Image Credit: Prince George Cougars

By Victor Kaisar

Royals 6 Cougars 3

Cougars to face Portland in round one of 2025 WHL playoffs after Friday loss to Victoria

Mar 22, 2025 | 10:43 AM

PRINCE GEORGE — There will be no back-to-back BC Division titles for the Prince George Cougars, as they were doubled up by the Victoria Royals 6-3 Friday (March 21) at the CN Centre.

The Royals claimed just their second B.C. Division title, and will finish second in the Western Conference. The Cougars will have to settle for fourth place, and another playoff meeting with the Portland Winterhawks starting next weekend, March 28.

The Cougars will get their chance for revenge as the Winterhawks triumphed in six games in the 2024 Western Conference final. While Portland won all four meetings this season, two of those wins came in overtime and a shootout.

The two teams also haven’t faced off since Dec. 13.

Friday night in Prince George, Treydon Trembecky led the way for the Royals with two goals and four points. He opened the scoring at 5:29 of the first period, though Carson Carels evened things up about four minutes later.

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The Royals responded with a pair of goals just three minutes apart, from Markus Loponen (12:03) and Logan Pickford lead 3-1 after 20 minutes of hockey.

While Riley Heidt pulled one back late in the second, the Royals scored three unanswered goals to led 6-2 early in the third. Trembecky and Cole Reschny struck in the second before Nate Misskey extended the lead at 22:21 of the final frame.

While Heidt added his second of the game at 9:13 of the third, it was all the Cougars could manage on the night. Koehn Ziemmer and Bauer Dumanski

Joshua Ravensbergen finished with 25 saves on 31 shots in a losing effort for the Cougars. Johnny Hicks was credited with the win as he turned aside 26 of 29 shots for Victoria.

The Cougars and Royals will square off in their regular season finale at CN Centre Saturday night. It’s still retro weekend in Prince George, this evening’s game will also feature a mega 50/50 draw with proceeds going toward critical equipment for the Cardiac Care Unit.

Image Credit: WHL