It’s safe to suggest the Prince George Cougars will be an improved team this season. The lingering question is how much?

 

The WHL regular season opens with the Cougars starting on the road Saturday and Sunday in Everett. That will be followed by their home openers Sept 28^th and 29^th vs. Seattle.

 

The Cats scored a league-low 166 goals in 2011/12 while giving up 257 as they compiled a
24-46-0-2 record, worst in the Western Conference and second worst in the league. Here’s a brief preview of the 2012-2013 season:

 

 

·        As strange as it may sound, scoring should not be an issue for the Cats who have 11 forwards with WHL experience. The forwards include one 20-year old (Brock Hirsche), three 19’s and the rest 18 and under.

 

 

·        Behind the blue line is a major concern. The Cougars have four returning defencemen but on paper this would appear to be the team’s Achilles heel. Five of the eight defensemen are just
17-year olds; untested European Rinalds Rosinskis is 18. The other two are 20, who should be the anchors (Dan Gibb and Dallas Ehrhardt). Mobility may be an issue but not size with
half-a-dozen rearguards 6’2” or taller.

 

·        The one returning goalie Devon Fordyce is 18 but only has 14 WHL games under his belt. Back-up Brett Zarowny is a 17-year-old rookie.

 

·        Dean Clark returns for his 4^th season behind the Cats bench with Jason Becker also back as the main assistant. Continuity and leadership from the coaches should help in the team’s development. However, it is surprising despite a bunch of bizarre circumstances, that Clark has lost twice as many games as he has won since arriving (69-137-3-7).

 

 

Injuries played a factor in the Cougars struggles last year with a key player like Brock Hirsche sidelined for most of the season and Alex Forsberg (first overall pick in the 2010 WHL Bantam Draft)
restricted to 51 games. As a 17-year-old in his draft year, Forsberg could have a break-out season. Other key offensive weapons include: Troy Bourke, selected in the third round by Colorado in the 2012 NHL Draft, and Colin Jacobs (19), who was acquired from Seattle for Jesse Forsberg.

 

 

This Cougars team is not built for the 2012-13 season but rather for the two years that will follow. To finish a modest .500, everything would have to click including speciality teams, chemistry and health.
The Cats were last in the league last season on the PP and just 18^th on the penalty kill.

It’s doubtful the goalkeeping will be as good as what Drew Owsley provided last season. That’s why the Cougars selected net minder Joonas Korpisalo of Finland 5^th overall in the CHL Import Draft only to have him balk at PG and decide to play in his home country.

 

The defence will have lots of growing pains and the forwards may not have a league-top line but should be able to have three consistent ones.

 

Do not put any stock into the pre-season where the Cougars went 3-1-0-1 while scoring 18 goals and giving up 12.

 

The National Hockey League lockout may help the Cats marginally at the gate but it will be other teams that get quality players back that otherwise may have started the year in the NHL.
Optimistically, I’ll peg the Cougars 7^th out of 10 in the West, which doesn’t say much but would tie the best result since Clark took charge behind the bench.

 

 

 

The other Cougars are also set to start their season this weekend as the Cariboo Cats are home to the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds Saturday (4:15pm) and Sunday (10am) at CN Centre.

 

The Cariboo Cougars are the number-three hockey team in Prince George but have clearly been number one in terms of positive results.

 

Cariboo has just six returning players with mostly a Prince George roster (75 per cent). It will be interesting if Brad Morrison, one of three 15-year-olds on the team, can live up to the hype and put huge numbers on the board. Not since Brett Connolly, has Cariboo had a player with the potential of Morrison’s offensive flair.

 

To (coach) Trevor Sprague’s shagrin, The Cougars have finished 2^nd to the Vancouver NW Giants in each of the last three seasons.

 

The NW Giants are the top BCMML team until proven otherwise. The Cariboo Cougars success, or lack there of, will come down to how they fare against the Giants. Is it a rivalry ? Not yet. But that will change should the Cougars become “Giant” killers. And that is a day Sprague lives for.

 

 

 

Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein said that rebuilding the team “won’t happen overnight” and that 2013 may also be tough. Undaunted, die-hard Cubs fans immediately put on t-shirts saying “Wait until the year after next year.” 

 

NFL teams are furious with the replacement refs. They can’t wait to get back to being furious with the regular officials. 

Contributor Janice Hough of Palo Alto, Californiawww.leftcoastsportsbabe.com

 

 

What do you call a doubleheader in the NFL with replacement referees? A sleep-over. 

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has ordered a recall of ground beef products sold across Canada at Costco, Walmart, Safeway and Calahoo Meats stores, because it may be contaminated with E. coli bacteria. Officials say this is the 2nd largest beef among consumers after the NHL lockout.

Contributor Derek Wilken of Calgaryhttp://smacksport.blogspot.com

 

 

 

The NFL replacement refs are looking worse after week 2. One guy was going to call “No Yards” on a punt until he realized the game he was working didn’t involve the Riders and Stamps.

 

 

The City of Langley BC, hosted a BBQ Rib cooking contest last weekend. They closed the main drag and held it there. The name of the street? Langley Bypass. 

 

 

 

Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler and his girlfriend, actress Kristin Cavallari, recently celebrated the birth of their first child. Interestingly, the baby cries less than Dad.

 

 

Bode Miller is reportedly marrying Morgan Beck.You sure he wasn’t marrying two bottles of Captain Morgan?

 

 

 

 

A 70-year-old tennis referee has pleaded not guilty to murdering her husband in California with a coffee mug. Apparently to him, “Love -15” referred to the number of women he had on the side.

 

 

 

The Ocean (N.J.) high-school football team may forfeit its next game because six players have impetigo (an itchy skin infection). For now, the boys are listed as healthy scratches.