As much as his team has struggled to find the win column lately, James Dobrowolski has enjoyed his time in Prince George.
The 20-year-old left winger has blossomed into a prominent forward for the Prince George Cougars in his two seasons since joining the Cats from the Prince Albert Raiders.
Playing on a line with Brett Connolly and Taylor Stefishen, Dobrowolski has been a standout for all the right reasons -- in most games. Tuesday night's 7-0 loss to the Red Deer Rebels was not one of them.
In one of the worst losses of the season, Dobrowolski and his line got burned early and often while trying to contain the Rebel trio of Byron Froese and his linemates Daulton Siwak and Brett Ferguson. Froese picked up four goals, the Cougars' top line scored none, and that was blatantly reflected in the plus/minus statistics of Dobrowolski (-3), Connolly (-4) and Stefishen (-4).
"I think we were worried too much about scoring goals and not looking at the defensive side of things and ended up getting caught flat in the defensive zone," said Dobrowolski, a native of Vernon who has 17 goals and 30 assists for 47 points, seventh among Cougar scorers.
"We had two power plays to start the game and we didn't score on those and that set us back a bit and gave them some momentum. They got a couple of quick ones to finish off the second and it was downhill from there. We definitely didn't put in the effort we needed to."
The most alarming stat for the Cougars is the fact they have lost 12 of their last 15 games. They've tumbled from first place in the B.C. Division and are fighting for their postseason lives, tied with Kamloops for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot.
"At mid-season we thought we would just be cruising into the playoffs, worried about getting first, now it's looking like it will come down to those last two games against Kamloops unless we make this weekend count," said Dobrowolski. "We're going to be making playoffs."
The Cats are in Vancouver tonight to begin a three-game roadtrip against the Giants. They also play the Thunderbirds Saturday in Seattle and then travel to Kennewick, Wash., to face the Tri-City Americans on Sunday. For Prince George, every game is a must-win.
"We've won in every building we're going to and so we have lots of things we can reflect upon to get us in the right frame of mind and go and have some success," said Cougars head coach Dean Clark.
With 62 points and five games left, the Cougars are just three ahead of Seattle, which has six games left. Kamloops, which blew a third-period lead and lost 4-3 at home on Tuesday to the Americans, has just four games left, including a home-and-home series with the Cougars.
The Chilliwack Bruins beat Vancouver 2-0 in a fight-filled game Wednesday in Vancouver. They've won seven of their last eight to move into sixth place, five points ahead of the Cougars with one game in hand over Prince George.
The Giants will be without F Michael Burns, who suffered a concussion and had to carried off the ice Wednesday after a hit from Bruins defenceman Tyler Stahl. F Byron Gallagher, the Giants' leading scorer (43-45-88), has been out a week with a concussion and is listed as a questionable starter for tonight's game. The Cougars are healthy, and might have midget callup Alex Forsberg in the lineup. Forsberg was the top overall pick in the 2010 WHL bantam draft. Giants head coach Don Hay will serve a one-game suspension as a result of his team's third multiple-fight infraction this season.
