The Prince George Cougars won’t have to wait long to renew their rivalry with the Portland Winterhawks.
The Cats open the 2025-26 WHL season at CN Centre with back-to-back weekend games against Portland, the team that has eliminated them from the playoffs in three of the past four seasons.
The ‘Hawks will be in town Sept. 19-20 to start the Cougars’ 32nd season since the franchise shifted north from Victoria.
The Cougars have two extended roadtrips in 2025-26. They’ll start their US Division swing Oct. 31 in Portland — a tour that has six games in nine nights.
They also travel to the East Division for four games in Saskatchewan and one in Manitoba scheduled for Feb. 20-28.
The bulk of the Cougars' 34-game home schedule will be played on weekends. There are five Tuesday games and four Wednesday games booked for CN Centre.
The Penticton Vees, who jumped from the BCHL to become the league’s 23rd team, play their first WHL game Sept. 19 in Victoria. The Vees host the Kelowna Rockets in their first home game at South Okanagan Events Centre, Sept. 26.
Penticton plays twice in Prince George, on Jan. 7 and March 10. The Cougars play their first game in the Vees’ home on Dec. 17.
The WHL season ends March 22 and the Cougars hopefully be tuning up for a playoff run with six of their last eight games at home.
The league's trade deadline is set for Thursday, Jan. 8 at 5 p.m. PT.
Prince George has four preseason games scheduled, none at CN Centre.
They’ll meet the Edmonton Oil Kings in Hinton, Alta., on Friday, Sept. 5 and Sunday, Sept. 7.
Then on Friday, Sept. 12 in Kamloops the Cougars will face the Blazers, with the rematch set for Saturday, Sept. 13 at West Fraser Centre in Quesnel.
In other Cougar news, goalie Josh Ravensbergen is being touted as a potential first-round pick in this weekend’s NHL draft. The 18-year-old from North Vancouver is listed 28th overall by nhl.com on its list of draft-eligible players.
He is the top ranked goalie in this year’s draft.
Cougars forwards Aiden Foster and Jett Lajoie could also be taken in the draft in Los Angeles.
The first round will be selected on Friday, with subsequent rounds for the 32-team league set for Saturday.
Prince George native Cameron Schmidt, a forward with the Vancouver Giants, is listed 31st overall by nhl.com.
