Sports by Hartley Monday, March 20th as of 12:05 a.m.
WHL:
The (35-24-6-1) Prince George Cougars will play the (32-26-5-3) Tri-City Americans in the first round of the WHL playoffs beginning Friday, March 31st at CN Centre.
The Cougars have locked up the #4 seed in the Western Conference while the Americans will finish 5th.
Tri-City secured 5th Sunday night after a 5-2 victory over Vancouver while the (32-31-2-1) Everett Silvertips lost 3-2 in Spokane.
Everett is 6th, five points behind the Americans with both teams having two regular season games left.
They’ve faced each other countless times during the regular season, but the 2023 #WHLPlayoffs will mark the first ever post-season meeting between the @PGCougars and @TCAmericans!
📰 | https://t.co/ZDCpxo6UkJ
📸 | John Keller pic.twitter.com/W8r4pwgrgf— The WHL (@TheWHL) March 20, 2023
2023 WHL PLAYOFFS – SERIES H SCHEDULE
| Game | Date | Away | Home | Time | |
| 1 | March 31, 2023 | Tri-City | Prince George | 7:00 p.m. PT | |
| 2 | April 1, 2023 | Tri-City | Prince George | 6:00 p.m. PT | |
| 3 | April 4, 2023 | Prince George | Tri-City | 7:05 p.m. PT | |
| 4 | April 5, 2023 | Prince George | Tri-City | 7:05 p.m. PT | |
| 5 | April 7, 2023 | Prince George | Tri-City | 7:05 p.m. PT | * |
| 6 | April 9, 2023 | Tri-City | Prince George | 6:00 p.m. PT | * |
| 7 | April 11, 2023 | Tri-City | Prince George | 7:00 p.m. PT | * |
* – if necessary
Victoria Royals 7 Prince George Cougars 6 (Shootout-Saturday)
The Royals trailed 6-4 before scoring a pair of power-play goals in the final minute of the 3rd period.
Teague Patton tallied at 19:15 before Brayden Schuurman scored his second goal of the game at 19:54.
Shuurman notched the only goal in the shootout before 2,836 fans at CN Centre.
The Royals snapped their 12-game losing streak and beat the Cougars for the first time in nine tries this season.
Koehn Ziemmer (2 + 1), Riley Heidt (1 + 2), and Zac Funk (1 + 2) each had 3 points for PG.
Despite the loss, the Cougars extended their point streak to nine games (6-0-2-1).
The box score is right here.
Royals snap 12-game winless skid by dethroning Cougars in back-and-forth outing https://t.co/OtwvaXdvmK pic.twitter.com/yPcFEtsmJa
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 19, 2023
Prince George Cougars 7 Victoria Royals 1 (Friday)
The Cougars got goals from seven different players as they clinched 4th place in the Western Conference and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Hudson Thornton got his 22nd goal of the season to tie the Cougars club record for most goals in a season by a defenceman before a crowd of 2,326 in Prince George.
The box score is right here.
Cougars clinch playoff home ice with 10th straight win over Victoriahttps://t.co/JMgNslhmOO | #CityOfPG #PrinceGeorge pic.twitter.com/hhGVQ5xOWI
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 18, 2023
The Cougars conclude their regular season with a home-and-home against the (47-11-4-2) Blazers; Friday in Kamloops and Saturday in P.G.
The Blazers have won nine straight and 19 of their last 20.
The schedule for the Cougars can be found here.
The WHL standings can be found here.
Wheatcroft signs NHL contract:
Prince George Cougars 20-year-old forward Chase Wheatcroft has signed a 3-year entry-level NHL contract with the Dallas Stars.
Wheatcroft is second in the WHL scoring race with 105 points (47 goals) in 66 games.
.@PGCougars Chase Wheatcroft signs entry contract with @DallasStars https://t.co/qjWnQSaseJ | #CityOfPG #PrinceGeorge pic.twitter.com/H6xbGs2Jw6
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 18, 2023
WHL columns:
Bedard adds 70th goal to legendary season . . . Pats beat host Blades in front of record crowd . . . MacDougall, Reds win another title https://t.co/r4sc0jC2an
— Gregg Drinnan (@gdrinnan) March 20, 2023
HART ATTACK: @Hartley_Miller talks about why some teams should avoid playing the @PGCougars in round one of @TheWHL playoffs
| https://t.co/7uVQijVo8e #cityofpg #PrinceGeorge #northernbc #sports pic.twitter.com/diHPGZ1crs— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 17, 2023
BCHL:
Prince George Spruce Kings 4 Salmon Arm Silverbacks 0 (Saturday)
Aidan Feddema made 27 saves for his first BCHL shutout before 1,671 fans at Kopar Memorial Arena.
The box score is right here.
Feddema earned his first BCHL shutout tonight as we defeated the Silverbacks 4-0 to close out our home regular season schedule.
RECAP: https://t.co/5T9c3OjH6T pic.twitter.com/kLfgz8tzay
— Prince George Spruce Kings (@SpruceKings) March 19, 2023
Salmon Arm Silverbacks 4 Prince George Spruce Kings 3 (OT Friday)
Owen Beckner scored at 1:12 of overtime before 1,631 fans in Prince George.
The box score is right here.
Spruce Kings fall 4-3 in overtime to Silverbacks.
RECAP: https://t.co/I8ElV4woi5 pic.twitter.com/JSjlKjtIn4
— Prince George Spruce Kings (@SpruceKings) March 18, 2023
The (26-20-5-1) Spruce Kings close out their regular season with a doubleheader against the (35-13-1-3) Bucks in Cranbrook on Friday and Saturday.
Prince George is 5th in the 9-team Interior Division, however, the Spruce Kings are tied in points with 4th place West Kelowna and 6th place Vernon.
P.G. is also two points behind third-place Salmon Arm.
Cranbrook has clinched second behind the (47-3-0-1) Penticton Vees.
The Spruce Kings schedule can be found here.
The BCHL standings can be found here.
NHL: (7 Sunday games with 2 Canadian teams in action)
Vancouver 2 Anaheim Ducks 1
The Canucks have won seven of their last eight games.
They also beat LA 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday.
The (31-33-5) Canucks, with just 13 games left, host the (43-21-6) Vegas Golden Knights Tuesday night at 7:00.
The Golden Knights are first in the Western Conference.
St. Louis 3 Winnipeg 0
Three hat tricks and three seven-goal showings – not too shabby for a seven-game Sunday.#NHLStats: https://t.co/V30QteHSN3 pic.twitter.com/Z4jarVlwyj
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 20, 2023
There are 5 Monday games in the NHL with three of them involving Canadian teams: Calgary at LA, San Jose at Edmonton, and Ottawa at Pittsburgh.
The Canucks regular season schedule/results are right here.
World Women’s Curling Championship: (in Sweden)
(13-country round-robin)
Canada, represented by the Kerri Einarson team, has a 3-1 record following action this morning (Monday).
Einarson captured the bronze medal at last year’s world championship in Prince George.
Canada vs Switzerland (Tuesday 6 AM PT)
Canada vs New Zealand (Tuesday 11 AM PT)
Canada vs Scotland (Monday 11 AM PT)
Canada 7 Italy 2 (Monday morning)
Canada 9 Norway 6 (Sunday)
USA 8 Canada 7 (Sunday)
Canada 9 Sweden 4 (Saturday)
World women’s curling results are right here.
World women’s curling standings are right here.
Canada’s schedule is right here.
NBA:
Milwaukee Bucks 118 Toronto Raptors 111
The (35-37) Raptors, with just 10 games left, begin a 4-game homestand Wednesday night (4:30 PT) against the Indiana Pacers.
The Raptors are 9th in the Eastern Conference.
The Toronto Raptors schedule can be found right here.
NBA results can be found right here.
The NBA standings can be found right here.
Cat Scan podcast:
CAT SCAN: @Hartley_Miller chats with @PGCougars alum and co-owner Eric Brewer in this weeks episode | https://t.co/jynZC2GrOu #cityofpg #PrinceGeorge #northernbc #sports #northernuprising pic.twitter.com/pxMKyNgBuA
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 15, 2023
UNBC Timberwolves:
She has been a member of the @TimberwolvesA since Grade 8, but it’s time she joins the big @UNBC club!
Today, @UNBCWSoccer officially announced the commitment of @stkrgrizzlies‘ Alysa Leclerc for the 2023 @CanadaWest season, and beyond!
Read: https://t.co/dtQIOLjn8b pic.twitter.com/zf53k0bM6A
— UNBC Athletics (@UNBCATHLETICS) March 17, 2023