Saturday night in Prince George the Cougars dropped an 8-0 game to the Spokane Chiefs. Mitch Holmberg led the way with three goals and an assist while Mike Aviani added a goal and three assists. Goaltender Eric Williams stopped all 28 saves he made for his fourth shutout of the season.

Through 20 minutes the Chiefs led the game 2-0 thanks to power play goals exaclty eight minutes apart. First it was Mitch Holmberg who one-timed home a Mike Aviani pass for his league-leading 58th goal of the season. Marcus Messier then knocked home his own rebound in front of the Cougars goal to give Spokane a two goal cushion. After one period the shots were 12-5 Spokane.

Mitch Holmberg padded Spokane's lead with his 59th goal of the season very early in the second period, which then spelled the end of the night (temporarily at least) for Adam Beukeboom. Ty Edmonds relieved his teammate, and was rudely greated by Riley Whittingham's 13th goal of the season. Just over two minutes later Spokane made it 5-0 when jason Fram snuck home a shot from the right point.

The Cougars' best push of the game came late in the second, but Chase Witala hit the post on a two-on-one and otherwise Eric Williams made some timely saves late in the period to keep his shutout in check.

Early in the third, Mitch Holmberg completed his hat-trick at the 1:19 mark of the third. Holmberg's third of the game and 60th of the season makes him the first player since Emerson Etem in 2011-2012 to record 60-or-more goals in a season. 

Mike Aviani and Markson Bechtold would add late tallys for Spokane to make the final score 8-0. The final shot tally favored Spokane by a 37-28 mark.

Despite the lopsided loss, the Cougars still have a very remote shot at making the playoffs. But it would require two Cougar victories next weekend against Kamloops, and four straight regulation losses from the Tri-City Americans.

Tri-City is next in action on Tuesday in Portland while the Cougars are in Kamloops for Friday.

Prior to the game, the Cougars also handed out their 2013-2014 awards. The winners are posted below:

Scholastic Player of the Year – JANSEN HARKINS

Rookie of the Year – TY EDMONDS

Most Dedicated Player – TROY BOURKE

Most Valuable Player – TODD FIDDLER