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WHL Prince George Cougars

Chase Pauls Makes Cougars Debut; Cougars Host Hitmen

December 28, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Prince George Cougars News Release


Tonight, at the CN Centre, the Prince George Cougars wrap up a brief two-game home-stand with a date against the Calgary Hitmen. Tonight marks Prince George's final home game of 2023.

The Prince George Cougars kicked off the second half of their schedule with a setback to the Edmonton Oil Kings in front of 4500-plus fans at CN Centre. The Cats put together a late comeback that ultimately fell short. Aiden Foster netted his first WHL goal in the loss.

PG GOAL SCORERS: Danis, Heidt, Foster, Shtrom

GOALIE: Ravensbergen (8/12, .666), Young (11/12, .916)

PP: 1/3

PK: 1/4

2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON SERIES

Dec. 28/2023 - at Prince George

2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON SERIES

Jan. 18/2023 - at Calgary (6-5 PG)

2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS

Goals (36): Zac Funk

Assists (46): Riley Heidt

Points (64): Riley Heidt

PIMS (63): Aiden Foster

Plus/Minus (+27): Terik Parascak

2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON GOALTENDING LEADERS

Wins (12): Ty Young

Save % (.928): Joshua Ravensbergen

Goals Against Average (2.07) - Joshua Ravensbergen

Shutouts (6): Joshua Ravensbergen

COUGARS CAREER MILESTONES WITHIN REACH:

Hudson Thornton - 46 career goals (4 away from 50)

Zac Funk - 194 career games played (6 away from 200)

Zac Funk - 79 career assists (1 away from 80)

Zac Funk - 88 career goals (2 away from 90, 12 away from 100)

Keaton Dowhaniuk - 193 career games played (7 away from 200)

Chase Pauls - 190 career games played (10 away from 200)

Terik Parasack - 26 career goals (4 away from 30)

Oren Shtrom - 140 career games played (10 away from 150)

Arjun Bawa - 95 career games played (5 away from 100)

Riley Heidt - 187 career games played (13 away from 200)

Riley Heidt - 66 career goals (4 away from 70)

WHO'S HOT

Zac Funk has points 12 of last 14 games (20-8-28)

Riley Heidt has nine points in his last three games - (3-6-9)

Terik Parascak has points in 6 of 7 games (4-8-12)

Ondrej Becher has points in 3 of his last 4 games (3-4-7)

Joshua Ravensbegren has 12 wins in 19 WHL appearances (12-3)

TONIGHTS STORYLINES & STATS

34 DOWN: The Cougars enter tonight with a 24-10-0-0 record (48 points) on the season through 34 games which leads the BC Division and the Western Conference. The Cats are 12-6-0-0 at home and 12-4-0-0 on the road so far this season.

WELCOME ABOARD, CHASE PAULS: The Cougars have acquired veteran blue-liner Chase Pauls from the Lethbridge Hurricanes in exchange for a third-round selection in the 2024 WHL Prospect's Draft. Pauls, 20, owned nine points in 30 games (2-7-9) with Lethbridge in the 2023-2024 campaign. Hailing from Osler, SK, the right-handed blue-liner who stands at 6'5" has had a robust WHL career, suiting up in 190 games and accumulating 55 points (18-37-55) over four seasons."Pauls is a big veteran defensive defenceman that will fit in our group very well," commented GM & Head Coach Mark Lamb. "He is a top penalty killer, defends hard, and makes a good first pass." Pauls makes his Cougars debut tonight.

AGAINST THE EAST: The Cougars enter tonight's contest against the Hitmen with a 7-3-0-0 record against the Eastern Conference and are 4-1 against the Central division.

ALL ABORD THE HEIDT TRAIN: Cougars forward Riley Heidt has dazzled for his team in 2023-2024. Heidt was the first CHL skater this season to reach 60 points and enters tonight with nine points in his last three games.

THE BERGER: Cougars' rookie goaltender Joshua Ravensbergen has been incredible this season. The North Vancouver, BC product enters tonight with a 10-3-0-0 record on the season with a 2.06 goals against average and a .927 save percentage with a league-leading six shutouts. Ravensbergen has tied a WHL record for most shutouts by a rookie goalie. The North Vancouver, BC product also tied alumnus Scott Bowles for the teams' single-season shutout record.

ZAC ATTACK: Cougar forward and 20-year-old Zac Funk has had a memorable final junior hockey season thus far. The product of Coldstream, BC was the first WHL skater this season to reach the 30-goal mark. On top of that, Funk has netted five hat-tricks which leads the Western Hockey League. Entering tonight's game against Edmonton, Funk owns 36 goals and is first in league scoring.

TOP PROSPECTS GAME: Cougar rookie sensation Terik Parascak has been invited to the CHL/NHL Kubota Top Prospects Game in Moncton, NB. The Lethbridge, AB native has surprised many in 2023-2024. Parascak currently owns 52 points entering tonight's game (26-26-52). Parascak was named the WHL's Rookie of the Month for September/October. Parascak, 17, recorded 29 points (17G-12A) in 14 games to start the season and sits second in WHL scoring behind his teammate Zac Funk, who was named WHL Player of the Month for September/October.

O CANADA: Cougars Associate Coach Jim Playfair has been named an Assistant Coach for Team Canada at the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland. This marks the first time Playfair has gotten the opportunity to rep the maple leaf behind the bench. The head coach for the tournament is former NHL Head Coach Bruce Boudreau. Canada is currently 1-1 at the Spengler Cup.

AT THE WORLD JUNIORS Both of Prince George's European players are in Sweden at the World Junior Hockey Championship. Viliam Kmec is with Team Slovakia for the third consecutive season. Ondrej Becher is with Team Czechia for the first time at the World Junior. Slovakia is leading the group thus far with a 2-0 record, while the Czech's are 1-1.

CAPTAIN STANDS ALONE: On December 16th, captain Hudson Thornton became the Cougars franchise leader for points (158) among defenceman, surpassing alumnus Dan Hamhuis. The Winnipeg, MB native broke the record with a wrist shot inside the blue line to help his team to a convincing 9-2 win over Vancouver.

WHAT'S AHEAD: Following tonight's game, the Cats will hit the road for a five-game swing that begins Saturday, December 30th in Kamloops against the Blazers and wraps up on Sunday January 7th in Everett.

CHL TOP TEN: Sitting in first place in the WHL, the Cougars (24-9-0-0) jump back up to No. 2 in this week's CHL Top-10 Rankings. Through 33 games, Prince George owns a +63 goal differential, which is tied with Baie-Comeau for the best mark in the CHL. The Cougars are also averaging 4.61 goals per game this season, which ranks third in the CHL behind only the No.4-ranked Kitchener Rangers (4.85) and the Portland Winterhawks (4.71). This past week, following a 5-2 loss to Everett, Prince George was dominant in victories against Wenatchee (6-3) and Vancouver (9-2). Minnesota Wild prospect Riley Heidt was excellent in those two games against the Wild and the Giants, collecting two goals and six assists. Heidt leads the CHL with 63 points alongside his teammate Zac Funk, who also had a solid week. Funk registered four goals and nine points in the Cougars' three games, which included recording his fifth hat-trick of the season against the Wild.

HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN

WHEN: Thursday, December 28 at 7:00pm PDT

WHERE: CN Centre- Prince George, BC

WATCH: WHL Live

LISTEN: 94.3 The Goat

Check out the Prince George Cougars Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from December 28, 2023


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