Playoff exit fades glow of banner
Abanner occasion is a time to celebrate. For the Prince George Cougars that springtime celebration ended way too soon. Less than two weeks after they were crowned B.C. Division champions in April, having locked up the first division title in their 23-year Western Hockey League history, the Cougars were cleaning out their lockers after losing a six-game first-round playoff series to the Portland Winterhawks.
The promise that surrounded a WHL contender that started the year ranked in the top 10 in the country – a team loaded with the oldest collection of high-profile talent the Cougars have ever had as a Prince George team – unraveled slowly but steadily in the months leading up to the playoffs, ending in the colossal failure of yet another first-round playoff exit. How did it happen? How did a team with a baker’s dozen of 19-year-olds and nine NHL-drafted players not get past a young Winterhawks team that was supposed to be in a building year? You could hardly say they underestimated an opponent that had just five fewer wins and finished just 12 points shy of the Cougars. Nobody wanted to face Portland in the first round and it was just bad luck that matchup was set in stone when the Winterhawks fell a notch in the standings on the last day of the regular season, preventing what would have been a much more favourable opening-round for the Cats against the Tri-City Americans.
Thinking they were destined for a Memorial Cup shot, the Cougars messed with their team chemistry when they parted with some of their most valuable younger players to bring in the likes of Brendan Guhle, Nikita Popugaev and Radovan Bondra. Looking back on it now, would Cougars GM Todd Harkins make those same trades if he had a chance to do it all over again? Without a doubt.
As trade bait goes, those three were among the most coveted players in the league available at that time. The fact Popugaev has since quit the Cougars to return to Russia for his 19-year-old season and 18-year Justin Almeida has tripled his point production this season with 22 goals and 55 points in 38 games playing for the 19-year-old Russian’s former team in Moose Jaw leaves plenty of room for secondguessing the return the Cougars got on their investment. The deal, which also cost the Cats forward Yan Khomenko as well as a first-round bantam pick in 2017 and a second-rounder in 2018 appears a major bust now, but you can’t fault Harkins and his championship ambitions.
“This team did something no other team was able to do in 23 years here and put a banner in the rafters,” said an obviously disappointed Harkins. “There are a lot of great players who played here and weren’t able to do that so we have to proud of what these kids accomplished.”
There was much to celebrate for an allnew coaching staff that included head coach Richard Matvichuk and his assistants, Steve O’Rourke, Shawn Chambers and goalie coach Sean Murray. They all had a hand in developing Cougar forwards Bondra, Jansen Harkins, Jesse Gabrielle, Colby McAuley, and defenceman Guhle, who have since moved on to pro teams. Goalie Ty Edmonds is now plying his trade at the University of Lethbridge and defenceman Sam Ruopp is receiving his university education playing for the Saskatchewan Huskies. Both were Cougar picks chosen in the bantam draft who gave five years of junior service.
Having lost more than half their team from last season, the Cougars have sputtered in the first half of 2017-18, wallowing in 10th place out of 10 teams in the Western Conference and sitting fifth-last overall in the WHL.
They’re still not that far out of the playoffs but there will be plenty of soul-searching in the front office the next couple weeks as Harkins and Company ponder whether to part with high-profile 19-year-old defenceman Dennis Cholowski or dip into the supply of other 1998-born mainstays – forwards Josh Curtis and Kody McDonald, and defenceman Josh Anderson and Joel Lakusta – to trade for some younger assets. Also up for grabs could be 1998-born goaltender Tavin Grant and overage forwards Jared Bethune, Aaron Boyd and Nic Holowko.
As with many teams in the league, attendance is a growing concern in Cougarville. On most game nights this season, green empty seats at CN Centre outnumber the fans – an alarming sign after three years of steady growth in crowd counts. There’s no doubt the team is feeling the backlash of its decision to drop age-based pricing on ticket sales which gave discounts to seniors and kids in favour of location-based ticketing, aggravated by the fact the Cats now have one of the league’s worst home records.
The Cougars ownership group has already shown signs of upheaval with Greg Pocock being asked to hand over the reins presiding over the team’s day-to-day operations to John Pateman. Iceberg warnings are in effect and with red ink continuing to swamp the deck you have to wonder how long the EDGEPRO Entertainment Group that rescued the Cougars from near-extinction in April 2014 will continue to keep the ship afloat.
• The Cougars have traded 18-year-old forward Ethan O’Rourke to the Everett Silvertips in exchange for 16-year-old forward Ethan Browne.
Browne was Everett’s first-round selection (14th overall) in the 2016 WHL bantam draft. This season, he has split his time between the Silvertips and the Drayton Valley Thunder of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. In eight games with Everett, he has one assist. As a member of the Thunder, Browne has picked up three goals and two helpers.
O’Rourke was a third-round pick of the Cougars (53rd overall) in the 2014 bantam draft. In 37 games this season, he had five goals and 14 points.
“It’s difficult to part with a quality person like Ethan O’Rourke,” said Todd Harkins. “He’s a terrific young man with plenty of potential and he’ll be a great fit in Everett. Browne fits into that young nucleus we’re building around here in Prince George. He’s someone we feel can really grow within our team and we’re excited to have him in the fold.”
This team did something no other team was able to do in 23 years here and put a banner in the rafters. — Todd Harkins