Sports by Hartley Thursday, March 21st as of 12:05 a.m.
(All times listed below are PDT)
WHL:
The Prince George Cougars are getting sniper Koehn Ziemmer back in their lineup this weekend.
The 3rd round pick of the LA Kings has been sidelined for 3 1/2 months due to an ankle injury.
Ziemmer had 31 points (including 11 goals) in 21 games before his injury.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Ziemmer excited to return to @PGCougars lineuphttps://t.co/a0fEXk06DA | #CityOfPG #PrinceGeorge
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 20, 2024
While the Cougars are getting one forward back, they will be missing another.
Hunter Laing is out with a concussion.
The Cougars put their 17-game point streak on the line when they play the last-place Blazers to close out the regular season: on Friday in Kamloops and Saturday at CN Centre.
The (47-15-1-3) Cougars head into the final weekend of the regular season in first place in the WHL Western Conference, two points ahead of the (46-15-3-1) Portland Winterhawks.
Portland has three games remaining; at Tri-City on Friday, home to Seattle on Saturday and at Seattle on Sunday.
P.G. sniper Zack Funk leads the WHL in goals with 67 and points with 120 in 66 games.
The WHL standings are here.
The PG Cougars regular-season schedule is here.
The WHL leading scorers can be found here.
The WHL Tiebreaking procedure is here.
Cat Scan podcast:
On the Cat Scan #podcast this week @PGCougars Director of Business & Goalie Coach Taylor Dakers speaks on several topics including team success, new team records, attendance, possible long playoff run, ticket price comparisons, team expenses, using two goalies, & more. #WHL https://t.co/3063Vbdoh4
— Hartley Miller (@Hartley_Miller) March 20, 2024
BCHL:
The (15-32-3) Prince George Spruce Kings host the (30-19-1) Vernon Vipers Friday night at 7:00 and Saturday night at 6:00 before they play at Vernon on Friday, March 29th and at Merritt on Saturday, March 30th to close out their regular season.
The Spruce Kings, who have lost 11 of their last 13, will finish last in the 8-team Interior Division.
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The Spruce Kings have announced their first-round playoff schedule against the Penticton Vees.
The best-of-seven series will open in Penticton on April 5th and 6th before shifting to Prince George for Games 3 and 4 on April 9th and 10th.
IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!
We are excited to share our first round Rogers BCHL playoff matchup schedule as we are locked in with the Penticton Vees!
WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU AT KOPAR MEMORIAL ARENA! pic.twitter.com/P6UqURmGKw
— Prince George Spruce Kings (@SpruceKings) March 19, 2024
The BCHL standings are here.
The Spruce Kings’ regular-season schedule and results are here.
NHL: (3 Wednesday games)
Toronto 7 Washington 3
(Auston Matthews scored his 56th and 57th goals and added three assists)
Dallas 5 Arizona 2
LA 6 Minnesota 0
The (43-18-8) Vancouver Canucks continue a 9-game homestand tonight at 7:00 against the (25-31-12) Montreal Canadiens.
It is one of 11 Thursday games in the NHL (with just Toronto & Calgary the only Canadian teams idle).
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.
Minor Hockey Provincials:
Teams from Prince George are competing this week at the Provincial minor hockey championships in various cities throughout the province.
More information and results can be found here.
World Women’s Curling:
Canada’s Rachel Homan continues to set the pace at the World Women’s Curling Championship in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
Homan has won her first nine games.
Italy is second at 8-1.
13 countries are competing in the round-robin.
The standings are here.
The schedule/results are here.
The current results are here.
NBA:
Sacramento Kings 123 Toronto Raptors 89
The (23-46) Raptors have lost eight in a row and 10 of their last 11.
Toronto will host the (48-20) Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday (4 PM).
The Raptors’ schedule and results are here.
The NBA schedule is here.
The NBA standings are here.
NFL:
The ESPN free agency tracker is here.