(As of 12:01AM)
PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS:
Prince George Cougars 4 Vancouver Giants 3 (OT)
Josh Maser scored his 4th goal of the game and 20th of the season at 2:49 of overtime before 2,495 fans at CN Centre.
Ty Ronning tallied for the Giants with 29.9 seconds left in the 3rd to complete the hat trick.
The loss ended Vancouver’s seven game road winning streak and five game overall win streak.
The Giants won Tuesday’s game between the two teams 5-1.
The Cougars finished 2-1-1 on a four game home stand and 4-3-1 in the eight game season series against Vancouver.
The 16-19-4-3 Cougars are within six points of the Spokane Chiefs for the last wild-card playoff spot and Prince George will play its next game Friday in Spokane.
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The PG Cougars made their sixth deal in 10 days and it was a blockbuster.
Just prior to the Wednesday 2PM trade deadline, the Cougars sent their 19-year-old captain Dennis Cholowski
and the playing rights to 18-year-old Vernon Vipers goalie Ty Taylor to the Portland Winterhawks.
In return, the Cougars acquired five WHL Bantam draft picks (a first in 2020, seconds in 2018 and 2019, a third in 2020 and a conditional sixth in 2019) plus 17-year-old forward Ilijah Colina and 16-year-old prospect forward
Connor Bowie.
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE:
Kelowna Rockets 7 Spokane Chiefs 4
Everett Silvertips 4 Tri-City Americans 0
BC DIVISION STANDINGS:
Kelowna, 41 games = 26-12-2-1 (55 points)
Vancouver, 44 games = 24-14-4-2 (54 points)
Victoria, 43 games = 23-16-3-1 (50 points)
Kamloops, 41 games = 18-20-1-2 (39 points)
Prince George, 42 games = 16-19-4-3 (39 points)
WESTERN CONFERENCE WILD CARD:
Seattle, 40 games = 20-14-4-2 (46 points)
Spokane, 42 games = 21-18-1-2 (45 points)
Kamloops, 41 games = 18-20-1-2 (39 points)
Prince George, 42 games = 16-19-4-3 (39 points)
PRINCE GEORGE SPRUCE KINGS:
The Prince George Spruce Kings made two deals just before the BCHL Wednesday night trade deadline.
The Spruce Kings acquired 19-year-old forward Sam Anzai from the Vernon Vipers in exchange for future considerations.
Anzai tallied three goals and two assists in 14 games this season with the Vipers.
The Spruce Kings also picked up 20-year-old defenceman Oliver Lester from the Coquitlam Express in return for 17-year-old Ryan Stack and future considerations.
Lester had six penalty minutes and no points in seven games with the Express this season.
The Spruce Kings welcome the (7-28-3-2) Cowichan Valley Capitals to the RMCA Friday to begin a four-game home-stand.
The 21-12-4-4 Spruce Kings are tied with Langley for first in the Mainland Division with PG holding a game in hand.
BCHL:
MAINLAND DIVISION STANDINGS:
Prince George, 41 games = 21-12-4-4 (50 points)
Langley, 42 games = 19-11-10-2 (50 points)
Surrey, 40 games = 20-14-4-2 (46 points)
Chilliwack, 39 games = 19-16-2-2 (42 points)
Coquitlam, 38 games = 9-26-1-2 (21 points)
CARIBOO COUGARS:
The Cariboo Cougars face off against the Valley West Hawks Saturday and Sunday in Kelowna at the BC Major Midget League (BCMML) Showcase.
The 19-4-1 Cougars are in second place, just two points behind the 20-3-1 Hawks.
Valley West is 2-0 against Cariboo this season.
NHL:
Ottawa Senators 4 Toronto Maple Leafs 3
Minnesota Wild 2 Chicago Blackhawks 1
The 16-21-6 Vancouver Canucks will attempt to end a five game losing skid when they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday.
Vancouver is 2-12-1 in its last 15 games and 10 points out of a playoff spot.
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Canucks 20-year-old rookie Brock Boeser has been selected to play for Team Pacific Division in the 2018 NHL All-Star Game January 28th in Tampa Bay.
Boeser leads the Canucks in points (40), goals (22), game-winning goals (4) and shots (114).
FIGURE SKATING:
Justin Hampole of Prince George finished 13th overall out of 18 in Junior Men (Under-19) at the Canadian Tire National Figure Skating Championships in Vancouver.
The 16-year-old Duchess Park student was 12th in both the Short and Free Program.
UNBC TIMBERWOLVES:
The UNBC Timberwolves visit the Brandon Bobcats in a Canada West basketball doubleheader Friday and Saturday.
Both UNBC teams are 6-8 and in 11th place (out of 17).
The top 12 teams qualify for the playoffs.
Brandon is 6-6 in the men’s division and 2-10 in the women’s standings.
NBA:
The Toronto Raptors will host the NBA finalists in their next two games.
The 28-11 Raptors entertain the 26-14 Cleveland Cavaliers tonight and the 33-9 Golden State Warriors Saturday.
Toronto is second in the Eastern Conference, three games behind Boston and 2 1/2 ahead of Cleveland.
NFL:
After seven seasons on the job, the Seattle Seahawks sacked Darrell Bevell as their offensive coordinator.
The 9-7 Seahawks were 15th in total offense and 11th in scoring.
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There are a pair of NFL Conference semi-final games on Saturday: Atlanta at Philadelphia (1:30PM) followed by Tennessee at New England (5:15PM).
On Sunday, the two match-ups have Jacksonville at Pittsburgh (10:05AM) and New Orleans at Minnesota (1:40PM).
The favoured teams are the Falcons (by 3), the Patriots (by 13 ½), the Steelers (by 7 ½) and the Vikings (4 1/2).
Winners meet in the Conference championship games on Sunday, January 21st.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
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