Sports by Hartley Thursday, March 23rd as of 12:05 a.m.
Updated at 9:00 AM
WHL:
Kamloops Blazers 6 Seattle Thunderbirds 5
Nico Myatovic of Prince George notched his 29th goal of the season for the (53-10-1-2) Thunderbirds, who had their 19-game point streak (18-0-0-1) snapped.
The box score is right here.
The (35-24-6-1) Prince George Cougars conclude their regular season with a home-and-home against the (48-12-4-2) Blazers; Friday in Kamloops and Saturday in P.G.
The Saturday game at CN Centre will be Fan Appreciation Night along with the Mega 50/50.
The Cougars are riding a 9-game point streak (6-0-2-1).
The Blazers have won 20 of their last 22 games.
Prince George 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 playoff schedule for the Cougars can be found here.
The WHL standings can be found here.
Catscan Podcast:
CAT SCAN: @Hartley_Miller chats with Hudson Thornton and Chase Wheatcroft of the @PGCougars in this week’s podcast episode
| https://t.co/SIcIQg5NMr #cityofpg #PrinceGeorge #northernbc #sports pic.twitter.com/JizSc7q8xr— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 22, 2023
WHL column:
IIHF keeps Russia, Belarus on suspended list . . . Blazers’ Stankoven delivers for nurses . . . Lee fills hat for Tigers https://t.co/sLdAK8NDFh
— Gregg Drinnan (@gdrinnan) March 23, 2023
NHL: (2 Wednesday games)
Edmonton 4 Arizona 3 (OT)
Connor McDavid scored his second goal of the game and career-high 60th of the season at 1:31 of overtime.
Pittsburgh 5 Colorado 2
The (31-34-5) Vancouver Canucks, with just 12 games left, host the (19-37-15) San Jose Sharks tonight at 7:00.
The Canucks are 25th and the Sharks 31st in the NHL overall standings (out of 32 teams).
It is one of a dozen Thursday games in the NHL (with Edmonton the only Canadian team idle).
The Canucks regular season schedule/results are right here.
BCHL:
The (26-20-5-1) Prince George Spruce Kings have two road games left to finish out their regular season.
The Spruce Kings play a doubleheader in Cranbrook against the (35-13-1-3) Bucks 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 one point ahead of Wenatchee and two points behind third-place Salmon Arm.
Cranbrook has clinched second behind the (48-3-0-1) Penticton Vees.
The Spruce Kings schedule can be found here.
The BCHL standings can be found here.
Minor Hockey:
Host Prince George finished 1-2 and out of the playoffs in the Under-13 Tier 2 hockey championship at Kin 1.
The gold medal went to Cranbrook who doubled Fort St. John 6-3 in the final.
Results on other B.C. minor hockey championships around the province can be found here.
World Women’s Curling Championship: (in Sweden)
Canada, represented by the Kerri Einarson team from Gimli, Manitoba, has a 6-4 record following a 6-5 loss today (Thursday) to Japan.
The Canadian team will conclude the 13-country round-robin with a pair of games Friday: against Turkey (1 AM PT) and vs. Denmark (6 AM PT).
The top six teams qualify for the playoff round, with the top two receiving a bye while the remaining four play in the first round.
Switzerland is in the first place and has earned one of those byes.
The medal games will be played Sunday.
Einarson captured the bronze medal at last year’s world championship in Prince George.
Canadian results:
Japan 6 Canada 5 (Thursday)
Canada 8 South Korea 6 (Wednesday)
Germany 8 Canada 3 (Wednesday)
Switzerland 7 Canada 6 (Tuesday)
Canada 10 New Zealand 4 (Tuesday)
Canada 9 Scotland 8 (Monday)
Canada 7 Italy 2 (Monday)
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:
Indiana Pacers 118 Toronto Raptors 114
The (35-38) Raptors, with just nine games left, host the (16-57) Detroit Pistons Friday night (4:30 PT).
Toronto is 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.
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