Sports by Hartley Thursday, April 11th as of 12:05 a.m.
(All times listed are PDT)
BCHL:
Penticton Vees 3 Prince George Spruce Kings 2
The Vees erased a 2-0 deficit with three unanswered goals in the third period to sweep the first round series 4-0.
Ryder Green made 38 saves in a losing cause as Penticton outshot Prince George 41-17 before 803 fans at the Kopar Memorial Arena.
The Game 4 summary is here.
The Game 3 summary is here.
The Game 2 summary is here.
The Game 1 summary is here.
The BCHL standings are here.
WHL:
Prince George Cougars Captain Hudson Thornton has signed a contract for the 2024-25 season with the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League.
The Bears are the top farm club of the Washington Capitals.
Thornton is the 5th player on this season’s Cougars team to have a signed pro contract: the others are Zac Funk (Washington Capitals), Riley Heidt (Minnesota Wild), Koehn Ziemmer (Los Angeles Kings) and Ty Young (Vancouver Canucks).
The 20-year-old Thornton notched 74 points (18g, 56a) over 68 games to finish fourth in points among all WHL defensemen.
We’ve signed defenseman Hudson Thornton to an AHL contract for the 2024-25 season. He is the captain of the @PGCougars and posted 74 points this season.
— y-Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) April 10, 2024
The P.G. Cougars will have a full house when they host the Kelowna Rockets this weekend in the first two games of their WHL 2nd round series at CN Centre.
There are less than 100 standing room only tickets left for Game 1 on Friday at 7:00 & under 100 tickets (seats) plus standing room remaining for Game 2 on Saturday at 6:00.
The Cougars, who have won 13 in a row, went 6-1-0-1 in eight regular season meetings against the Rockets, though six of the games were decided by a single goal and three required overtime or a shootout.
The series will shift to Kelowna for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 16th and 17th.
The Cougars and Rockets are meeting in the playoffs for the first time in 13 years.
Rivalry renewed; @pgcougars, @Kelowna_Rockets bracing for chippy second round series
| https://t.co/BPf3TpNefu #cityofpg #PrinceGeorge #northernbc #WHLPlayoffs #sports pic.twitter.com/PzMDPH6N53— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) April 9, 2024
The @Kelowna_Rockets and @PGCougars led the entire Western Conference in goals for during Round One of the #WHLPlayoffs.
We expect their second-round series to be nothing short of a high-scoring affair too!#FeedingtheFuture
— The WHL (@TheWHL) April 10, 2024
The other WHL Conference semis start Friday as well with Everett at Portland, Red Deer at Saskatoon and Swift Current at Moose Jaw.
SERIES SCHEDULE
| Game | Date | Visitor | Home | Time |
| 1 | Friday, April 12 | Kelowna | Prince George | 7:00 p.m. PST |
| 2 | Saturday, April 13 | Kelowna | Prince George | 6:00 p.m. PST |
| 3 | Tuesday, April 16 | Prince George | Kelowna | 7:05 p.m. PST |
| 4 | Wednesday, April 17 | Prince George | Kelowna | 7:05 p.m. PST |
| 5* | Friday, April 19 | Kelowna | Prince George | 7:00 p.m. PST |
| 6* | Sunday, April 21 | Prince George | Kelowna | 2:05 p.m. PST |
| 7* | Tuesday, April 23 | Kelowna | Prince George | 7:00 p.m. PST |
*-If necessary
The WHL standings are here.
The PG Cougars’ playoff results are here.
The PG Cougars’ regular-season results are here.
Cat Scan podcast:
On the @PGCougars Cat Scan #podcast, coach/GM Mark Lamb discusses the team’s business-like approach to the sweep of Spokane; the lack of #WHL upsets in round one, the challenges presented by the @Kelowna_Rockets; the 9-day layoff, traditional 2-2-1-1-1 format & more. #hockey https://t.co/24ND0P3L5k
— Hartley Miller (@Hartley_Miller) April 9, 2024
NHL: (3 Wednesday games)
Arizona 4 Vancouver 3 (OT)
Logan Cooley scored shorthanded at 3:51 of overtime to give the Coyotes the victory.
The game summary is here.
The (48-22-9) Canucks lead the Pacific-Division by four points over the (48-24-5) Oilers.
Vancouver has three games left and Edmonton has five to play.
The Canucks visit the Oilers Saturday night at 7:00.
Vancouver will conclude with a home game Tuesday against Calgary and a road game on Thursday, April 18th at Winnipeg.
Edmonton 5 Vegas 1
St. Louis 5 Chicago 2
There are 10 Thursday NHL games with Vancouver and Edmonton 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.
MLB:
Seattle Mariners 6 Toronto Blue Jays 1 (10)
The (6-7) Jays continue a 9-game homestand Friday night (4:07) against the (3-10) Colorado Rockies.
The Blue Jays schedule is here.
The MLB schedule is here.
The MLB standings are here.
NBA:
Brooklyn Nets 106 Toronto Raptors 102
The (25-55) Raptors conclude their season with a doubleheader on the road in Miami against the (44-36) Heat on Friday (5:00 PM) and Sunday (10:00 AM).
The Raptors’ schedule and results are here.
The NBA schedule is here.
The NBA standings are here.