Josh Maser knows Prince George Cougars fans have been starved for victories this season and he feels their pain.
Nobody on the team figured the 2018-19 season would bring such disastrous results.
The Cougars have won just 17 of their 64 games and have only one victory to show for their last 23. They haven't won a game at CN Centre since Jan. 12, a 4-0 decision over the Kelowna Rockets.
The Cougars are down to their last four games and will miss the WHL playoffs for the second-straight season. But before they cross that bridge, Maser plans on ending the season on a high note.
"We've had games where we're just so close to winning and I think we owe it to our fans to get some wins here - we have three games at home left and our goal is to win all three of them," said Maser. "We really want to do it for the fans here, the ones who come out and always come out and watch our games. We've been showing a lot of heart here lately and we want them to know how badly we want to win."
That won't be easy. Tonight and Saturday they'll host the Portland Winterhawks in a two-game set at CN Centre. Portland (38-19-3-3) has the fifth-best record in the league and has already clinched second place in the U.S. Division, the 10th year in a row the Hawks have qualified for the postseason.
The Cougars ended a team-record 17-game losing streak Feb. 22 in Kamloops but have lost their last five games. Last weekend in Victoria they played well for stretches but with an injury-depleted lineup couldn't maintain their efforts and the Royals capitalized, winning 4-3 and 5-2.
"It's just that thing we keep coming back to, that 60-minute effort," said Maser. "In the first game in Victoria we came out slow and were undisciplined and took a couple penalties and they made us pay on those and got up early on us and we were playing catch-up the entire game. We just have to stay disciplined and come out ready to play, focused on winning."
With six goals in his last six games Maser has matched his 28-goal season output from 2017-18. The Houston native also has 11 assists for 39 points in 57 games and ranks second in team scoring behind Vladislav Mikhalchuk (21-22-43).
"Consistency is key and I just try to stick to the same things every single game," said Maser, who celebrated his 20th birthday on Jan. 18. "I know, with the standings and whatnot, you've got to keep playing and showing hard every time you're on the ice because you never know who's watching. You still want to win regardless."
For the past two games Maser has been playing the left side on a line with centre Matej Toman and Reid Perepeluk.
"Toman is really good at draws - getting possession of the puck is key and that starts with face-offs and he's been doing a heck of a job in the face-off circle," said Maser. "(Perepeluk) has been playing his best hockey all year, shooting the puck and getting it to the net, using his size and his speed and his strength. That's why he's having more success - he's getting more opportunities.
"We both play a similar type of game. He's a pretty fast player and he can really move around out there and I've been telling him to just play with confidence and crash and bang and he's been doing it."
This being the only time the Winterhawks visit Prince George this season, Cougar fans will get a chance to see the WHL's leading scorer in action. Joachim Blichfeld, a 20-year-old Danish import left winger, has 52 goals, 55 assists and 107 points in 63 games and has a five-point lead over Tristin Langen of the Moose Jaw Warriors in the scoring race. For perspective, Blichfeld's 52 goals are more than a third of the Cougars' entire 138-goal production through 64 games.
Chosen by the San Jose Sharks in the seventh round in 2016, Blichfeld was picked that year by the Winterhawks in the second round (85th overall) of the CHL import draft. He usually plays on a line with Jake Gricius (24-30-54) and Lane Gilliss (22-26-48).
"Portland always has quite a bit of skill up front and even on their back end they have a couple good goalies back there and a few good d-men, so it's going to be a really good test for us and our team," said Maser. "We're all excited for this game to happen here and we're looking forward to it."
Portland C Cody Glass, who played for Canada at the world junior championship in Vancouver, hasn't been in the lineup since suffering a lower-body injury Feb. 23 in a game against Seattle. Glass went sixth overall to Las Vegas in the 2017 NHL draft and he's listed as day-to-day. The Hawks could also be without D Matt Quigley, out with an day-to-day upper-body ailment. They've added D Ryan Miley from the Surrey Eagles of the BCHL. The Eagles were the only BCHL team to miss the playoffs.
One Portland defenceman to watch is Carolina Hurricanes prospect Brendan De Jong, picked in the seventh round in 2017. G Joel Hofer was a fourth-round pick of the St. Louis Blues in 2018.
The Cougars should have D Cole Moberg back on the ice tonight (7 p.m. start). He's been out with an upper-body injury he received Feb. 22 in Kamloops and has missed five games since then. Moberg continues to be the Cougars' third-leading scorer (11-24-35), despite missing seven games this season. The only injured Cougar is C Ethan Browne, who suffered a concussion Feb. 26 against Spokane and has missed the last three games. Former Winterhawk C Ilijah Colina returned home to North Delta for personal reasons and won't be back with the Cougars this season.
