Bidlevskii surrenders Cougars' captaincy to overager
Garrett Thiessen grew up as a minor hockey player hoping he would one day set sail as a major junior defenceman with the Prince George Cougars.
He not only did that, now he's captain of the ship.
The 20-year-old from Prince George received the honour Wednesday at the request of his teammate and fellow defenceman, Art Bidlevskii.
"I've always wanted to be a captain in this league, especially of the Prince George Cougars -- this is a dream come true," said Thiessen.
"Art was put into a tough position at 18 years old when we're not winning many hockey games or performing as well as we should be and I want to support him with that, and support everyone else on the team and hopefully turn this thing around and get it back on winning ways.
"It's not just for this year, but for years to come, we want to make a new identity for ourselves and bring people back into this building. Obviously we need to perform better on the ice, and that will bring more people in."
Bidlevskii has worn the 'C' since the start of the season but decided to give Thiessen the chance assume the mantle as the Cougars designated leader for the remainder of the season.
"Seeing how Garrett only has 20 games left in his career and the passion he shows for this team and the organization, it's important to me and the younger guys on the team to really look up to that and hopefully get a piece of him," said Bidlevskii. "I think we'll remember him for a long time to come and the heart he brought to the rink every day.
"I'm proud of him, and I'm sure he'll wear it with a lot of pride and honour. I've always looked up to Garrett and hopefully next year I'll be a better captain because of him."
Thiessen started out as a 15-year-old with Kamloops and played parts of two seasons with the Blazers. He's now in his second stint with the Cougars, reacquired in September after playing the 2008-09 season with the Prince Albert Raiders. The former Cariboo Canuck major midget has two assists and 80 penalty minutes in 30 games this season.
"Being a local and being the heart and soul of our team, it's only rightfully so that Garrett wear the 'C' for the rest of the year," said Cougars head coach Dean Clark. "He's from P.G., he's at the end of his career in the Western Hockey League, and he cares a lot about this organization and always has.
"Art, in a big show of respect and a big show of maturity, talked to us about it and we agreed."
Thiessen will show off his new letter Friday night, when the Cougars take on the Kelowna Rockets in the first of a two-game set on consecutive nights at CN Centre. With playoffs unlikely for the Cats (9-35-1-1), who sit 21 points behind the eighth-place Rockets (19-25-2-1), those 20 games will probably cap Thiessen's six-year WHL career.
--- Cougar fans opened their wallets at last Saturday's game at CN Centre to donate to the earthquake victims in Haiti and Cougars management doubled the proceeds to raise $2,128 for the Canadian Red Cross Society.
