After opening up their season at home last weekend against Everett, the Prince George Cougars have taken their show on the road, and tonight in front of a charged up Seattle crowd the Cougars will look to extend their winning streak to two, when they take on the Seattle Thunderbirds, a team that is expected to compete for the US Division crown in 2015-16.

SEATTLE THUNDERBIRDS

Overview:

Steve Konowalchuk’s Seattle Thunderbirds are coming into this season looking to build off of a successful 38-25-4-5 season in 2015-16. So far this season the T-Birds are 0-1 after dropping a game in Vancouver last weekend. Tonight it’s their home opener, and they’ll look to feed off of that crowd. Seattle beat the Cougars twice last season and ultimately finished with a 2-2 record. Strangely though, Seattle has struggled against Prince George at home winning just once in their past eight meetings with the Cougars at ShoWare Center.

Who’s Up Front:

Any coach will tell you that they try to focus on who ‘IS’ available rather than who isn’t. That said it’s difficult to do when your top player and offensive star Mathew Barzal isn’t here. The former first overall selection in the WHL Bantam Draft (2012) remains with the New York Islanders, and barring a stunning last minute announcement he will certainly not in Seattle’s lineup tonight. The same goes for 20-year-old forward Jamal Watson who remains in the AHL. Despite all of that though, the T-Birds boast a dangerous offensive attack featuring New York Rangers draftee Ryan Gropp and Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Keegan Kolesar. There’s no shortage of skill on this Seattle team and the Cougars will not be able to take this group lightly despite missing several key pieces from their attack.

Who’s on D:

It’s no doubt very strange for the Cougars to look at the opposing lineup and not seeing #17 Shea Theodore patrolling the Thunderbirds blueline. The first round pick of the Anaheim Ducks will likely never see WHL action again considering his readiness for the pros, and this stands to be a major bonus for the other 21 teams in the league who don’t have to worry about his speed, skills and reliability. The Cougars now need to concern themselves with the 20-year-old tandem of Jerret Smith (their 2015-16 captain) and the 6’5” 225-plus pound Jared Hauf who are sure to make life difficult on the Cougars top forwards. Edmonton Oilers prospect Ethan Bear is another impressive defenceman who will be looking to make strides in his third full WHL campaign.

Who’s in Goal:

The Seattle Thunderbirds will start the season with the 18-year-old tandem of Logan Flodell and Taz Burman between the pipes. Burman was acquired earlier in the summer in a trade with Red Deer and Flodell is a homegrown T-Birds drafted goalie who’s looking to take advantage of his opportunity now that former T-Birds Taran Kozun and Danny Mumaugh are out of the picture. Burman started in Vancouver last weekend in Seattle’s lone game, so does that mean Flodell gets the nod tonight in their home opener?

X-Factor:

The Seattle crowd can be one of the loudest and most intimidating crowds in the WHL, and Prince George would know a thing or two about that. It’s a very unique and enjoyable atmosphere for visiting teams and the Cougars (at least in recent memory) have done very well for themselves. The big key tonight for the Cougars will be to embrace this intense Seattle atmosphere, and likewise for Seattle. They’ll hope to shrug off the potential distractions that the home opener often presents. Whoever can use the atmosphere to their advantage the best is going to put themselves in the best position to succeed.

PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS

Overview:

Mark Holick’s Prince George Cougars are 1-1 to start the young season. After dropping a 2-0 score to Everett on opening night, they responded with a terrific effort in a 5-1 victory last Sunday. All-in-all the Cougars are a confident bunch as they get set to kick off their 2015-16 road schedule tonight in Kent, WA. It’s always interesting early on to see how teams respond when they play on the road, and looking at this Cougars team on paper it makes sense to think that this team could be a very good road team if all goes according to plan.

Who’s Up Front:

Boston Bruins prospect Jesse Gabrielle struck twice on the power play last Sunday for the Cougars in their victory over Everett. It was big for Gabrielle to get on the shore sheet as he’s still in the midst of getting used to a new team, a new city and a new conference.  Confidence wise it’s always good to get some goals early, and hopefully last week’s victory against Everett is a sign of things to come for Gabrielle and the rest of his teammates.

Who’s on D:

Defensively the Cougars had to feel about holding Everett to just three goals against in their two games last weekend. Granted goaltending was strong, but defensively the Cougars played (for the most part) strong and structured hockey. Tate Olson led the Cougars offensively last Sunday with two assists and you can bet that the Vancouver Canucks prospect will look to keep that positive trend going tonight on the road in Seattle. A big key for the Cougars defensively as well will be to match Seattle’s physicality, and that’s where guys like Sam Ruopp, Josh Anderson and Luka Zorko will need to be ready to embrace that aspect of the game tonight.

Who’s in Goal:

This is a tough call and for good reason as both Ty Edmonds and Mack Shields put forth strong outings in their games last weekend. Edmonds took the hard luck loss on Friday but was named the game’s first star, and two nights later 20-year-old Mack Shields was excellent as well stopping 26 pucks en route to his first win with the Cougars. Either way you slice it, goaltending continues to be an early season strength for this Cougars team and hopefully that can translate onto the road as well.

X-Factor:

Two games is certainly a small sample size, but the Cougars must need encouraged by their early successes on special teams. Their power play is tops in the league with a 40 percent success rate and they are still one of just three teams that have yet to surrender a power play goal against. Special teams are so important, particularly on the road. If the Cougars can maintain this type of confidence when either up or down a man, it will bode very well for them tonight in a hostile atmosphere.