Holowko drawing top-line duty with Cats

Nic Holowko wasted no time making new friends the day he joined the Prince George Cougars.

Called into service to wear the snarling ‘C’ on his jersey as a 20-year-old winger to play the Victoria Royals on Dec. 12, two days after centre Brogan O’Brien went down with a knee injury, Holowko made a noticeable impact in his Cougars’ debut.

That night he had the hit of the game, dropped his gloves in a fight, had an apparent goal waved off, then assisted on Max Kryski’s game-winning goal in what ended up a 5-4 win.

Holowko has continued to contribute in O’Brien’s absence and has a goal and four assists in eight games for the Cats. He’s been playing the left side on a line with centre Jared Bethune and right winger Kody McDonald that’s been on fire lately, accounting for 16 points in the last four games.

Holowko played seven games for the Kamloops Blazers to start the season before he was put on waivers. He played a few games in the BCHL for Coquitlam and was home in Burnaby about to enrol in school when the Cougars called him up.

“Sometimes when you get a second chance it makes you work a little harder and look back at where you were, and he doesn’t want to play in the B.C. junior league, he wants to play in the WHL,” said Cougars head coach Richard Matvichuk.

“He’s become a warrior for us. He blocks shots, he finishes every check, maybe it was a bit of a wakeup call when things didn’t go right in Kamloops and he’s got another chance and is taking full advantage of it.”

Known for his quick feet and smart stick placement, Holowko is being rewarded for it, drawing extra icetime on penalty-killing duty.

“I’ve been a PK’er most of my career so I think I fit in pretty well there and I even got in on the power play, which is nice to have some fun out there,” said Holowko. “I like playing with Bethune and (McDonald) for the last few games, it’s been nice.”

Holowko developed strong twoway skills playing as a defenceman earlier in his career. Playing minor hockey in Langley, he and Dennis Cholowski were defence partners for several years.

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Cholowski lit up the Vancouver Giants for four goals and two assists in his last two games and now has 12 goals and 35 points in 35 games – second on the Cougars in scoring.

“I was playing with Dennis when I was 10 years old in spring hockey in Langley,” said Holowko. “He’s always been that kind of player. I was a stay-at-home d-man, I was just hitting guys, not much offence from me. I’d just let him do all the work.”

The Cougars host the Tri-City Americans in a two-game set tonight (7 p.m. start) and Saturday at CN Centre.

The Americans (20-11-5-0, third in U.S. Division) are just three points behind the division-leading Portland Winterhawks and they’ve gone 6-2-2-0 in their last 10 games.

The Cougars (14-18-4-2) took five of a possible eight points in their last four games, all on the road, and they’re now seven points behind Seattle for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Americans centre Michael Rasmussen, the Detroit Red Wings’ ninth-overall pick in the 2017 draft, is still out with an upperbody injury and won’t play this weekend. Tri-City will also be without defenceman Juuso Valimaki, who captained Finland at the world junior tournament in Buffalo.

O’Brien is the only injured Cougar but is making progress and could be back in the lineup by mid-January.