Sports by Hartley Tuesday, Jan. 2nd as of 8:05 a.m.
(All times listed below are PST)
Happy New Year!
World Junior Hockey Championship: (in Sweden)
Czechia scored with 11 seconds left to beat Canada 3-2 in the quarterfinals today (Tuesday) at the World Junior Hockey Championship in Sweden.
Ondrej Becher of the P.G. Cougars assisted on the game-winning goal for Czechia.
Another P.G. Cougar, defenceman Viliam Kmec played with Slovakia who lost 4-3 in overtime to Finland in the quarters.
In two other quarterfinal games, the USA whipped Latvia 7-2 and Sweden got by Switzerland 3-2 in overtime.
The semis will be played on Thursday with the medal games on Friday.
The tournament results and schedule can be found here or here.
WHL:
The (26-10) Prince George Cougars begin the New Year with four road games in the U.S.
The Cougars visit the Wenatchee Wild Wednesday, the Seattle Thunderbirds Friday, the Portland Winterhawks Saturday and the Everett Silvertips Sunday.
Heidt dazzles in @PGCougars’ final game of 2023 https://t.co/lwgNrzYyJN | #CityOfPG #PrinceGeorge pic.twitter.com/4eXlnbs4Ee
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) December 31, 2023
19-year-old forward Borya Valis will make his P.G. debut against Wenatchee after he was acquired on Sunday from the Regina Pats for D Tyson Buczkowski (06), a 4th-round pick this year, and a 2027 conditional 3rd-round pick.
TRADE: The Prince George Cougars have acquired F Borya Valis (04) from the @WHLPats in exchange for D Tyson Buczkowski (06), a 2024 4th-round pick, and a 2027 conditional 3rd-round pick.
📝https://t.co/m242moXE2u#ForTheNorth • #WHL pic.twitter.com/USYx6Ze6a9
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) December 31, 2023
The WHL standings are here.
The PG Cougars regular-season schedule is here.
The WHL leading scorers can be found here.
Cat Scan podcast:
CAT SCAN: @Hartley_Miller sits down with @PGCougars co-owner John Pateman for part two of his chat.
| https://t.co/owANvDmGhu #cityofpg #PrinceGeorge #northernbc #sports pic.twitter.com/hsXcJZIQEW— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) December 29, 2023
Hart Attack column:
HART ATTACK: @Hartley_Miller talks about what is in store for teams and players heading into 2024
| https://t.co/xvmlcEOgSX #cityofpg #PrinceGeorge #northernbc #sports pic.twitter.com/ljqVgYUvQI— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) December 29, 2023
NHL:
(Winter Classic) before 47,313 fans in Seattle
Seattle 3 Vegas 0
There are 13 Tuesday games in the NHL, including Ottawa at Vancouver (7:00).
All 7 Canadian teams are in action: Edmonton hosts Philadelphia, Calgary is at Minnesota, Winnipeg entertains Tampa Bay, Montreal plays in Dallas and Toronto is at LA.
The (23-10-3) Canucks are tied with the (22-11-5) Vegas Golden Knights for the Pacific Division lead although Vancouver has two games in hand.
The NHL regular season schedule and results are here.
The Vancouver Canucks regular season schedule and results are here.
The NHL standings are here.
The NHL scoring leaders are here.
BCHL:
The (10-16-3) Prince George Spruce Kings play their first games in 2024 this weekend when they host the league-leading (21-5-2-2) Penticton Vees Friday night at 7:00 and Saturday night at 6.
The Spruce Kings are last in the 8-team Interior Division but are just three points behind the 7th-place (11-15-3-1) Merritt Centennials and four back of the (13-17-1) Cranbrook Bucks.
Sasaki’s late-game heroics give Spruce Kings a home split against West Kelowna https://t.co/3ngO4alZyB | #CityOfPG #PrinceGeorge pic.twitter.com/wJpqIK31rw
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) December 31, 2023
The BCHL standings are here.
The Spruce Kings’ regular-season schedule and results are here.
BC Elite Hockey League:
The (16-5-1) U18 Cariboo Cougars host the (4-16-1-1) Thompson Blazers on Saturday night at 6:30 and on Sunday morning at 10:30 at Kin 1.
Cariboo is in second place in the 9-team BC Elite Hockey League, three points behind the (17-3-0-2) Vancouver North East Chiefs and just a point ahead of the (16-4) Fraser Valley Thunderbirds.
The BCEHL AAA standings in Male U15, U17 and U18 plus Female U18 are here.
The U18 BCEHL schedule and results are here.
Canada West basketball:
The UNBC Timberwolves will resume Canada West basketball league play on Friday and Saturday nights when they host the Lethbridge Pronghorns.
UNBC has a record of 5-3 for the men and 2-6 for the women.
Lethbridge is 0-10 (men) and 7-3 (women).
The Canada West women’s basketball schedule and results are here.
The Canada West women’s basketball standings are here.
The Canada West men’s basketball schedule and results are here.
The Canada West men’s basketball standings are here.
NBA:
Toronto Raptors 124 Cleveland Cavaliers 121
The (13-20) Raptors begin a 4-game road trip Wednesday against the (10-22) Grizzlies in Memphis (5:00).
The Raptors’ schedule and results are here.
The NBA schedule is here.
The NBA standings are here.
NFL:
The NFL concludes its regular season this weekend.
There will be a pair of games on Saturday: Pittsburgh at Baltimore (1:30 PM) followed by Houston at Indianapolis (5:30 PM).
The other 14 will go on Sunday including the Buffalo at Miami night game (5:20) which will determine the winner of the AFC East.
The NFL schedule/results are here.
The NFL standings are here.