(As of 12:01AM) (UPDATED at 12:01PM)
PRINCE GEORGE SPRUCE KINGS:
Surrey Eagles 4 Prince George Spruce Kings 0
Eagles lead the best-of-seven Mainland Division final 3-1 with game five Thursday in Prince George.
Mario Cavaliere made 23 saves for the shutout.
He has only allowed three goals in the last three games.
The Eagles took control early with three first period goals in a five minute span.
The Spruce Kings have only scored three times in the last three games after notching nine goals in the opener.
Prince George is 0-6 this season in Surrey, including 0-2 in the playoffs, where they have been outscored 9-1.
Surrey took game three on Monday 5-1, exploding with three power-play goals in the second.
The Spruce Kings are going home with their season on the line.
PG outshot Surrey 99-34 over the first two games at the RMCA.
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Tickets ($15 for Adults, and $12 for Students 6-18 and Seniors 55+) for Game 5 on are on sale at the Spruce Kings office, inside the arena lobby.
Office Hours for the Spruce Kings are as follows:
Today = 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 (SURREY WINS 4-0)
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)
PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS:
Prince George Cougars part-owner Eric Brewer says the new General Manager will have significant input about whether Head Coach Richard Matvichuk returns for the third and final year of his contract.
“We are going to be in search for a GM right away and that person will obviously have a major influence on that decision,” said Brewer in an interview Tuesday.
After four years on the job, Todd Harkins was dismissed as GM of the team.
Brewer adds there is no date set for when the EDGEPRO ownership group will make its decision on a replacement.
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 under his leadership.
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE:
The Edmonton Oil Kings won the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft lottery and will pick first in this year’s Draft,
which will be held May 3rd in Red Deer.
The Oil Kings had the league’s worst record in the league.
The Kootenay Ice moved up two spots and will pick second, followed by the Prince Albert Raiders, Calgary Hitmen, Kamloops Blazers and Saskatoon Blades.
Prince Albert acquired the pick in a 2016 trade with the Prince George Cougars.
The Cougars, thanks to a trade this year, will have the Raiders first round selection.
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None of the PG Cougars were named to the WHL all-star teams.
WHL Western Conference All-Star Teams
FIRST ALL-STAR TEAM
Goaltender – Carter Hart (Sherwood Park, Alta.) – Everett Silvertips
Defenceman – Cal Foote (Engelwood, Colo.) – Kelowna Rockets
Defenceman – Ty Smith (Lloydminster, Alta.) – Spokane Chiefs
Forward – Matthew Phillips (Calgary, Alta.) – Victoria Royals
Forward – Cody Glass (Winnipeg, Man.) – Portland Winterhawks
Forward – Jaret Anderson-Dolan (Calgary, Alta.) – Spokane Chiefs
SECOND ALL-STAR TEAM
Goaltender – David Tendeck (North Vancouver, B.C.) – Vancouver Giants
Defenceman – Henri Jokiharju (Tampere, Finland) – Portland Winterhawks
Defenceman – Juuso Valimaki (Nokia, Finland) – Tri-City Americans
Forward – Ty Ronning (Burnaby, B.C.) – Vancouver Giants
Forward – Dillon Dube (Cochrane, Alta.) – Kelowna Rockets
Forward – Patrick Bajkov (Nanaimo, B.C.) – Everett Silvertips
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The first round of the WHL playoffs begin Thursday with Tri-City at Kelowna.
Six series will get going Friday; Vancouver at Victoria, Seattle at Everett, Prince Albert at Moose Jaw, 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.
CARIBOO COUGARS:
The Cariboo Cougars host the Vancouver NE Chiefs in the BCMML semi-finals.
Games at Kin 1 are scheduled for Friday night at 6, Saturday afternoon at 4 and Sunday morning, if needed, at 10.
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:
The host Prince George Viking Construction Cougars are 0-3 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 9-1 to Burnaby on Tuesday.
PG has two games left in the six-team round robin: tonight at 7:30 against Victoria and Thursday afternoon at 1:30 against Kelowna.
The gold medal game (involving the top two round robin teams) 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.
https://www.bchockey.net/Championships/ScheduleandScores.aspx
- PG is 2-0-1 at Midget Tier 1 in Fort St. John (3-3 tie vs. Vancouver, 5-4 win over North East, 4-3 win over East Kootenay)
- PG is 2-1-1 at Midget Tier 2 in Quesnel (7-4 loss to Cowichan; 6-1 win over Coquitlam, 2-2 tie vs. Quesnel, 5-3 win over Port Moody)
- PG is 1-0-1 at Bantam Tier 1 in Nanaimo (1-1 tie vs. Victoria, 3-1 win over Yukon)
- PG is 1-3 at Bantam Tier 2 in West Vancouver (4-2 loss to South Zone, 3-2 loss to Port Moody, 4-2 win over Langley, 6-1 loss to Fort St. John)
- PG finished 0-4 at PeeWee Tier 2 in North Shore (4-0 loss to Fort St. John, 5-0 loss to Cranbrook, 10-0 loss to Vernon, 13-0 loss to North Shore)
- PG is 0-3 at PeeWee Tier 3 in Summerland (12-0 loss to Whitehorse, 10-2 loss to Langley, 8-1 loss to Summerland)
- PG is at Bantam Female in Vancouver (beginning today)
- PG is at PeeWee Female in Dawson Creek (starting Thursday)
NHL: (Canadian teams 2-3 on Tuesday)
Vegas 4 Vancouver 1
Seventh straight loss for the (25-38-9) Canucks, who continue a four-game road trip Thursday in Chicago.
Vancouver, with nine games left, is tied with Arizona for 29th in the overall standings, just a point ahead of last-place Buffalo.
Winnipeg 2 Los Angeles 1 (OT)
Tampa 4 Toronto 3
Edmonton 7 Carolina 3
Florida 7 Ottawa 2
CURLING:
Canada is 6-0 at the Ford world women’s curling championship in North Bay, Ontario.
The Jennifer Jones rink from Winnipeg outscored Scotland 8-6 on Tuesday.
Canada plays 6-1 Korea (11AM PT) and 8-0 Sweden (4PM) today.
NBA:
Toronto Raptors 93 Orlando Magic 86
The (53-18) Raptors lead the Eastern Conference by five games over the (48-23) Boston Celtics.
Toronto visits the (41-29) Cleveland Cavaliers tonight.