Sports by Hartley Thursday, March 9th as of 12:05 a.m.
Updated at 12:05 p.m.
WHL:
Prince George Cougars 6 Kelowna Rockets 2
The Cougars scored four unanswered goals in the third period before 3,454 fans in Kelowna.
The box score and game highlights are right here.
.@PGCougars powerplay feasts on undisciplined Rockets, Heidt sets new Cougars single-season assist record | https://t.co/hN17hJrxZG #cityofpg #PrinceGeorge #northernbc #sports pic.twitter.com/qBnvFgAhiA
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 9, 2023
Riley Heidt picked up three assists to give him a club-record 60 on the season, one more than the previous record held by Jansen Harkins (2014-15).
Riley Heidt is the Single Season Assist Leader in team history! Heidt collected his 60th 🍎 of the season tonight!
Congrats, @heidt_riley!#ForTheNorth • #WHL pic.twitter.com/7eSCVdbUiw
— x – Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) March 9, 2023
Hudson Thornton also notched three assists for the Cougars, who went 4-for-7 on the power play while the Rockets were 0-for-5 with the man advantage.
Prince George outshot Kelowna 47-18, including 23-5 in the third.
The (31-24-5) Cougars are 4th in the Western Conference, four points ahead of both the (30-27-2-1) Everett Silvertips and the (28-25-5-2) Tri-City Americans.
P.G., Everett, and Tri-City all have eight games left.
The Cougars visit the (15-39-6-1) Victoria Royals Friday and Saturday and battle the (24-28-5-2) Vancouver Giants Sunday at 4:00 in Langley.
Cat Scan podcast:
In part 2 of the Jim Playfair @PGCougars Cat Scan #podcast, the ex #NHL coach talks about his surprise firing from #CalgaryFlames, high expectations for the Cougars, spending time with the PG players & watching their tendencies, growing up in FS James, the success of his 3 sons. https://t.co/pHDTx8MTUg
— Hartley Miller (@Hartley_Miller) March 8, 2023
That’s 60 for Bedard, but Pats stunned by Oil Kings . . . Coward a winner in return to Rebels . . . BCHL taking Showcase to Seattle https://t.co/Rbd65NGqqx
— Gregg Drinnan (@gdrinnan) March 9, 2023
Canada West hockey:
Former Cougars’ Captain named Canada West player of the week after scoring championship winnerhttps://t.co/RsWbQgCr0P | #USports @PGCougars @DinosMHKY pic.twitter.com/zBpm4ewlp5
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 8, 2023
NHL: (3 Wednesday games)
Vancouver 3 Anaheim 2 (OT)
J.T. Miller scored 20 seconds into overtime for the (27-32-5) Canucks, who are 3-1 on a six-game homestand that will continue Saturday night at 7:00 against Ottawa and conclude on Tuesday against Dallas.
Vancouver is 26th in the overall standings but tied in points with #25 Philadelphia and #24 St. Louis.
Minnesota 4 Winnipeg 2
Detroit 4 Chicago 3
There are 11 Thursday games in the NHL with three Canadian teams in action, Edmonton at Boston, Ottawa at Seattle, and Montreal hosting the New York Rangers.
The Canucks regular season schedule/results are right here.
BCHL:
The (24-19-4-1) Prince George Spruce Kings are on the road this weekend.
They visit the (26-17-5) West Kelowna Warriors on Friday and the (22-20-2-4) Vernon Vipers on Saturday.
The Spruce Kings have just six regular-season games left, two at home and four on the road.
(PG will also host Salmon Arm on March 18th and 19th and close with a doubleheader in Cranbrook on March 24th and 25th)
Prince George is 5th in the 9-team Interior Division while West Kelowna is 3rd and Vernon 7th.
The Spruce Kings schedule can be found here.
The BCHL standings can be found here.
BC Elite Hockey League: (BCEHL)
Cariboo Cougars under-15 hockey team banned from playoffs, reasons not divulgedhttps://t.co/JbgKQWaPp1 | #CityOfPG #PrinceGeorge pic.twitter.com/iUef1He8af
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 9, 2023
Both the Under-18 and U-17 Cariboo Cougars have playoff games this weekend against the Okanagan Rockets starting Friday in Kelowna.
They will also meet Saturday, with if necessary games in the best-of-three series on Sunday.
It is the U-17 semifinals and the U-18 quarterfinals.
(The U-18 games are scheduled for Friday night at 7:00, Saturday night at 6:45, and if needed Sunday morning at 9:45)
(U-17 games will go Friday afternoon at 3:00, Saturday afternoon at 3:30, and if needed Sunday morning at 10:45)
The league scores, standings, and stats for all BCEHL divisions can be found here.
High School Basketball:
Thanks to a last-second bucket, #14 College Heights upset #3 St. Thomas More 62-60 in 3A Boys on the opening day of the 2023 BC School Sports Boys Basketball Provincial Championships at the Langley Events Centre.
College Heights advances to the quarterfinal today at 3:30 against #6 North Delta.
In 1A Boys, #8 Cedars Christian won its opener 44-40 to advance to the quarterfinals tonight at 7:00 against #1 Unity Christian.
#12 Northside Christian of Vanderhoof lost its first game 84-58.
In 2A Boys, #14 Nechako Valley lost its opener 78-65.
In 4A Boys, #15 PGSS lost its first game 102-54 to Oak Bay.
NBA:
LA Clippers 108 Toronto Raptors 100
The (32-35) Raptors are 1-3 on a 5-game road trip that will conclude Friday night at 7:30 against the (32-34) Lakers in LA.
The Toronto Raptors schedule can be found right here.
Curling:
Manitoba (Dunstone) beat Alberta (Koe) 9-5 Wednesday night in the battle of the unbeaten at the Tim Hortons Brier in London, Ontario.
Manitoba is 7-0 with Alberta 6-1 in Pool A.
Wild Card #1 (Bottcher) is 7-1 in Pool B after the morning draw today (Thursday).
B.C. (Gauthier) is 2-5 in Pool B.
The standings can be found here.
Draw results can be found here.