Breaking Down the Numbers.

The Prince George Cougars have 20 games remaining in their regular season. With that in mind, the Cougars are still knocking on the door of a playoff spot and are one of four teams currently jostling for the final two spots in the Western Conference. The Cougars along with the Everett Silvertips, Seattle Thunderbirds and Victoria Royals are all vying for those spots, and the next two months are going to be very telling.

To give you some more perspective, I have crunched some numbers and provided some insight into what the final two months look like for the four above-mentioned teams. Hopefully by looking into these reports you’ll give yourself a better idea of what lies ahead for these teams down the stretch.

VICTORIA ROYALS

Record: 17-32-2-4

Home Record: 10-13-1-2

Away Record: 7-19-1-2

Record Against Prince George: 3-1-0-0

Overall Record Against Remaining Opponents (2011-2012): 10-18-0-3 (31%)

Division Rank: Fourth

Conference Rank: Seventh

Games Played: 55 (Cougars hold three games in hand)

Games Remaining: 17

Games Remaining Against Prince George: 4

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Remaining Schedule:

Feb 8th vs. Everett

Feb 15 vs. Calgary

Feb 17 vs. Prince George

Feb 18 vs. Prince George

Feb 22 @ Kamloops

Feb 24 @ Prince George

Feb 25 @ Prince George

Feb 28 vs. Spokane

Feb 29 vs. Spokane

March 3 vs. Vancouver

March 4 vs. Vancouver

March 7 @ Everett

March 9 @ Kelowna

March 10 @ Everett

March 11 @ Vancouver

March 14 vs. Portland

March 16 vs. Portland

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Games at home: 10 of 17

Games on the road: 7 of 17

Games against Cougars: 4 (8 available points)

Games against teams above them in the standings: 10 of 17

Games against teams below them in the standings: 7 of 17.



Injuries

#3, Zach Habscheid, Lower body, 1 month+



SEATTLE THUNDERBIRDS:



Record: 18-32-1-1

Home Record: 10-15-0-1

Away Record: 8-17-1-0

Record Against Prince George: 0-2-0-0

Overall Record Against Remaining Opponents (2011-2012): 7-20-1-0 (25%)

Division Rank: Fourth

Conference Rank: Eighth

Games Played: 52 (Cougars have played same number of games)

Games Remaining: 20

Games Remaining Against Prince George: 2

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Remaining Schedule:



Feb 8 @ Kelowna

Feb 10 @ Spokane

Feb 11 vs. Portland

Feb 14 vs. Kelowna

Feb 17 vs. Tri City

Feb 18 @ Portland

Feb 19 vs. Spokane

Feb 25 vs. Everett

Feb 26 vs. Tri City

Feb 28 @ Tri City

March 2 @ Everett

March 3 @ Portland

March 6 @ Prince George

March 7 @ Prince George

March 10 vs. Portland

March 11 vs. Everett

March 13 vs. Spokane

March 16 @ Spokane

March 17 vs. Everett

March @ Portland

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Games at home: 10 of 20

Games on the road: 10 of 20

Games against Cougars: 2 (4 available points)

Games against teams above them in the standings: 14 of 20

Games against teams below them in the standings: 6 of 20



EVERETT SILVERTIPS:



Record: 13-31-1-8

Home Record: 7-15-0-4

Away Record: 6-16-1-4

Record Against Prince George: 1-3-0-0

Overall Record Against Remaining Opponents (2011-2012): 7-13-0-7 (19%)

Division Rank: Fifth

Conference Rank: Ninth

Games Played: 53 (Cougars have one game in hand)

Games Remaining: 19

Games Remaining Against Prince George: 0

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Remaining Schedule:



Feb 8 @ Victoria

Feb 10 @ Vancouver

Feb 11 vs. Vancouver

Feb 17 vs. Portland

Feb 18 vs. Vancouver

Feb 21 @ Tri City

Feb 24 @ Tri City

Feb 25 @ Seattle

Feb 26 vs. Portland

Feb 29 vs. Kamloops

Mar 2 vs. Seattle

Mar 3 vs. Tri City

Mar 7 vs. Victoria

Mar 9 vs. Portland

Mar 10 vs. Victoria

Mar 11 vs. Seattle

Mar 14 @ Kelowna

Mar 16 @ Tri City

Mar 17 @ Seattle

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Games at home: 11 of 19

Games on the road: 8 of 19

Games against Cougars: 0 (0 available points)

Games against teams above them in the standings: 19 of 19

Games against teams below them in the standings: 0 of 19



Injuries

#8, Ryan Chynoweth, Upper body, day to day

#9, J.T Barnett, Lower body, week to week

#19, Manraj Hayer, Upper body, day to day

#24, Zach McPhee, Upper body, week to week

Suspensions #5, Brennan Yadlowski, 10 games remain



PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS:

Record: 16-34-0-2

Home Record: 6-17-0-1

Away Record: 10-17-0-1

Overall Record Against Remaining Opponents (2011-2012): 9-18-0-1 (32%)

Division Rank: Fifth

Conference Rank: Tenth

Games Played: 52

Games Remaining: 20

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Remaining Schedule:

Feb 10 vs. Edmonton

Feb 11 vs. Edmonton

Feb 15 vs. Red Deer

Feb 17 @ Victoria

Feb 18 @ Victoria

Feb 20 @ Portland

Feb 21 @ Portland

Feb 24 vs. Victoria

Feb 25 vs. Victoria

Feb 28 vs. Medicine Hat

Feb 29 vs. Medicine Hat

Mar 2 vs. Spokane

Mar 3 vs. Spokane

Mar 6 vs. Seattle

Mar 7 vs. Seattle

Mar 10 @ Kelowna

Mar 11 @ Tri City

Mar 13 @ Tri City

Mar 16 @ Kamloops

Mar 17 vs. Kamloops

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Games at home: 12 of 20

Games on the road: 8 of 20

Games against teams above them in the standings: 20 of 20

Games against teams below them in the standings: 0 of 20



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As you can see there are some very telling numbers that could definitely affect the stretch-run for these teams.



The following stats favour the Cougars:

- They have the highest winning percentage (32%) of any of the four mentioned teams against their remaining opponents. The Cougars have won nine of the 28 games so far against the teams that they face between now and March 17th.

- The Cougars play more games at home than any other team mentioned in this article.





Some food for thought as you get set for the stretch drive of the Western Hockey League regular season.



Enjoy!