Friday Odds and Ends.

Here is a mish-mash of thoughts as the Prince George Cougars head into action tonight with the Seattle Thunderbirds:


- It's great to see that the Prince George Cougars are finding the back of the net with a little more consistency. They've now gone seven consecutive games scoring three or more times. What's equally impressive is the fact that the Cougars have been getting their goals from all across the board. If the likes of Jordan Tkatch, Chase Witala and Greg Fraser can continue to supply secondary offense, it takes some of the opposition's focus away from Alex Forsberg, Troy Bourke and Spencer Asuchak.

- Drew Owsley has had a ton of success against the Seattle Thunderbirds over the course of his WHL career. Owsley has a 13-2-0-0 record against Seattle and was marvelous against the Thunderbirds back on November 25th. Congrats to Owsley for playing in his 150th regular season game on Wednesday against Portland.

- Special teams is a factor in most games, and tonight I'm expecting much the same. The Cougars head into tonight's game with a league-low 12.1% success rate on the man-advantage. The Cougars are right in the middle of the penalty-killing pack with a 78.4% success rate. The Cougars are ranked 11th on the PK and 22nd on the PP. The Seattle Thunderbirds come into tonight's game ranked 18th in penalty-kill (74.6%) and 14th on the power play (20.2%)

- The Cougars head into action tonight trailing Seattle by just a single point in the Western Conference standings. Seattle (11-14-0-1) have 23 points while the Cougars (10-19-0-2) have recorded 22. The Thunderbirds do hold five games in hand, which makes tonight's result that much more important for the Cougars who are also within four points of the Victoria Royals in the B.C. Division. Tonight the Royals are hosting Lethbridge.

- Classy move by Tampa Bay allowing Brett Connolly to represent Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championships. He'll add instant offense and a ton of character to Canada's lineup.

We'll talk to you tonight from the broadcast booth in Kent!