Sports by Hartley Miller as of 12:05 a.m. Monday, December 6th
Vancouver Canucks:
A major shakeup with the Vancouver Canucks.
The Canucks have sacked GM Jim Benning and head coach Travis Green.
Benning had been the team general manager since 2014.
Green was in his fifth season and leaves Vancouver with a 133-147-34 record.
Also fired were assistant GM John Weisbrod and assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner.
Bruce Boudreau has replaced Green, getting a contract for the remainder of this season plus next year.
He becomes the Canucks’ 20th coach.
Longtime senior adviser Stan Smyl has taken over as the interim general manager
The most disappointing start to a Vancouver Canucks season led to the most sweeping night of change in franchise history. A fresh start should be energizing for the organization, but now the accountability falls on players. https://t.co/ca21moYGFN
— Iain MacIntyre (@imacSportsnet) December 6, 2021
The (8-15-2) Canucks have lost 10 of their last 13 games, including a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
Vancouver is last in the Pacific Division.
The 66-year-old Boudreau has previously coached the Washington Capitals, Anaheim Ducks, and Minnesota Wild.
He has never had a losing season over 14 seasons behind the bench.
The Canucks are 0-1 on a 6-game homestand that continues tonight (Monday) at 7:00 against the (10-9-4) LA Kings.
The Kings beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 Sunday night.
Francesco Aquilini, Chairman and Governor NHL, Vancouver Canucks, announced today significant changes to the team’s front office and coaching staff, and confirmed a search for new Hockey Operations leadership is underway.
DETAILS | https://t.co/J3rbN9Rmp3 pic.twitter.com/AGCKoS58wO
— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) December 6, 2021
Philadelphia Flyers:
BREAKING: The Flyers have fired head coach Alain Vigneault.https://t.co/8Uh1KUkiW6
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 6, 2021
NHL: (4 Canadian teams in action Sunday)
Los Angeles 5 Edmonton 1
Winnipeg 6 Toronto 3
Vegas 3 Calgary 2
The Canucks schedule is right here. or here.
WHL:
The Prince George Cougars split their two-weekend road games.
The Cougars beat Spokane 4-2 Friday before dropping a 4-1 decision to Tri-City on Saturday.
Tri-City Americans 4 Prince George Cougars 1 (Saturday)
The Americans scored all four of their goals in the second period, two of them on the power-play.
Ryker Singer of P.G. opened the scoring at 14:03 of the first.
Tomas Suchanek made 38 saves for the Americans, who were outshot 39-33.
Tyler Brennan took the loss in the Cats net with 29 saves.
?️ SAVE OF THE NIGHT ?️
Something about the @PGCougars and glove saves this weekend. Tonight, it’s 2022 #NHLDraft prospect Tyler Brennan’s turn!@RealCdnSS | #SaveoftheNight pic.twitter.com/SPubCNyofI
— The WHL (@TheWHL) December 5, 2021
Tri-City was 2/9 on the power-play while Prince George was 0/7 with the man advantage.
It was the 8th loss in the last 10 games for the Cougars, who went 1-3 on the road in five nights against U.S. Division teams.
Prince George is 7th in the Western Conference standings, but only a point ahead of both Spokane and Victoria and three in front of last place Tri-City.
The (8-14) Cougars visit the (11-6-0-2) Kelowna Rockets Friday before hosting the (17-4) Kamloops Blazers in the Teddy Bear Toss game on Saturday.
The PG Cougars regular season schedule is right here.
The WHL standings are right here.
Prince George Cougars 4 Spokane Chiefs 2 (Friday)
A winning smile. Details on Friday’s 4-2 win over the @spokanechiefs in our game recap. ⤵️
? https://t.co/btbtQAZxkf
? Larry Brunt pic.twitter.com/1Iq9Xn8eQY— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) December 4, 2021
The Cougars ended a three-game losing skid by overcoming a 2-1 deficit after 20 minutes.
Prince George scored twice in the second period and added an insurance goal in the 3rd before 3,511 fans in Spokane.
Taylor Gauthier made 28 saves, including a highlight-reel stop in the 3rd, as Spokane outshot P.G. 30-22.
?️ SAVE OF THE NIGHT ?️
Taylor Gauthier of the @PGCougars stops ’em cold in the Spoke.@RealCdnSS | #SaveoftheNight pic.twitter.com/S6ngMJOhnE
— The WHL (@TheWHL) December 4, 2021
Check out the big dub in Spokane with the game highlights.
? https://t.co/nT11rZUDRo pic.twitter.com/H1ZhgYNcxv
— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) December 4, 2021
Cat Scan podcast:
CAT SCAN: @Hartley_Miller sits down with @PGCougars Director of Scouting @RiderFanBob in this week’s episode | #cityofpg https://t.co/tcvNGXkmUd #sports #northernbc pic.twitter.com/HrXx23zbOG
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) December 2, 2021
BCHL:
Prince George Spruce Kings 5 Salmon Arm Silverbacks 0 (Saturday)
Jordan Fairlie made 18 saves for the shutout.
Multi point nights from Kolton Cousins, John Herrington, and Simon Labelle, as well as 18 saves from Jordan Fairlie led us to a 5-0 blanking of the Salmon Arm Silverbacks!
?–> https://t.co/WIZGmFedFG#TrueBlue • #Spruce50 pic.twitter.com/ihFbMVtuES
— Prince George Spruce Kings (@SpruceKings) December 5, 2021
Prince George improved its road record to 5-3 and its overall record to 11-7.
The Spruce Kings host the (10-8-1) Cranbrook Bucks in a triple-header Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights at 7:00.
The Spruce Kings regular season schedule is right here.
The BCHL standings are right here.
BC Elite Hockey League: (AAA)
U-18 Cariboo Cougars 3 Thompson Blazers 0 (Sunday)
Damien Knackstedt stopped 31 shots for the shutout.
U-18 Cariboo Cougars 5 Thompson Blazers 4 (Saturday)
The (9-7-1-1) Cougars are in 5th place in the 10-team league and they are riding a 4-game win streak, all against the Blazers.
Cariboo is scheduled to visit the (8-9-3) Valley West Giants Saturday (1:15 p.m. in Delta) and Sunday (9:00 a.m. in Surrey) in its final league games until the new year.
The U-18 Cariboo Cougars schedule is right here.
*
The U17 Cariboo Cougars brought four points home with them.
The Cougars were in Chase for weekend BC Elite Hockey League games against the Thompson Blazers and won both, 5-1 on Saturday and 4-1 on Sunday.
Cariboo is now in seventh place in the 10-team division with a record of 8-7-0-1.
The Cougars are scheduled to host the first-place Valley West Giants (14-4) this coming weekend. Games are set for Saturday (5 p.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m.) at Kin 1.
CFL:
(West Division Final)
Winnipeg 21 Saskatchewan 17
The Bombers overcame six turnovers to post the come-from-behind victory.
(East Division Final)
Hamilton 27 Toronto 19
The Blue Bombers and Tiger-Cats will meet in the Grey Cup on Sunday (3:00 p.m. PT) in Hamilton. It is a rematch of the 2019 championship game. There was no Grey Cup last year due to the pandemic. Winnipeg beat Hamilton 33-12 in the 2019 Grey Cup as the Blue Bombers ended a 28-season championship drought.
The CFL schedule is right here.
NFL: (Week 13)
Arizona 33 Chicago 22
The 10-2 Cardinals have the best record in the NFL, which includes 7-0 on the road.
Tampa Bay 30 Atlanta 17
The Bucs are 9-3, tied with Green Bay for the second-best record in the league.
Pittsburgh 20 Baltimore 19
The loss dropped the Ravens to 8-4, tied for the best record in the AFC along with Kansas City, Tennessee, and New England.
Kansas City 22 Denver 9
Seattle 30 San Francisco 23
Monday Night Football to conclude Week 13 of the season has (8-4) New England at (7-4) Buffalo in a battle for first place in the AFC East.
The NFL standings are right here.
Canada West basketball: (in Victoria)
The UNBC Timberwolves lost to the Victoria Vikes in Canada West basketball men’s and women’s doubleheaders in the provincial capital.
Victoria beat the Timberwolves by double digits both Friday and Saturday.
Women–Victoria Vikes 83 UNBC Timberwolves 68 (Saturday)
RECAP: The @uvicvikes had a great night from beyond the arc, topping a gritty @UNBCWomensBball effort in Victoria.
Read: https://t.co/0NG1HWAZXt pic.twitter.com/Kf0tFkCdgr— UNBC Athletics (@UNBCATHLETICS) December 5, 2021
Women–Victoria Vikes 84 UNBC Timberwolves 59 (Friday)
RECAP: The @uvicvikes used their size and depth to put away @UNBCWomensBball tonight in Victoria, despite 25 points from @shakirova6alina.https://t.co/mCIQE9cUIW pic.twitter.com/cPYk6gjUqf
— UNBC Athletics (@UNBCATHLETICS) December 4, 2021
Men–Victoria Vikes 92 UNBC Timberwolves 72 (Saturday)
RECAP: @UNBCBasketball clawed back from 15 down, but had the game slip away against a strong @uvicvikes team in Victoria.
Read: https://t.co/DXBm1TmXlP pic.twitter.com/7y7K490MlN— UNBC Athletics (@UNBCATHLETICS) December 5, 2021
Men–Victoria Vikes 83 UNBC Timberwolves 49 (Friday)
RECAP: @UNBCBasketball couldn’t get anything going offensively, losing in Victoria to the @uvicvikes.
Read: https://t.co/N6gsYy2j1I pic.twitter.com/YZpDux6wZu— UNBC Athletics (@UNBCATHLETICS) December 4, 2021
The UNBC women are 4-4 on the season while the men are 2-6.
Victoria is 4-4 in the women’s division and 7-1 in the men’s standings.
The UNBC basketball teams are done with league play until they host Victoria on Friday, January 14th.
NBA:
Toronto Raptors 102 Washington Wizards 90
The (11-13) Raptors are 2-2 on a 7-game homestand that continues Wednesday night (4:30 PT) against Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Raptors’ schedule is right here.
The NBA standings are right here.
Column:
Scattershooting on a Sunday night while watching Dean and Frank do the Christmas thing . . . https://t.co/0ZXHXOzvMr
— Gregg Drinnan (@gdrinnan) December 6, 2021
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