Winterhawks shatter Cougars playoff dreams for the second straight year

And so, ends another chapter in the playoff history between the Portland Winterhawks and Prince George Cougars.

Unfortunately, the outcome was all too familiar for the Cougars, who will have to wait another season to exact their revenge.

Josh Zakreski’s booming slapshot at 10:12 of third period was the dagger in Game 7, as the Winterhawks outlasted the Cougars by a 4-2 score in front of a sold-out CN Centre on Monday night.

“It’s Game Seven, you know there are going to be pushes and you want each other’s best and for us it was about weathering the storm. I thought we did that because we knew there was going to be a push early in the game.”

“Once we got through it, we settled in scored the goal but to PG’s credit there is not a lot of time and space out there. We had to work for our chances, and we knew it wasn’t going to be a power-play or penalty kill fest tonight,” said Kyle Gustafson, Winterhawks head coach.

Down 2-1 at the end of 40 minutes, the Cougars pressed for the equalizer in the third period and got it off the stick of Lee Shurgot who deflected a laser pass from Terik Parascak to even the score at 2-2.

Parascak takes it end-to-end, Shurgot taps it home!!@Capitals | @CarlsJrCA https://t.co/p0NPqi8sKI pic.twitter.com/szE1o3fXVj

— x – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) April 8, 2025

With Portland up by one, Ravensbergen was pulled in favour of the extra-attacker but were unable to cash in on a number of chances. Diego Buttazoni scooped up the loose puck and guided into the yawning cage to punch Portland’s ticket to round two.

After the game, Cougars head coach and general manager, Mark Lamb stated the loss is another tough pill to swallow.

“We played a real good hockey game, probably our best of the series, We couldn’t find that extra goal and we got beat by a good team.”

In the second, a 3-on-2 transition rush by Alex Weiermaier allowed Kyle Chyzowski to drive to the goal getting his stick on a perfect feed from his Los Angeles-born linemmate.

The Cougars pushed the pace for much of the second period but were unable to crack Ondrej Stebetak who stood tall inside the Portland crease making 33 saves.

After the opening faceoff, Parascak barged in on a breakaway but was turned aside by the Czechia netminder.

Bauer Dumanski nearled the evened the score a few minutes later as his end-to-end rush beat everybody on the ice with the exception of the goal line.

Matteo Danis and Riley Heidt were also turned aside by Stebteak on seperate 1-on-1 showdowns.

Riding the wave of the home crowd, Prince George came out and set a physical tone laying many hits on the high-skilled Winterhawks. The best one was near the benches as Koehn Ziemmer lit up Carter Southeran.

Corbin Vaughan also laid a nice hip check inside the Portland line, which drew the approval of the rabid CN Centre crowd.

This led to some quick chances as a point shot by Leith Hunter made its way through traffic only to have Borya Valis ring it off the crossbar.

For the third straight game, the Cougars struck first courtesy of a masterful shift by Heidt – taking the puck with purpose at centre ice, driving wide on the Winterhawks before finishing it off with a shot-pass that found its way to Parascak who made no mistake.

Riley Heidt and Terik Parascak have dazzled all season, and GAME SEVEN IS NO DIFFERENT.@Capitals | @mnwild | @CarlsJrCA https://t.co/Gi2G9qhpz7 pic.twitter.com/8Ra0MPobSF

— x – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) April 8, 2025

Weiermaier found the back of the net for the sixth time in the series six minutes later as a stretch pass by Ryan Miller during a defensive zone face-off exploited a flat-footed Carson Carels at the blueline, allowing the former Denver Pioneer to slip the puck past the five-hole of Ravensbergen for a 1-1 tie.

“We were pushing there and Carels was too aggressive. He wasn’t back, they go back up the neutral zone and went by him. That left him flat-footed and then Kmec was caught deep on the third goal,” added Lamb.

Weiermaier, who won a national championship with Denver last season, collected six goals and three assists in the best-of-seven series.

Prince George outshot the Winterhawks 35-23 but were unable to score on its only power-play of the contest. Stebetak was clutch inside the Portland goal making seven or eight big saves in the final 40 minutes.

“Ondrej was great. He saved his best game for last and that is what you want. When you look at Game six there was probably a couple he’d want back. You aren’t sure how full the gas tank is but there wasn’t a question on who I was starting tonight. He was a game changer and a big reason why we won,” added Gustafson.

This is the fourth time in the last eight years, the Winterhawks have ousted PG from postseason play (2017,2022, 2024 and 2025).

The last time PG sent Portland packing in the playoffs was 1997.

For the Cougars, it’s the end of an era for the core consisting of Riley Heidt, Koehn Ziemmer and Viliam Kmec.

Heidt, a signed draft pick of the Minnesota Wild, likely played his last WHL game even with one year of eligibility remaining.

The 19-year-old from Saskatoon set a new standard after becoming Cougars all-time points (370) and assists (254) leader.

Ziemmer on the other hand, ends his five-year run with the franchise mark in goals with 128. The 20-year-old from Mayerthorpe, Alberta will see time in the minor-league system of the Los Angeles Kings.

Kmec, signed an entry-level contract with the Vegas Golden Knights in September will turn his attention to the pro ranks.

The Slovakian blueliner spent four seasons in the northern capital, suiting up in 279 games between regular season and playoffs.

Kmec posted career-highs in points with 61 in 2024-25. He doubled his production from the season prior where he notched just 34 points.

“I am very proud of the team and very proud of the guys. Those guys are a big part of the foundation and a winning pedigree we built up here, we may have lost tonight but that is not going to change.”

“We got a lot of good players coming back and the future looks good,” added Lamb.

“Players want to come here now and play now because they know they can have a good future.”

Other departures include Valis who is signed to the Toronto Maple Leafs and will push for an AHL roster spot with the Marlies.

Valis, who was acquired by PG ahead of the 2024 WHL trade deadline accumulated 118 regular season points in less than two years – 81 of which occurred in 2024-25.

Van Eger, Aleksey Chichkin, Cooper Michaluk and possibly Evan Groening could be also be playing elsewhere next season due to the three overager limit in the WHL.

The candidates most likely to return include Ben Riche, Bauer Dumanski and Matteo Danis.

Some of the younger players expected to take another step forward in 2025-26 include Carels, Jett Lajoie, Shurgot and Aiden Foster.

Patrick Sopiarz and Kayden Lemire are also primed for a much bigger role with the Cougars.

While the hard-fought series didn’t go PG’s way, fans can rest assured it won’t take long for their WHL team to rise again and take another stab at the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

Late August can’t come fast enough.

Final. pic.twitter.com/JqQ3UxVCqw

— x – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) April 8, 2025