As bleak as the month of January was for the Prince George Cougars, those long winter nights have worn even heavier on the heart of Zach Pochiro.
While the struggles of his Cougar teammates on the ice have festered into a 12-game losing streak, Pochiro has been powerless to do much about it. As good as he is at generating offence, winning face-offs, blocking shots and killing penalties he can't do that watching from the press box.
The 20-year-old centre from Las Vegas missed eight games with a rib injury he suffered in a collision with a Spokane Chiefs player Dec. 13. Pochiro, a fourth-round pick of the St. Louis Blues in 2013, played with the pain before he realized it wasn't healing properly and it showed in his point production. He was held to four goals and an assist in that 13-game span before being sent back to St. Louis for an evaluation.
By Pochiro's own standards, nine goals and 18 points in 23 games since rejoining the Cougars from the ECHL isn't good enough, not for a guy who finished third in Cougars scoring last year with 27 goals and 63 points in 66 games.
"I got a slight fracture in the rib in Spokane and I've been battling it ever since," said Pochiro. "We just kind of hit each other and he was big boy. It limits you because it's in my shoulder under my collarbone, so hits and face-offs and battling guys wears on you. It's frustrating because you know you can do this but your body's limiting you."
The good news is Pochiro will dress for Friday's game at CN Centre against Edmonton. The Oil Kings (24-23-1-1, fifth in Central Division) aren't the same team that won the Memorial Cup last season but still have plenty of holdovers from that team to give the Cougars (20-31-1-1) trouble.
"Every time you play Edmonton it's hard, they don't rebuild, they reload," Pochiro said. "We have to come out and take them seriously and if we can we can jump on them on the hop right away and get the first one and then beat some team by a landslide like we can."
The Cougars were outscored 12-2 in two games last weekend at home against Seattle. Pochiro has been around long enough to know their poor showing is not a true indication of what Cougars fans can expect over the last two months of the season.
"We have to be positive, we had a lot of guys injured and lot of guys suspended, key guys, and it was hard to win games," Pochiro said. "Once you get to losing it's hard getting out of it. You get guys getting away from the system, trying to do stuff they shouldn't be doing and this week we just got back to the basics, keeping it simple.
"In the d-zone we have to be sharper. With our goalies struggling it means we have to play extra defence and be more in tune and help them out. This week I think we're getting somewhere with that."
Friday's game should also mark the return of winger Jari Erricson, the Cougars' other 20 year old, who missed the past four games with a concussion he got in a game in Medicine Hat Jan. 23 when blindsided by a shoulder check from Tigers defenceman Kyle Burroughs. Burroughs was nailed with a four-game suspension for the hit.
"It was very tough and scary at the start, I knew right away something was bad and our trainer (Chico Dhanjal) did a good job getting me out of the game and I didn't go back," said Erricson, who missed all but four games last season with a concussion.
"The symptoms weren't the same as the previous one. I was a little more aware of what was going on and my vision didn't bother me like the previous one. Luckily I've been able to get back to skating without recurring symptoms coming on."
Erricson started the season on a torrid scoring pace with 15 goals and 31 points in the first 26 games and there were few players in the WHL who could match his speed. But in 19 games in December and January he's put up just one goal and five points. For the Cougars to make the playoffs, Erricson and Pochiro will have to rediscover their scoring touch.
At the very least, having them on the ice Friday will provide some comfort for a fragile group which last tasted victory Jan. 6, an 8-4 triumph over Tri-City at CN Centre.
"We've kind of relied on a lot of the young inexperienced guys, it is a tough league and when you start losing you get a little negative in the room and confidence is low," said Erricson.
"Hopefully with us being back we'll take the load off those guys and bring some energy to the team with the experience that we have. Us older guys have been through that before so we know how to get out of it. When we're not in there between periods its hard to get out of that funk."
Pochiro has skated all week in practice and Erricson has also taken part in the on-ice workouts and passed his concussion test Wednesday.
"Having your 20-year-olds helps in the dressing room, it calms your bench down and certainly with their play on the ice they're usually your go-to guys," said Cougars head coach Mark Holick. "The younger players look to them for guidance and to have them back will certainly help."
The Cats have 19 games left, eight at home and 11 on the road. The Kamloops Blazers took on the Red Deer Rebels Wednesday night in Kamloops and beat the Rebels?????? to increase??? the gap over the Cougars to six points????? OR IF KAMLOOPS LOSES ???? to remain four points ahead of the Cougars, who are in danger of missing the playoffs for a fourth straight season.
"We are very fortunate that with this losing streak we're on we're still in the hunt here," said Erricson. "Getting guys back at a key time here we have to capitalize and get into a playoff position. Being my last year and knowing we've got guys like (Chase) Witala who have played on the team (four) years it would be great to give them that opportunity."
