Troy Bourke and Todd Fiddler had some unfinished personal business to address Saturday night at CN Centre.
While laying an 8-3 hammering on the Kamloops Blazers, their season-ending on-ice wizardry will surely go down as one of the greatest games in Cougar history.
Needing just two points to surpass Eric Hunter as the Cougars' all-time points leader, Bourke got what he was after when he opened the scoring and later assisted on Brad Morrison's goal 13:11 into the first period.
That left plenty of time for the Cougars to focus on Fiddler. Playing in his last junior hockey game, the 20-year-old Fiddler needed four goals to give him 50 on the season. His teammates obligingly set him up at every opportunity and he was double-shifted, but after one period and several missed scoring chances Fiddler was still stuck at 46.
Then with just 38 seconds into the second period, Zach Pochiro shoveled the puck ahead to Fiddler, whose burst of speed freed him from his check and he chipped the puck in over Bolton Pouliot's pad. No. 48 came later in the period in typical Fiddler fashion, a rocket shot from the point on a Cougar power play to give the Cats a 4-2 lead.
Deven Sideroff of the Blazers and Cougars Klarc Wilson traded goals to start the third period and with five minutes gone in the period and the Cougars killing a penalty, Sam Ruopp spotted Fiddler lurking in the left wing weeds and fed him a pass. The Meadow Lake, Sask., broke into the Blazer zone and left Edson Harlacher fishing for puck as he collected his sixth shorthanded goal of the season with a superb forehand-backhand deke on Pouliot.
After three pretty goals, Fiddler's fourth of the game and 50th this season in just 66 games was greasy, but downright delicious. It came at the end of goalmouth scramble with the Blazers all over Fiddler, roughing him up in front of the net with elbows, shoulders and sticks to try to keep him from scoring. Marc McNulty joined the rush and laid the puck on goal and it rolled out to Fiddler, who quickly shoveled it through Pouliot's legs at 15:10 of the third period.
"After the first period [Cats backup goalie Brett] Zarowny kept telling me, 'Two goals a period Todd,' and once I got those first two he yelled at me, 'Just two more Fidds,' and when I got it, it was just the best feeling," said Fiddler. "It's obviously a great achievement I'll look back on. I' m just so grateful I got the four goals. This whole weekend my mindset was shoot, shoot, shoot and it paid off in the end and I'm so happy."
The small but enthusiastic crowd of 1,805 responded with a standing ovation even louder than the one given to Bourke to mark his milestone in the first period. Fittingly, Bourke also drew an assist on the goal. Ruopp added one more goal late to complete a three-point night, but Fiddler wasn't quite done. With only a few seconds left while killing another penalty, he and Wilson broke in on a 2-on-1. Fiddler unselfishly put the puck over to Wilson's stick and just as he was about to shoot he got hooked from behind.
Shots were 51-31 in favour of the Cougars and Fiddler alone accounted for at least 12 of them. Almost lost in the shuffle was a brilliant game from Cougar netminder Ty Edmonds, who came up with some difficult saves when the Blazers were threatening to stay close.
The Cougars finished with a 27-37-3-5 record, ninth in the Western Conference. It was a 12-point, six-win improvement over last season but not good enough to prevent the Cats from missing the playoffs for the third straight season. The Blazers (14-53-2-3), who beat the Cougars 5-1 in Kamloops on Friday, finished 21st out of 22 WHL teams.
Fiddler is the second Prince George Cougar in 20 seasons to reach the 50-goal mark. Quinn Hancock was the only other Prince George player to do it when he scored 54 in 1997-98. Bourke finished with a goal and three assists, which left the four-year veteran with 236 points in 276 games.
"I was so happy to see Fidds get that and I didn't even know Bourke got that assist on that second one and basically apologized to him between periods because I didn't acknowledge it on our bench," said Cougars head coach Mark Holick.
"[Fiddler] could have scored four or five on Friday, he missed the net on a bunch of chances. He got a couple early and that third one took a monkey off him and I just kept playing him. We only dressed 11 forwards and I was doubling him from the middle of the first on. We wanted to see him accomplish it and he did.
"You don't get 92 goals in this league in the last two years by accident. He's a special talent and he'll get what he deserves down the road. He certainly deserves an opportunity [to play pro]."
