Brian Liesse

Maser hits 100 points and continues to “do everything” for Prince George

Prince George Cougars Head Coach and General Manager Mark Lamb keeps it simple when describing overage forward Josh Maser. “He does everything for us. He’s our offensive leader. He’s our physical leader. He plays a ton of minutes. He’s been getting better every game. When he’s on his game, he’s a tough guy to handle out there.”

Josh Maser (Photo-Brian Liesse)

Maser has played in 164 WHL games, and on Saturday night against the Tri-City Americans, he scored his 65th career WHL goal. It was also his 100th WHL point. That puts him 39th all time in Prince George franchise history. He is also tied for 19th in goals.

“I didn’t even know I got to 100 points until after the game, seeing it online. I guess it’s a bit of an achievement. I didn’t really think I’d ever come close to getting 100 points in the WHL,” Maser said.

Maser is from Houston, B.C., a town of less than 3,000 people.

“I was from a pretty small town growing up and coming to watch the Cougars games when I was a young kid, about seven or seven or eight years old. I always thought just how good they were,” Maser continued.

Being from a region often overlooked in the WHL is something Maser is extremely proud of.

“It’s a privilege just to be here and play for Prince George and represent the north. To get to 100 points just with the Cougars is definitely an achievement I’m proud of.”

Maser was drafted in the fourth round of the 2014 WHL Bantam Draft by the Prince Albert Raiders but only played one game for them before being moved to Prince George along with a sixth-round pick for Adam Kadlec.

Maser had just three goals as a 17-year-old but has turned in 28- and 30-goal seasons since then. He already has four in eight games so far this season.

He admits he was a little too hard on himself as a young WHL player. He started to find his scoring touch the more he lightened up.

Josh Maser (photo-Brett Cullen)

“Over the course of the last four years, I’ve learned to come to the rink and just enjoy it. I used to come to the rink and be a little bit tight and put a little bit of pressure on myself. I always thought there was a lot of pressure to score goals or play well, but now that I’m 20, I kind of take a step back and just enjoy it a bit more and have fun.”

He believes a more laid back approach has a good impact on the room as well.

“I think that’s kind of helping our team a lot to stay positive in the room and on the bench. You have to stay positive because you play so many games throughout the season you just want to stay positive throughout all the games. You’re not going to win them all, obviously. I try to stay positive and even the guys up if we get down a goal or two. We have to get those back so we got to stay positive.”

The Cougars have been in every game this season and have found some recent success with back-to-back wins over expected Western Conference title contenders the Kelowna Rockets and Spokane Chiefs.

“It’s been great. We obviously wish we had a few more wins, but you know, we’re a really young team. We have quite a few new guys in the locker room. It’s kind of a big adjustment going from playing midget hockey to the WHL, but all our young guys are starting to get up to speed and handle hard passes and stuff, so every single game I think we’re getting a lot better.”

Josh Maser (Photo-James Doyle)

Maser got his first experience playing pro hockey this past summer as he attended New York Rangers camp and played for them in the Traverse City Tournament.

“It was an awesome experience heading to New York. That was my first NHL taste. It was definitely one that I was paying attention to very closely. Just watching how the other players there and how the pros handle themselves and how they practice. It was crazy how fast it was and how hard everyone was, how hard everyone went. If you just think of the pass, it was always just right on the tape and guys were always moving and talking out there. It was just really cool to see how everyone handled themselves.”

After a taste of the pro lifestyle, Maser wants to earn a pro contract during his last season in the WHL. He has other things to handle first, though, and knows that if Prince George makes its first appearance in the playoffs since 2017, he will have more opportunities to impress scouts.

“I know that it’s going to take a lot of work here, especially in my last season. It starts with team success. What I want to do is take the Prince George Cougars to playoffs and hopefully have a good run here so that some more and more pro teams come out and watch. I know we have a great team in here and we have lots of talent, but we definitely got to get some more wins under us and more teams will come to watch us and I’ll get more opportunities.”

Sounds like a good plan.