Rockets Defeat Cougars 4-1
By: Dan O’Connor
Saturday night in Prince George, the Cougars were defeated 4-1 by the Kelowna Rockets. Mid-way through the second period, Kelowna scored twice in a 35-second span to break a 1-1 tie. Shane McColgan had a goal and two assists for the visitors while Daulton Siwak scored for the Cougars in the loss.
Kelowna came out buzzing early, but the Cougars were able to weather the early storm. The Rockets held a 5-1 edge in the shots department early, but Cougars netminder Devon Fordyce stood tall and soon the Cougars went to work offensively.
They moved the puck around quickly on their first power play and came close twice, but were unable to convert.
Late in the first, Kelowna took the lead when Shane McColgan scored on the power play. It was some tough luck for the Cougars defensively who did everything possible to stop the charge. Spencer Asuchak blocked one shot, and then Jordan Tkatch blocked another. Unfortunately Tkatch’s stick shattered on the play, and McColgan was able move by him and score.
Kelowna led 1-0 after one, and outshot the Cougars 11-8.
Early in the second period the Cougars continued to buzz. Their passes were crisp and they were getting good looks at the net, and were finally rewarded at 7:23 when Daulton Siwak jumped onto the puck along the right wing and blasted a shot past Adam Brown for his 10th of the year. Siwak has now scored five goals since he arrived to Prince George in a trade from Red Deer on December 29th.
Mid-way through the second period the Rockets regained the lead when Austin Ferguson found Tyrell Goulbourne in the slot-area. Goulbourne was able to beat Devon Fordyce for his sixth of the season, and Kelowna led 2-1.
35 seconds later the Rockets added to their lead when Myles Bell put a shot on goal from the right wing boards. The puck found its way past Devon Fordyce and Bell had his 10th of the season.
Carty Rigby would make it 4-1 for Kelowna on a late second period power play when he converted on a pass from Colton Sissons. Rigby’s 14th gave Kelowna the 4-1 lead that they would not relinquish.
Devon Fordyce stood tall in the third period for the Cougars. He faced 17 shots and stopped them all, and finished the night with 45 saves on 49 shots faced.
Kelowna finished the night two-for-five on the power play while the Cougars were zero-for-two on their opportunities.
The Cougars don’t play again until Friday, February 10th when they host the Edmonton Oil Kings.
Comments
I had some free tickets so I decided to check the game out. Man, they suck. How many shots on net in the third? Two. That’s right, two. Five in the second and two in the third.
Deja vu.
Another year of a race to the bottom.
When will the owner do something about the GM and coach?
I wonder what the attendance was at the Major Midget Cougars game was ? You know….the program that consistently win’s.
I wish they’d give us a real head count instead of the “announced crowd” every time. Obviously Brodsky cares about the amount of actual paid tickets (which count towards those figures)…but the average fan would like to know how many people with paid tickets just stayed home. On many nights it looks like fewer than a thousand people in there, yet they will announce the attendance at 1600.
But hey, it’s the downturn in the forest industry and the economy according to Brodsky. Nothing to do with his exciting young team or excellent management group.
Well said
I truly feel bad for the young men on the team. It’s really gotta suck being Managed and Coached so poorly. Any kind of thought they may have had of a hockey career gets thrashed being here, unless you have the Chara, Connelly or Hamhuis quality talent level.
It might be easier for them if they could see improvements here and there, and they could look forward to next year. But this is consistent garbage, year-in, year-out.
There’s a reason a number of players over the years have refused to play for this team. It’s not the location…. it’s ownership and the stinky stuff that rolls down from there.
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