As we enter the Christmas break for the five high profile Prince George winter sports teams, most are having a good to excellent season.
Here’s a closer look:
PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS:
This is the one P.G. team struggling.
The 11-19-1-2 Cougars are exactly in the same spot they were at the end of the 2017-18 season, in last place in the Western Conference.
After a promising start, the Cats went into the break having lost five straight and nine of their last 10, all in regulation time.
In other words, they sunk to the bottom by earning just two out of a possible 20 points.
They have a 7-9-0-1 record at CN Centre with 50 % of their home games completed (17 of 34).
The Cougars are 4-10-1-1 on the road, while riding a seven-game away losing streak.
They are the lowest scoring team in the Western Conference, averaging just 2.27 goals-per-game (75 in 33 games).
The Cats are in the middle of the pack in goals-against allowing 114 goals or 3.45 a game.
The good news for the Cougars is that Kamloops and Seattle are also struggling.
The Blazers have lost six straight while the Thunderbirds have dropped three in a row.
Prince George is just a point behind Seattle and two back of Kamloops in the race for the last wild-card spot.
The Cougars play seven of their last 35 games (or 20 %) against the Blazers.
RECAP: Giants’ power-play wins it late on Sunday. | #NorthernUprising #WHL
? https://t.co/SCJ681KtPF
? Rik Fedyck pic.twitter.com/TNrxOsciMB— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) December 17, 2018
PRINCE GEORGE SPRUCE KINGS:
The Spruce Kings are the best of the P.G. teams, having not missed a beat from their record-breaking 2017-18 season that saw them win the Conference final.
With one game to go in 2018, tonight (Friday) in Surrey, the Spruce Kings lead not the Mainland Division and the entire BCHL with a 24-9-1-2 record.
They are a point ahead of the (25-11) Chilliwack Chiefs.
The Spruce Kings strength is goals-against having allowing just 76 in 36 games for a league-best 2.11 a game.
Offensively, they are in the middle of the league in goals for with 106, although they have two players, Dustin Manz and Ben Brar in the top 15 of BCHL scoring.
The Spruce Kings, with just 22 games left prior to playoffs, will start January with seven of their first eight games on the road, although they sport a 9-3-1-2 away record.
It was Dustin Manz (@dustinmanz10) who sent the warm clothing flying for St. Vincent de Paul last night. Great work by the Pee Wee Tier 1 Cougars cleaning the ice in just 2 minutes, 58 seconds. Brendan Pawliw on the call. pic.twitter.com/UDcjnkL49H
— Spruce Kings (@SpruceKings) December 15, 2018
CARIBOO COUGARS:
The Cariboo Cougars got an invite to the Mac’s international midget hockey tournament (Dec 26-Jan 1) in Calgary for the 14th consecutive year because they remain one of the elite teams in the BCMML.
The 16-5-3 Major Midget Cougars are in second place, five points behind the (19-3-1-1) Fraser Valley Thunderbirds.
Cariboo is averaging 4 1/2 goals a game (fourth most in the league) while allowing 2 1/2 against (second fewest, a shade behind Fraser Valley).
Since they have played their four regular season games against the Thunderbirds, it may be difficult to catch Fraser Valley for first but the Cougars could have one or two rounds of playoff home games.
(This is the first year for the Cariboo Cougars Minor Midgets, a team consisting of 15-year-olds.
They are off to a good start in their 10-team league, sitting in second place, just like the Major Midgets.
The Minor Midgets are 11-5-1-1, a point ahead of the (11-3-1) Okanagan Rockets and three points back of the first place (13-4-1) Fraser Valley Thunderbirds. Okanagan has three games in hand.
Cariboo is averaging 3.44 GF (fourth most) and 2.78 GA (third fewest).
Happy Birthday to long time General Manager of the Cariboo Cougars, Trevor Sprague! pic.twitter.com/ukD9t7t5Hv
— Cariboo Cougars (@cariboocougars) December 14, 2018
UNBC TIMBERWOLVES:
The UNBC basketball teams have six of their last 10 regular season Canada West games on home court.
The Timberwolves sit 6-4 in both divisions.
There is good chance one or both teams will not only make the 12-team playoffs, but have a home post-season game (need a top-eight finish) at the Northern Sport Centre.
The UNBC women are tied for seventh while the men are eighth out of 17 teams.
Such an exciting day for @UNBC Athletics! Today, partnering with Pacific Western Transportation, we officially debuted our new Timberwolves Bus! Our athletes spend countless hours on the bus, to represent UNBC and the @CityofPG, so we are beyond excited to have it on the road! pic.twitter.com/94K13icGOJ
— UNBC Athletics (@UNBCATHLETICS) December 4, 2018
Season’s Greetings:
On behalf of my wife Brenda and our entire family, I would like to extend my best wishes, happy holidays and a very Merry Christmas to you and yours as well as to my friends, co-workers, contacts, acquaintances, quote rack contributors and twitter followers.
Regardless of beliefs and convictions, let us not take anything for granted and cherish the moment of the season.
May the good times and treasures of the present become the golden memories of tomorrow.
#
This is Week 13 of ‘Hartley’s Cat Scan.’
The podcast, introduced in September, predominately features the Prince George Cougars.
My guest this week is Cougars VP of Business Andy Beasley.
A long-time PG resident, Andy talks about his transition from working for the City to the Cougars, his previous promotions that include climbing 40-feet into the air for Big Brothers Big Sisters, and his formula for losing 100 pounds.
You can also find this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, and TuneIn.
LISTEN: @Hartley_Miller‘s Cat Scan – December 20th, 2018 … learning the past double-life of @PGCougars VP of Business Andy Beesley (@Andy_Beesley) | https://t.co/9nIYvV6yFH #CityOfPG #Sports pic.twitter.com/mw7bPoL5ew
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) December 21, 2018
FROM THE QUOTE RACK:
Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!
*Santa Claus and his helpers (Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolf)
are you ready？Santa Claus is coming～ pic.twitter.com/pjtA752Ws8
— Cathy (@ShopifyJewelry) December 20, 2018
Two nuns have been accused of embezzling about $500,000 from St. James Catholic School in Torrance, Calif., to support their gambling craze. Apparently, they put too much money down on the (NFL) Cardinals this season and not enough on the Saints.
*Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times http://www.seattletimes.com/author/dwight-perry/
David West says, ‘I would say that Kevin Durant will be back with the Golden State Warriors next season. To which Steph Curry replied, ‘They’ll put a man on the moon, first.’
*Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California
Shaquille O’Neal says in this era he would average 45 points a game without free throws. As opposed to when he was playing and averaged 30 points a game, mostly without free throws.
*Comedy writer Jim Barach http://jokesbyjim.blogspot.ca/
Kentucky sophomore point guard Quade Green, who has had reduced playing time this year, has announced he will transfer “I just felt like it was best that I explore other opportunities for my athletic and academic future”
And he said “academic future” with a straight face.
*Comedy writer Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com
The World Chess Championship lasted three weeks after 12 draws. Norwegian Magnus Carlsen won it just before judges were going to decide the match using Penalty Kicks.
*Comedy writer TC Chong of Vancouver
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Flatulence during a World Darts Championship game had competitors reduced to rasps by shouting accusations at each other. Otherwise known as putting the fart before the hoarse.
*Canadian comedy writer RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com
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Hartley Miller is the sports director and morning news anchor for 94.3 the GOAT.
He also is the 94.3 radio colour commentator for P.G. Cougars home games.
His column appears Fridays on myprincegeorgenow.com.
Send along a quote, note, or anecdote to [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter: @Hartley_Miller
Listen to him on his weekly podcast: Hartley’s Cat Scan.