Zach Pochiro is disappointed but he is not sad about his WHL career ending after three seasons Saturday in Victoria.
For the first time in his junior hockey career, the 21-year-old centre got a taste of the playoffs as a member of the Prince George Cougars, a team that brought the excitement of winning back to a city desperate to support a winner.
Pochiro got to play in front of near-capacity crowds CN Centre in his final season and felt the thunder of the hooves of Cougar fans pounding on the metal stands. Under their new ownership regime, the Cougars were once again the talk of the town for all the right reasons and Pochiro was part of those conversations. Until this season, those tales were memories of glory days gone by, buried in the past.
"The guys really learned a lot this year that this organization and the town really does care for the team," said Pochiro. "We were always known as the laughing stock and now they've realized we are not. It was just ownership and what not, and now that they've got that backing them there are no excuses now. They have the right core of young guys to do something special in the next two years and I think next year they're going to go second or third round and the year after that, maybe they'll win the whole thing, and I think they realize that too."
The Cougars' season came to a premature end after five playoff games against the Victoria Royals but for Pochiro and Jari Erricson, the other graduating Cougar, there's no point in sulking about what could have been with this team. Instead, their thoughts are clearly focused on the imminent future of the Cats and what they believe are better things still to come.
"Just looking at the acquisitions this team has made and the strong group of young guys this team has, they will grow from this experience," said Erricson, 21. "This team can really go somewhere and make a difference in the playoffs and will use this from this year to move on to next year and go even further. Prince George has been really dying for a winning team and I feel we've got the core group of guys to bring that to Prince George."
In 169 regular season games, all with the Cougars, Pochiro collected 61 goals 86 assists and 147 points. He has four goals and six points in five playoff games.
Pochiro, who signed last summer with the St. Louis Blues, missed the playoffs his first two seasons in Prince George and the Cougars finally made it with a strong push the final six weeks of the season after a 12-game losing streak in January which nearly cost them their playoff spot.
"The difference between the other years and us not making playoffs was this team was a team," said Pochiro. "I really bonded with a lot of these guys and I'm really glad I was back to see this New Ice Age and be a part of it. I told them, don't get down and look at this as a learning process. We're not just going to make it into the playoffs next year, we're getting home ice advantage, and I think they took that to heart.
"It was nice to have the two playoff games at home and have the crowd show them that they care, because it was loud. I just want to thank all of Prince George for everything they've done, the team really appreciates it and I appreciate it. This has been the best three years of my life."
2014-15 was a comeback season for Erricson, who missed all but four games last season with a concussion that was close to a career-ending injury. In 256 regular season games with Prince George and Everett he finished with 48 goals 58 assists and 106 points. He also had 11 points in 11 playoff games over three seasons.
Erricson will likely resume his playing career next season with a CIS team. He has plans to attend university on a WHL scholarship but is not sure where that career path will begin.
"I couldn't have asked for a better year to be in my final year with the Prince George Cougars and finish in my hometown, it's a dream come true," said Erricson. "It's a great group of guys a great organization. The New Ice Age really made my last year in the WHL one to remember -- especially coming back from not knowing if I'd ever play hockey again and if my career was done to having the year we did here. I was really blessed and I'm thankful for it."
