Six members of the 2016-17 Prince George Cougars are now in the professional hockey ranks.
Jansen Harkins, Colby McAuley, Radovan Bondra, Brendan Guhle, Jesse Gabrielle and Josh Anderson have all been added to American Hockey League rosters. Harkins signed an entry-level contract with the Winnipeg Jets last Thursday and was in action Friday night with the team's AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose.
Harkins' ascent to the AHL was followed by five other Cougars getting the call. McAuley spent the weekend with the San Jose Barracuda, Bondra skated for the Rockford IceHogs, Guhle is with the Rochester Americans, Gabrielle has joined the Providence Bruins and Anderson is about to get a look from the San Antonio Rampage.
Harkins, a 2015 second-round draft pick of the Jets, notched an assist in his first game with the Moose, who beat the visiting Tucson Roadrunners 5-4 in overtime on Friday. In a Sunday rematch, Harkins was held pointless in a 4-3 win but had two shots on goal and finished at plus-one.
Harkins dressed in six games for the Moose last season. In those contests, he had a goal and two assists.
The undrafted McAuley, meanwhile, caught the attention of the San Jose Sharks organization and signed an amateur tryout contract with the Barracuda. In his professional debut, he got on the scoresheet with an assist in a 5-2 Saturday loss to the Stockton Heat. In a 2-1 overtime victory against the Heat on Sunday, he had a shot on goal but no points.
As for Bondra - chosen by the Chicago Blackhawks in the fifth round of the 2015 NHL draft - he made his pro debut with the IceHogs in a 4-2 Saturday setback to the Milwaukee Admirals. Bondra had a shot on goal in the game. On Sunday, with Bondra again in uniform, the IceHogs took on the Chicago Wolves and fell 3-1.
Guhle, a top prospect on defence for the Buffalo Sabres and a guy who spent time with the NHL club this past season, scored for the Americans in a 3-2 Friday loss to the visiting Hershey Bears. Guhle, who was in the Americans' starting lineup, found the Hershey net at the 14:32 mark of the first period and gave his team a 2-1 lead at the time. On Saturday, the Americans beat the Utica Comets 5-0 but Guhle was held pointless. In a busy weekend for the team, Rochester was back on the ice Sunday in Toronto against the Marlies and dropped a 4-3 decision. Again, Guhle was held off the scoreboard.
In nine career AHL games with the Americans, Guhle has two goals and three assists.
Gabrielle, a Boston Bruins draft pick (fourth round, 2015), played three games for Providence last season while on an amateur tryout contract. He signed an entry-level deal with Boston in December and is expected to be in the Providence lineup tonight in Springfield when the Bruins clash with the Thunderbirds.
Anderson, a third-year Cougars defenceman, is also heading to the AHL, the team announced on Tuesday afternoon. He has signed an amateur tryout pact with the Rampage, who are linked to the NHL's Colorado Avalanche. Anderson was chosen by the Avs in the third round of the 2016 draft.
The Rampage will visit the Texas Stars tonight.
The AHL regular season ends on Saturday.
The Cougars players - who helped the club bring the B.C. Division regular-season championship banner to the city - are getting AHL opportunities after the team was eliminated from the Western Hockey League playoffs by the Portland Winterhawks.
The Winterhawks and Kelowna Rockets played Game 3 of their second-round series Tuesday night in Portland. The Rockets, by virtue of 4-2 and 5-2 wins, had a 2-0 series lead heading into that contest. Game 4 is tonight, also in Portland.
In other Cougars' news, forward Nikita Popugaev is listed at No. 28 among North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting's final draft rankings. Popugaev, an 18-year-old from Moscow, Russia, joined the Cougars in January after a trade from the Moose Jaw Warriors. In 71 total games, he had 29 goals and 69 points. With the Cougars, he put up seven goals and 18 points in 31 outings.
Popugaev, a left winger, is listed at six-foot-six and 217 pounds.
Centre Nolan Patrick of the Brandon Wheat Kings is ranked No. 1 for North American skaters. Other WHLers in the top 20 are: F Michael Rasmussen (Tri-City, No. 5); F Cody Glass (Portland, No. 6); D Juuso Valimaki (Tri-City, No. 11); D Callan Foote (Kelowna, No. 12); F Kailer Yamamoto (Spokane, No. 17); and D Henri Jokiharju (Portland, No. 19).
