Sports by Hartley Miller as of 12:05 a.m. Saturday, April 2nd
WHL:
Kelowna Rockets 9 Prince George Cougars 2
The Rockets scored four goals in each of the first two periods before 3,820 fans in Kelowna.
The game stats and highlights are right here.
Scott Cousins, who is from Prince George, notched a goal and added two assists and was + 3 for the Rockets.
Jonas Brondberg (with his 1st of the season) and Carter MacAdams (with his 11th) tallied for the Cougars, who were outshot 39-24.
First minute and 31 seconds was pretty good.
📸 Steve Dunsmoor
— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) April 2, 2022
Tyler Brennan allowed eight goals on 28 shots before he was replaced for the final 23 minutes by Ty Young.
The Cougars, who have lost 12 of their last 15, have six regular-season games left.
Prince George will start a four-game homestand Sunday afternoon at 2:00 against the Kamloops Blazers.
The Blazers lost Friday night 6-5 to the visiting Spokane Chiefs.
The (22-37-2-1) Cougars hold down the 8th and final playoff spot in the WHL Western Conference, two points ahead of the (20-37-4-1) 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 and P.G. have six left and Victoria has five remaining.
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
Columns:
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
Dreger: NHL GMs want to talk about 19s in the AHL . . . Friedman: CHL to ban Belarusians, Russians from draft . . . Bananas skate to WHL victory https://t.co/teI0YiuwM4
— Gregg Drinnan (@gdrinnan) April 2, 2022
BCHL:
Prince George Spruce Kings 4 Cranbrook Bucks 1
Aaron Trotter made 26 saves and lost his shutout bid with just 25 seconds left in the game before 1,168 fans at the RMCA.
The game stats are right here.
Four goals from four different goal scorers, and a terrific effort in the pipes from Aaron Trotter, triumphed the Spruce Kings to Game 1 victory over the Cranbrook Bucks at the RMCA!
📝https://t.co/njpMV7rZKr#GetInTheMix • #BCHLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/uSgVPctScO
— Prince George Spruce Kings (@SpruceKings) April 2, 2022
The Spruce Kings lead the best-of-seven first-round series 1-0 with Game two tonight at 7:00 in Prince George.
Games three and four are scheduled for Cranbrook on Monday and Tuesday with if needed games on Thursday, April 7th in P.G., Saturday, April 9th in Cranbrook, and Monday, April 11th in Prince George.
The Spruce Kings playoff schedule is right here.
The BCHL final regular-season standings are right here.
NHL: (7 Friday games with two Canadian teams in action)
Edmonton 6 St. Louis 5 (OT)
Connor McDavid scored his second goal of the game and his 39th of the season at 1:11 of overtime to give the Oilers their ninth straight home win.
Ottawa 5 Detroit 2
The (32-28-9) Vancouver Canucks are seven 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.
World men’s curling championship–(in Las Vegas)
Canada, skipped by Brad Gushue, will play its opener this 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 teams to advance to the playoffs.
Niklas Edin of Sweden is the defending champion, having won the last three world men’s championships.
NBA:
Toronto Raptors 102 Orlando Magic 89
The (45-32) Raptors, with five games left, are tied with the Chicago Bulls for 5th in the NBA Eastern Conference.
The Raptors host the Miami Heat Sunday (4:00 p.m. PT).
The Raptors’ schedule is right here.
The NBA standings are right here.
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.