Cats' defence on solid ground

Any losses in the preseason, no matter what the score, are forgotten memories once the regular season begins.

Or are they?

Last week, the Prince George Cougars were embarrassed on home ice in a blowout loss to the Kamloops Blazers to wrap up the exhibition season. That inescapable fact is not lost on Cougars defenceman Daniel Gibb.

"Nobody likes to get shellacked 7-1. You hate losing and you hate losing to the 'Loops even more, so we'll be ready to play Saturday," said Gibb.

The Cougars have had a week to think about what went wrong and can make amends with points at stake tonight in Blazerville, where they open the 2011-12 Western Hockey League season.

"We're ready," stated Cats defenceman Cody Carlson. "Getting pounded 7-1 in exhibition means more than you think it does. We're going in there wanting to win. Those two points will be huge for our confidence."

Gibb, 19, and Carson, 20, have been around the league long enough to know the importance of believing their team is going to win more than it loses. The feeling this will be a season to remember, for all the right reasons, is pervasive around the Cougars' camp.

Key in that equation is the blueline brigade. If there's one big uncertainty going into the season is how effective the Cougars' defencemen will be in moving the puck out of their own zone. The Cougars are counting on returnees Gibb, Carson, Shane Pilling, 18, and Josh Smith, 17, getting that job done, but they won't know the true strength of the back end until the return of veterans Jesse Forsberg and Martin Marincin.

Forsberg, 18, is still recovering from off-season shoulder surgery and won't play until mid-October, while Slovakian import Martin Marincin, 19, is still playing with the Edmonton Oilers. Until they're back, the Cougars will depend on 16-year-olds Michael Mylchreest and Linden Springer taking regular shifts.

Winger Brett Connolly remains in the Tampa Bay Lightning camp, which leaves head coach Dean Clark wondering when, or if, all his players will return.

"The biggest thing for me is to get our three best players into the lineup to see how we actually are -- Brett Connolly, Martin Marincin and Jesse Forsberg are huge pieces of the puzzle for us," said Clark.

"Defence is such a huge thing in this league. Last year at this time we had two returning defencemen and this time we've got six guys who have played in the league and that makes a huge difference."

Unlike Cougar teams the previous two seasons, there aren't a lot of new faces, aside from the six 16-year-olds still with the team. The Cats are stocked with older, homegrown talent and that's a good sign for Gibb.

"I like how well-knitted we are right now," said Gibb. "We're like a family in the room; we all love each other and we're a great bunch now. We started as 17-year-olds and we're bigger and stronger now and it's fun to watch. It should be a good year."

n Forwards Wilson Dumais and Chase Witala are both sidelined upper-body injuries.

The Blazers welcomed back 19-year-old defenceman Austin Madaisky after he played for the Columbus Blue Jackets Wednesday in Winnipeg. Kamloops had eight players away at NHL when they faced the Cougars last week. Forward J.T. Barnett (New Jersey Devils) is the only Blazer still with his pro team.