After completing a two-game sweep in Spokane with a pair of wins over the Chiefs last weekend the Prince George Cougars headed back over the border for a four-day pitstop in Kelowna.
They’ll put their three-game win streak on the line Wednesday when they take on the Kelowna Rockets. It’s a homecoming for Cougars assistant coach Carter Rigby, a 28-year-old native of Penticton who played three full seasons with the Rockets from 2011-14, after starting his WHL career with the Cougars.
Rigby was a Rocket left winger eight years ago and he has a long list of people he expects will be there to watch him behind the bench for Wednesday’s game (7 p.m., 943 FM, The Goat). The Cougars (9-7-0-0) have climbed into first place in the B.C. Division, two points head of the second-place Kamloops Blazers, who have played three fewer games. Kelowna (5-7-1-0) ranks fourth.
“Kelowna holds a special place in my heart, I played 3 ½ years here and had a ton of team success and some individual success too and it was kind of home for the junior career,” said Rigby, hired by the Cougars in September after three seasons as head coach of the Osoyoos Coyotes (KIJHL).
“We played them (in Prince George) and split with them and this game’s been circled on my calendar for a while. Coming back to this building with tons of friends and family and the staff and rinkies are pretty much the same and it’s been cool seeing them the last couple days as we’ve been hanging out waiting for our game. It’s a little different on the other side of the bench, but I’ve done it before when I played for the Cougars.”
The Cougars drafted Rigby in the eighth round in 2009 and he played 14 games over two seasons before he was sent to Kelowna along with a sixth-rounder for the Rockets’ third-round pick in 2012 (which the Cats used to draft defenceman Shane Collins).
“It’s crazy to see how much the (Cougars) organization has changed since I was a player,” said Rigby. “With new ownership, the guys get treated so well and my time so far has been amazing, I couldn’t ask for anything else.”
When he was playing for the Cougars he said there’s no way they would have had an extended layover in Kelowna with the team paying for hotel stays and meals with four days between games.
“We’d take off for a Kamloops game and leave that morning and play that night and come right back,” Rigby said. “These guys don’t know how well they have it now.”
A 17-year-old Rigby scored 21 goals in his rookie season (2011-12). The Rockets traded him in 2014 to Swift Current for his final season of junior eligibility and he played for the Broncos under head coach Mark Lamb and assistant Josh Dixon, now his coaching mentors with the Cougars.
As a former forward, Rigby marvels at the talents of the Cougars top-line duo of NHL draft prospects, Koehn Ziemmer and Riley Heidt, who rank 1-2 in team scoring as 17-year-olds. Ziemmer has 13 goals and 13 assists in 16 games and his 26 points ranks third in the WHL scoring, while Heidt has scored seven times and has 13 assists. They’re among five Cougars on a point-per-game pace or better.
“They work so well together and they’re great buddies off the ice,” said Rigby. “Heidt led the team in scoring last year as a rookie and Ziemmer gets 30 goals. The scary thing a lot of people probably don’t understand is these two kids at 16 last year were line-matched against 19-and-20-year-olds all year long and still had that success. Now they’re veterans of the team and they’re still only 17 years old.”
Heidt is ranked by NHL Central Scouting as an ‘A’ prospect for next year’s NHL draft (likely to be selected in the first round), while Ziemmer is a ‘B’ prospect (projected to go in the second or third round). Rigby said he wouldn’t be surprised if they both end up in the ‘A’ category.
“Heidt’s skating is crazy, he’s so smooth on his edges and so deceptive, he’s more of a passer and he needs to shoot the puck more for sure,” said Rigby. “He looks guys off and throws it back-door and he’s so good with his stick and he has a strong competitive side to him too and he’s pretty mature for a 17-year-old.
“Ziemmer can kind of do it all – he plays alright in the d-zone, he blocks shots, he’ll fight, he’s got some size to him, he’ll hit. Everybody kind of knocks his skating but I don’t think that’s an issue. He’s not going to be Heidter and nobody is. Ziemmer does things a bit different and he still finds way to produce and I wouldn’t be shocked is starts creeping up (on the scouting lists). Whoever you put with them, if they have skill and speed they’re going to have success.”
Czechian import winger Ondrej Becher took over Chase Wheatcroft’s right wing spot on the top line with Ziemmer and Heidt and scored two goals in the Cougars’ 5-4 shootout win in Portland, followed by a one-goal effort in the Cats’ 7-2 win Friday in Spokane.
The Cougars have also been getting impressive mileage out of goalies Tyler Brennan and Ty Young who both had to be sharp to allow the Cats to maintain their three-game streak.
“It’s pretty crazy that the young group that we do have that’s so raw and still learning to win is finding ways to win,“ said Rigby. “It’s nice with both goalies giving you a chance to win and some high-end skill up front too. No one’s winning banners in November but at the same time it’s nice to have some success right away off the get -go and things look good for our group.”
LOOSE PUCKS: The Cougars will be back home at CN Centre for games this weekend against the Vancouver Giants. The host the Giants Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m… Twenty-year-old forward Cole Dubinsky, acquired last week in a trade from the Regina Pats, is expected to make his Cougars’ debut Wednesday in Kelowna… The Cats will be without D Tyson Buczkowski, playing for Canada Black this week at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge… Cougars goalie prospect Madden Mulawka is playing for Canada White at the U-17 tournament in Langley and Delta… Prince George minor hockey product F Miguel Marques of the Lethbridge Hurricanes scored in Canada Red’s opening 3-2 loss to Finland. The seven-team tournament wraps up Saturday.
