Sports by Hartley Miller as of 11:05 a.m. Friday, April 1st
WHL:
The Prince George Cougars have seven regular-season games left, four of them against the Rockets, including tonight in Kelowna.
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, Spokane has seven left and Victoria has five remaining.
The Cougars begin a four-game homestand Sunday afternoon at 2:00 against the Kamloops Blazers.
Prince George lost 8-2 Wednesday night in Kamloops.
The WHL standings are right here.
The PG Cougars regular season schedule is right here.
Cat Scan podcast:
CAT SCAN: @Hartley_Miller sits down with @PGCougars Director of Business Iain Scott in this week’s episode | https://t.co/wrOINDu6An #cityofPG #princegeorge #NorthernUprising pic.twitter.com/SELMwM4HyE
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 31, 2022
Column:
HART ATTACK: @Hartley_Miller talks about the @PGCougars playoff chances in his #AprilFoolsDay version of the column | https://t.co/k8htajny5g #cityofpg #PrinceGeorge #northernbc pic.twitter.com/RlTmuNnG9r
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) April 1, 2022
BCHL:
It’s playoff time for the Prince George Spruce Kings.
The Spruce Kings host the Cranbrook Bucks tonight 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 Monday and Tuesday 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.
NHL: (9 Thursday games with four Canadian teams in action)
Toronto 7 Winnipeg 3
Auston Matthews of the Leafs scored his league-high 50th goal of the season and added an assist.
LA 3 Calgary 2 (SO)
Carolina 4 Montreal 0
Thursday saw Auston Matthews become the NHL’s first 50-goal player this season, while the @DallasStars concluded the night by moving back into a playoff position with their win.#NHLStats: https://t.co/avrCSV8nz9 pic.twitter.com/aN35dAgxQG
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 1, 2022
The (32-28-9) Vancouver Canucks are six points out of a playoff spot with 13 games remaining, eight at home, and five on the road.
The Canucks will host the Vegas Golden Knights Sunday (4 p.m.).
Vancouver is 24-12-6 since Bruce Boudreau took over as coach.
Soccer:
The draw is out for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The Canadian men’s soccer team will play Belgium to open the tournament.
Canada is part of a group that also includes Croatia and Morocco.
The #FIFAWorldCup groups are set 🤩
We can’t wait! 🏆#FinalDraw pic.twitter.com/uaDfdIvbaZ
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) April 1, 2022
The World Cup kicks off on Nov. 21st and runs until Dec. 8th in Qatar.
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.
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
NBA:
The (44-32) Toronto Raptors, with six games left, are 6th in the NBA Eastern Conference, just 1/2 a game behind the Chicago Bulls.
The Raptors visit the (20-57) Orlando Magic tonight (4:00 p.m. PT).
The Raptors’ schedule is right here.
The NBA standings are right here.