Game Preview: Cougars at Rockets:: CHL Game of the Week

Sports stats



WHL Prince George Cougars

Game Preview: Cougars at Rockets:: CHL Game of the Week

December 17, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Prince George Cougars News Release


KELOWNA, BC - Tonight, at Prospera Place, the Prince George Cougars conclude the first half of the regular season schedule as they battle the Kelowna Rockets at 7:05 pm. Tonight's game is also slated as the Canadian Hockey League's game of the week.

LAST GAME: 3-1 win at Spokane Chiefs: The Prince George Cougars improved to 2-1 on their final road trip of the first half with a 3-1 victory over the Spokane Chiefs, on Saturday at the Spokane Arena. Riley Heidt, Koehn Ziemmer, and Borya Valis supplied the Prince George offence while Cooper Michaluk was sensational in the Prince George goal, making 32 saves. That win marked Michaluk's second win as a Cougar, and it came against his former team. The Prince George power-play went 0/3 on the power-play and 1/2 on the penalty kill.

vs. KELOWNA Tonight will be the fourth meeting out of the eight-game season series between the Cougars and Rockets. In the season series, Prince George is currently 2-1 against the Rockets. In the last five season at Prospera Place, the Cougars are 8-9-1-1. For Prince George, Terik Parascak leads the team in points against Kelowna with eight (2-6-8).

2024-2025 REGULAR SEASON STATS

Goals (22) - Koehn Ziemmer

Assists (27) - Terik Parascak

Points (43) -Borya Valis

PIMS (79) - Aiden Foster

Plus/Minus (+23) - Viliam Kmec

Wins (15) - Josh Ravensbergen

Save Percentage (.901) - Josh Ravensbergen

Goals Against Average (3.06) - Josh Ravensbergen

Shutouts (0) - N/A

WHOS HOT

Riley Heidt has points in 10 of his last 11 (9-12-21)

Terik Parascak has points in 4 straight (2-5-7) // 9 of his last 10 (4-14-18)

Koehn Ziemmer has points in 4 of his last 5 (3-3-6)// 11 of his last 14 (15-6-21)

Borya Valis has points in 4 straight (3-5-8) // 13 of his last 16 (10-13-23)

Carson Carels has points in 3 of his last 5 (1-5-6)

Josh Ravensbergen has won his last three of his last four starts

MILESTONE WATCH:

Riley Heidt - 99 career goals (1 away from 100)

Riley Heidt - 219 career assists (17 away from record PG & VIC)

Riley Heidt - 243 career games played (7 away from 250)

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

Terik Parascak - 99 career games played (1 away from 100)

Terik Parascak - 147 career points (3 away from 150)

Terik Parascak - 89 career assists (11 away from 100)

Jett Lajoie - 90 career games played (10 away from 100)

Borya Valis - 186 career points (14 away from 200)

Aiden Foster - 96 career games played (4 away from 100)

Viliam Kmec - 86 career assists (14 away from 100)

Van Eger - 87 career games played (13 away from 100)

A LOOK AHEAD:

December 17th - @ Kelowna Rockets - 7:05 pm PDT

December 27th - @ Victoria Royals - 7:05 pm PDT

December 28th - @ Victoria Royals - 6:05 pm PDT

December 31st - @ Seattle Thunderbirds - 6:05 pm PDT

January 3rd - vs. Seattle Thunderbirds - 7:00 pm PDT

January 4th - vs. Seattle Thunderbirds - 6:00 pm PDT

January 7th - vs. Vancouver Giants - 7:00 pm PDT

January 8th - vs. Vancouver Giants - 6:00 pm PDT

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

31 DOWN: The Prince George Cougars enter tonight with a 17-9-3-2 record (39 points) after 31 games. The Cats are 10-1-3-2 at home and 7-8-0-0 on the road this season. Prince George leads the BC Division and sit in second place in the Western Conference.

CORBIN THE COUGAR: On Sunday, December 8th, the Cougars acquired defenceman Corbin Vaughan (06) from the Regina Pats in exchange for defenceman Ephram McNutt (05) and a second-round pick in 2025.

27 RETURNS FROM OTTAWA: Cougars captain Riley Heidt was invited to Team Canada's National Junior Selection Camp on December 10-13 in Ottawa, ON. Heidt has now returned to the team, and will be in the lineup against Kelowna.

PICKING UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF: For Washington Capitals' first-round selection of 2024 in Terik Parascak, he has picked up where he left off from last season. The product of Lethbridge, AB, leads all Cougar skaters this season in points, compiling 42 (15-26-42) in 27 games played.

BIG BAD BORYA: Forward Borya Valis has been on a tear in his 20-year-old season with the Prince George Cougars. The Denver, CO product has been on a streak as of late owning points in four consecutive games (2-4-6). On the season, Valis owns 43 points.

HOME COOKING: The Prince George Cougars have been no short of terrific at the CN Centre. The Cats have suffered just one regulation loss in the regular season at home since January 21, 2024. This season, Prince George is 10-1-3-2 at the CN Centre.

NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING: Three Prince George Cougars have been named to NHL Central Scouting's Preliminary List. Goaltender Josh Ravensbergen and forwards Jett Lajoie and Aiden Foster were three Prince George Cougars named to the list. In total, 55 WHL players were named to the list. Ravensbergen was named an 'A' rating, which indicates the North Vancouver, BC product as a potential first-round selection. For Lajoie and Foster, they have them named a 'C' rating, which classifies the duo as a possible fourth or fifth-round pick.

RAVENSBERGEN SHINES ON BIG STAGE: Cougar goaltender Joshua Ravensbergen has returned from the CHL USA Prospects Challenge presented by Kubota. The draft-eligible netminder suited up in Game 1 and earned Team CHL the victory and made 15 saves in the win. Ravensbergen was one of two selected goaltenders for Team CHL at the event.

WHERE/HOW TO WATCH:

WHERE: Prospera Place - Kelowna, BC

WHEN: Tuesday, December 17th, 2024 - 7:05 pm

LISTEN: 94.3 The Goat

WATCH: WHL Live

Check out the Prince George Cougars Statistics

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

Western Hockey League Stories from December 17, 2024


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