff exit.
But this year has been a different story for Edmonds and the Cougars, who continue to flirt with first place overall in the league. They are winning like no other team in their 23-year Prince George history and Edmonds is making his case as one of the Cougars' all-time best puckstoppers.
"It's been a grind, it's been a great learning experience on and off the ice and I've played with a lot of great guys and it's been a fun ride, but I know it's far from over," said Edmonds, a ninth-round bantam pick of the Cougars in 2011.
Through 39 games, the Winnipeg native sports a 2.41 goals-against average (third-best in the WHL), has a .918 save percentage (sixth) and owns a sparkling 26-10-2-0 record. Having played a franchise-high 200 games in his career, he's tied Scott Myers for the team record for most wins (95) and already owns the record for most career saves (5,358 and counting). Myers played for the Cats from 1996 to 2000, and has held the record for 17 years.
Edmonds recorded his 95th win Friday in Edmonton, an 11-3 victory over the Oil Kings.
"(The win record) is something I strived for at the start of the year and I know it's not something I could do without the team and we've done it over the years together and I'm happy I could do it with a bunch of good guys in the room," said Edmonds.
"When I was 17 and a bit of 18 we didn't have the greatest stretch of teams ever (the Cougars finished with losing records each of those years) but we prevailed and now it's just showing the kind of perseverance we've had over the years and the success that's going to come to us now."
For Edmonds, in his final junior season, with a powerful team in front of him, the Cougars are in good position to finally decorate the barren CN Centre rafters with a WHL banner and become a championship team, the one element missing in his otherwise stellar career.
As his skills have grown, Edmonds appears more relaxed than ever in games and he's rarely caught out of position. He tries not to put too much pressure on himself and it helps that McBride has proven a capable backup. Off the ice, Edmonds maintains a calm demeanour and knows when to speak his mind. Goalies are not allowed to wear letters on their jerseys but the respect he commands with his teammates makes him an obvious leader.
"I think his maturity level is why he is where he's at in his career and obviously with his accomplishments he has taken this team on his shoulders," said Cougars head coach Richard Matvichuk.
"He wants to win every night and we expect ourselves to win every night. He's a proven leader in that locker room and he is one of the guys I go to when things aren't going the way they should be. He is calm, cool and collected and goalies at the highest level, most of them are like that. I've been fortunate to play with guys like Martin Brodeur and Eddie Belfour, where things do get heated up on the ice but in the dressing room and outside the hockey community these guys are all calm, cool, collected guys. I compare (Edmonds) to both those guys, knowing that's how he holds himself."
Edmonds isn't drafted but NHL scouts are watching him closely.
Matvichuk says it's only a matter of time before he discovers where his hockey career will lead him.
"There's a lot of interest out there," said Matviichuk. "The good thing is that the way we're playing and the way he's playing, with the accomplishments in his career, he's opening up a lot of eyes.
"The growing pains (of his first two seasons) made him into what he is today. He probably got thrown into a tough situation and rebounded very well from it. Coming in this year as a 20-year-old he had to be the best of the best and we feel that's where he's at."
The Cougars (36-14-3-0) just got through a brutal month playing 14 games in 24 days, all but five of which were on the road.
While they took some heat for not playing their best hockey, they still came out of it with a 9-4-1-0 record.
"We have a solid team and I know at times we don't have our best game or our best effort but we always come to play when it matters and we're getting the wins and getting the points and we have a good lead on the division," said Edmonds, whose team begins a six-game home stretch tonight at CN Centre against the Kelowna Rockets.
Just two of the Cougars' 11 games in February are away from home and the Cougars plan to use that to their advantage. They've moved up three spots from seventh to fourth in the CHL rankings with 75 points in 53 games, two behind the league-leading Regina Pats (35-6-6-1), who have played five fewer games than the Cougars. Saturday's win in Edmonton was the Cougars' 20th road win.
With 19 games left and 36 wins, they've already matched the win total of last year's Cougar team, which went 36-31-3-2. Prince George holds a nine-point lead atop the B.C. Division over the second-place Kamloops Blazers.
Kelowna (28-19-4-0) hammered the Calgary Hitmen 8-2 Wednesday in Kelowna to move to within two points of Victoria for third place in the B.C. Division.
The Rockets have yet to beat the Cougars in four games played this season. On Sept. 28 the Cats won 2-1 in Kelowna, then put up back-to-back victories a few days later at CN Centre, winning 4-1 and 3-0. In their most recent meeting Nov. 15 in Kelowna, the Cougars topped the Rockets 4-2.
