Jansen Harkins did not get an invitation to play for Canada at the world junior hockey championship but he's not going to hang his head and sulk about it.
Lately, Harkins has been playing like he deserves to wear the maple leaf on his jersey, and he's a big part of the reason why the Prince George Cougars are the hottest team in the Western Hockey League right now.
"I thought the Seattle game might have been his best game ever in a Cougar uniform," said Cougars head coach Mark Holick. "He was physical, he finished some checks, his backcheck was real good and he had three helpers. That backhand pass to (Bartek) Bison, he was probably the only guy on the ice who knew where Bartek was.
"That was a big-league play and it's encouraging to see him start to round into form. I know it was a bit of a slow start for him but he's been working and has been diligent in his preparation. He's an offensive guy (but) our forward group has depth and there's not a whole lot of pressure for him to be our go-to guy."
The 18-year-old Harkins has been on Hockey Canada's radar for three seasons. In his rookie WHL season he was part of Team Pacific at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. He played in the Ivan Hlinka under-18 tournament and in April he helped the national under-18 team win bronze at the world championship in Switzerland. The Winnipeg Jets drafted Harkins in the second round in the NHL draft in June but he wasn't part of the world junior team summer evaluation camp.
"You always want to represent your country and I've had the fortune of being able to do that a few times in the past and unfortunately this wasn't my time," said Harkins. "There's nothing I can do now, it's in the past and I just have to focus on the moment and what I can control moving forward."
Tuesday's 6-2 win in Seattle allowed the Cougars (20-10-1-1) to pull even with tonight's opponent, the Victoria Royals (20-11-1-1) into second place in the Western Conference, each with 42 points. Harkins had three assists and set up enough great scoring chances to double that total. Last season he set a team record for assists with 59 and led the Cougars in scoring with 79 points. In 29 games this year he has seven goals and 18 assists for 25 points.
"The team's doing well and that's just part of staying focused and being relentless as a team and staying together," said Harkins. "It's just coming to work every time you step on the ice and playing for each other and playing to win. We're not getting ahead of ourselves, we're just focusing on the moment and what we can control in the near future. I just want us to be successful as a team."
In their past 10 games, the Cougars have an 8-1-0-1 record. They're unbeaten in regulation time in their last 10 home games, going 9-0-0-1 over that stretch.
The Cougars gained a split last weekend in Portland. Last Friday, after giving up a two-goal third period lead and losing 5-4, they showed their resiliency in the rematch, beating the Winterhawks 3-2.
"Our guys got a bit too complacent when they got the 4-2 goal and it ended up biting us in the behind but what I liked about it is the response on Saturday," said Hoilick. "The guys came out that first period outshooting them 20-8 and our scoring chances in that game were 31-12. Then to go into Seattle and play like we did, that's a good sign going into this weekend. It's a big matchup with Victoria and we're tied.
"It should be fun. They're not as big and nasty as they have been in previous years but they have some guys who can get around the ice real quick and we'll have to be on our toes and not get behind them in coverages and make sure we take away some of that speed through the neutral zone. We didn't give Seattle or Portland a lot of clean entries (through the neutral zone) and for us that usually dictates how we are defensively."
The Cougars are 10 games above the .500 mark and have a winning record in mid-December for the first time in 15 seasons. This is uncharted territory for fourth-year Cats' defenceman Joseph Carvalho, who took his lumps with some weak Cougar teams during his first two seasons in the WHL.
"We haven't had a whole lot of success the past few years so it's nice to see things are starting to come around -- this group of (1997-born players) is really putting this team in the right direction," said Carvalho. "We've been showing a lot of character -- Seattle and Portland are tough barns to play in and it wasn't easy to go in steal points from those guys in their home rink. We have lots of depth right now and everyone is contributing."
LOOSE PUCKS: Ty Edmonds will get the start in the Cougars' nets. The Royals will have a choice of starting either Coleman Vollrath or former Cariboo Cougar goalie Griffen Outhouse... The Royals have lost three of their last four games, all against Vancouver. They will be without former Cougar centre Alex Forsberg for tonight's game (7 p.m. start). Forsberg, 20, will serve a one-game suspension for instigating a fight in Sunday's game against Vancouver. They also won't have their top defenceman, Joe Hicketts, who is with Canada's world junior team. F Scott Walford is out three weeks with a lower-body injury. The Royals have added F Ty Westgard from the Surrey Eagles of the BCHL. Cougars F Bartek Bison is out with an upper-body ailment and D Max Martin (shoulder surgery) is also out of the lineup. Martin has been skating with the team for the past two weeks and could be ready by early January... Saturday's Teddy Bear Toss Night at CN Centre against the Royals is close to being a sellout.
