Part 4 of 5
Prince George Cougars defenceman Hudson Thornton broke two long-standing single-season team records this year, previously held by iconic alumni Christian Chartier (total points) and Dustin Byfuglien (goals).
“Just having any record for such a historic franchise as the Cougars is pretty special and something I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” said the 19-year-old Thornton.
While he was satisfied with his offensive output during the regular season, Thornton knows there is plenty of room for improvement preventing teams from scoring and shoring up his defensive play heading into the playoffs.
“I didn’t come to the Western League right away and I had some time to develop my game and I knew when I did step into this league I wanted to be a dominant player that made a difference every night,” he said. “I took a big step last year and felt really good about my game and I knew I needed to take an even bigger step this year and I feel like I’ve done that.”
The Cougars were one of the hottest WHL teams down the stretch and rode an 18-3-2-1 surge over the last two months of the season to finish fourth in the Western Conference to earn the right to host the first two games on their playoff series against the Tri-City Americans, starting Friday (7 p.m.) at CN Centre.
“I really like where our group’s at, securing home ice for the playoffs, that’s so huge for us and it’s kind of a testament to the whole group and how good we’ve been all year,” said Thornton. “I believe we have a team that has what it takes to get out of the first round and especially out of the second round. I like our chances.”
