Josh Curtis knows the clock is ticking down on his junior hockey career.
A check of the schedule confirms the 20-year-old Prince George Cougars captain has just 24 regular-season games left and he's not ready to call that a career.
Not when there's a playoff carrot being dangled in front of him.
The Cougars right now are in a playoff position but their current standing is precarious. Heading into Saturday night's game at CN Centre (7 p.m.) against the Kamloops Blazers the Cougars sport a 16-23-1-2 record and they hold down the second of two Western Conference wild-card spots.
The Blazers (15-23-2-1) have lost seven of their last 10 but are only two points behind Prince George with a game in hand. The Seattle Thunderbirds are just one point shy of the Cougars for the second wild-card spot. On the other hand, the Cats are only three points behind the Kelowna Rockets for third place in the B.C. Division and have played one fewer game.
"It's a good feeling," said Curtis, "but it can go south as much as it can go north.
"We have to make sure we stick to it and we can't have nights off, especially against Kamloops. Any divisional game is a big game and we have to make sure we bring our top game."
The fact the Cougars have been playing their best hockey of the season this month (notwithstanding their 6-2 loss Wednesday to the top-notch Prince Albert Raiders) has Curtis believing there will be life ahead of the Cats in the playoffs after the regular season ends with a home-and-home weekend series against the Blazers March 15-16.
If they keep beating their division rivals like they did last weekend while sweeping the Rockets in a two-game set, that postseason scenario will appear much more likely. Fifteen of the Cougars' 24 remaining games are against B.C. Division opponents.
The Blazers will stick around town for a Sunday matinee at CN Centre that starts at 2 p.m. Revenge is obviously on the minds of the Cougars this weekend, knowing the Blazers came into Prince George Nov. 17-18 and won both games at CN Centre. They spanked the Cats 5-1 and 7-3 and also beat them 2-1 Dec. 30 in Kamloops.
"This is a big weekend and we have to make sure we get some games up on Kamloops," said Curtis. "They've kind of had our number this year but they'll be back in our house and we're excited for it."
In Wednesday's game the Cougars were still within a goal of tying the Raiders until the five-minute mark of the third period and Curtis says that gives his team confidence they can hang with any team if they bring their best effort every night.
"It was a good test for us, there's a lot of speed on that team and they're a real good offensive team with a lot of experience and it got away from us in the third," he said. "It was a tough start (falling behind 2-0) but it was a good rebound by us. The first two periods we played pretty decent and (goalie Taylor Gauthier) played really well and kept us in it."
Curtis joined the Cougars midway through the 2015-16 season from the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, where he played parts of two years for his hometown Winnipeg Blues. Now in his third full season with the Cougars he's been playing right wing on a line with Brendan Boyle and Jackson Leppard. Through 42 games Curtis has seven goals and nine assists for 16 points.
The Cougars are the second-lowest scoring team in the WHL (just 97 goals in 42 games) and the overager Curtis will be hard-pressed to match his 36-point total from 2017-18 with just two months left in his last WHL season. That's not a real concern to him.
"It does go really fast, next thing you know it's going to be March and I've really enjoyed my last year," he said. "But it would be a lot more enjoyable if March 18 comes around and it's not my last game as a Cougar and we're in playoffs.
"That's the goal for me and that's the goal for us."
