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WHL Prince George Cougars

Game Preview: Cougars at Royals

December 27, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Prince George Cougars News Release


VICTORIA, BC - Tonight, at the Save on Foods Memorial Arena, the Prince George Cougars kick off the second-half of the regular season with a battle against the Victoria Royals at 7:05 pm.

THE LAST GAME: Dec. 17, 2024 - PG 5 at 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: The Cougars concluded their final road swing of the first half with a 3-1 record. Viliam Kmec collected four points (2G-2A) in the win. Josh Ravensbergen earned his 16th win of the season, marking him 2nd in the WHL in wins.

WHOS HOT

Riley Heidt has points in 4 straight games (3-2-5) 11 of his last 12 (9-13-22)

Terik Parascak has points in 10 of his last 12 (5-14-19)

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

Borya Valis has points in 5 of his last six (4-5-9)

Carson Carels has points in 4 of his last 6 (2-5-7)

Josh Ravensbergen has won four of his last five starts

MILESTONE WATCH:

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

Riley Heidt - 220 career assists (16 away from record PG & VIC)

Riley Heidt - 245 career games played (5 away from 250)

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

Terik Parascak - 149 career points (1 away from 150)

Jett Lajoie - 91 career games played (9 away from 100)

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

Aiden Foster - 98 career games played (2 away from 100)

Viliam Kmec - 88 career assists (12 away from 100)

Van Eger - 88 career games played (12 away from 100)

A LOOK AHEAD:

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

THE LAST GAME vs VIC: Oct. 26, 2024 - VIC 5 at PG 4 (SO)

PG Goal Scorers: Heidt (2), Foster, Kmec

VIC Goal Scorers: Newman, Verhoeff, Kipkie, Trembecky, SO - Scott

Goalies: PG: Michlaluk (23/27 - 63:40) VIC: Kraus (30/34 - 65:00)

PG PP: 0/2 PK: 1/2 | Shots: VIC: 31 / PG: 34

3 Stars: 1. Heidt, PG; 2. Kipkie, VIC: 3: Kmec, PG

Noteworthy: Viliam Kmec tied the game in the final 34 seconds to force overtime...kickstarted the Cougars to collecting points in 7 consecutive games

SEASON SERIES LEFT: 12/28 at VIC, 02/21 at VIC, 02/22 at VIC, 03/21 vs VIC. 03/22 vs VIC

NOTED (Team Highlights vs VIC)

The Cougars and Royals meet for the 40th time in the last five season in their regular season histories...Prince George holds a 29-6-2-2 overall record, including a 14-4-0-0 away record. The Cougars are 7-1 in the last eight meetings, dating back to the 2023-24 regular season (VIC, 1-7). The last Cougars loss at VIC was 03/25/22 ... Riley Heidt scored twice in the loss.

NOTED (Player Highlights vs. VIC)

-Riley Heidt owns 63 points (18-45-63) in 39 career games against Victoria

-Koehn Ziemmer owns 41 points (23-18-41) in 31 career games against Victoria

-Terik Parascak has 21 points (12-9-21) in 10 career games against Victoria

- In his WHL career, Josh Ravensbergen is 3-0 against the Victoria Royals

-Viliam Kmec owns 25 points (5-20-25) in 32 career games against Victoria

ROAD WARRIORS: The Cougars enter Friday's contest having won three of their last four games on the road heading into the Christmas Break. The Cats will enter tonight's game against Victoria, sporting an 8-8-0-0 record away from the CN Centre. Last season, the Cougars finished 24-8-0-2 on the road which was a franchise high.

PG DOES BC: Entering tonight's battle against Victoria, the Cougars have been terrific against BC division opponents. Prince George owns a 10-2-0-1 record against BC division teams in 13 games. PG has outscored the opposition 66 to 42 and is nearly 30% on the power-play against their BC division foes (14/47, 29.8%).

SLOVAKIAN SNIPER: Viliam Kmec found the back of the net twice against Kelowna on December 17th and added a pair of assists for a four-point night in a 5-3 win. That performance from Kmec matches his best single game offensive output (4 assists vs. Kelowna 2/10/23) which snapped a five game pointless drought. For the third consecutive season, Kmec has reached 32 points and now sits 4th among all WHL defenceman.

LET TWENTY-SEVEN COOK: Riley Heidt posted a helper in the win over Kelowna on December 17th. With that point, he now owns points in four consecutive games (3-2-5) and 11 of his last 12 (6-13-19). The Cougars all-time points and assists leader sits with 39 points this season (14-25-39) and is closing in on 250 games in the WHL. In the 245 games Heidt has played, he owns 319 points (99-220-319).

BIG BAD BORYA: Despite not having a point in the win over Kelowna on Decmeber 17th, Borya Valis owns points in five of his last six games (4-5-9). The 20-year-old veteran enters tonight against the Royals with 186 career points (74-112-186) in 209 games played. Valis is 2nd among all Cougar skaters in points this season with 43 (17-26-43).

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 played at 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.

CLIMBING THE RANKS: Veteran forwards and NHL prospects Riley Heidt and Koehn Ziemmer are on history watch. For Ziemmer, he currently sits at 113 goals, which is seven behind current Cougars' record holder Chase Witala (120). For Heidt, he is also on track for history. Heidt is 15 assists away from eclipsing Mark Morrison's all-time Cougars record (VIC & PG) who owned 235.

Most goals, team history (since relocation)

Chase Witala (2011-16): 120 Goals

Koehn Ziemmer (2020-Pres.) 113 Goals

Eric Hunter (2002-07) - 111 Goals

Chris Falloon (1998-04) - 100 Goals

Riley Heidt (2020-Pres.) - 99 Goals

Most assists, team history (incl. VIC & PG)

Mark Morrison - (1979-83) - 235 assists

Barry Pederson - (1977-80) - 223 assists

Riley Heidt - (2020-Pres.) - 220 assists

Check out the Prince George Cougars Statistics

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