Sports by Hartley Miller as of 12:05 a.m. Thursday, March 31st
WHL:
Kamloops Blazers 8 Prince George Cougars 2
The Blazers led 6-0 before the game was 24 minutes old before 4,745 fans in Kamloops.
The victory allowed the Blazers to clinch the top spot in the B.C. Division for the third straight season.
The box score and game highlights are right here.
Logan Stankoven led Kamloops with two goals, including his 40th of the season, and two assists.
The Cougars leading scorer, Koehn Ziemmer, tallied his 30th goal of the season to become the first P.G. rookie to reach that mark since Brett Connolly in the 2008-09 season.
Ziemmer also assisted on Riley Heidt’s 19th goal.
Koehn Ziemmer hit the 30-goal plateau on Wednesday night against the Blazers.
📸 Allen Douglas
— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) March 31, 2022
The (22-36-2-1) Cougars hold down the 8th and final playoff spot in the WHL Western Conference, four points ahead of the (19-37-4-1) Spokane Chiefs and three points behind the (22-35-5-1) Victoria Royals and the (23-33-4-0) Vancouver Giants.
Vancouver has eight games remaining, Prince George and Spokane have seven left and Victoria has five remaining.
The Cougars visit the Kelowna Rockets Friday before hosting Kamloops Sunday afternoon at 2:00.
The WHL standings are right here.
The PG Cougars regular season schedule is right here.
Season over for Blades’ captain . . . Regina, Saskatoon combine to bid on 2023 WJC . . . Blazers clinch B.C. flag https://t.co/369mEfQqXr
— Gregg Drinnan (@gdrinnan) March 31, 2022
Cat Scan podcast:
CAT SCAN: @Hartley_Miller sits down with @PGCougars co-owner Eric Brewer in this week’s episode
| https://t.co/xjSoJEdADF #CityOfPG #PrinceGeorge #northernbc #sports pic.twitter.com/Bi4yI6ms9Z— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 24, 2022
NHL: (6 Wednesday games with three Canadian teams in action)
St. Louis 4 Vancouver 3
The (32-28-9) Canucks are five points out of a playoff spot with 13 games remaining, eight at home, and five on the road.
Vancouver will host Vegas Sunday (4 p.m.) in its next game.
The Canucks are 24-12-6 since Bruce Boudreau took over as coach.
Edmonton 4 LA 3 (SO)
It was the eighth straight victory on home ice for the Oilers,
Winnipeg 3 Buffalo 2 (SO)
The @EdmontonOilers defeated the Kings to extend their home winning streak to eight games, equaling the second-longest run in franchise history (the second straight season they have done so).#NHLStats: https://t.co/KpOFzGd1rD pic.twitter.com/Dic4OAwTcX
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 31, 2022
BCHL:
The Prince George Spruce Kings host the Cranbrook Bucks Friday and Saturday in the first two games of their best-of-seven first-round BCHL playoff series.
The (27-15-4-8) Spruce Kings finished in 4th place in the Interior Division, three points ahead of the (29-20-2-3) 5th place Bucks.
Games three and four are scheduled for Cranbrook on April 4th and 5th with if needed games on April 7th in P.G., April 9th in Cranbrook, and April 11th in Prince George.
The Spruce Kings playoff schedule is right here.
The BCHL final regular-season standings are right here.
Men’s Soccer:
Panama 1 Canada 0
Despite the loss, Canada was the top team in CONCACAF qualifying to advance to the World Cup.
World women’s curling championship—(in PG)
The best of the world women’s curling championship in photos @worldcurling @CurlingCanada @EinarsonTeam @teamjentsch @TeamHasselborg @TeamTirinzoni @teamkubeskova @ChristensenCurl
| https://t.co/hIvwk8V0yC #WWCC2022 #Curling #cityofpg #PrinceGeorge #northernbc #sports pic.twitter.com/bih3SkVf27— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 29, 2022
World men’s curling championship–(in Las Vegas)
Canada, skipped by Brad Gushue, will play its opener Saturday afternoon at 2:00 against the Czech Republic, at the world men’s curling championship in Las Vegas.
13 countries are represented with the top six to advance to the playoffs.
Niklas Edin of Sweden is the defending champion, having won the last three world championships,
NBA:
Toronto Raptors 125 Minnesota Timberwolves 102
The (44-32) Raptors, with six games left, are tied with the Chicago Bulls for 5th in the NBA Eastern Conference, two games ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Raptors visit the Orlando Magic on Friday (4:00 p.m. PT).
The Raptors’ schedule is right here.
The move follows Bruce Arians’ decision to retire as a coach. He will transition into a front-office position with the team.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
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