(As of 12:01AM)
PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS:
After four years on the job, Todd Harkins is out as General Manager of the Prince George Cougars.
The EDGEPRO ownership group made the announcement Monday night, one day after the team’s Awards Banquet.
The 24-38-5-5 Cougars finished 21st in the 22-team WHL.
Harkins had a regular season record of 136-126-13-13, plus 3-12 in the playoffs in his four years at the helm.
The Cougars not only struggled on the ice, but at the gate as well with the average attendance of 3,024, sitting 600 fans below the previous season.
Head Coach Richard Matvichuk, who was hired by Harkins, has one-year left on his contract.
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A couple of Prince George Cougars are headed to the ECHL.
Team MVP Jared Bethune and PG’s Brogan O’Brien have signed amateur tryout contracts with the Allen (Texas) Americans and the Kansas City Mavericks respectively.
The ECHL is considered one Tier below the AHL.
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE:
The first round of the WHL playoffs 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 start 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:
Surrey Eagles 5 Prince George Spruce Kings 1
The Eagles lead the best-of-seven BCHL Mainland Division final 2-1 with game four tonight in Surrey.
Surrey exploded with three power-play goals in the second, as they enjoyed period leads of 1-0 and 4-1.
The Eagles outshot the Spruce Kings 38-31, after Prince George outshot Surrey by a total of 99-34 over the first two games.
The Spruce Kings are 0-5 in South Surrey in 2017-18 having lost all four regular season games in that building.
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Tickets for Game 5 on Thursday are on sale at the Spruce Kings office, inside the arena lobby.
Playoff tickets are priced at $15 for Adults, and $12 for Students 6-18 and Seniors 55+
Office Hours for the Spruce Kings this week are as follows:
Today = 12PM – 4PM
Wednesday = 12PM – 4PM
Thursday (GAME DAY) = 9AM – 5PM
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 (SURREY WINS 5-1)
GAME 4 = Tuesday, March 20th – Prince George @ Surrey
GAME 5 = Thursday, March 22nd – Surrey @ Prince George
GAME 6 = Saturday, March 24- Prince George @ Surrey (If necessary)
GAME 7 = Sunday, March 25 – Surrey @ Prince George (If necessary)
CARIBOO COUGARS:
The defending champion Cariboo Cougars will host the Vancouver NE Chiefs in the BCMML semi-finals 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, becoming the first #8 seed to beat a #1 seed in the opening round.
The other semi will be played in Langley with the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds hosting the Vancouver NW Giants Friday and Saturday night at 7 and Sunday afternoon, if necessary, at 2.
MINOR HOCKEY: (UPDATED 2pm today)
The host Prince George Viking Construction Cougars are 0-2 in the BC Hockey PeeWee Tier 1 Provincial Championship at Kin 1.
They lost 6-2 to Kamloops and 9-2 to Semiahmoo on Monday and are back on the ice tonight (7:45) against 2-0 Burnaby.
Six teams are competing in the tournament which is hosted by the Prince George Minor Hockey Association (PGMHA).
The final involving the top two teams in the round robin will be played Thursday night at 7:30.
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Several Prince George Minor Hockey rep teams are competing out-of-town this week at Provincials.
Here are the results listed on the following website.
https://www.bchockey.net/Championships/ScheduleandScores.aspx
- PG is 1-0-1 at Midget Tier 1 in Fort St. John (3-3 tie vs. Vancouver, 5-4 win over North East)
- PG is 1-1-1 at Midget Tier 2 in Quesnel (7-4 loss to Cowichan; 6-1 win over Coquitlam, 2-2 tie vs. Quesnel)
- PG is 0-0-1 at Bantam Tier 1 in Nanaimo (1-1 tie vs. Victoria)
- PG is 1-2 at Bantam Tier 2 in West Vancouver (4-2 loss to South Zone, 3-2 loss to Port Moody, 4-2 win over Langley)
- PG is 0-2 at PeeWee Tier 2 in North Shore (4-0 loss to Fort St. John, 5-0 loss to Cranbrook)
- PG is 0-2 at PeeWee Tier 3 in Summerland (12-0 loss to Whitehorse, 10-2 loss to Langley)
- PG is at Bantam Female in Vancouver (beginning Wednesday)
- PG is at PeeWee Female in Dawson Creek (starting Thursday)
POLIS:
Former NHL player and Prince George resident Greg Polis lost his battle with cancer at age 67.
Polis had a 10-year career with four NHL teams in the 1970’s (Pittsburgh, St. Louis, New York Rangers and Washington).
He came to Prince George on a full-time basis in the 1980’s, and stayed in the city until 2015 when he moved to Vancouver Island to be closer to his three children.
Polis, who was raised in Dapp, Alberta, also excelled in handball, golf, and baseball.
NHL:
Arizona 5 Calgary 2
The Flames are six points out of a playoff spot with just eight games left.
Florida 2 Montreal 0
Columbus 5 Boston 4 (OT)
LA 4 Minnesota 3 (OT)
Nashville 4 Buffalo 0
The Vancouver Canucks will try to end a six-game losing streak when they start a four-game road trip tonight in Vegas against the Pacific Division-leading (46-21-5) Golden Knights.
The (25-37-9) Canucks, with just 10 games remaining (five road, five home), are tied with Arizona for 29th in the overall standings, just a point ahead of last-place Buffalo.
CURLING:
Canada is 5-0 at the Ford world women’s curling championship in North Bay, Ontario.
The Jennifer Jones rink from Winnipeg beat China 9-5 Monday and Denmark 10-5 this morning.
Canada is up against Scotland today (4PM PT).
NBA:
The Toronto Raptors tip off tonight in Orlando against the (21-49) Magic.
The (52-18) Raptors lead the Eastern Conference by five games over the (47-23) Boston Celtics.
The Celtics are home tonight against the (43-29) Oklahoma City Thunder.