It's only training camp.
Doesn't matter who wins or loses, right?
Trying telling that to Reid Perepeluk.
In his second scrimmage of the weekend Saturday afternoon at the Prince George Cougars camp at CN Centre, Perepeluk was playing like a man possessed. Kind of like he always does whenever he gets into game mode.
The difference was he was showing off a goalscorer's touch.
The 19-year-old right winger was probably the most popular player in the dressing room with his Team Byfuglien teammates after he tapped in a pass from Jaxon Danilec to score the overtime winner - his fourth goal of the game in a 7-6 triumph over Team Bourke.
"That doesn't happen too often for a role player like me," said Perepeluk.
Perhaps the six-foot-three, 200-pound Perepeluk has rediscovered the finishing touches he had as a Saskatchewan bantam and when he played a half season of junior B hockey with the Kamloops Storm as a 17-year-old. The Cougars' fortunes could take a giant leap forward if he keeps that up in his second full season with the Cats.
Perepeluk has always shown he's a strong aggressive skater since he jumped to the WHL Cougars after two seasons of major midget with the Cariboo Cougars. The knock on him early in his WHL career was he took too many penalties, which made him a liability. But after 55 games last season in his return to the Cougars he's learned how to channel his aggression in a way that he can still intimidate opponents with his fierce bodychecking style, while keeping that physical style within rules of the game. He's close to 10 pounds lighter than he was at the end of last season and that's made him even quicker, more flexible and more shifty on the ice as he patrols his wing.
"Having that experience in the league is a big thing," said Perepeluk, who had two goals and five assists and 58 penalty minutes in those 55 games. "It's about being hard on the puck and going to the net and just being in smart positions and thinking the game before you get the puck and thinking where the puck's going to be next."
Perepeluk spent his minor hockey career in his hometown of Yorkton, Sask., but has lived in Prince George with his family ever since he came west to play midget hockey. He spent a month over the summer in Kamloops, working out with Ty Kolle, his former midget teammate, and also did three weeks in Langley with his Cougar teammate Ilijah Colina at Tim Preston's Impact Hockey conditioning camp.
"Perepeluk puts in the work," said Cougars head coach and general manager Mark Lamb. "He had a good first day."
The Cougars could have as many as 17 returning players, including defenceman Cam MacPhee, who had shoulder surgery and missed all of last season. MacPhee, fellow defenceman Ryan Schoettler, Austin Crossley, a blueliner who moved up to the wing late last season, and left winger Josh Maser are the four 20-year-olds in camp.
They've bolstered their lineup with import forward Fillip Koffer, 18, who they selected 10th overall in the CHL import draft, and also have 16-year-old draft picks Craig Armstrong, Blake Eastman, both forwards, defenceman Ethan Samson and goalie Tyler Brennan ready to make the jump to the WHL on a team that's missed the playoffs the past two seasons.
"I'm really excited for all the boys," said Perepeluk. "They have a lot of guys who came in as rookies last year and now they're coming in as sophomores and I think it's going to be a whole different Prince George Cougars team. We have more experience going into the season and more leadership. You get confidence with experience. We're here to win and definitely make playoffs."
