A series of unfortunate events that rocked the Prince George Cougars on the same October day could well dictate what roster moves the team will make in advance of Tuesday's Western Hockey League trade deadline.
The Cougars were in Prince Albert on Oct. 4 to start their first extended road trip when they learned they'd lost three of their top 19-year-old forwards, a foreshadowing of the offensive drought that's so far been the scourge of their season.
The previous weekend, just 21 seconds into the first of a two-game home-opening set against the Victoria Royals, Cougars left winger Brock Hirsche got involved in a fight and separated his shoulder. A day later, centre Charles Inglis connected with a deliberate elbow to the face of Royals defenceman Tyler Stahl and was given a match penalty.
That day in Prince Albert it was determined Hirsche would need surgery that would sideline him for 12 games, the same day the WHL handed Inglis a 10-game suspension. But the worst news from a Cougars' perspective was when they learned top-scoring winger Brett Connolly made the cut as an NHL rookie with the Tampa Bay Lightning and wouldn't be returning to his junior team.
The loss of Connolly, with 46 goals and 63 points in 2010-11, cuts especially deep. He already has four NHL goals and has been flashing his brilliance on national TV the past two weeks as one of Team Canada's top forwards in the World Junior Hockey Championship. As captain of the Cougars, the team was counting on Connolly to help make them one of the top teams in the Western Conference.
Inglis, who collected 32 goals and 60 points last season, came back from his suspension and was on a point-per-game pace when the Cougars grew tired of his attitude problems and finally sent him home for breaking team rules. He was traded to Red Deer on Dec. 29.
Hirsche, who picked up eight goals and 27 points last season, came back after being sidelined for 12 games and dressed just six more games before he hurt his shoulder again Nov. 12 in Everett, resulting in season-ending surgery on Dec. 5.
Collectively, those three accounted for 86 goals in 2010-11. Without them, the Cougars now have the least productive offence in the WHL, with 89 goals in 38 games, an average of 2.34 per game.
So will the Cougars be sellers or buyers on deadline day? Those decisions ultimately rest with general manager Dallas Thompson.
"When your key guys up front aren't there, obviously we had to start thinking a bit differently and we've played our young guys a lot," said Thompson. "We have a couple older guys who won't be back here next year and we have to see what we can do to improve our team not only next year but we want to improve this year.
"We like our core here, it's just so young. We have to look at some stuff that can maybe help us out up front to get into the playoffs."
Defensively, with goalie Drew Owsley holding the fort admirably, the Cougars rank 10th-best in the league and are much improved over last year, but the 20-year-old netminder can't do it all. Led by 16-year-old rookie Alex Forsberg's 11 goals, the Cougars' season is now half over and they find themselves two points out of a playoff position, owners of a 13-23-0-2 record, with the first-place Kamloops Blazers in town for a weekend series Friday and Saturday.
"When you start the year you think, if everything falls into place you should have a different team than we've got right now," said Clark. "I like all our guys and as a coach, if we didn't [make any trades] I'd be happy. But I've also had the experience of being a GM in this league at one time [with Kamloops] and you know you're always trying to make your team better.
"This is a year we had bigger and better plans at the time and obviously things haven't played well for us so far. Certainly we'll try to do what we can to make our team better moving forward and maybe add some pieces for the future as well."
n Former pro wrestler Bret "Hitman" Hart will make guest appearances at CN Centre next weekend, Jan. 12-13, when the Cougars host the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Jan. 13 is Minor Hockey Night and all players are being encouraged to wear their jerseys to the game.
