Cougars Tipping Tables on Tips/Barthel's Season Over

What a comeback last night by the Prince George Cougars.
The Cougars scored an unbelievable 4 times in the 3rd period in a come-from-behind 4-3 win over the Silvertips in Everett Saturday, and are now one win away from advancing to the Western Conference final against the Vancouver Giants.

The Tips had a 3-0 lead heading into the 3rd period, before the Cougars found a way to get back into the game with 4 goals in a span of just 9 minutes.
Despite trailing 2 games to none at one point in the semi final series, the Cougars have now won three straight games, and can finish off the Tips at home Monday night in Prince George.

If the Cougars don't sell-out game 6 there is something incredibly wrong with the people up there.
What an atmosphere it should be at the CN Centre.
The biggest advantage the Cougars have in this series with the Tips is the ability to adjust to the travel.
The Cougars do it all season long being the northern outpost in the Western Conference, while the Tips I am sure are having a terrible time adjusting to the long bus ride up North.
Don't ever count out Kevin Constantine's team, but advantage Cougars heading into game 6.

In case your wondering the last time the Cougars won a game 6 was in 2002 when they beat Kootenay 6-3, only to lose game seven back in Cranbrook by a 5-1 score.
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Clayton Barthel's season is now officially over.
The former Rockets d-man and his Phoenix Roadrunners were a 3-2 loser Saturday night to Las Vegas in the opening round of the East Coast Hockey League playoffs.
The Wranglers beat the Roadrunners in 4 straight.
Former Rockets Cam Paddock and Tyler Mosienko were influential in the game. Paddock scored once and got into a fight in a losing cause, while Mosienko scored his 3rd of the playoffs in the win.

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You don't see that many North American junior players heading overseas once they've graduated from the Western Hockey League. While it used to be common place, many now just stay close to home either playing semi pro or going to Canadian College. A former player who I loved to watch during his time with the Swift Current Broncos was Rick Girard. Girard scored 71 goals with the Broncos in 1992-93, and helped lead the team to a WHL title that season. A second round pick of the Canucks in 2003, he never played a game in the NHL and elected to go to europe where he is playing in Denmark. Infact he is no longer a Canadian citizen, having spent 10 seasons playing pro hockey in Denmark.
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Do you remember a W.H.L coach by the name of Wade Klippenstein?
I found it interesting that he's an assistant coach with Alaska-Fairbanks of the NCAA.
Klippenstein has been both an assistant and Head Coach of the Prince Albert Raiders 2001-2003 and also held the post of assistant coach in Saskatoon in 1997-98 with the Blades.
With Klippenstein now in the NCAA, would he ever get a coaching gig again in the W.H.L or has he blackballed himself by moving to the 'dark side'?
The WHL and the NCAA are at each others throats when it comes to recruiting players, and it seems odd to me that a former league alumni within the coaching ranks is now likely talking trash about a league where he got his big break behind the bench.
Klippenstein is undoubtedly telling players of the virtues of the NCAA rather than going the major junior route when it comes to recruiting players.
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Just got back from four days in Vancouver/Surrey.
Had a great time with the family, and really enjoyed the sights including a stop at the Vancouver Aquarium.
I threw down 65 bones for the 4 of us at the Aquarium, but it was well worth it.
The traffic was a different story though.
How people live there and go through that day-in-and-day-out is beyond me?
You couldn't pay me enough to go through that everyday.
I was spoiled in Swift Current driving 5 minutes to the Civic Centre when I lived on the Southside of the city, and even here in Kelowna it takes me 12 minutes to get to Prospera Place.
Vancouver is a great place to visit, but man I just can't for the life of me see myself ever living there.