Game Preview: Cougars at Rockets: 0

Sports stats



WHL Prince George Cougars

Game Preview: Cougars at Rockets: 0

January 10, 2025 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Prince George Cougars News Release


*** Part 1.1 - UTF-8

class="sidebar-right sidebar-divider-vertical">

Jan102025

Article

Game Preview | Cougars at Rockets | 01/10/25

Category: Article January 10, 2025

KELOWNA, BC - Tonight, at Prospera Place, the Prince George Cougars take on the Kelowna Rockets for the first time in 2025 at 7:05 pm.

THE LAST GAME: Jan. 8, 2025 - PG 6 vs VAN 5

PG Goal Scorers: Kmec (2), Heidt, Vaughan, Parascak, Riche

VAN Goal Scorers: Sparks, Leslie, Muranov (2), Lipinski

Goalies: PG: Ravensbergen (26/31 - 60:00) VAN: Smith (28/34- 59:20)

PG PP: 1/5 PK: 2/3 | Shots: PG: 34 / VAN: 31

3 Stars: 1. Riche, PG; 2. Kmec, PG; 3: Muranov, VAN

Noteworthy: Ben Riche netted his first goal as a Prince George Cougar. That goal ended up being the game-winning goal with 45 seconds remaining in the game.

WHO'S HOT:

Riley Heidt has points in 5 consecutive games (5-6-11) 10 of his last 11 (9-8-17)

Terik Parascak has points in 4 of his last 5 (2-6-8) in 14 of his last 18 (7-20-27)

Ben Riche has points in 10 consecutive games (7-9-16)

Borya Valis has points in 5 consecutive games (3-5-8) 10 of his last 13 (7-12-19)

Josh Ravensbergen has won five of his last six starts

Cooper Michaluk has won his last three starts

MILESTONE WATCH

Riley Heidt - 226 career assists (10 away from record PG & VIC)

Koehn Ziemmer - 113 career goals (8 away from Cougars record)

Jett Lajoie - 98 career games played (2 away from 100)

Borya Valis - 195 career points (5 away from 200)

Viliam Kmec - 90 career assists (19 away from 100)

Van Eger - 89 career games played (11 away from 100)

Josh Ravensbergen - 46 career wins (5 away from 50)

Aleksey Chichkin - 93 career games played (7 away from 100)

Ben Riche - 47 career goals (3 away from 50)

A LOOK AHEAD:

January 10th - @ Kelowna Rockets - 7:05 pm PDT

January 11th - @ Kamloops Blazers - 6:00 pm PDT

January 17th - @ Spokane Chiefs - 7:05 pm PDT

January 18th - @ Everett Silvertips - 6:05 pm PDT

January 24th - vs Brandon Wheat Kings - 7:00 pm PDT

January 25th - vs Kamloops Blazers - 6:00 pm

January 28th - vs Swift Current Broncos - 7:00 pm

January 31st - vs. Tri-City Americans - 7:00 pm

February 1st - vs. Tri-City Americans - 6:00 pm

February 4th - at Tri City Americans - 7:05 pm

February 7th - at Kelowna Rockets - 7:05 pm

February 8th - at Kamloops Blazers - 6:00 pm

THE LAST GAME vs KEL: Dec. 17, 2024 - PG 5 vs KEL 3

PG Goal Scorers: Danis, Carels, Kmec (2), Parascak

KEL Goal Scorers: Cristall (2), Calhoon

Goalies: PG: Ravensbergen (17/20 - 60:00) KEL: Stoesser (29/33 - 59:47)

PG PP: 1/1 PK: 1/1 | Shots: PG: 34 / KEL: 20

3 Stars: 1. Cristall, KEL; 2. Kmec, PG; 3: Heidt, PG

Noteworthy: Viliam Kmec reached the 30 plus point plateau for the third consecutive season after scoring twice in the victory over the Rockets.

SEASON SERIES LEFT: 02/07 at KEL, 02/25 at PG, 02/26 at PG

NOTED (Team Highlights vs KEL)

The Cougars and Rockets meet for the 37th time in the last five seasons in their regular season history...Prince George holds a 19-16-1-1 overall record. The Cougars are 9-2-0-1 in the last eleven meetings, dating back to the 2023-24 regular season.

NOTED (Player Highlights vs KEL)

-Riley Heidt owns 34 points (6-28-34) in 35 career games against Kelowna

-Koehn Ziemmer owns 30 points (15-15-30) in 32 career games against Kelowna

-Terik Parascak has 22 points (9-13-22) in 12 career games against Kelowna

- Viliam Kmec owns 20 points (7-13-20) in 32 games against Kelowna

-Josh Ravensbergen is a career 7-2 against Kelowna

CATS ARE HOT: The Cougars enter Friday's contest having won eight of their last nine games. The Cats enter January after their season-best month of December, sporting an 8-1-0-0 record. The Cougars sit atop the BC Division and are second in the Western Conference.

THE PRICE IS RICHE: On Wednesday, January 8th, the Prince George Cougars acquired sniper Ben Riche (05) from the Saskatoon Blades in exchange for Hunter Laing, Luke Dumas, a first-round pick in 2026, and a fifth-round pick in 2028. Riche has had a monster season, owning 54 points (23-31-54) in 37 games played before joining PG. In his debut on Wednesday against Vancouver, Riche netted his first goal as a Cougar which resulted being the game winning goal

MAKING MOVES: On Thursday, January 9th, Prince George acquired forward Cole Peardon from the Red Deer Rebels in exchange for a 2026 fifth-round pick. Peardon, a former first-round pick, owns five points (1-4-5) in 23 games. On Tuesday, January 7th, the Cougars acquired 6'5 defenceman Aleksey Chichkin (05) from the Regina Pats in exchange for a fourth-round pick in 2027. The Vancouver, BC native owns seven points (3-4-7) in 33 games this season.

CATS DO BC: Entering tonight's battle against Kelowna, the Cougars are 14-2-0-1 against the BC Division. The Cougars have outscored their BC division foes 80-50, and are nearly connecting at 30% on the power-play (25.9%).


• Discuss this story on the Western Hockey League message board...

Western Hockey League Stories from January 10, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central