There’s good and bad news on the injury front for the Prince George Cougars.
First the bad.
Right winger Hunter Laing is out with a concussion after he was knocked unconscious in a collision with two Vancouver Giants midway through Sunday’s game in Langley. He’s sidelined indefinitely and will not play in either of the weekend games against the Kamloops Blazers.
“Hunter was carried off on a stretcher and had to go to the hospital so he’s going to be out for a little but he’s recovering pretty quick,” said Cougars head coach and general manager Mark Lamb. “It’s pretty severe. It was just an unfortunate incident, it wasn’t malicious or anything like that.”
Now the good.
Laing’s replacement for Friday’s game in Kamloops will be Los Angeles Kings third-round draft pick Koehn Ziemmer, back after missing 3 1/2 months with an ankle injury. He was hurt in a Nov. 28 game against Everett when he twisted his ankle as he was wrestled to the ice in a fight and underwent surgery in Los Angeles shortly after.
Ziemmer had 11 goals and 20 assists in 21 games before his injury and the six-foot-one, 203-pound winger gives the already potent Cougar offence further reinforcement heading into the playoffs, which start next weekend.
“Ziems has been practicing with us (for more than two weeks) and he’s cleared to go so we’ll get him in this weekend,” said Lamb. “He was out a long time, so your conditioning’s not there, your timing’s not there, you basically have to learn how to skate again. We’ve got a few more days but he’s looking good now.
“He gives you a lot, he’s a physical, goal-scoring power forward. That’s the kind of player you need in playoffs and he’s an NHL-signed and drafted player. He’s got a lot of skills and lot of guys like him, on our team, so he’s just going to add to the group.”
Ziemmer will likely take Laing’s spot on the No. 2 power-play unit on a line with Matteo Damis and Oren Shtrom.
The Cougars are the hottest team in the Western Hockey League - currently 15-0-1-1 run - and they appear to be building to a playoff peak.
“They’ve been doing that all year, they don’t get too high or too low, we just stay focused and go after the task," said Lamb. "It goes without saying when you’re on a 17-game streak with a couple ties in there, but they’re still points."
Ranked No. 1 in the Canadian Hockey League, the Cougars are within a point of catching the Saskatoon Blades for first overall in the Western Hockey League. The Blades host the Calgary Hitmen tonight, then will finish the season with a home-and-home series this weekend against Prince Albert.
In the chase for first place in the Western Conference the Cougars (47-15-1-3) have 98 points, two ahead of the Portland Winterhawks, who have three games left this weekend. The top seed would have home ice for the first three playoff rounds.
If the Cougars and Winterhawks are tied in points at the end of the season the team with the most wins would get first place. The next tiebreaker is most points in games between the two teams in the regular season and both teams won two games and gained four points, so that’s a tie. It would then come down to the team with the highest ratio after taking the goals-for total from the season subtracted by goals -against.
The scoring race is also still up for grabs. Cougars winger Zac Funk continues to lead the league with 120 points, two up on Moose Jaw’s Jagger Firkus, with Cats centre Riley Heidt ranked third with 114 points.
Saturday’s Retro Night game against Kamloops is heading towards a sellout, with a Mega 50-50 jackpot to be split between one lucky fan and the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation.
“We’ve had a few (sellouts) and I think we’re getting some momentum in that area with the fans coming out,” said Lamb. “It’s an exciting time, the weather‘s getting nice. I always feel it’s not winter that’s hockey weather. This is hockey weather because it’s playoff weather.”
Tickets for Saturday’s game and the first two playoff games are available at the CN Centre box office or online at Tickets North.
