WHL Prince George Cougars

Cougars Battle Chiefs to Begin WHL Playoffs

Published on March 29, 2024 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Prince George Cougars News Release


PRINCE GEORGE, BC - Tonight, at the CN Centre, the Prince George Cougars kick off the WHL Playoffs against the Spokane Chiefs at 7:00 pm. This marks the fourth time in history that the two teams have met in the WHL Playoffs.

The Prince George Cougars won their final game of the regular season with a 5-2 victory over the Kamloops Blazers. Riley Heidt propelled the PG offence, netting his second career hat-trick. Josh Ravensbergen picked up his 26th win in goal, making 27 saves.

PG GOAL SCORERS: Heidt, Heidt, Becher, Heidt, Valis

GOALIE: Ravensbergen - 27/29 (.931)

PP: 0/3

PK: 2/2

COUGARS LAST FIVE RESULTS, Record: 5-0-0-0

DATE RESULT GWG PG GOALIE OPP. GOALIE

March 15, 2024 PG [6] at VIC [1] Thornton Young Holt

March 16, 2024 PG [10] at VIC [4] Valis Young Krauss

March 17, 2024 PG [6] at VAN [3] Funk Ravensbergen Hutchison

March 22, 2024 PG [9] at KAM [2] Shtrom Young Edmonstone/Sanche

March 23, 2024 PG [5] vs KAM [2] Becher Ravensbergen Sanche

COUGARS UPCOMING SCHEDULE

DATE TIME (PDT) OPPONENT VENUE

March 29, 2024 7:00pm Game 1 - vs. Spokane Chiefs CN Centre

March 30, 2024 6:00 pm Game 2 - vs. Spokane Chiefs CN Centre

April 2, 2024 7:05 pm Game 3 - at Spokane Spokane Memorial Arena

April 3, 2024 6:35 pm Game 4 - at Spokane Spokane Memorial Arena

April 5, 2024 (If NEC) 7:05 pm Game 5 - at Spokane Spokane Memorial Arena

2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON SERIES

Dec. 2/2023 - at Spokane (6-3 PG)

Jan. 26/2024 - at Spokane (4-3 SPO)

Mar. 1/2024 - at Prince George (5-4 SPO/OT)

Feb. 16/2024 - at Prince George (5-4 PG/OT)

PLAYOFF SCHEDULE - PG vs SPO

Mar. 29/2024 - at Prince George

Mar. 30/2024- at Prince George

Apr. 2/2024 - at Spokane

Apr. 3/2024 - at Spokane

Apr. 5/2024 - at Spokane* (If NEC)

Apr. 8 - at Prince George * (If NEC)

Apr. 10 - at Prince George * (If NEC)

2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS

Goals (67): Zac Funk

Assists (80): Riley Heidt

Points (121): Zac Funk

PIMS (122): Aiden Foster

Plus/Minus (+54): Zac Funk

2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON GOALTENDING LEADERS

Wins (25): Joshua Ravensbergen

Save % (.907): Joshua Ravensbergen

Goals Against Average (2.48) - Joshua Ravensbergen

Shutouts (6): Joshua Ravensbergen

PLAYOFF HISTORY vs. SPOKANE

1997 Conf. Semi Finals (PG Wins 3-0)

1998 Conf. Semi Finals (SPO Wins 3-1)

2000 Conference Finals (SPO Wins 4-1)

WHO'S HOT

Ondrej Becher has points in 19 consecutive games (13-27-40)

Zac Funk has points in 14 consecutive games (16-16-32)

Riley Heidt has points in 8 of 9 games (5-12-17)

Hudson Thornton has points in 5 of last 6 games (3-7-10)

TONIGHTS STORYLINES & STATS

TONIGHT: The Cougars enter Game 1, finishing 49-15-1-3 record (102 points) on the season through the 6- game season which has won the BC Division and Western Conference. The Cats finished 25-7-1-1 at home and 24-8-0-2 on the road this season.

HEY NOW, YOU'RE AN ALL-STAR: The BC Division's first and second all-star teams featured six Prince George Cougars. Zac Funk, Riley Heidt, and Hudson Thornton cracked the first all-star team while Viliam Kmec, Terik Parascak, and Joshua Ravensbergen were named to the second team.

HEIDT INKS ENTRY-LEVEL CONTRACT WITH WILD: Cougar forward Riley Heidt signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Minnesota Wild. Heidt was selected 64th overall by the Wild in the 2023 NHL Draft. The fourth year Cougar has accumulated his best season in his WHL career with 117 points.

ZIEMMER IS BACK: Cougars sniper and LA Kings prospect Koehn Ziemmer returned to the Cougar line-up in the final weekend of the season against the Kamloops Blazers. Ziemmer was side-lined since November 27th when he suffered a lower-body injury.

32 + 17 + 27 = 100: On Sunday, March 17th, Terik Parascak became the sixth Cougar in history to reach the 100-point plateau. Parascak becomes the third Cougar on the current roster to reach 100 points (Riley Heidt, Zac Funk).

THIS TEAM: On Saturday, March 16th, the Prince George Cougars won their 46th game of the season which marks them as the winningest team in PG Cougars history. The 2016-17 club won 45 games which was the previous record.

DC GETS FUNKY: 20-year-old sniper Zac Funk has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Washington Capitals. Funk is the third 20-year-old in the last two seasons to sign an NHL deal (Chase Wheatcroft, 2023, DAL - Jaxsen Wiebe, 2023, ANA).

ZAC ATTACK: On March 16th, Zac Funk became the Cougars single season point leader in team history. Funk collected his 113th point of the season which surpasses alumnus Quinn Hancock's record of 112 in 1997-98.

PRE-GAME MEDIA

PRE-GAME INTERVIEW WITH GM & HEAD COACH MARK LAMB

https://media.chl.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/46/2024/03/29143554/240317_0244.mp3

PRE-GAME INTERVIEW WITH CAPTAIN HUDSON THORNTON

https://media.chl.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/46/2024/03/29143746/240317_0253.mp3

PRE-GAME INTERVIEW WITH SPOKANE CHIEFSHEAD COACH RYAN SMITH

https://media.chl.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/46/2024/03/29143850/240317_0302.mp3

HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN

WHEN: Friday, March 29th - 7:00 pm

WHERE: CN Centre - Prince George, BC

LISTEN: 94.3 The Goat

WATCH: WHL Live

Check out the Prince George Cougars Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from March 29, 2024


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