WHL Prince George Cougars

Cougars Aim to Sweep US Road Swing in Portland

December 3, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Prince George Cougars News Release


Tonight, at the Veteran's Memorial Coliseum in Portland, the Prince George Cougars take on the Portland Winterhawks at 5:00 pm to wrap up three games in three nights.

The Prince George Cougars collected their ninth road win of the season with a 6-3 victory over the Spokane Chiefs on Saturday night at the Spokane Arena, The Cougars exploded to a 5-0 lead and held on in the end. Ondrej Becher led the way for Prince George, accumulating three points in the victory, while Ty Young earned his 11th win of the season.

Cougars Record: 20-7-0-0

Cougars Last Game: A 6-3 win over the Spokane Chiefs on December 2

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Winterhawks Record: 15-8-1-1

Winterhawks Last Game: A 6-5 Overtime Loss to the Wenatchee Wild on December 2

2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON SERIES

Dec. 3/2023 - at Portland

Jan. 6/2024 - at Portland

Jan. 19/2024 - vs Portland

Jan. 20/2024 - vs Portland

2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON SERIES

Nov. 2/2022 - at Portland (5-4 PG/SO)

Dec. 7/2022 - at Portland (4-2 POR)

Feb. 20/2023 - vs Portland (1-0 PG/SO)

Feb. 21/2023 - vs Portland (3-1 PG)

2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS

Goals (27): Zac Funk

Assists (36): Riley Heidt

Points (50): Riley Heidt

PIMS (52): Aiden Foster

Plus/Minus (+20): Terik Parascak

2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON GOALTENDING LEADERS

Wins (11): Ty Young

Save % (.938): Joshua Ravensbergen

Goals Against Average (1.78) - Joshua Ravensbergen

Shutouts (4): Joshua Ravensbergen

COUGARS CAREER MILESTONES WITHIN REACH:

Viliam Kmec - 149 games played (1 away from 150)

Ondrej Becher - 48 career assists (2 away from 50)

Viliam Kmec - 49 career assists (1 away from 50)

Hudson Thornton - 44 career goals (6 away from 50)

Terik Parascak - 40 career points (10 away from 50)

Carlin Dezainde - 147 games played (3 away from 150)

WHO'S HOT

Riley Heidt has points in 18 of last 19 games (8-30-38)

Zac Funk has points and goals in 7 consecutive games (11-2-13)

Hudson Thornton has points in 7 consecutive games (1-9-10)

Joshua Ravensbergen has won his last 6 starts

Riley Heidt has multi-point games in 7 of his last 8 games

Terik Parascak has points in 5 of his last 7 games (3-6-9)

27 DOWN: The Cougars enter tonight with a 20-7-0-0 record (40 points) on the season through 27 games which leads the BC Division, Western Conference, and Western Hockey League. The Cats are 11-4-0-0 at home and 9-3-0-0 on the road so far this season.

AGAINST THE WEST: The Cougars enter tonight's contest against the Winterhawks with a 13-5-0-0 record against Western Conference opponents and are 5-3 against the US Division.

TOP OF THE TABLE: The Cougars were ranked 1st in the CHL Top 10 - Week 9. This marks the first time the Cougars have been ranked 1st in the CHL rankings since the 2016-2017 season when they captured their first BC Division banner in franchise history.

ALL ABORD THE HEIDT TRAIN: Cougars forward Riley Heidt has dazzled for his team in 2023-2024. Heidt enters tonight with recording at least a point in 23 of the 25 games he has played. On Friday, November 24th against the Lethbridge Hurricanes, the Saskatoon, SK product recorded his 200th career point in the WHL. He is just the ninth Cougar in franchise history to hit that milestone.

THE SUPER ROOKIE: Cougar rookie sensation Terik Parascak has surprised many in 2023-2024. Parascak currently owns 41 points entering tonight's game (22-19-41). Parascak came onto the WHL scene hot this season and was named the league Rookie of the Month for September/October. "It's an honour to win that award," commented Parascak. "It's something that keeps motivating me to get better and hopefully keep producing and most importantly, helping our team win."

ANOTHER SUPER ROOKIE: Cougars' rookie goaltender Joshua Ravensbergen has been stellar this season. The North Vancouver, BC product enters tonight with a 9-2-0-0 record on the season with 1.76 goals against average and a .938 save percentage, with a league-leading four shutouts. Ravensbergen went undrafted in the WHL and signed with the Cats last spring.

ZAC ATTACK: Cougar forward and 20-year-old Zac Funk has had a memorable 27 games to his final junior hockey season. The product of Coldstream, BC owns 48 points (27-21-48). Funk's 27 goals lead the Western Hockey League. Funk was named the WHL's Player of the Month for September/October. At the time of the award being announced, Funk recorded 30 points (14G-16A) in 14 games to start the season atop the WHL scoring charts heading into November. Funk's 14 goals rank third in the WHL, while his 16 assists are good enough to leave him tied for fourth in the League. "It's an honour to be named Player of the Month. This doesn't happen without my teammates," Funk humbly said. "We are gelling right now, and I think that has really helped with everything and hopefully we keep it going."

'CZECH'ING IN: Second year forward Ondrej Becher has been red hot 27 games into the Cougar season. Becher, from Ostrava, CZE, has dazzled for the Cats, owning 41 points (15-26-41), along with a +16 rating which ranks first among all Prince George skaters. Becher was selected 16th overall by the Cats in the 2022 CHL Import draft.

KOSICE KMEC: Veteran blue-liner Viliam Kmec has been no short of impressive in 2023-2024. Kmec, in his third year with the Cats, owns 19 points in 25 games thus far (7-12-19). Kmec's seven goals tie his career high, where he notched seven tallies in the 2022-23 campaign. Kmec, most recently, has been named to Team Slovakia's preliminary roster for the upcoming World Junior Hockey Championship in Sweden.

WHAT'S AHEAD: Following tonight's game, the Cats will return home for the final home games of the first half of the season when they host the Victoria Royals on Friday, December 8th and Saturday, December 9th at the CN Centre. You can get your tickets HERE

HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN

WHEN: Sunday, December 3 at 5:00pm PDT

WHERE: Veteran's Memorial Coliseum - Portland, OR

WATCH: WHL Live

LISTEN: 94.3 The Goat

Check out the Prince George Cougars Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from December 3, 2023


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