By Tommy Osborne

Playoff Push

Cougars enter key home stretch with playoff positioning on the line

Mar 4, 2026 | 5:42 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – The Prince George Cougars are practicing again on home ice following an eight game road trip that saw them win five. It was the longest road trip of the season, and the team is certainly enjoying being back home.

“Being back in Prince George, feeling the intensity around this weekend and how the crowds are going to turn out, I think all the guys are really excited just play in front of our fans again,” Cougars Defenceman Carson Carels said.

“It was a really long road trip, I think a fairly successful road trip. Whenever you go away that long and play that many teams, some really good teams, and come back with our record, I think we’re pretty happy,” Cougars Head Coach Mark Lamb said.

The Cougars entered the road trip holding third place in the Western Conference and a one point lead over the fourth place Kelowna Rockets. Now that they’re back, that positioning hasn’t changed, with the Cougars continuing to maintain a one-point lead. That means this upcoming six-game home stand is crucial to maintain that positioning.

Playoff Push

Cougars enter key home stretch with playoff positioning on the line

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“These are probably, I’d say, the biggest points of the year. You want to spread yourself out a little bit in the standings, and for how close it is, if we lose a couple games in a row and a team five points behind us wins a couple, then they’re right there with us,” said Cougars Forward Kooper Gizowski.

The weekend homestand begins against the Spokane Chiefs, who are currently in fifth place in the conference. Only 7 points separates the Chiefs from the ninth place Seattle Thunderbirds, so to say the standings are tight would be an understatement. With that in mind, it’s possible the Chiefs could be the Cougars first round playoff matchup, and the Cougars are looking at it as an opportunity to make a statement.

“It’s big for us to come in the next two games and show the team we are, and set a little standard where if we do play in the playoffs, we’re not worried, and we’re a team that’s hard to beat,” Gizowski said.

“We want to prove to them that if they are our first round matchup that they’re going to have a really tough time coming up here and playing,” Carels added.

For Lamb, he says every game is one where the team hopes to set a standard of excellence, so he’s focused on keeping the team locked in on winning and controlling what they can control.

“Anybody can be our opponent right now. There’s a lot of stuff that’s going on, you just have to go out and you have to play, and let those chips fall where they may, but the chips may fall where you want them to fall, but you got to be playing good,” Lamb said.

“Could it be Spokane? Well, we want to make sure that they know that we’re a good team and we’re going to be a tough team whenever we play them,” he continued.

Given the location Prince George is in relative to other cities, the Cougars hope to maintain home ice playoff seeding, as the team knows it can use travel to its advantage if it keeps its third place position.

“To get the home ice and start at home for two games, if we get those two wins than the road trip doesn’t feel as bad because we can go there and obviously end the series,” Gizowski said.

The Spokane doubleheader begins this Friday night at the CN Centre at 7:00.