WHL Prince George Cougars

Dezainde Makes Return as Cougars Host Royals

December 8, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Prince George Cougars News Release


Tonight, at the CN Centre, the Prince George Cougars host the Victoria Royals to begin their final home stand of the first half of the season at 7:00 pm.

The Prince George Cougars completed their US Division road swing with three wins in three nights. The most recent contest came back on Sunday night with a 4-0 blanking of the Portland Winterhawks. Joshua Ravensbergen earned his fifth shutout of the season, making 33 saves, and Zac Funk triggered the Cougar offence, netting his fourth hat-trick of the season.

Cougars Record: 21-7-0-0

Cougars Last Game: A 4-0 win over the Portland Winterhawks on December 3rd

Royals Record: 17-11-0-2

Royals Last Game: A 5-4 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds on December 5th

2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON SERIES

Sep. 29/2023 - at Victoria (11-2 PG)

Sep. 30/2023 - at Victoria (5-3 PG)

Dec. 8/2023 - at Prince George

Dec. 9/2023 - at Prince George

Feb. 9/2024 - at Prince George

Feb. 10/2024 - vs Victoria

Feb. 15/2024 - at Victoria

Feb. 16/2024 - at Victoria

2022-2023 REGULAR SEASON SERIES

Nov. 18/2022 - at Victoria (9-1 PG)

Nov. 19/2022 - at Victoria (5-2 PG)

Feb. 3/2023 - at Prince George (8-1 PG)

Feb. 4/2023 - at Prince George (4-2 PG)

Feb. 25/2023 - at Victoria (6-5 PG/OT)

Mar. 10/2023 - at Victoria (8-3 PG)

Mar. 11/2023 - at Victoria (6-3 PG)

Mar. 17/2023 - at Prince George (7-1 PG)

Mar. 18/2023 - at Prince George (7-6 VIC/SO)

2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON STATS LEADERS

Goals (30): Zac Funk

Assists (39): Riley Heidt

Points (53): Riley Heidt

PIMS (52): Aiden Foster

Plus/Minus (+23): Terik Parascak

2023-2024 REGULAR SEASON GOALTENDING LEADERS

Wins (11): Ty Young

Save % (.944): Joshua Ravensbergen

Goals Against Average (1.63) - Joshua Ravensbergen

Shutouts (5): Joshua Ravensbergen

COUGARS CAREER MILESTONES WITHIN REACH:

Ondrej Becher - 49 career assists (1 away from 150)

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

Terik Parascak - 43 career points (7 away from 50)

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

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

WHO'S HOT

Zac Funk has points and goals in 8 consecutive games (14-2-16)

Hudson Thornton has points in 8 consecutive games (1-10-11)

Joshua Ravensbergen has won his last 7 starts

Riley Heidt has multi-point games in 6 of his last 8 games

Terik Parascak has points in 6 of his last 8 games (3-9-12)

28 DOWN: The Cougars enter tonight with a 21-7-0-0 record (42 points) on the season through 28 games which leads the BC Division, Western Conference, and Western Hockey League. The Cats are 11-4-0-0 at home and 10-3-0-0 on the road so far this season.

AGAINST THE WEST: The Cougars enter tonight's contest against the Royals with a 14-5-0-0 record against Western Conference opponents and are 8-2 against the BC Division.

CHL TOP TEN: The Cougars were ranked 2nd in the CHL Top 10 - Week 10. Having lost Los Angeles Kings prospect Koehn Ziemmer to an ankle injury for the foreseeable future at the start of the week, Prince George showed its resilience and the depth of its club by winning road games against Tri-City (4-1), Spokane (6-3) and Portland (4-0). 20-year-old Zac Funk continued his incredible start to the season, scoring 10 points (9G-1A) in the Cougars' four games last week, including a pair of hat-tricks.

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.

DEZAINDE RETURNS: Prince George returns a key contributor to their lineup in 19-year-old Carlin Dezainde. Dezainde was sidelined since October with an upper-body injury. In 11 games this season, the Calgary, AB product has amassed 14 points (5-9-14).

ZAC ATTACK: Cougar forward and 20-year-old Zac Funk has had a memorable 28 games to his final junior hockey season. 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 four hat-tricks which leads the Western Hockey League.

THE SUPER ROOKIE: Cougar rookie sensation Terik Parascak has surprised many in 2023-2024. Parascak currently owns 40 points entering tonight's game (22-18-40).

ANOTHER SUPER ROOKIE: Cougars' rookie goaltender Joshua Ravensbergen has been incredible this season. The North Vancouver, BC product enters tonight with a 10-1-0-0 record on the season with a 1.63 goals against average and a .944 with a league-leading five shutouts. Ravensbergen is one shutout away from tying Scott Bowles for the franchise record for shutouts in a single season.

THE CAPTAIN IS RED HOT: Cougar captain and 20-year-old Hudson Thornton is in a fantastic position to set another team record. The captain enters tonight's game against the Royals with 155 career points which is three shy of the franchise record among defencemen. Alumnus, long-time NHL'er, and part-owner Dan Hamhuis is the current leader with 157 points.

WHAT'S AHEAD: Following tonight's game, the Cats will complete their home portion of the schedule tomorrow night against the Victoria Royals in PG's annual Teddy & Toque Toss game. Prince George will then hit the road for two games south of the border against the Everett Silvertips (Dec. 13) and Wenatchee Wild (Dec. 15) and then wrap up the first half against the Vancouver Giants (Dec. 16).

HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN

WHEN: Friday, December 8 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 8, 2023


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