After nearly three full weeks away from home the Prince George Cougars return to action tonight at the CN Centre. It’s the start of a four game homestand for the Cougars and the eight points that are going to be up for grabs over the next two weeks are going to be tough ones to obtain based on the strength of the opponent. But with 17 games remaining in their 2015-16 season, the Prince George Cougars cannot get caught worrying about who their facing and how they are doing. Right now it’s all about ‘self’ and making sure that come playoff time, the Prince George Cougars are ready to rock. Tonight the defending WHL champs, the Kelowna Rockets stand at the other side in what could very well be a first round playoff matchup in the B.C. Division.

KELOWNA ROCKETS

Overview:

Brad Ralph’s Kelowna Rockets have led the B.C. Division outright for a vast majority of the 2015-16 season. That changed though earlier this week when the Victoria Royals won on Tuesday and the Rockets lost, giving both teams 77 points to share top spot in the B.C. Division. Kelowna comes into tonight’s game with a record of 37-15-3-0 and thanks to a game in hand on the Royals still technically hold first place in the West and the entire WHL. So far this season the Rockets are 3-2 against the Cougars and are 1-1 against them at the CN Centre. The Rockets are 6-4 in their past 10 games but they are coming off a 6-0 shutout loss in Seattle on Tuesday.

Who’s Up Front:

In order for the Cougars to successfully defeat the Kelowna Rockets once or twice this weekend they will have to keep close tabs on the duo of Tyson Baillie and Dillon Dube. Baillie the 20-year-old is in the midst of a career year. His 31 goals and 75 points give him the lead in both categories among his teammates and heading into the weekend Baillie sits fourth overall in league scoring. Sophomore forward Dillon Dube has posted 51 points in 48 games this season, 11 of which have come against the Prince George Cougars. Dube leads all Rockets with five goals in five games against Prince George and based on the type of season he’s had, he’s almost certainly going to hear his name called in the early rounds of the 2016 NHL Draft.

Who’s on D:

Defensively the Kelowna Rockets are still on the younger side, but full credit to the Rockets management and coaching staff as they have stayed the course and haven’t wavered through allowing this young corps of defencemen to play, grow and develop together. One might figure that losing the likes of Madison Bowey, Josh Morrissey and Cole Martin after last seasons championship would have had a negative effect, but thanks to the great play from the likes of Lucas Johansen, Cal Foote, Joe Gatenby and Devante Stephens, the Rockets blueline is in good hands. The 18-year-old draft eligible Johansen leads the Rockets defenders with eight goals and 32 points.

Who’s in Goal:

Veteran goaltender Jackson Whistle remains sidelined ‘week-to-week’ with a lower body injury, which means that 19-year-old Michael Herringer continues to be the guy for Kelowna moving forward. For the season, Herringer is 18-9-1-0 with a .902 save percentage and a 3.15 goals-against-average. In three starts this season against the Cougars, Herringer is 3-0 with a .918 save percentage and a goals-against-average of 2.87. Odds are that Herringer will get both starts this weekend for the Rockets as they’ve got 17-year-old AP Brodan Salmond serving as the backup.

X-Factor:

Heading into the weekend the Kelowna Rockets power play sits fourth overall in the WHL clicking at a rate of 21.9 percent. This is a Rockets team that has a TON of offensive depth and fire power, and the more chances that they are given on the power play, the more likely they are to succeed and make opposing team’s pay the price. Discipline has been a struggle for the Cougars at times this season, and tonight they’ll need to make sure that they aren’t taking unnecessary penalties against a growly Rockets team looking to maintain top spot in the Western Conference and the WHL.

PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS

Overview:

Mark Holick’s Prince George Cougars are coming into tonight’s game with an overall record of 31-21-2-1. Their 65 points put them ‘comfortably’ in third place in the B.C. Division, nine points ahead of the Kamloops Blazers and 12 points back of both the Victoria Royals and the Kelowna Rockets for first in the B.C. Division. The Cougars are currently stuck in the midst of a three game losing skid, their longest of the seaon. A win tonight would not only snap that streak, but it would also help the Cougars match their point total from a season ago with 16 games still remaining. It would also give the Cougars their 32^nd victory, which would ensure that they surpass their win total from a season ago. In their past 10 games the Cougars are 4-5-1-0.

Who’s Up Front:

Tonight we celebrate the recent accomplishments of Cougars forward Chase Witala. Prior to puck drop tonight the 20-year-old forward will be honored in a small pre-game presentation with his friends and family in tow. That’s what happens when you become the franchise’s all-time leading goal scorer. Now with 113 goals and 220 points for his career, Witala now sits just 17 points shy of surpassing his good friend Troy Bourke for the all-time franchise lead in scoring. Beyond all personal accolades though is Witala’s burning desire to win, and make no mistake about it: Chase Witala cares far more about the team winning games than he does about his personal accomplishments. Here’s hoping that he can keep riding his wave of positive momentum into this weekend and that it can translate into some Cougars victories at home this weekend.

Who’s on D:

This week at practice it was back to the drawing board for the Prince George Cougars in all facets of their game. Mark Holick spoke earlier today about the importance of structure and how important it is to play strong systematic hockey, particularly against a high flying team like the Kelowna Rockets. Tonight the onus isn’t on one or two guys specifically on the back-end, but the main focus has to be on the entire 18 man crew of forwards and defencemen playing strong, and sound defensive hockey. Seldom have the Cougars won games this season when they haven’t been strong defensively, and tonight that is going to be a major factor for them as they kick off this big homestand tonight.

Who’s in Goal:

Goaltending has been a major source of strength this season for the Cougars more often than not, but lately as the Cougars have struggled their goaltending has followed suit. It goes without saying that if the Cougars are going to be successful this weekend against Kelowna that they’ll need both Nick McBride and Ty Edmonds to be ready for action. No word yet on who’s going to get the nod tonight for the Cougars, but regardless of who it is, the Cougars are going to need the chosen guy to have a big night. We’re at that point in the season now where the hottest guy is going to get a majority of the playing time, and that internal battle for playing time should only further intensify as we get closer to the playoffs.

X-Factor:

The Prince George Cougars aren’t going to catch the Kelowna Rockets or the Victoria Royals with just one good game or one big win. Mentally the Cougars need to embrace the challenge that this weekend possesses and also they need to take comfort in the fact that they’ve already defeated this Kelowna team twice this season and are more than capable of doing so again. The good thing about the 2015-16 Cougars is that they haven’t had any prolonged losing streaks or slumps, and a victory or two this weekend would certainly go a long way for this team’s confidence as they look to get back within striking distance of both the Rockets and the Royals in the B.C. Division race.