A tough U.S. road trip awaits the Prince George Cougars to open the 2013-14 WHL season followed by six of seven games on home ice.
According to an unofficial schedule the Citizen has obtained the Cougars will begin the regular season with a three-game road trip Sept. 20-22 visiting the Portland Winterhawks, Everett Silvertips and Tri City Americans.
The Cougars will be in the Rose Garden as the Winterhawks unveil their league championship banner from last season. Following the Portland party the Cougars travel to Everett for the Silvertips season opener and Kevin Constantine's first game behind the bench in his second stint as head coach.
The first home games of the team's 20th anniversary season will be Sept. 27-28 at CN Centre has the Kamloops Blazers in Prince George for a pair of games, followed by a midweek visit (Oct. 1-2) by the Victoria Royals. The Cougars travel to Kamloops on Oct. 5 before welcoming the Silvertips for a doubleheader Oct. 11-12.
There are five games on the Cougars schedule for September and March. In January and February the Cougars are slated to play 14 and 13 games, respectively, including a six-game road trip through the East division.
In December, the Cougars are on the road for six games and at home for three. After a five-game home stand that will see the Vancouver Giants, Tri City and the Kootenay Ice visit Prince George, the Cats wrap up their pre-Christmas schedule with a three-game road swing to Tri City, Spokane and Vancouver.
Just like their 2012-13 post-holiday schedule, the Cougars will wrap up 2013 with a doubleheader in Victoria (Dec. 27-28) before ending the year Dec. 30 in Vancouver. The Cougars will have played 40 games of their 72-game schedule by the end of 2013.
The Cougars will play three of their first six games in January against the Blazers. After a doubleheader Jan. 3-4 in Prince George, the teams will meet again in Kamloops on Jan. 11. In between, the Cougars will receive a visit from the Seattle Thunderbirds (Jan. 7-8) before heading out on the road to play the Giants (Jan. 10).
Nine home games are scheduled for Tuesday or Wednesday, nights the Cougars had trouble attracting more than 1,500 fans to CN Centre last season. Opponents to these games are: Victoria (Oct. 1-2), Vancouver (Oct. 29-30), Medicine Hat (Nov. 12), Kootenay (Dec. 10), Seattle (Jan. 7-8) and Lethbridge (Jan. 21).
The Cougars end the regular season once again with a home and home with the Blazers. The teams play in Kamloops on March 14 before bussing to Prince George for a game March 15. The WHL playoffs will start March 21.
