(As of 12:01AM)
PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS:
The Prince George Cougars season is complete.
The Cougars beat the Blazers 4-2 Friday in Kamloops before dropping their final game, 6-5 in a shootout to the Blazers, before 5,106 fans (second largest of the season) at the CN Centre.
Jared Bethune was named team MVP at the Awards Banquet on Sunday.
The Cougars finished with a 24-38-5-5 record for 58 points and 21st out of 22 teams in the WHL standings.
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Kamloops Blazers 6 Prince George Cougars 5 (Shootout Saturday)
Brogan O’Brien scored the first goal and the last goal in regulation, and added an assist, but it wasn’t enough to lift the Cougars to victory in his final WHL game.
The Blazers scored five times in the middle period and won the shootout 2-0.
Jared Bethune had two assists while Aaron Boyd did not pick up a point in their last game in a PG uniform.
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Prince George Cougars 4 Kamloops Blazers 2 (Friday)
Isaiah DiLaura made 51 saves for the Cougars who ended a six-game losing streak.
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The Saskatoon Blades have fired head coach Dean Brockman who had two years left on his contract.
The Blades missed the playoffs for a fifth straight season with a 35-33-3-1 record.
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE:
Tri-City 5 Seattle 2
Spokane 5 Portland 4 (SO)
Edmonton 7 Calgary 3
The first round of the WHL playoffs will open on Thursday with Tri-City at Kelowna.
Six series will begin Friday; Vancouver at Victoria, Seattle at Everett, Prince Albert at Moose, Regina at Swift Current, Red Deer at Lethbridge and Brandon at Medicine Hat.
The other best-of-seven Conference quarter-final will begin on Saturday with Spokane at Portland.
BC DIVISION STANDINGS: (FINAL)
Kelowna, 72 games = 43-22-5-2 (93 points)
Victoria, 72 games = 39-27-4-2 (84 points)
Vancouver, 72 games = 36-27-6-3 (81 points)
Kamloops, 72 games = 30-37-1-4 (65 points)
Prince George, 72 games = 24-38-5-5 (58 points)
WESTERN CONFERENCE WILD CARD: (FINAL)
Tri-City, 72 games = 38-25-8-1 (85 points)
Seattle, 72 games = 34-28-8-2 (78 points)
Kamloops, 72 games = 30-37-1-4 (65 points)
Prince George, 72 games = 24-38-5-5 (58 points)
PRINCE GEORGE SPRUCE KINGS:
The Prince George Spruce Kings visit the Surrey Eagles tonight and Tuesday with the best-of-seven BCHL Mainland Division final tied 1-1.
Prince George outshot Surrey by a total of 99-34 over the first two games.
During the regular season, the first place Spruce Kings lost all four games in Surrey.
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Surrey Eagles 3 Prince George Spruce Kings 2 (Saturday)
Mario Cavaliere made 46 saves as the Spruce Kings outshot the Eagles 48-19 before 1,311 fans at the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena (RMCA).
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Prince George Spruce Kings 9 Surrey Eagles 1 (Friday)
Liam Watson-Brawn notched two goals and two assists, while Sam Anzai and Kyle Johnson also scored twice for the Spruce Kings, who outshot the Eagles 51-15 before 1,532 fans.
Eagles-Spruce Kings second round schedule: (All Games at 7PM)
GAME 1 = Friday, March 16th – Surrey @ Prince George (PG WINS 9-1)
GAME 2 = Saturday, March 17th – Surrey @ Prince George (SURREY WINS 3-2)
GAME 3 = Monday, March 19th – Prince George @ Surrey
GAME 4 = Tuesday, March 20th – Prince George @ Surrey
GAME 5 = Thursday, March 22nd – Surrey @ Prince George (If necessary)
GAME 6 = Saturday, March 24- Prince George @ Surrey (If necessary)
GAME 7 = Sunday, March 25 – Surrey @ Prince George (If necessary)
CARIBOO COUGARS:
The Cariboo Cougars beat the Thompson Blazers 9-1 (Friday) and 2-1 (Saturday) to win the series 2-0.
The defending champion Cougars advance to the BCMML semi-finals where they will host the Vancouver NE Chiefs at Kin 1.
Games will be played Friday night at 6, Saturday afternoon at 4 and Sunday morning, if needed, at 10.
The Chiefs upset the first place Valley West Hawks two games-to-one in the quarter-finals, taking the third and deciding game 3-2 in Langley.
It’s the first time that a #8 seed has beaten a #1 seed in the opening round of the BCMML playoffs.
MINOR HOCKEY:
Six teams, including host PG Viking Construction Cougars, compete in the BC Hockey PeeWee Tier 1 Provincial Championship at Kin 1.
The tournament is hosted by the Prince George Minor Hockey Association (PGMHA).
Play begins today with the final Thursday night at 7:30.
The PG Viking Cougars play their opener this morning at 10:30 against Kamloops, and they will also meet Semiahmoo at 7:15 tonight.
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Several Prince George Minor Hockey rep teams are competing at Provincials out-of-town this week.
- PG is 1-1 at Midget Tier 2 in Quesnel (7-4 loss to Cowichan; 6-1 win over Coquitlam)
- PG is 0-1 at Bantam Tier 2 in West Vancouver (4-2 loss to South Zone)
- PG is at Midget Tier 1 in Fort St. John (beginning today)
- PG is at Bantam Tier 1 in Nanaimo (starting today)
- PG is 1-0 at PeeWee Tier 2 in North Shore (4-0 win over Fort St. John)
- PG is at PeeWee Tier 3 in Summerland (beginning today)
- PG is at Bantam Female in Vancouver (beginning Wednesday)
- PG is at PeeWee Female in Dawson Creek (starting Thursday)
NHL:
Vegas 4 Calgary 0
Winnipeg 4 Dallas 2
Tampa Bay 3 Edmonton 1
The Vancouver Canucks, with 10 games left, begin a four-game road trip Tuesday in Vegas.
The (25-37-9) Canucks, riding a six-game losing streak, are 29th in the overall standings, just a point ahead of Buffalo and two in front of last place Arizona.
BIATHLON:
Sarah Beaudry of Prince George helped the Canadian team to an 11th place finish out of 22 in the women’s 4×6-kilometre Relay race at the IBU Biathlon World Cup in Oslo, Norway.
It was the last World Cup competition of the season for the 23-year-old Beaudry, who did not qualify for the 10-kilometre Pursuit after an 84th place effort out of 97 athletes in the 7.5-kilometre Sprint.
WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL:
Team BC, which included Joel Ewert of Prince George, finished with a 3-3 record and out of the medals at the
Junior National wheelchair basketball championships in Longeuil, Quebec.
Alberta captured gold after a 71-55 victory over Quebec in the final.
BC started 1-3 with a 52-35 loss to Alberta, a 61-46 loss to Saskatchewan and a 53-9 victory over Nova Scotia on Friday.
BC dropped a 52-39 decision to Ontario before posting a 55-15 triumph over Manitoba on Saturday.
The BC team concluded the tournament with a 50-34 victory over New Brunswick on Sunday.
Paralympic Hockey:
Canada’s Paralympic hockey team (formerly sledge hockey) earned silver after a 2-1 loss to the USA in the gold medal thriller at the Pyeongchang Paralympics.
The Canadian team included James Gemmell of Quesnel.
NBA:
Oklahoma City Thunder 132 Toronto Raptors 125
The loss ended the Raptors team record tying 11-game win streak.
The (52-18) Raptors lead the Eastern Conference by five games over the (47-23) Boston Celtics.
CURLING:
Canada is 3-0 after the first two days of the Ford world women’s curling championship in North Bay, Ontario.
The Jennifer Jones rink from Winnipeg whipped Germany 8-1 on Sunday after outscoring the Czech Republic
11-5 and Switzerland 10-5 on Saturday.
Canada plays 1-2 China today (11AM PT).
PGA TOUR:
Rory McIlroy (18-under-270) won by the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Florida by three shots over Bryson DeChambeau.
Tiger Woods tied for fifth, eight shots off the pace.