(As of 12:01AM)
PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS:
(WHL)
The Prince George Cougars have five road games left prior to the Christmas break.
The Cougars visit the Portland Winterhawks tonight at 7 and Saturday night at 6.
The (16-10-0-2) Winterhawks are second in the US Division.
Portland has scored the most goals in the Western Conference and second most in the WHL (behind the Prince Albert Raiders).
The 11-14-1-2 Cougars are last in the BC Division but just a point behind both (13-11) Victoria and (12-11-1-1) Kamloops and three back of second place (13-15-2) Kelowna.
Prince George is ninth out of 10 in the Western Conference, four points ahead of (9-13-3) Seattle.
The Cougars next home games are against Kelowna January 11th to 12th.
PRINCE GEORGE SPRUCE KINGS:
(BCHL)
The Prince George Spruce Kings host the Nanaimo Clippers tonight before having a week off.
The Spruce Kings are 3-1 on a seven-game homestand after Wednesday’s 2-1 victory over the Vernon Vipers.
Former Spruce King Bradley Cooper (Vernon) and Logan Neaton (PG) each made 31 saves.
The 22-8-1-2 Spruce Kings lead the BCHL standings and the Mainland Division by a point over the (23-9) Chilliwack Chiefs.
The (12-16) Clippers are third out of five in the Island Division.
The Spruce Kings also entertain Surrey December 14th and 15th before they close out the month at Langley on the 20th and Surrey the 21st.
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The five-team World Junior ‘A’ Challenge begins Sunday and runs until December 16th in Bonnyville, Alberta.
PG Spruce Kings defenceman Layton Ahac is one of 22 players (14 from the BCHL) that will compete for Team Canada West.
The other participants are Canada East, Czech Republic, Russia, and the United States.
NHL: (Winnipeg and Edmonton the only Canadian teams idle Thursday)
Vancouver 5 Nashville 3
Elias Pettersson scored on his first NHL penalty shot.
The 20-year-old Swede, picked fifth overall in the 2017 draft, leads all rookies with 14 goals and 25 points.
The Canucks ended a four-game losing streak with just their second win in the last 14 games.
The 12-16-3 Canucks play their next three on the road starting Sunday at noon in St. Louis.
Vancouver will also visit Columbus Tuesday and Nashville Thursday.
Calgary 2 Minnesota 0
Montreal 5 Ottawa 2
Detroit 5 Toronto 4 (OT)
There are four Friday games in the NHL; Minnesota at Edmonton, St. Louis at Winnipeg, San Jose at Dallas, and Carolina at Anaheim.
CARIBOO COUGARS:
(BCMML)
The 13-4-3 Cariboo Cougars visit the (6-9-3-2) Valley West Giants Saturday night in Langley and Sunday morning in Delta.
The Major Midget Cougars are in the second place, four points behind the (16-3-1) Fraser Valley Thunderbirds.
Valley West holds down the eighth and final playoff spot.
CARIBOO COUGARS MINOR MIDGET:
The Cariboo Cougars minor midget team will host the (8-3-1) Fraser Valley Thunderbirds tonight at 7:30, plus Saturday and Sunday morning at 11:15 at Kin 1.
The Cariboo 15-year-olds are 9-2-1 and in second place, two points behind the (10-1-1) Okanagan Rockets.
WORLD CUP BIATHLON:
Megan Tandy of Prince George was the best of four Canadians at the BMW World Cup biathlon women’s 15-kilometre individual race in Pokljuka, Slovenia.
The 30-year-old Tandy finished 62nd out of 102 participants, 4 1/2 minutes off the winning time.
The women’s 7.5-kilometre sprint will be held Saturday followed by the pursuits on Sunday.
NFL:
Tennessee Titans 30 Jacksonville Jaguars 9
Derrick Henry ran for four touchdowns including an NFL record-tying 99-yard TD rush.
Henry finished with 238 yards on 17 carries to lead the 7-6 Titans.
Week 14 in the NFL continues with 14 Sunday games including Philadelphia at Dallas and the LA Rams at Chicago.
The Seattle Seahawks are home Monday against Minnesota.
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Washington Redskins quarterback Alex Smith is dealing with an infection caused by complications from multiple surgeries on his broken leg.
The Redskins released a statement addressing Smith’s health, saying they were requesting privacy for Smith and his family amid his recovery.
NBA:
The Toronto Raptors are on the road against the (8-18) Brooklyn Nets tonight.
The 21-5 Raptors have the best record in the NBA and lead the Eastern Conference by 3 1/2 games over the Milwaukee Bucks.
UNBC TIMBERWOLVES:
Kalista Kirkness has committed to play for the UNBC Timberwolves in the 2019 Canada West women’s soccer season.
The five-foot-eight fullback from Chilliwack is set to graduate from Sardis Secondary in June.
The 17-year-old honour roll student plans to enrol in Bio-Medical studies at UNBC.