Forget the fact the Prince George Cougars are headed for what will likely be their worst bottom-line performance since the franchise moved here from Victoria in 1994.
Forget about the 57 losses and the fact they are 41 points out of a playoff position.
George Thiessen doesn't find it hard to look beyond the pain of the Cougars' last-overall standing to see the positives. Win or lose, he got to see his son Garrett competing against some of the world's best hockey players in his last season in the WHL as captain of his hometown Cougars. And for Thiessen, among the dozens of birth parents and billet parents the Cougars introduced to a CN Centre crowd Saturday, it doesn't get much better than that. He lauded the efforts of the players to escape the WHL dungeon, as unsuccessful in that mission as they were.
"I think this was a great year as far as the work ethic the boys put forward, it was probably the best I've seen in many, many years," he said. "They don't always have the best outcome, but they work hard.
"Garrett liked it in Edmonton but he was pretty pumped to be back with the organization (in a pre-season trade). They've always treated him well here and it's been good."
Cougar crowds have averaged less than a third of capacity of CN Centre and George Thiessen is worried future generations of WHL fans might have to go to another city to watch games.
