After a week in which he became the league’s first century man of the season, Prince George Cougars centre Riley Heidt has taken a deserved place in Western Hockey League WHL spotlight.
Heidt was selected as the Tempo Player of the Week after he collected 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in just four games – all of them Cougar wins.
Heidt kicked off his week with a two-goal, one-assist afternoon on Family Day in what turned out an 8-1 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds and drew another assist in a 5-1 win over Seattle the following night.
Then on the road in Kamloops the 18-year-old Saskatoon native picked up two assists in a 6-5 shootout win over the Blazers. He ended the week with another four-point game in Kelowna, collecting a goal and three assists in a 5-1 triumph over the Rockets.
That left Heidt with 100 points (32 goals and 68 assists). He and Jagger Firkus of Moose Jaw lead the WHL scoring race.
Heidt, a Minnesota Wild draft pick (second round, 64th overall, 2023) and the Western Conference-leading Cougars (40-13-0-3) will be back in action this Friday and Saturday at CN Centre when they host the Spokane Chiefs (24-27-4-1, eighth in Western Conference).
Tickets are available at the CN Centre box office or online through Tickets North.
If the playoffs started today the Cougars would host the Chiefs in a first-round best-of-seven opening-round series.
In other WHL news, 17-year-old Prince George native Cameron Schmidt of the Vancouver Giants was selected Kal Tire Rookie of the Week, after he scored four goals in three games.
The five-foot-seven, 150-pound centre scored his 19th goal of the season in the Giants’ 6-3 win over Spokane, then collected his first WHL hat trick in a 7-1 victory over Kamloops.
Schmidt, who played for Rink Academy Kelowna and the Cariboo Cougars U-15s, was picked by the Giants seventh overall in the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft.
The Giants host Kelowna Friday night in Langley.
