The Cariboo Cougars have wrapped up a weekend exhibition series with the visiting Everett Jr. Silvertips.
The Silvertips play out of the North American Prospect Hockey League and are led by Prince George native head coach Turner Stevenson. Stevenson has quite an impressive and lengthy resume, which includes a Stanley Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 2003. Stevenson also had a tenure playing for the Montreal Canadiens and the Philadelphia Flyers.
Heading into the weekend the Cougars still had two full rosters filled and had some decisions to make after the exhibition series. The weekend began with fitness testing which saw Chase Schurack, Colton Kitchen, Grady Thomas, Hunter Floris, and Paul Hauk finish top five in results.
Game Results:
Friday, Game One – The first period saw all the scoring action with Everett finding the board quickly to get out to a 2-0 lead. The lone Cariboo Cougar goal was scored by Paul Hauk who drove hard to the net and found the back of the net thanks to a great connecting pass from Grady Thomas. Despite the loss Cariboo did have the lead in shots, the offense was not lacking.
Saturday, Game Two – Another busy first period, the Cougars received goals from Hunter Floris, Chase Schurack, and another powerplay tally to give them a 3-1 lead. One goal from Jacob Stevenson, Turner’s son, brought the Silvertips closer, but the Cougars regained the two goal lead before the end of the second as a hard working Aiden Craig-Steele buried one to give the Cougars a 4-2 lead heading into the second. The third period saw a goal from Alex Bulshakov for the Silvertips, but the Cougars found a spark with goals from Colton Kitchen, and Alex Ochitwa with two of his own. The Cougars tied the series up at one for the weekend with a 7-3 victory.
Saturday, Game Three – The Cougars opened up the first period with emphasis, as Curtis Hammond opened it up and Brett Fudger added a tally for a 2-0 lead at the end of one. Braedan Young and Brendan Moseley made it a four goal lead but Jakob Stevenson netted one for a 4-1 Cariboo lead heading to the final frame. The third was all offense all the time. Stevenson quickly picked up two quick goals for a hat trick and a one goal deficit. That was the last flicker of hope for Everett though, as Brendan Pigeon and Lane Goodwin both grabbed themselves a goal. With eight minutes left in the game Everett scored, but that was erased as Cariboo answered back for a 7-4 victory, bringing their series lead to 2-1.
Sunday, Game Four – This was the most sound game of the weekend as all the players had found their stride. Cariboo came out of the gate taking a penalty, but the man disadvantage was anything but that as John Herrington scored short handed giving Cariboo a one-nothing lead. Jakob Stevenson found Caden Pattison wide open in front as the Silvertips evened things up before the end of the period. Again the Cougars got on the board early to start the second period as Braeden Young was the recipient of a lucky bounce in front to find the back of the net for a 2-1 lead. Cariboo headed to the penalty box on a hooking call, and Everett took advantage as John Studioso ripped one from the point to tie the game. This was a back and forth affair, and Matthew Magrath who was recently drafted by the Prince George Cougars made that relevant again as he put the cats ahead 3-2. And wouldn’t you know it before the end of the second the game is tied at 3 thanks to a Caden Pattison goal. Brendan Pigeon finally found the back of the net for the Cougars to give them a one goal lead after 6 back and forth 3rd period minutes. The last minute of play was one the Cougars will want to forget, as the Silvertips found the board with just 22 seconds remaining to tie it up, and then again with 7 seconds remaining to seal the win. The Cougars and Silvertips finish the weekend with two wins a piece.
The Cougars want to thank the Everett Jr. Silvertips for making the trip to Prince George for this incredible exhibition series!
Stay tuned for the regular season schedule coming soon!
