The Prince George Cougars, closing in on a playoff spot, have three games left against the Kamloops Blazers; Wednesday and Friday at CN Centre and Saturday in Kamloops. The (29-35-2-3) Cougars, coming off a dramatic come from behind 6-5 shootout victory in Portland, are 3rd in the BC Division by two points over Kamloops. The Blazers are tied
with the Tri-City Americans for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference and Tri-City has a game in hand. The Americans visit Seattle Tuesday.
–Jansen Harkins picked up an assist, his 59th of the season against the Winterhawks, to break Quinn Hancock’s Cougars team record of 58 set in 1997-98. Zach Pochiro notched the shootout winner against Portland.
Photo: Courtesy of the PG Cougars
–The Prince George Spruce Kings are down 2-0 against the Chilliwack Chiefs in the BCHL Mainland Division final with games 3 and 4 tonight (Monday) and Tuesday at the PG Coliseum. The Chiefs took the lead with 3-2 (Friday) and 8-1 (Saturday) victories on home ice.
–In other BCHL playoff action: the Penticton Vees beat the Vernon Vipers 4-3 in double overtime (Saturday) and 5-2 (Sunday) to take a 2-0 lead in the Interior Division final which resumes Tuesday in Vernon. The Nanaimo Clippers edged the Powell River Kings 2-1 (Saturday) and 4-2 (Friday) to grab a 2-0 lead in the Island Division final that continues tonight in Powell River.
–Former Prince George Cougars and Spruce Kings coach Dale Marquette has passed away following complications with his diabetes. Marquette was 47.
–The major midget Cariboo Cougars skunked the South Island Royals 5-0 (Friday) and 4-0 (Saturday) to sweep the best of 3 BCMML semi-final series 2-0. Griffen Outhouse posted both shutouts with a total of 48 saves over the two games. The Cougars host the Vancouver Northeast Chiefs in the best of 3 final at Kin 1 Friday at 5 p.m., Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and if needed Sunday at 10 a.m.
–The Northern Cougars female midget hockey team (based out of P.G.) beat the 4th place Thompson-Okanagan Lakers 2-0 and 2-1 (Saturday) to win the best of 3 BCFM AAA league semi-final 2-0. The first place Northern Cougars host the Fraser Valley Phantom in the best of three final this weekend.
–The Provincial peewee Tier 2 minor hockey championship begins today at Kin 1. Host Prince George plays Cranbrook tonight at 6:30 in the 8-team tournament.
–Five other Prince George minor hockey rep teams are competing at Provincials around the province.
–P.G. is 1-1 at the Midget Tier 1 in Comox Valley after a 3-0 loss to Seafair and an 8-0 victory over host Comox.
–P.G. lost 7-0 in its opener to the Burnaby Winter Club at the Bantam Tier 1 in Rutland.
–P.G. lost 10-1 to Vancouver in its first game at the Bantam Tier 2 in Cranbrook.
–P.G. is 0-2 at the Peewee female in West Vancouver as they fell 9-1 to Kelowna and 7-3 to North Shore.
–P.G. is at the Peewee Tier 1 in South Surrey.
–Megan Heinicke of Prince George finished 24th in the women’s 12.5-kilometre mass start at the World Biathlon Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland. The 26-year-old Heinicke was the lone Canadian female in the field.
“Megan had a great race with exceptional shooting,” said Chris Lindsay, high-performance director. “This is a great way for her to finish off the season with multiple top-16 results; and personal bests for the World Championships.”
–Both Sarah Beaudry (junior women) and Emily Dickson (youth women) of Prince George earned three individual gold at the National Biathlon Championships in Hinton, Alberta. Beaudry and Dickson topped their division in the mass start (Saturday), pursuit (Thursday) and sprint (Wednesday) races. Claire Lapointe of PG (senior girls) took silver in the pursuit and sprint but was disqualified in the mass start. On the men’s side, Matt Neumann of PG wound up 4th in all three of his individual races (mass start, pursuit and sprint).
–The PGSS Polars placed 14th out of 16 at the Provincial Boys Quad A basketball championship in Langley. The Polars, selected the most sportsmanlike team, dropped their final game 98-74 to West Vancouver to end up with an overall 1-3 record. PGSS fell 109-68 to Kelowna and 97-54 to Walnut Grove before getting its lone victory 88-83 over Queen Charlotte.
–The Nechako Valley Vikings were 15th and the most sportsmanlike team at the BC Boys Double A basketball championship in Langley. After losing their first three games, Nechako Valley dumped Mt. Elizabeth 68-42 in its final consolation match-up. The Vikings were beaten 88-69 by Southridge, 81-54 by Lambrick Park and 56-43 by Kwalikum.
–The North Capital Judo Club racked up six medals (two gold, two silver and two bronze) from its nine athletes at the Edmonton International Open.
Gold (2):
Raphael Encinas – U10 Boys -26kg
Asher Young – U12 Boys -33kg
Silver (2):
Aiden Crocetta – U12 Boys -36kg
Lochlan Young – U14 Boys -50kg
Bronze (2):
Miles Wood – U12 Boys -42kg
Nicolas Richards – U16 Juvenile Boys -66kg