Cougars looking forward to pair of raucous crowds as they face off against Portland

The CN Centre should be a fun place to be this weekend as the Prince George Cougars kick off the 2025 WHL Playoffs against a familiar foe in the Portland Winterhawks.

Game One is set for 7 pm tomorrow night (Friday), while Saturday is a 6 O’clock puck drop.

Director of Business. Taylor Dakers told MyPGNow.com while a sell-out is the goal, getting to the 5,700 mark similar to last year’s round one against the Spokane Chiefs wouldn’t be a bad consolation prize.

“Ticket sales are on par at the high fives but there are still tickets available, blocks of them. Last year, we didn’t sell out in round one and tickets are available right up until game time.”

“We would love to sell out but we haven’t done it yet. It’s going to be very fun anytime you can get that building over 5,000 fans. It’s a ton of fun, it’s loud and it’s the white out so people are loving that.”

The on-ice success of the Cougars continues to resonate with their fans.

PG finished 8th out of 22 teams in WHL attendance, averaging 4,178 fans per game during the 2024-25 regular season – an increase of 18.7 % from the previous season where the average was just over 3,500.

Dakers noted the office staff has done a good job to make home games family-friendly.

“We are consistent with our work-ethic and our marketing. We are trying to get everybody aware of what is going on and once they are in the building that show sells itself and they leave with an urgency to come back.”

“We have continued to put an exciting team out on the ice so the fans continue to come out and watch that and it is a testament to the fact it is a hockey town and people like to come out and watch a good product. Season member base is up a bit as well and walks have been pretty steady as well.”

He added their feature games have been a big hit with the fans and are partially responsible for the spike.

“Community Heroes, Indigenous Night and, things like that. We try not to focus on single nights to bring people in but we try and make those games as entertaining as possible so that those same people have the urge to come back.”