Minutes after he skated out to an appreciative CN Centre audience after being named the 23rd captain in the history of the Prince George Cougars, Sam Ruopp introduced himself to the Kamloops Blazers the way he knows best.
By flattening them against the boards with his big body. And it didn't take him long to start dishing out sledgehammer hits.
Winger Logan McVeigh was one of several Blazers who paid the price on Saturday night for venturing into Ruopp's territory with the puck. McVeigh was the recipient of a crunching Ruopp bodycheck and that set the tone for a physical weekend, not unlike most weekends for Ruopp.
He's been doing that ever since he joined the Western Hockey League's Cougars as a 16-year-old defenceman two seasons ago. His willingness to lead by example did not go unnoticed by the Cougars' coaching staff when they elected him last week to wear the 'C.'
For the 18-year-old Ruopp, the chance to be the designated leader on a hockey team is an honour he hasn't had bestowed on him since his atom days growing up in Zehner, Sask.
"It's a dream come true," said Ruopp, after his Cougars swept Kamloops in a two-game weekend, the start of an eight-game homestand against B.C. Division opponents. "It's such a special feeling, especially that first game when they were announcing my name. I'm so honoured.
"We have a really good leadership group on this team and I try to show myself on the ice and try to get the boys motivated. I want to be a physical force out there, especially at the start of the game to get the guys going. Off the ice, I just try to develop relationships and get them fired up. It is another responsibility but I enjoy it."
Standing six-foot-four and weighing 183 pounds without his hockey gear, Ruopp casts a large shadow on the ice and he's not afraid to drop the gloves with any challenger. Whatever it takes to inspire his teammates.
Ruopp played 18 games in his rookie season but drew regular duty last year, finishing with five goals and 11 assists in 64 games. He made the NHL Central Scouting rankings and was considered good enough to get drafted last June, however that call did not come.
The Cougars haven't made the playoffs the past three seasons but if they keep playing like they have been the past three games, the postseason is a virtual certainty. Their wins over the Blazers left the Cougars in a two-way tie with the Victoria Royals for second place in the B.C. Division. The Cats (10-8-0-0) host the Royals (9-7-2-0) Friday and Saturday at CN Centre.
"Throughout the whole year we have a goal to not only make the playoffs but go far in it," said Ruopp. "I think the team we've got right now, we're right there. We can most definitely do it."
Ruopp's pass to defence partner Marc McNulty gave him an assist on the game-winning goal Saturday and he finished the game with a plus-4 rating. The Cougars waited 16 games before deciding Ruopp was their man and head coach Mark Holick says he delivered exactly what was expected from him in the two games against Kamloops.
"I thought he had a real good weekend and played like a captain should," said Holick. "He was the leader in the physical part. He's a great kid and we paid attention for quite some time to where we were going to go with this and I think we made a good decision. We watched how he's acted with the boys and how he took in the new guys as kind of the big brother type and every time it just came back to Sam.
"There's more than one leader in that dressing room but we just felt that with a team in transition he can be a leader next year and be a guy who can just take a stranglehold on this team."
LOOSE PUCKS: Cougars D Josh Anderson and Canada White will take on Sweden in a quarter-final playoff today at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Sarnia-Lambton, Ont. Canada started with a 5-1 loss to Finland on Sunday, then beat Canada Black 5-4 in overtime Monday and defeated Russia 4-2 on Tuesday. No games were scheduled on Wednesday... With the exception of a home game Nov. 26 against Regina, the Cougars will be playing B.C. Division teams all month and nine of their 11 games in November are at CN Centre... Although it's tough to dislodge Ty Edmonds, who was spectacular Sunday while making 42 saves in a 3-2 shootout win and gave up just three goals in the two games, 20-year-old Jared Rathjen will likely get one of the starts against Victoria for his first game action in a Prince George uniform since he left four seasons ago to play for the Royals. The Cats picked up Rathjen last week on waivers from the Medicine Hat Tigers.
