Cougars Host Giants Friday and Saturday

By 250 News

A familiar foe makes its way north to face the Prince George Cougars for back-to-back games at CN Centre this weekend.  The Cougars begin a string of 11 consecutive games against BC Division opponents Friday when they entertain the Vancouver Giants, the first of three straight with Vancouver.

Friday's battle is a match-up of two teams that have won two straight.  The Cougars have won five of six during their current eight game home stand, including victories of 5-0 over Chilliwack December 29 and 5-2 over Moose Jaw on January 2 to run their BC division leading record to 20-15-2-1.  The Giants, who have retooled their roster with five trades in just under a month, had a 6-1 New Year's eve win in Everett and a 6-2 victory in Chilliwack Sunday to push their record to 18-17-1-4, third in the BC division, just two points back of the Cougars.

The road team has won each of the first three games of the season series.  The Giants won back-to-back games at CN Centre on October 1 and 2, but the Cougars returned the favour at Pacific Coliseum November 13, pulling out a 3-2 shoot-out win after trailing 2-0 through 40 minutes.  Martin Marincin leads the Cougars with four points in three games this season against the Giants.  The Cougars head to Vancouver Tuesday before moving on the next night to Chilliwack.

The Cougars welcome back four players to the roster tonight, with Prince George Mayor Dan Rogers on hand for a pre-game ceremony for Brett Connolly, Martin Marincin, Troy Bouke and Josh Smith.  Connolly, who brought home silver for Canada, and Marincin, who played for Slovakia, were at the 2011 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Buffalo, New York, while Bourke and Smith, along with Giants forward Matt Bellerive, helped Team Pacific to a bronze medal at the 2011 World Under 17 Challenge.  The Cougars also boast the CHL's Goalie of the Week, with James Priestner victorious in his last two starts.

Puck drop is 7:00pm at CN Centre and tickets are available by calling Ticketmaster at 250-564-5585.

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