(As of 12:01 a.m.) by Hartley Miller Weekend Wrap
Kobe Bryant:
There is heartache, disbelief, sadness, sorrow and shock upon hearing the news that Kobe Bryant has passed away at age 41.
The LA Lakers legend and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were among nine people killed in a helicopter crash Sunday morning in Calabasas, California.
News of Bryant’s death inspired an outpouring of grief around the sports world and beyond, but it was felt particularly painfully in LA, where Bryant was one of the city’s most beloved public figures.
Thousands of fans, many in Bryant jerseys and Lakers gear, spontaneously gathered at Staples Center and in the surrounding area weeping and staring at video boards with Bryant’s image.
People carried flowers and chanted “Kobe!” and “MVP!” under giant video screens showing Bryant’s smiling face.
Canada’s basketball community is celebrating the life of @Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.https://t.co/8kG7ir8cEU
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 26, 2020
The Toronto Raptors and the San Antonio Spurs joined together on a touching tribute to Bryant at the beginning of their game, with each team dribbling out the 24-second shot clock in remembrance of the No. 24 worn by the fourth-highest scoring player in NBA history.
Raptors, Spurs pay tribute to Kobe Bryant with 24-second violations to start their game. WATCH @ https://t.co/X2XJDZ8mAG pic.twitter.com/9WHUWovpW2
— BarDown (@BarDown) January 26, 2020
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said his team will retire the No. 24 jersey in tribute to Bryant.
Kobe Bryant was one of the most decorated players in NBA history, and won two Olympic gold medals for USA men’s basketball. https://t.co/0CTXielwoa
— CNN (@CNN) January 27, 2020
The Lakers and Clippers will play Tuesday in LA in what will be an emotion-packed night.
WHL: (PG Cougars)
The Prince George Cougars split their weekend games against the Kamloops Blazers; a 3-0 loss was followed by a 3-1 victory.
Prince George Cougars 3 Kamloops Blazers 1 (Saturday)
Taylor Gauthier made 37 saves as Kamloops outshot Prince George 38-16 before 3,077 fans at CN Centre.
The loss ended the (31-12-2-1) Blazers nine-game win streak and eight-game road win streak.
Gauthier stopped 77 of 80 shots over the two games against Kamloops on the weekend.
FINAL: @blazerhockey (1) at @PGCougars (3)
STATS ? | https://t.co/WghvD7PyxG#PGvsKAM pic.twitter.com/xGijtnVbV9
— The WHL (@TheWHL) January 26, 2020
#WHLThreeStars ⭐⭐⭐
Saturday, January 25, 2020 pic.twitter.com/EZrngnEdOn— The WHL (@TheWHL) January 26, 2020
Tyson Upper broke a 1-1 tie at 1:36 of the third period, converting on a breakaway.
Jonny Hooker scored the Cougars at 3:57 of the second period, ending the Kamloops’ shutout streak at 234 minutes.
The (13-25-3-4) Cougars are eight points behind the (18-22-3-2) Seattle Thunderbirds for the final Western Conference wild-card spot with both teams having 23 games left, including four against each other.
The Cats are also tied with the (14-25-4-1) Tri-City Americans.
The Cougars are 1-1 on a six-game homestand which will continue Friday and Saturday against Tri-City.
The Americans have lost six straight and are 1-9 since trading goalie Beck Warm to the Edmonton Oil Kings on January 1st.
In their last 10 games, Tri-City has been outscored 70-24, including 45-9 in their last six.
Prince George will also host Seattle on Feb. 4th and 5th.
MJ 4 WPG 5
SAS 3 REG 4 (OT)
RD 2 CGY 5
VAN 3 KEL 1
SPO 1 EVT 4— The WHL (@TheWHL) January 27, 2020
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Kamloops Blazers 3 Prince George Cougars 0 (Friday)
The Cougars were blanked for the 7th time this season.
Dylan Garand earned the shutout and Josh Pillar scored twice as Kamloops outshot Prince George 43-27 before 1,993 fans at CN Centre.
FINAL: @blazerhockey (3) at @PGCougars (0)
STATS ? | https://t.co/bXPse15iQw#PGvsKAM pic.twitter.com/A1bGy7xm85
— The WHL (@TheWHL) January 25, 2020
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The P.G. Cougars schedule/results right here.
The WHL standings are right here.
CAT SCAN: @Hartley_Miller chats with @cariboocougars bench boss and former @PGCougars player Tyler Brough on this week’s edition of the Cat Scan podcast
| https://t.co/WEogp7hCzA #CityofPG #sports #NorthernUprising pic.twitter.com/zV9mpx1qH7— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) January 23, 2020
BCHL: (PG Spruce Kings)
The PG Spruce Kings lost a pair of weekend games on the road: 3-0 to Surrey and 6-5 to Chilliwack.
Chilliwack Chiefs 6 Prince George Spruce Kings 5 (Saturday)
The Chiefs trailed 2-0 in the first before scoring six of the next seven goals before 2,522 fans in Chilliwack.
Nick Bochen notched a goal and three assists while Nicholas Poisson scored twice and added an assist for Prince George.
RECAP: Nick Poisson and Nick Bochen get three points each, and the late 3rd period comeback falls short as the Spruce Kings fall 6-5 to the Chilliwack Chiefs at the Chilliwack Coliseum.
? | https://t.co/IO4wH4P6l9#GetInTheMix | #BCHL pic.twitter.com/uxsVHqtrg1
— Spruce Kings (@SpruceKings) January 26, 2020
The Spruce Kings are 1-2 on a six-game road trip which will continue Wednesday in Trail against the (30-14-2-2-1) Smoke Eaters.
Prince George will also play Friday in Vernon and Saturday in West Kelowna before hosting Wenatchee on Feb. 5th.
With 11 regular-season games left, the (16-26-2-3) Spruce Kings are last in the Mainland Division, 7 points behind the (20-23-2-1-1) Langley Rivermen and 10 points back of the
(20-21-3-4) Surrey Eagles.
In the overall BCHL standings, P.G. is still in a playoff spot, tied with the Victoria Grizzlies with 37 points followed by the West Kelowna Warriors with 33 and the Merritt Centennials with 24.
It appears that Merritt will be the odd team out.
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Surrey Eagles 3 Prince George Spruce Kings 0 (Friday)
Reece Klassen made 35 saves for the shutout as Prince George outshot the Eagles 35-25 before 575 fans at the South Surrey Arena.
RECAP | The Spruce Kings drop a closely contested battle against the Surrey Eagles at the South Surrey Arena. PG is back at it tomorrow night in Chilliwack at the Chilliwack Coliseum
? | https://t.co/Itm5sLCoeN#GetInTheMix | #BCHL pic.twitter.com/Ga1Emghaoy
— Spruce Kings (@SpruceKings) January 25, 2020
The BCHL standings are right here.
The Spruce Kings 2019-20 schedule/results right here.
BCMML: (Cariboo Cougars in Burnaby)
The Cariboo Cougars lost a pair of one-goal games against the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs; 3-2 and 5-4.
Vancouver Northeast Chiefs 5 Cariboo Cougars 4 (Sunday)
Vancouver Northeast Chiefs 3 Cariboo Cougars 2 (Saturday)
Cariboo has dropped five of its last six games.
The (18-10-1-1) Cougars are 5th and the (21-7) Chiefs 4th in the 11-team league.
Cariboo has 10 regular-season games left, with the last eight of them on home ice at Kin 1.
The Cougars will be in Kelowna this upcoming weekend for a BCMML showcase event.
The Cats play the (10-21-1-0) ninth-place South Island Royals Saturday night at 8:00 and Sunday morning at 11:15.
The Major Midget League schedule/results/standings right here.
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In the B.C. Hockey Minor Midget League, the first-place Cariboo Cougars were in Richmond for a doubleheader against the Greater Vancouver Canadians and won both games. The Cats downed the last-place Canadians 4-1 on Saturday and 4-0 on Sunday.
The Cougars moved to 19-4-1-0 on the season.
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The major bantam Cariboo Cougars won all four of their games in Delta this weekend. The Cats beat the Valley West Giants 4-1 on Friday, dumped the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs 6-3 on Saturday, and, later in the day, defeated the Giants again, this time 7-4. On Sunday, the Cats completed their successful trip when they edged the North Island Silvertips 6-5.
The Cougars improved to 11-11-0-2 and are now fourth of eight teams.
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At the double-A midget level, the North Central Bobcats were in Kimberley and fell 3-2 to East Kootenay on Saturday before a 3-3 tie on Sunday. The Bobcats are fourth in the six-team league with a record of 6-7-3-0.
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In exhibition play, the Northern Capitals of the B.C. Hockey Female Midget AAA League hosted Okanagan Hockey Academy for three games and won all of them. Scores were 4-0, 3-1 and 3-0.
NHL:
The NHL regular season resumes tonight with six games, including the (30-11-8) St. Louis Blues at the Vancouver Canucks.
The (27-18-4) Canucks have won their last eight home games.
Vancouver leads the tight Pacific Division but is just a point over Edmonton, Calgary, Arizona and Vegas.
Other games this evening include Toronto at Nashville, Washington at Montreal, New Jersey at Ottawa, Tampa Bay at Dallas and Anaheim at San Jose.
YOUR 2020 @Honda #NHLAllStar GAME CHAMPIONS, THE PACIFIC DIVISION! pic.twitter.com/zOewN3hRTF
— NHL (@NHL) January 26, 2020
Canucks centre Elias Pettersson scored two goals in the final as the Pacific battled back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Atlantic Division and grab the US$1-million prize at the home of the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues.
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The NHL schedule is right here.
The Canucks schedule is right here.
The NHL standings are right here.
The NHL scoring leaders are right here.
Canada West Basketball: (UNBC Timberwolves)
Mixed results for the UNBC Timberwolves against the Brandon Bobcats in Canada West basketball.
The UNBC women won a pair (78-67 and 93-60) to increase their win streak to four games, but the UNBC men lost both to the Bobcats (76-74 and 96-74) to see their losing skid reach nine games.
(Women’s games)
UNBC Timberwolves 93 Brandon Bobcats 60 (Saturday)
RECAP: What a victory. History was made, everyone got in on the scoring, and @UNBCWomensBball took out the @BUBobcats 93-60. Read all about it here: https://t.co/SJNUVtLLJB pic.twitter.com/nPCfN65Stn
— UNBC Athletics (@UNBCATHLETICS) January 26, 2020
UNBC Timberwolves 78 Brandon Bobcats 67 (Friday)
RECAP: Three straight games with 30 points for Maria Mongomo, and three straight wins for @UNBCWomensBball, as they take out the @BUBobcats. Read all about it here: https://t.co/NGgi6ViNHG pic.twitter.com/dPFXzTW7bY
— UNBC Athletics (@UNBCATHLETICS) January 25, 2020
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(Men’s games)
Brandon Bobcats 96 UNBC Timberwolves 74 (Saturday)
RECAP: Despite a record night from Fareed Shittu, not enough went right for @UNBCBasketball, as they fell to the @BUBobcats tonight at @NorthernSport. Get all the details here: https://t.co/DmwqY6lCod pic.twitter.com/Xx7mPBUVjp
— UNBC Athletics (@UNBCATHLETICS) January 26, 2020
Brandon Bobcats 76 UNBC Timberwolves 74 (Friday)
RECAP: It came down to the final minute, but @UNBCBasketball couldn’t claw all the way back, falling 76-74 to the @BUBobcats last night at @NorthernSport. Read the recap and get the stats here: https://t.co/WPecyPdFED pic.twitter.com/usC5M9ljYH
— UNBC Athletics (@UNBCATHLETICS) January 25, 2020
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The Timberwolves visit the Regina Cougars Friday and Saturday before UNBC closes with home games Feb. 7th and 8th against MacEwan.
Regina is 9-8 (women) and 7-9 (men).
MacEwan is 2-14 (women) and 0-16 (men).
The 7-9 UNBC women have won four straight and are in 10th place out of 17 teams.
The 4-12 UNBC men have lost their last nine and are in 12th spot.
The top 12 teams advance to the playoffs.
Brandon is 1-15 (women) and 3-13 (men).
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The Canada West men’s basketball schedule is right here.
The Canada West men’s basketball standings are right.here
The Canada West women’s basketball schedule is right here.
The Canada West women’s basketball standings are right here.