Sports by Hartley Friday, Feb. 16th as of 12:05 a.m. UPDATED AT 10:05 AM
(All times listed below are PST)
WHL:
The (35-15-0-2) Prince George Cougars have a home and home against the (16-30-3-2) Blazers, tonight (Friday) at CN Centre and Saturday in Kamloops.
The Cougars, who are on the verge of clinching a playoff spot, also entertain the (18-31-2) Seattle Thunderbirds on Monday afternoon at 3:00 and Tuesday night at 7:00.
(The Monday contest is the “Cougars Fight Cancer” game that will feature a mega 50/50 Jackpot that will start at $60,000, in support of the BC Cancer Foundation).
The @PGCougars have a chance to punch their ticket into a #WHLPlayoffs spot tonight!
Catch tonight’s game on https://t.co/Xsf8rSYzV9. pic.twitter.com/tKcLwz9PzO
— The WHL (@TheWHL) February 16, 2024
Sniper Zac Funk is shooting for his 50th goal of the season.
The 20-year-old Funk leads the WHL in goals with 49 which is five shy of the PG Cougars team record of 54 set by Quinn Hancock in the 1997-98 season.
Prince George is three points behind the Western Conference-leading (36-12-2-1) Portland Winterhawks.
Portland has 17 games remaining and P.G. has 16 to go.
The WHL standings are here.
The PG Cougars regular-season schedule is here.
The WHL leading scorers can be found here.
Hart Attack column:
In the race for the top spot in the #WHL Western Conference, the @pdxwinterhawks have the lead on the @PGCougars however, the Cougars appear to have a #schedule advantage with a 1/4 of the regular season to go. More in today’s Hart Attack #column. #hockey https://t.co/Bva1mOaAzC
— Hartley Miller (@Hartley_Miller) February 16, 2024
Cat Scan podcast:
CAT SCAN: @Hartley_Miller sits down with @PGCougars associate coach Jim Playfair in this week’s episode
| https://t.co/bjLIwoUr3E #cityofpg #PrinceGeorge #northernbc #sports pic.twitter.com/NDunLwUHIN— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) February 13, 2024
BCHL:
The Prince George Spruce Kings have three road games in four days on the losing weekend.
They visit the (21-17-0-1) Victoria Grizzlies tonight, the (11-25-2-1) Cowichan Valley Capitals on Saturday and the (24-14-1) Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Monday afternoon.
With 15 regular season games remaining, the (13-23-3) Spruce Kings are last in the 8-team Interior Division, three points behind the (14-22-3-1) Merritt Centennials.
🚨MAJOR NEWS🚨
Owen Goodbrand has announced his commitment to play NCAA Division 1 hockey at Bentley University!
Congratulations Goody! pic.twitter.com/En92wBywo8
— Prince George Spruce Kings (@SpruceKings) February 16, 2024
The BCHL standings are here.
The Spruce Kings’ regular-season schedule and results are here.
NHL: (12 Thursday games with Winnipeg the only Canadian team idle)
Vancouver 4 Detroit 1
Elias Lindholm scored twice to give him four goals in six games in a Vancouver uniform.
The game summary is here.
The (37-12-6) Canucks host the (32-14-5) Winnipeg Jets Saturday night at 7:00.
Vancouver leads the NHL overall standings by six points.
St. Louis 6 Edmonton 3
San Jose 6 Calgary 3
Toronto 4 Philadelphia 3 (OT)
NY Rangers 7 Montreal 4
Anaheim 5 Ottawa 1
The @FlaPanthers (35-15-4, 74 points) defeated the Sabres and moved past the Bruins (32-12-10, 74 points) into first place in the Eastern Conference standings.#NHLStats: https://t.co/KwliX8vmXv pic.twitter.com/g45HnaKKih
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 16, 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 wild-card standings are here.
The NHL scoring leaders are here.
Speedskating:
Former Prince George Blizzard speedskater Carolina Hiller has earned her second straight gold medal in the Team Sprint, Women category at the Speedskating World Championships in Calgary.
Hiller and her teammates, Maddison Pearman and Ivanie Blondin, set a new Canadian fastest time to accomplish the feat – completing the three laps in 1:25:14 – breaking the record they set in January of this year by 3/10ths of a second.
Hiller will also compete in the 500m event today (Friday), and Vanderhoof’s Alison Desmarais will skate the 1000m race on Saturday.
Canada West basketball:
The UNBC Timberwolves are preparing for the men’s Canada West basketball playoffs.
The 12th-ranked UNBC men will play #5 UBC Thunderbirds in an elimination game Wednesday night at 6:00 in Winnipeg.
Despite finishing with the 10th-best record at 9-11, the TWolves rank 12th in RPI, setting the stage for the second-ever playoff meeting between UNBC and UBC.
The winner will advance to face the #4 ranked hosts from Manitoba on Thursday.
During the 2023-24 regular season, the TWolves split their two home matchups with UBC.
The full schedule is here.
MBB: TWolves Kick Off 2024 Canada West Playoffs Wednesday vs. UBC.
Read More 📎: https://t.co/FYsdUrOULa
📸: Harsh Banga pic.twitter.com/vxpHBQCWiC
— UNBC Timberwolves (@UNBCATHLETICS) February 16, 2024
The UNBC women missed the playoffs with a 4-16 record.
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.
Curling:
The 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts will begin today (Friday) in Calgary.
13 provincial/territorial champions (Nunavut withdrew from the event last month), defending champions Team Canada and four teams that qualified based on Canadian Team Ranking System standings will compete.
Teams will play a complete eight-game round-robin within their pools.
From there, the top three teams in each pool advance to the playoffs.
The Scotties schedule can be found here.
The results can be found here.
NBA:
The (19-36) Toronto Raptors are now into their All-Star break and will not play again until Thursday (Feb 22nd at 4 PM) when they host the (21-33) Brooklyn Nets.
The Raptors’ schedule and results are here.
The NBA schedule is here.
The NBA standings are here.
BC Elite Hockey League:
The U18 Cariboo Cougars conclude their BC Elite Hockey League regular season with a doubleheader at Fraser Valley on the weekend of Feb. 24th and 25th.
The (26-6-2) U18 Cougars, who have won six straight, are in third place, two points behind the (26-4-2-2) Vancouver North East Chiefs and one point back of the (27-5-1) 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.
The Female U18 schedule and results are here.