The Tri-City Americans exploded with three goals in the second and four more in the third to erase a 2-0 deficit and defeat the Prince George Cougars 7-4. It was the third straight loss for the Cougars who are tied with the Kamloops Blazers for 3rd in the BC Division with 61 points. The Blazers won 5-1 over Kelowna. Tri-City also has 61 points in the race for the last wild card spot in the WHL Western Conference. The Cougars visit Portland tonight (Saturday) before concluding with three against Kamloops, including a pair at CN Centre Wednesday and Friday.
–The Chilliwack Chiefs built up a 3-0 lead after two periods and held on for a 3-2 triumph over the Prince George Spruce Kings. The Chiefs lead the best of 7 BCHL Mainland Division final 1-0 with game two this evening in Chilliwack before the series shifts to the PG Coliseum Monday and Tuesday.
–The BCHL Island Division final began with the Nanaimo Clippers posting a 4-2 victory over the Powell River Kings.
–The Cariboo Cougars skunked the South Island Royals 5-0 in the opener of the BCMML semi-final. Griffen Outhouse blocked 21 shots for the shutout and Chase DuBois notched a goal and two assists. Game two in the best of three will be played this afternoon at 1 at Kin 1 with a third game, if needed Sunday at 8:15 a.m. In the other league best of three semi-final, the Vancouver NE Chiefs doubled the Greater Vancouver Canadians 8-4 in game one.
–In the BC Female Midget AAA league, the first place Northern Cougars of PG host the the 4th place Thompson-Okanagan Lakers in the best of 3 semi-finals at Kin 1. The two teams face off today at 8:45 a.m. and 5pm and Sunday, if necessary, at 11:30 a.m.
–The Provincial Minor Hockey Championships begin either Sunday or Monday. Six Prince George rep teams are entered in the Peewee, Bantam and Midget divisions. The BC Peewee Tier 2 tournament will be played in PG at Kin 1 with games to start Monday.
–The PGSS Polars beat Queen Charlotte 88-83 to improve to 1-2 at the Provincial Boys Quad A basketball championship in Langley. PGSS will play West Vancouver tonight for 13th and 14th place. The Polars dropped their first two games 109-68 to Kelowna and 97-54 to Walnut Grove.
–The Nechako Valley Vikings fell to 0-3 at the BC Boys Double A basketball championship in Langley after a 56-43 loss to Kwalikum. Nechako Valley takes on Mt. Elizabeth today for 15th and 16th. The Vikings were beaten in
their first couple of games 88-69 by Southridge and 81-54 by Lambrick Park.
–Both Sarah Beaudry (junior women) and Emily Dickson (youth women) of Prince George earned gold in the pursuit and sprint races at the National Biathlon Championships in Hinton, Alberta. Claire Lapointe of PG (senior girls) took silver in the pursuit and sprint.