Reid Perepeluk is not going to win the Western Hockey League scoring race.
You’re not likely to see him dangle the puck on his stick on a rink-length rush and watch him weave his way through a crowd to finish off a goalie with a dastardly deke.
That’s not what led Perepeluk into his current role patrolling the right wing in his third season with the Prince George Cougars.
It’s his ability to accelerate into passing gear with silent Tesla efficiency and make use of his battering-ram speed on blades to disturb the peace and strike fear into the eyes of an opponent. That’s what makes the 19-year-old winger a rare commodity that has continued to increase in value to the Cougars since he re-joined the team after a 30-game stint in the Kootenay International Junior (B) Hockey League with the Kamloops Storm in 2018
When Perepeluk is on the ice, creating havoc within the rules of the game. every one of his teammates suddenly grows a few inches taller and few pounds heavier. And when he does his get his chances to score, he knows what to do with the puck.
“He’s a huge part of our team and we really miss him when he’s not there,” said Cougars head coach and general manager Mark Lamb, who will have Perepeluk back from a three-game suspension Saturday in Kelowna, where the Cougars play their next game against the Rockets.
“It doesn’t matter what line he’s on, he plays the same. There’s not a lot of players like him in the league, he’s unique. He’s kind of a throwback - physical, skating, and he gets in on the forecheck and he turns pucks over. For sure, if they took that stat he’d be leading the league in hits. He’s a hard guy to play against.”
The six-foot-three, 215-pound Perepeluk let his frustrations get the better of him in the dying seconds of a 4-0 loss to the Vancouver Giants in Langley Nov. 16. He took a run at Giants defenceman Bowen Byram and was handed a major penalty for charging and a game misconduct which led to his three-game suspension.
“It was the last 15 seconds of the game and we were penalty-killing and they were being really dirty, breaking guys sticks over guys heads and stuff like that, so I decided to take control and with about five seconds left I went as hard as I can on the forecheck to destroy the guy and got a major for a charge,” said Perepeluk.
At the time of the suspension, Perepeluk had just recovered from a groin injury that forced him to miss two games against Victoria. He’s hoping it won’t take long to get into game condition again and pick up where the Cougars left off last weekend with their back-to-back wins at CN Centre over the B.C. Division-leading Kamloops Blazers.
“It did really suck not playing, especially when we’re winning, it was harder to watch it and not be out there,” said the 19-year-old Perepeluk, a native of Yorkton, Sask., picked by the Cougars in the sixth round of the 2015 bantam draft.
“We’re going into Kelowna with a lot of confidence and hopefully we don’t come too highly and come unprepared. Hopefully we just keep winning games.”
Perepeluk has been practicing this week on a line with centre Brendan Boyle and left winger Nikita Krivokrasov, who joined the Cougars in trade last week from the Tri-City Americans.
“They’re both real hard-working players,’ said Perepeluk. “Nikita can definitely move the puck very well, likes to pass, just a very smart player who works hard in the corners and that’s going to translate into offence.”
Through 19 games playing on an offensively-challenged Cougar team Perepeluk has already matched his seven-point total from last season, which took him 55 games. He now has three goals and four assists with a minus-4 rating and a team-high 25 penalty minutes.
“Obviously I want to keep improving on my finish game and be able to finish on my chances but also create havoc and space for other players, he said. “That’s a big thing I want to contribute, too.
“The past 10 games haven’t gone well with injury and suspension. Once you miss five games in a matter of three weeks you get a little bit out of game shape. I’m just trying to get back in that game shape and think and process the game at that level because the practices are a lot different than the games.”
Getting Perepeluk back is certainly a relief for Cougars centre Ilijah Colina, at five-foot-six, 165 pounds one of the smaller players in the WHL.
“We’re just going to have more energy with his physical presence,” said Colina. “He brings speed and energy which is good to get us going at the start of games. He’s always flying around the ice and that’s something we need. We don’t have many guys like that.”
The Cougars (6-16-0-2) are 11 points out of a playoff spot with 44 games left. That’s significant ground to try to make up but it’s certainly not an insurmountable task as they prepare to face the Kelowna Rockets (13-8-1-2, second in B.C. Division) Saturday in Kelowna. The Rockets are coming off a 1-0 shootout loss to the Edmonton Oil Kings Tuesday in Kelowna. Prior to that, Kelowna had won four straight.
“I think we’re definitely right in there and we’ve really got to be focused these next eight games (four at home, four on the road) up until Christmas,” said Perepeluk.
LOOSE PUCKS: Winger Blake Eastman (upper body) is the only injured Cougar. The Rockets, who acquired four-year WHL veteran centre Jadon Joseph early this week in a trade from Moose Jaw, will be without two of their top scoring forwards. Kyle Topping (lower body) is out for nine-15 weeks and Pavel Novak still has three games to serve on an eight-game suspension for a dangerous hit-from-behind that sent Kamloops forward Kyrell Sopotyk crashing at high speed into the boards. The hit left Sopotyk with a separated shoulder expected to keep him sidelined until mid-December… The Cougars are back on home ice at CN Centre Dec. 3-4 when they host the Portland Winterhawks. They play in Portland Dec. 7 and 8 and return to Prince George to host Victoria Dec. 13 and 14. The Dec. 14 game is the Cougars’ Teddy and Toque Toss promotion…The Cats head into the Christmas break following a game against the Vancouver Giants, Dec. 7 in Langley.
