After a quick trip South to Seattle the Prince George Cougars are back at the friendly confines of the CN Centre and tonight they’ll look to get back in the win column when they welcome Mike Williamsons’ Tri-City Americans to town for a weekend double header. The Ams have won two straight and have earned points in three straight games. Meanwhile the Cougars are looking to avenge a tough 4-1 loss from last Saturday in Seattle.

TRI-CITY AMERICANS

Overview:

Mike Williamsons’ Tri-City Americans are 2-1-1-0 on the young season. They won two straight and have secured at least a point in three consecutive games, all of which have been one goal affairs. The Blazers started their three game road trip on Wednesday in Kamloops and secured a 4-3 win. They’ll play two in Prince George this weekend before heading home for a Wednesday game against Prince Albert. Last season the Americans went 3-1 against the Cougars and were 1-1 against them at CN Centre.

Who’s Up Front:

Leading the charge offensively for the Ams is 20-year-old Kelowna product Parker Bowles. In four games, Bowles has talled twice and has five assists to his credit as well for a team high seven points. Bowles has always been a big time point producer but injuries have hampered him in each of the past two seasons as he’s only dressed in 86 games. Despite the injuries he’s been virtually a point-per-game player and has 135 points in 163 career games. A healthy season from Bowles would go a long way for the Tri-City Americans who have impressed early in 2015-16.

Who’s on D:

17-year-old Finnish defenceman Juuso Valimaki has made a great first impression on both his team and the WHL. In four games, the 6’2, 200 pound rearguard has a goal and four assists, tops among Tri-City defenders. He’s a late birthday too which bodes well for him in the 2017 draft as he’s already been identified as one of the top prospects for that year. He joins a star-studded blueline that already includes Boston Bruins prospect Brandon Carlo and New York Islanders prospect Parker Wotherspoon. It’s definitely safe to say that the major strength of this Tri-City team lies on the back end.

Who’s in Goal:

With Eric Comrie no longer in the picture, the Ams are now going to be relying heavily in 18-year-old US-born goaltender Evan Sarthou to carry the load. Sarthou comes highly regarded and has already won a World Under-18 championship for Team USA along with a bronze medal at the 2015 Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament. The draft eligible netminder has struggled somewhat to start the season though as his goals-against-average is 4.48 and his save percentage is .841. Despite that he’s 2-1-1. Will backup goaltender Nick Sanders get his first taste of action this weekend? Time will tell.

X-Factor:

In recent seasons the Americans have lacked some scoring depth due in large part to their injuries. So far through four games they’ve received some balanced scoring from all throughout their lineup and that is going to continue to be important for them as the season continues on. They have averaged 4.25 goals-per-game so far this season and six of their players have already recorded more than one goal on the season.

PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS

Overview:

Mark Holick’s Prince George Cougars come into tonight’s game with a 1-2 record on the young season. At home they are 1-1 and on the road they are 0-1. To a man I think the Cougars would agree that they haven’t performed ‘at their best’ just yet, but the season is still young and it’s way too early to start reaching for the panic button. But with that said, the Cougars have had a very intense week of practice knowing full well that they are capable of better than they have displayed up to this point in the season. They’re coming off a 4-1 loss to Seattle. Last season against Tri-City the Cougars were 1-3 and went 1-1 against them in Prince George. Over the past five seasons the Cougars have gone 7-8-1-0 against the Ams.

Who’s Up Front:

Offensively the Cougars have been led early on by Boston Bruins prospect Jesse Gabrielle.  Gabrielle has three goals in three games and is one of just two Cougars to have recorded multiple points so far this season. To say that the Cougars are due to break out offensively would be fair, and there is a long list of forwards who are no doubt hungry to get on the score sheet a little more regularly: Chase Witala, Jansen Harkins, Brad Morrison, Jared Bethune, etc. Again it’s still early and there’s absolutely zero reason not to think that this Cougars team is going to score with the best of them in the WHL. Here’s hoping this weekend can be a launching pad for the Cougars offensively.

Who’s on D:

Defensively the Cougars are looking to bounce back after a disappointing game all around on Saturday in Seattle. It’s not like the game was filled with glaring mistakes, but the fact is that like the forwards, the Cougars defensive corps have yet to truly find their top form. The top four of Tate Olson, Sam Ruopp, Joe Carvalho and Josh Anderson are likely going to get a bulk of the work again this weekend, and the Cougars do have a healthy Shane Collins back in the mix and no doubt he’ll be excited to get into some games and make an impact.

Who’s in Goal:

Mark Holick has made it very clear that at the start of the season he’s going to rotate his two veteran goaltenders (Ty Edmonds and Mack Shields) until one of takes the reigns on the number one spot. All signs point to Mack Shields getting the start tonight, and if so it will mark his 100^th career WHL regular season game. The 20-year-old was brilliant back on September 27^th when he helped lead the Cougars to a 5-1 victory over Everett and hopefully he is up to the challenge once again tonight against Tri-City.

X-Factor:

In three games this season the Prince George Cougars have only been able to generate six power play opportunities for. Now obviously a lot of factors go into that total and the reasoning isn’t exactly overly transparent, but never the less the Prince  George Cougars, with all of their offensive talent need to find a way to generate more power play opportunities. The best way to do that is with speed, intensity and solid puck movement in the offensive zone. Special teams has been an important factor in each of the three games so far this season for the Cougars and tonight’s promises to be no exception.