Cold, cruel, bleak and utterly disappointing.
Such was the month of January for the Prince George Cougars.
The Seattle Thunderbirds made sure the Cougars remained in the depths of depression Saturday night. They beat them 3-0 in their own barn at CN Centre to complete a two-game sweep and extend the Cats' losing streak to 12.
Seattle defenceman Shea Theodore knows all about losing streaks. In his rookie season two years ago the T-birds lost 15 straight before it finally ended Jan. 20, 2013 with a win over Portland. As sweet as it was for Theodore after Saturday's game, thinking how well his team played in outscoring the Cougars a combined 12-2 in the two games, the 18-year-old from Aldergrove knows that sinking feeling that's following the Cougars right now.
"It got rough in my 16-year-old year, we only won like (25) games and that's obviously how we picked up (Mathew) Barzal (first overall in the 2012 WHL bantam draft)," said Theodore. "Once you start playing the right way it can only go up. You can't become the best team in the league overnight, it takes time and good coaching and having the right guys in the room and I feel we're on the right track with the guys we have.
"We're playing real solid right now. It's always nice to win two on the road."
Calvin Spencer, Ryan Gropp and Cory Millette were the goalscorers. Spencer connected with a wristshot from the face-off circle that caught Gora out of position down on his knees. Gora wasn't ready for Gropp's goal either, a wraparound 15 seconds into the second period after Keegan Kolesar pushed the puck in behind the Cougar net. Millette scored the backbreaking third goal on a Seattle power play after Theodore faked a shot from the corner of the net and fed the puck into the slot.
The Cougars got a boost with the return of Sam Ruopp, their blueline anchor and captain, in his first game back from a five-game suspension. They were much better defensively than in Friday's 9-2 thrashing and gave up only a handful of quality scoring chances. Problem was, they had great difficulty breaking through into T-birds' territory. Led by their big-bodied defencemen -- Theodore, Jerret Smith, Ethan Bear, Jared Hauf and Evan Wardley -- Seattle focused its energy on clogging the middle of the ice and gave the Cougars very little room to operate.
"They are a great defensive team and I thought we were being a little too fancy maybe," said Ruopp. "We just have to drive the net and just get some greasy goals."
Taran Kozun has loomed large in the Seattle nets this season and has the league's best goals-against average to show for it but had very little work to do Saturday. His teammates went out of their way to help him out, blocking shots, banging bodies and clearing loose pucks. Kozun made 20 saves in recording his second shutout of the season.
"He probably didn't need a shower, I think he just put on some deodorant and put his suit back on," quipped Theodore. "He made a couple big saves near the end and when you have a guy who's playing as solid as he is, you're going to win more games than you lose."
The win kept third-place Seattle (25-19-3-3) four points ahead of the Spokane in the WHL U.S. Division standings. Aside from an 8-4 win over Tri-City Jan. 6 and a shootout point in a loss to Portland Jan. 16, the Cougars have stagnated in the standings, losing 14 of 15 games so far in 2015. The Cougars (20-31-1-1, fifth in the B.C. Division) now trail third-place Kamloops Blazers by four points and are one point behind the Vancouver Giants who picked up a point Saturday in a 3-2 overtime loss at home to the Blazers.
"We just have to get back to basics, playing our structure and playing hard," said Ruopp. "Obviously with me being out (for five games) it as pretty frustrating having to watch that. I still believe our team is going to make playoffs. We just have to stay positive and keep pushing.
"Don't give up on us, we're going to make playoffs. Everyone is doing their part, now it's our turn to do ours. We'll get through this slump somehow."
Cougars head coach Mark Holick said there's no need to kick any garbage cans in the dressing room while his team is trying to get back on track. Being negative would be counterproductive to his team's progress.
"Our guys are a fragile group right now," Holick said,. "I haven't been part of something like this ever, it's unique. The last thing you need to do is get on them. We had no 20-year-olds this weekend (Jari Erricson was out with a concussion and Zach Pochiro was nursing an upper-body injury) and we had a tough go in our zone. We have to find something to ignite this group."
They'll try to end the streak Friday at home against the defending Memorial Cup-champion Edmonton Oil Kings.
LOOSE PUCKS: Theodore's assist gave him 22 points in 21 games and he's now just one point behind Craig Channell's Seattle franchise record for career points by a defenceman. Channell picked up 187 points in 212 games from 1979-82, when the team was known as the Breakers... Edmonton Oilers GM Craig MacTavish watched both weekend games from the CN Centre press box (see other story)... The Cougars' game Saturday against Edmonton will be their last home game until Feb. 21, when they play the Moose Jaw Warriors. The Cats will be give up their dressing room during the Canada Winter Games from Feb. 12-March 1. They'll play seven road game during that stretch and aside from the Moose Jaw game won't play again at home until March 4... Gregg Drinnan, the dean of all WHL print journalists and author of Taking Note, his daily blog at gdrinnan.blogspot.ca, has been named winner of a Paul Carson Broadcast & Media Award. Drinnan, the former sports editor of the now-defunct Kamloops Daily News, has covered the WHL from its earliest days in 1966, when he was based in Regina.
