Cougars End Alberta Trip With 3-2 Loss In Edmonton

By 250 News

15-year old forward Troy Bourke and 16-year old defenceman Dane Phaneuf both played their first Western Hockey League games for the Prince George Cougars in Edmonton Saturday.  The pair of 2009 bantam draft picks earned praise from Head Coach Dean Clark after a 3-2 loss to the Oil Kings, with Edmonton scoring each of their goals in the opening 20 minutes.

The Cougars were finishing a three game trip through Alberta, which saw the club fall 5-1 in Calgary Wednesday, then drop a 3-1 decision to the Red Deer Rebels Friday night.  The Cougars and Oil Kings were meeting for the third time in February, with the teams splitting their back-to-back rendezvous in Prince George February 5 and 6.  Hudson Stremmel was back in goal for the Cougars, looking to make amends for his Wednesday outing against the Hitmen that saw him allow three goals on three shots in the first period.  Unfortunately, it didn't start much better in the Alberta capital.  The Oil Kings held the puck in the Cougars zone and Cameron Abney fired in his fifth goal of the season just 31 seconds into the hockey game to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead.  Devin Balness would get another marker for the Oil Kings just over three minutes later, also scoring his fifth goal of the year.  But the Cougars would get on the board at 12:26, when Parker Stanfield scored his 10th goal of the season, set up by Tyler Halliday.  Stanfield's play has picked up lately, collecting a point in three of the last four games.  But the Oil Kings restored their two goal lead at 18:35 when Robin Soudek scored his eighth of the year for a 3-1 Edmonton lead through 20 minutes.  The Cougars out-shot the Oil Kings 12-9.

The Cougars once again out-shot Edmonton in the second period, this time by a 12-8 margin, but there was no scoring in the second fram.  The Cougars would get another goal past Cam Lanigan in the Oil Kings net in the third period with the power play.  Cougars leading rookie scorer Brock Hirsche put home his 13th goal of the season on a pretty passing play, set up by Taylor Makin and the Cougars leading scorer Alex Rodgers at 5:05.  Rodgers has collected a point in back-to-back games, and after a point-per-game effort in 14 outings in January, Rodgers has eight points in eight games in February.  But that was as close as the Cougars would come, dropping a 3-2 decision for the team's fifth loss in a row.  The Cougars were out-shot in the third period 13-9, but had a 33-30 shots advantage in the game.  Once again, the Cougars held an opposition to a low amount of power plays and were perfect on the penalty kill for the fourth time in the last five games, going 2-for-2 when down a man.  Over the last five games, the Cougars have given the opposition no more than three power plays in each of the four games they have not allowed a power play goal.  The Cougars were 1-for-2 with the man advantage.

As for the youngsters, Bourke, the Cougars second pick in the '09 draft, played very well.  Coach Clark mentioned after the game his domination in the offensive zone, even for such a young player in his first WHL game.  Phaneuf, the Cougars third pick in the draft, allows earned praise from Clark, who felt Phaneuf got better as the game went along.  The Cougars are not done bringing in members of the '09 draft class, as Penticton product Carter Rigby, the Cougars sixth pick of the 2009 bantam draft, will join the Cougars for the remainder of the season.  Rigby already has one game under his belt when he suited up as a Cougar for the first time January 29 in Kelowna.  Rigby and the Cougars will get on CN Centre ice Tuesday night against the Seattle Thunderbirds, as the teams collide for a mid-week double-header.  Puck drop is at 7:00 with tickets available by calling Ticketmaster at 250-564-5585.

Email | Print | Facebook | Twitter | Digg | Del.icio.us