Hartley’s Sports Shorts; Monday, February 27th

WHL:

Prince George Cougars  6  Victoria Royals  5  (OT-Saturday)

Chase Wheatcroft completed a hat trick by scoring at 3:13 of overtime before 3,280 fans in Victoria.

It was his team-high 39th goal of the season and fifth in two games.

The Cougars have officially clinched a playoff spot.

The box score is right here.

Wheatcroft’s hat-trick clinches playoff berth for Cougars https://t.co/ao6O0UoTCr pic.twitter.com/nHM705WLkW

— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) February 26, 2023

The (28-23-4) Cougars, riding a four-game winning streak, host the (21-27-5-2) Vancouver Giants on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Prince George is 6th in the Western Conference, just one point behind both Tri-City and  Everett.

P.G. has 13 games left, Everett has 12 remaining and Tri-City has 11 to go.

 

Prince George Cougars  5  Vancouver Giants 4  (OT-Friday)

Chase Wheatcroft scored his second goal of the game at 3:09 of overtime in front of 3,929 fans in Langley.

The box score is right here.

The schedule for the Cougars can be found here.

The WHL standings can be found here.

 

Cat Scan podcast:

The @PGCougars are in the homestretch. In this week’s Cat Scan #podcast, associate coach Josh Dixon talks about: reasons for team improvement, Jim Playfair’s impact, superb goaltending from Tyler Brennan, upcoming favourable schedule & the 3 possible first round U.S. opponents. https://t.co/LEktJxiu4V

— Hartley Miller (@Hartley_Miller) February 24, 2023

 

BCHL:

Penticton Vees  4  Prince George Spruce Kings  1  (Saturday)

The Vees scored twice in both the second and third periods before 1,549 fans at the Kopar Memorial Arena.

The box score is here.

Spruce Kings outpowered by Vees in 4-1 loss Saturday night.

RECAP: https://t.co/h9gxG2mfeV

📸 Vicki Brown pic.twitter.com/5Ku89ffiR5

— Prince George Spruce Kings (@SpruceKings) February 26, 2023

Powell River Kings  4  Prince George Spruce Kings  1  (Friday)

Liam Vanderkooi made 36 saves in the Powell River net as Prince George outshot the guests 37-25 in front of 1,061 fans.

Powell River wins royal battle, defeat Spruce Kings 4-1.

RECAP: https://t.co/aOpeB5cfEz

📸 Vicki Brown pic.twitter.com/fzn2auL0Mz

— Prince George Spruce Kings (@SpruceKings) February 25, 2023

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The (23-18-4-1) Spruce Kings have just eight regular season games left, four at home and four on the road.

They host the Vernon Vipers in a doubleheader Friday and Saturday nights at 7:00.

Prince George is 5th and Vernon 7th in the 9-team Interior Division.

The Vipers are just three points behind the Spruce Kings.

The Spruce Kings schedule can be found here.

The BCHL standings can be found here.

BC Elite Hockey League: (BCEHL)

(Under-18 AAA) in Kelowna

Okanagan Rockets  5  Cariboo Cougars  1  (Sunday)

The (15-18-1-2) Under-18 Cougars finish the regular season in 7th place in the 9-team division.

Okanagan Rockets  7  Cariboo Cougars  3  (Saturday)

The league scores, standings, and stats for all BCEHL divisions can be found here.

 

NHL: (7 Sunday games with just two Canadian teams in action)

Toronto  5  Seattle  1

New York Islanders  4  Winnipeg  0

The @PredsNHL scored six goals for the second straight game and have 26 tallies through their past five contests since Feb. 18 – the most in the NHL over that span.#NHLStats: https://t.co/62bWDNHCeA pic.twitter.com/q5DO6PMZUT

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 27, 2023

The (23-31-5) Vancouver Canucks, coming off Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Boston, visit the (31-16-12) Dallas Stars tonight (Monday 5:30 PT).

IT’S TIMO TIME IN NEW JERSEY! 😈

The @NJDevils acquire star forward Timo Meier from the @SanJoseSharks in exchange for a large package highlighted by @FabianZetterlun and a first-round pick! #NHLTradeDeadline

Details: https://t.co/FDbRWqg92Y pic.twitter.com/8Ol478Jpcd

— NHL (@NHL) February 27, 2023

The NHL trade tracker is right here.

The Canucks regular season schedule/results are right here.

 

 

Canada Winter Games:

Joel Ewert of Prince George was part of the B.C. wheelchair basketball team that captured gold at the Canada Winter Games in PEI.

B.C. whipped Alberta 79-32 in the final.

Ewert had two points in that game.

In other results:

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19-year-old Liam Simons of Prince George earned his second medal at the Games.

He was one of four members of the B.C. biathlon mixed relay team that captured silver on Saturday.

Four days earlier, Simons earned bronze in the men’s biathlon 10 km pursuit.

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B.C. finished fourth in male hockey.

Goalie Ryder Green plus forwards Cameron Schmidt and Chase Harrington were the three Prince George players on the B.C. team that lost 7-3 to Quebec in the bronze medal game.

More information and results can be found here.

 

Curling:

Kerri Einarson won a fourth consecutive Canadian women’s curling championship Sunday in Kamloops.

Einarson, under the Team Canada banner, scored five in the ninth end to beat Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones 10-4 in the final.

Einarson, third Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard, and lead Briane Harris will represent Canada in the women’s world championship March 18-26 in Sandviken, Sweden.

The Einarson foursome won a bronze medal in last year’s world championship that was held in Prince George.

Results can be found here.

Standings can be found here.

 

UNBC Timberwolves:

Fareed Shittu.

The Air Up There. The Edmonton Elevator.
A @CanadaWest ALL-STAR.

From picking up a basketball in Grade 11 to being named one of the best players in the conference, Fareed is proof that hard work pays off. And this is just the beginning.https://t.co/V3qe6q68si pic.twitter.com/OVV1bWN05V

— UNBC Athletics (@UNBCATHLETICS) February 24, 2023

 

NBA:

Cleveland Cavaliers  118 Toronto Raptors  93

The (30-32) Raptors host the (28-33) Chicago Bulls Tuesday night (4:30 PT).