HARTLEY’S SPORTS SHORTS: THURSDAY, MAY 9TH

(As of 12:01 a.m.)

PRINCE GEORGE SPRUCE KINGS: 

The Prince George Spruce Kings left Wednesday morning for Brooks, site of the five-team national junior A hockey championship May 11-19.

The Spruce Kings get the bye on Saturday and will open Sunday afternoon (1:00 PT) against the Oakville Blades.

The BCHL and Doyle Cup champions are 20-3 in the post-season.

With the field set and the schedule released, here is a look at who the @SpruceKings are up against in the @HC_NJAC starting this weekend.https://t.co/7ZqrLHUHJ0 pic.twitter.com/o8ZwdETorW

— BC Hockey League (@GoBCHL) May 7, 2019

The schedule is right here.

PG SPRUCE KINGS NATIONAL SCHEDULE:

Sunday, May 12th: PG Spruce Kings  vs.  Oakville Blades  (1:00 PT)
Monday, May 13th: PG Spruce Kings  vs.  Ottawa Jr. Senators  (6:00 PT)
Wednesday, May 15th: PG Spruce Kings  vs.  Portage Terriers (6:00 PT)
Thursday, May 16th: PG Spruce Kings  vs.  Brooks Bandits  (6:00 PT)

The tournament semi-finals are Saturday, May 18th at 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. PT and the final goes Sunday, May 19th at 2:00 p.m. PT.

SPRUCE KINGS-BANDITS DOYLE CUP RESULTS:

Game 1 Friday, April 26^th, 2019 @ BROOKS  PG won 2-0
Game 2 Saturday, April 27^th, 2019 @ BROOKS  Brooks won 3-1
Game 3 Sunday, April 28^th, 2019 @ BROOKS  Brooks won 4-0.
Game 4 Wednesday, May 1^st, 2019 @ RMCA  PG won 3-1
Game 5 Thursday, May 2^nd, 2019 @ RMCA  PG won 4-1
Game 6 Saturday, May 4^th, 2019 @ RMCA  PG won 4-2

NHL: (1 Wednesday playoff game)

San Jose Sharks  3  Colorado Avalanche  2

After missing six games with a head injury, Captain Joe Pavelski returned to the San Jose lineup and tallied a goal and an assist in the first period.

Sharks win the series 4-3 to advance to the Western Conference final against the St. Louis Blues starting Saturday night at 5:00 in San Jose.

The NHL Eastern Conference final begins this evening (5:00 PT) with the Carolina Hurricanes at the Boston Bruins.

The Hurricanes are riding a six-game win streak.

Bruins defenceman Charlie McAvoy won’t play tonight as he serves a one-game suspension
for an illegal check to the head he delivered on Josh Anderson of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The NHL playoff schedule is right here.

The 2019 Conference Finals are locked in.

The @NHLBruins and @NHLCanes will square off in Game 1 at TD Garden on Thursday. #NHLStats #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/DDN4w54c8C

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) May 9, 2019

WHL:(Ed Chynoweth Cup)

Prince Albert Raiders  1  Vancouver Giants  0

The Raiders lead the best-of-seven final 3-1 with game five Friday night in Langley.

Ian Scott made 36 saves for his fifth shutout of the playoffs, which is one shy of the league record.

Brett Leason scored the only goal at 4:21 of the third.

That goal was well worth the wait! @Bleason7 makes no mistake on the breakaway for @PARaidersHockey!#WHLChampionship pic.twitter.com/tDcvU9ESvV

— The WHL (@TheWHL) May 9, 2019

P.A. is 13-0 when scoring first in the 2019 playoffs and 57-0 when including the regular season.

The winner of the series will advance to the Memorial Cup May 16 to 26 in Halifax.

*= if necessary

WORLD HOCKEY:

Team Canada opens the 2019 men’s world hockey championship in Slovakia against Finland Friday (7:15 a.m. PT).

The tournament consists of 16 teams; two groups of eight.

Gold and bronze medal games will be played on Sunday, May 26.

The schedule is right here.

PG SENIOR LACROSSE: (Wednesday at Kin 2)

Westwood Pub Devils  12  RPR Mechanical/JR Construction Bandits  5

Prince George Senior Lacrosse continues tonight (Thursday) at 8 in Quesnel with the Crossfire hosting Northland Nissan Assault.

League Standings:

Westwood Pub Devils  3-0
Mackenzie Conifex Power Lumberjacks  1-0
RPR Mechanical/JR Construction Bandits  1-2
Northland Nissan Assault  0-1
Quesnel Summit Electric Crossfire  0-2

NBA:(2 playoff games Wednesday)

Golden State Warriors  104  Houston Rockets  99
(Kevin Durant left the game in the third quarter with a right calf strain and did not return. The Warriors lead the best-of-seven Western Conference semi-final 3-2 with game six Friday night at 6:00 in Houston)

#DubNation @KlayThompson (27 PTS, 5 3PM) & @StephenCurry30 (25 PTS, 3 3PM) guide the @warriors (3-2) to the Game 5 W! #StrengthInNumbers #NBAPlayoffs

Game 6: Friday (5/10), 9:00pm/et, ESPN pic.twitter.com/5lwxWF1k2P

— NBA (@NBA) May 9, 2019

Milwaukee Bucks  116  Boston Celtics  91
(Bucks win the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semi-final 4-1)

#

The Toronto Raptors tip off tonight (5:00) against the 76’ers in Philadelphia. The Raptors lead the second-round series 3-2.

The late game this evening in the NBA has Denver at Portland (7;30). The Nuggets are ahead of the Trail Blazers 3-2.

The NBA playoff schedule is right here.

MLB: 

Minnesota Twins  9  Toronto Blue Jays  1

The Twins swept the 3-game series outscoring Toronto by a total of 20-1.

The (15-22) Blue Jays, who have lost five straight and eight of their last nine games, host the Chicago White Sox Friday night.

The Blue Jays schedule/results right here.

The MLB standings are right here.

CFL:

Quarterback Ricky Ray has announced his retirement after playing 16 seasons in the CFL.

The 39-year-old, 4-time Grey Cup champion suffered a season-ending neck injury last year with the Toronto Argonauts.

UNBC TIMBERWOLVES:

Prince George city all-star Isabel Fuller has committed to play for the UNBC Timberwolves in the 2019-20 Canada West women’s basketball season.

The five-foot-ten guard played for the College Heights senior girls team since Grade 9.

An exciting day for @UNBCWomensBball, officially announcing the commitment of @CHSSCougars city all-star Isabel Fuller for the 2019-2020 @CanadaWest season! Check out the video to hear from Isabel, and to read all the details, click here: https://t.co/798i3dnWRW pic.twitter.com/uBanjMrvH4

— UNBC Athletics (@UNBCATHLETICS) May 6, 2019