Sports by Hartley Friday, Jan. 5th as of 10:05 a.m.
(All times listed below are PST)
WHL:
The Prince George Cougars, riding a 3-game winning streak, play three-weekend road games south of the border.
The Cougars visit the (12-18-2) Seattle Thunderbirds tonight (Friday 7:00), the (23-10-1-1) Portland Winterhawks Saturday (6:00) and the (22-14-1-1) Everett Silvertips Sunday (4:00).
Prince George is coming off Wednesday’s 6-2 victory over Wenatchee as Zac Funk notched his 6th hat trick of the season to give him a CHL-leading 40 goals in just 37 games.
WHL scoring leader (and league Player of the Month for December) Riley Heidt tallied twice to give him 70 points in 35 games, an average of two per game.
The (27-10) Cougars are first in the WHL standings, a point ahead of the (25-8-2-1) Saskatoon Blades.
We have news to share today, along with a huge THANK YOU…these guys helped us get our WHL era off to a tremendous start, and we’ll always be proud to call Conor and Matt part of the #WildFamily. 🤝
Details on these moves on our website.#RestoreTheRoarWHLstyle pic.twitter.com/sXHi3GQpJx
— Wenatchee Wild (@WHLwild_) January 4, 2024
The WHL standings are here.
The PG Cougars regular-season schedule is here.
The WHL leading scorers can be found here.
Hart Attack column:
HART ATTACK: @Hartley_Miller says it’s a “Young man’s game” in more ways than one when referring to the @PGCougars goaltending situation in this week’s column | https://t.co/mWUuzMMnsx #cityofpg #PrinceGeorge #northernbc #sports pic.twitter.com/TsMyx9m1Io
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) January 5, 2024
Cat Scan podcast:
Did you know the @PGCougars operate on a
$3-million-a-year budget? The financial aspect of the Cougars including how many fans they need to break even in the Cat Scan #podcast Part 2 with team president and co-owner John Pateman. #hockey #WHL https://t.co/MUt1eZEROw— Hartley Miller (@Hartley_Miller) January 2, 2024
World Junior Hockey Championship: (in Sweden)
Ondrej Becher of the Prince George Cougars earned a bronze medal at the World Junior Hockey Championship in Sweden.
The 19-year-old Becher notched a hat trick and added two assists to help Czechia to an 8-5 win today (Friday) over Finland in the third-place game.
The USA won gold after a 6-2 victory over host Sweden in the final.
The tournament results and schedule can be found here or here.
NHL: (13 Thursday games with 5 Canadian teams in action)
St. Louis 2 Vancouver 1
The (24-11-3) Canucks continue a 7-game road trip Saturday (4:00 PM) in New Jersey.
Calgary 6 Nashville 3
Buffalo 6 Montreal 1
Winnipeg 2 San Jose 1
Seattle 4 Ottawa 1
After being named to the 2024 #NHLAllStar Weekend, Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and Mathew Barzal led the @penguins, @Avalanche and @NYIslanders to wins during a 13-game Thursday.#NHLStats: https://t.co/RY8BSYrf4e pic.twitter.com/OKJZC24AwM
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 5, 2024
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 have their first games of 2024 when they host the league-leading (21-5-2-2) Penticton Vees tonight (Friday) at 7:00 and Saturday night at 6:00.
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.
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 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 are on home court this weekend in Canada West basketball.
The Timberwolves host the Lethbridge Pronghorns tonight (Friday) at 6:00 and 8:00 and Saturday at 5:00 and 7:00 PM.
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:
The (14-20) Toronto Raptors continue a 6-game road trip tonight (Friday 7:00) against the (20-13) Kings in Sacramento.
The Raptors’ schedule and results are here.
The NBA schedule is here.
The NBA standings are here.
NFL:
The NFL regular season wraps up with 16 games this weekend.
There are a pair of games on Saturday: Pittsburgh at Baltimore (1:30 PM) and 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.