Reunions with cousins are usually a cause for celebration.
Dealing with Dylan Cozens is an entirely different matter, the kind that gives opposition coaches gray hair.
The 19-year-old Lethbridge Hurricanes centre proved he's an extremely tough load to handle at the world junior hockey championship as a key figure in Canada's gold-medal triumph. In the final, Cozens scored the goal to tie the Russians 1-1 in what ended up a 4-3 win and he had two goals and seven assists in the tournament.
Picked seventh overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2019 draft, Cozens has continued to light it up in his third Western Hockey League season and will be in the lineup tonight (7 p.m.) at CN Centre when the Hurricanes play the Prince George Cougars in their only meeting of the season.
Cozens leads the 'Canes in scoring with 36 goals and 45 assists for 81 points and ranks fifth in the WHL scoring race and he's playing for one of the strongest teams in the league.
"He's going to be a handful, he was one of the top world junior players, but they've got some pieces right through their lineup and they're very deep," said Cougars head coach and general manager Mark Lamb. "They're one of the top teams in the league and it's going to be a challenge. They can play with anybody."
Cozens' presence at the pivot position has helped 19-year-old Slovakian left winger Oliver Okuliar emerge in a breakout season since joining Lethbridge from Sherbrooke of the QMJHL. Okuliar is second in team scoring with 66 points, including 32 goals.
The Hurricanes have three other players scoring at a point-per-game pace or better, including defencemen Alex Cotton (18-47-65) and Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Calen Addison (20-38-55), as well as centre Logan Barlage (20-38-58).
Hurricanes general manager Peter Anholt pulled off one of the best trades of the season when he latched on to 20-year-old centre Brett Davis (Dallas Stars, sixth-round, 2017) acquired in a deadline deal with Red Deer that cost the Hurricanes just a fourth-round bantam pick in 2021. Davis has 16 goals and 21 points in 17 games since joining the 'Canes.
The Cougars have nobody close to a point-per-game pace. Josh Maser (25-18-43) is their leading pointgetter and defenceman Cole Moberg (12-22-34), tied with defenceman Ryan Schoettler (3-31-34).
Carl Tetachuk, 19, has handled most of the goaltending load for Lethbridge and sports a 21-10-1-5 record with a 2.70 goals-against average and .906 save percentage.
The Hurricanes are 6-4-0-0 in their last 10 games as they begin a three-game B.C. Division roadtrip. Their 37-16-2-5 record is fourth-best in the WHL and they're fighting to stay ahead of the Medicine Hat Tigers in the race for second place in the Central Division. Lethbridge has a two-point lead over the Tigers with eight games left in the season.
The Cougars (17-34-4-4) are in a tailspin, 1-8-1-0 in their last 10, having lost five straight at home. The Cats can take some comfort in the fact they've done well against Lethbridge and are 3-1-0-0 against them over the past five seasons.
They remain 11 points behind the Seattle Thunderbirds for the second wild-card playoff spot and with just nine games left are all but mathematically eliminated.
"Ultimately you've got to play good to make the playoffs and you've got to improve, and that's still what we're trying to do," said Lamb. "We had a tough stretch there and in the most important stretch we got pretty beat up. That's exactly what happened."
The Cougars will be without winger Nikita Kriviokrasov (knee) and defenceman Marco Creta is still home in Winnipeg for personal reasons. But the will likely have defenceman Jack Sander back after he missed two games after he was cut on the face by teammate Cole Sander's skate blade. Centre Ethan Browne (back spasms) is a questionable starter for tonight's game. Keaton Dowhaniuk, an affiliated player from OHA Edmonton, is on hand to fill in at defence as an injury replacement. He has one assists in six games with the Cats and has shown his physical nature since getting called up last week.
Forward Noah Boyko (upper body) is the only injured Hurricane.
The Cougars are down to their last three home games and will host the Vancouver Giants in a weekend set Friday and Saturday.
LOOSE PUCKS: The Cougars have launched their season membership drive for next season and will hold the line of ticket prices, with seat prices starting at $7.70 per game. Seniors 65 and older and youths aged 2-18 are eligible for discounts in the red and blue zones at CN Centre. The club is adding more flexibility with its Pick Your Schedule option on 34-game season packages. Ticket-buyers have the option of using that season membership to get 34 people in the rink for one game, two people for 17 games or one person for all 34 games, whatever they prefer. Existing season members have until June 15 to renew their current seats. More details are available at the Cougars' office, at the CN Centre TicketsNorth booth at CN Centre and on the Cougars website at pgcougars.com. The Cougars can be reached at 250-561-0783.
