Zack Ostapchuk short-handed and Marko Stracha, with his first career WHL goal, scored for the Giants (12-10) in the first period before Swiss world junior championship player Keanu Derungs brought Victoria to within one on the power play at 19:29. Justin Sourdif, a third-round NHL draft pick of the Florida Panthers, scored his 11th of the season at 15:07 of the second period to restore Vancouver’s two-goal cushion.
“We were chasing the game,” said Royals GM and head coach Dan Price.
Veteran Alex Kannok Leipert, in his final junior game, Justin Lies and Bryce Bader, the latter on the power play, put it out of reach in the third period.
Cougars drop close shave to Kelowna
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Sometimes in the game of hockey you can play well and still lose.
Unfortunately, the Prince George Cougars fell victim to that circumstance dropping a 2-1 decision on Sunday to the Kelowna Rockets from the Sandman Centre in Kamloops.
“I liked our game tonight and when you play like that you are going to win more games than you lose. I thought we pushed hard even though we played last night, we were not happy with how we played against Victoria so I thought the guys came hard and played a good game.”
Former Cariboo Cougar Scott Cousins taking off with Kelowna Rockets
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It’s been a whirlwind season, to say the least for Kelowna Rockets forward Scott Cousins.
The 16-year-old from Prince George and former Cariboo Cougar has four points in ten games this season inside the WHL’s BC Division Hub.
Cousins suffered some early adversity, testing positive for COVID-19 prior to the season and then having to wait another three weeks to play as the team suffered its own rash of cases.
“I didn’t have any symptoms actually. We had our test day and my results came back positive and my trainer let me know – it was a tough feeling for sure because I was ready to get going and it was a few weeks prolonged.”
Royals intensity too much for lackadaisical Cougars
SHARE ON: (Photo credit Paige Bednorz)
The Prince George Cougars might want to show up an hour earlier than normal the next time they line up against the Victoria Royals.
Another slow start for the Cats proved costly on Saturday as they fell 2-1 in Kelowna to the BC Division’s last place team for a third time this season.
Cougars Head Coach and General Manager Mark Lamb didn’t mince words on the lackadaisical effort.
“We played the same way as we practiced yesterday (Friday). It has a lot to do with the mindset, digging in and playing real hard. We probably got a little too happy with the way we have been playing as of late.”
Ziemmer extends goal scoring streak as Cougars blank Giants
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Never fear, the Mayerthorpe Magician is here.
Koehn Ziemmer showed he is a budding WHL star racking up two more goals against the Vancouver Giants in a 3-0 shutout victory on Wednesday from the Sandman Centre in Kamloops.
“He’s turning into a very special player. He is growing as we have gone along here and I like a lot of the things guys did away from the puck. We were sharp, our goalie was great again and it was one of those hard, gritty games,” said Mark Lamb, Cougars Head Coach and General Manager.