Mark Lamb is back coaching a hockey team again and he’s counting his blessings that in less than a week he’ll get to see his Prince George Cougars play a game again.
It’s been more than a year since he last had that opportunity –March 7, 2020 to be precise – when the Cougars put the wraps on a 4-3 overtime win over the visiting Vancouver Giants at CN Centre. The hockey world was about to come to a pandemic standstill at that point and the Cougars got to Cache Creek in their bus for their final six-game roadtrip when the WHL season was put on pause and eventually cancelled.
But now there is light from the tunnel. The Cougars are in their fourth day of practicing in their WHL hub in Kamloops, preparing for their season-opening game Saturday at Sandman Centre against the host Kamloops Blazers. It will be the first of six meetings with the Blazers in a condensed 24-game B.C. Division schedule that gets underway Friday.
With no preseason games, the clock is ticking and there’s not much time to get ready for the new season.
“To try cram a month’s training camp into a week is impossible,” said Lamb. “You’ve got to do the best you can and the kids are laying it out there. They understand it’s going to be quick and it’s going to go fast, so they’re working hard.
“You don’t want groin (injuries) and some guys haven’t skated for so long, so you’ve got to be really careful on the balance of working hard, stops and starts.”
Lamb has out the emphasis on skating and conditioning in practice so far and he says his players have been busting their butts trying to shake the rust off their skate blades. They worked on their passing, shooting and edge work just to get on top of their basic skills before Lamb and the rest of the coaching staff start teaching game strategies.
“They’ve been hard practices so far and there hasn’t been one complaint from me at all and that doesn’t surprise me because everyone wants to play so bad,” said Lamb, who took over as head coach of the Cougars on Feb. 7, 2019, when Richard Matvichuk was fired.
“Their attitudes and work ethic have been excellent. They couldn’t do anything for two weeks because they were in quarantine and you’ve got one week to play. But everyone’s in good shape. They’ve surprised me how good they’ve been. There’s a few guys who are behind but some guys hadn’t skated in a long time, they couldn’t get ice.
“A lot of the kids have done a lot of individual skill work, so their hands have looked really good.”
Starting with the game against the Blazers Saturday, the Cougars will be playing almost every other day until the season ends on May 12. Lamb says he’ll start drilling his troops on systems and special teams play early this week, with only five more 1 ½-hour practices ahead of them before they drop the puck.
Lamb got his first look in Thursday’s practice at Riley Heidt, the Cougars’ second-overall pick in the 2020 bantam draft. The five-foot-nine, 184-pound centre from Saskatoon, who turns 16 on Thursday, is one of 10 rookies on the Cougars’ roster.
“He’s looked really good, a kid like that is just so keen,” said Lamb, now in his third season with the Cougars in the dual role as head coach and general manager.
“His work ethic, every drill he just works and works and he’s got high-end skill. It’s not just him; guys like (Kyren) Gronick and (Koehn) Ziemmer, these high draft picks have looked really good also. Practice is practice, and it’s going to be real when you’ve got (Blazers forward Montana) Onyebuchi looking at you from the other side and big guys like that when the real games start.”
Lamb says he’s been paying close attention to his younger players. Heidt was born in 2005 and the Cougars also have six 16-year-olds (born in 2004), including F Ziemmer, F Gronick, F Carter MacAdams, D Keaton Dowhaniuk, D Jaren Brinson and G Ty Young.
“I’m watching their habits, and if there are bad habits you have to adjust right away,” said Lamb.
The Cougars have seven 19-year-olds (2001-born) battling for ice time, including G Taylor Gauthier, F Tyson Upper, F Ethan Browne, F Connor Bowie, F Jonny Hooker, F Brendan Boyle and D Majid Kaddoura and not much time to assess them.
“That’s the problem with this pandemic, they’re basically on a 24-game tryout now, for next year,” said Lamb, “and you can only have three overagers. They know what they’re up against and it should make those guys really competitive.”
The 26 Cougar players and six staff are staying in a hotel right next to the rink and are pretty much confined to their quarters and designated team areas to avoid the risk of getting COVID.
“It feels pretty darn good,” said Lamb. “It’s a privilege to play. There’s a lot of hockey players that aren’t playing right now and for us it’s a privilege and we don’t want to do anything wrong and get (the virus) because we don’t want to be shut down.
“If it means we have to stay in our room, we’ll stay in our room.”
LOOSE PUCKS: Ziemmer took a stick in the mouth on the first day of practice Thursday and lost a couple of teeth. “He looks like a hockey player,” said Lamb… The Blazers plays the Vancouver Giants Friday night and Lamb will be able to watch and scout his next-day opponents… The Kelowna Rockets host the Victoria Royals in Kelowna on Friday.. The Cougars learned last week 20-year-old D Cole Moberg will remain in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs and won’t be coming back to the Cougars for his final season of junior eligibility.
