For Brett Bulmer, games against the Prince George Cougars always have a little more meaning. As a guy who was born and raised in this city, he has no trouble getting motivated to play the Cats -- especially when his Kelowna Rockets and the Cougars are doing battle here in Prince George.
But, in his two-year WHL career, Bulmer has never played a playoff game in P.G. That will change tonight when the Rockets and Cougars clash in Game 3 of a Western Conference quarterfinal series.
"I'm going to be excited to play," said the 18-year-old Bulmer, a six-foot-three, 175-pound forward. "I know I'll have a lot of people coming out and watching and supporting me.
"I can't put a number on it, but all my family of course [will be in attendance] and a lot of friends. I try not to pay attention to who's there, but obviously you know they are so you want to play for them, for sure."
Game time is 7 p.m. at CN Centre.
The Rockets lead the best-of-seven series 2-0 and can pretty much bury the Cats with another win tonight. Given that fact, Bulmer expects to see a level of desperation from the Cougars.
"Prince George is going to work hard against us so we have to just overcome that and find a way to win on the road," Bulmer said. "We have to focus on the first one. If we put these guys down 3-0 then we'll put ourselves in a pretty good position. We're not going to worry about anything else but the first game. Hopefully we'll take that and see where things go."
Bulmer, a second-round NHL draft pick (39th overall) of the Minnesota Wild last summer, has a habit of piling up points against the Cougars. But, in the opening two games of the series, the Cats have held him off the scoresheet.
At least Bulmer is playing. The same can't be said for his Prince George minor hockey buddy Brett Connolly, who was injured early in Game 1 and has been out of action since then. Connolly, the captain of the Cougars, has an arm or a shoulder issue and his status for tonight is uncertain.
"Obviously he's a big part of their team and he's a key element to their power play," Bulmer said. "But we know that they're going to work hard so we can't overlook them not having him."
Bulmer is coming off his own injury -- the nature of which he wouldn't reveal -- and said he's just starting to hit his stride again.
"I've played four or five games now and things are coming," said Bulmer, who had 18 goals and 49 points in 57 regular-season outings. "I was very happy with my last game."
