(As of 12:01AM)
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
WORLD JUNIOR HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP:
(In Vancouver)
Russia 2 Canada 1
Canada finished second in Group A with a 3-1 record behind the 4-0 Russians.
In the quarter-finals on Wednesday, Canada will play Finland with the winner to advance to the semis on Friday.
PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS:
The Prince George Cougars still have three more road games before they play again at home on January 11th against Kelowna.
After going 1-2 on the weekend, (2-1 win in Seattle followed by 6-1 loss in Everett and 2-1 loss in Kamloops) the Cougars have lost nine of their last 10 road games and 11 of 13 overall.
The 12-21-1-2 Cougars are four points behind (14-17-2-1) Kamloops for the second and final wild-card spot.
Prince George is also a point ahead of last-place (11-19-4) Seattle in the Western Conference.
The Thunderbirds lost 6-3 Monday in Portland.
The Cougars visit Kelowna Friday and Tri-City and Spokane next week (Tuesday and Wednesday).
Beamin has played 28 games for the @SJHL_Hawks, recording three points (2-1-3). He’ll wear number three with the Cougars. | #NorthernUprising #WHL
— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) December 31, 2018
NHL: (Toronto the only Canadian team idle Monday)
New Jersey 4 Vancouver 0
Rookie Mackenzie Blackwood posted his second straight shutout, stopping 25 shots.
The 19-19-4 Canucks are 2-1 on a six-game road trip that continues Wednesday in Ottawa.
Vancouver will visit Montreal Thursday and Toronto Saturday before returning home to entertain Arizona on Thursday, January 10th.
Winnipeg 4 Edmonton 3
Oilers first game since they acquired defenceman Brandon Manning of Prince George in a four-player trade with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Manning was -1 in 12:54 of ice time.
(The Oilers also got prospect defenceman Robin Norell while the Blackhawks acquired forward Drake Caggiula and defenceman Jason Garrison)
Calgary 8 San Jose 5
Montreal 3 Dallas 2 (OT)
Columbus 6 Ottawa 3
There are three New Year’s Day games in the NHL: Boston at Chicago (10:00 a.m. PT) and night games of Philadelphia at Nashville and LA at Vegas.
PRINCE GEORGE SPRUCE KINGS:
The Prince George Spruce Kings play seven of their first eight games in January on the road, with three of them this weekend.
The Spruce Kings visit Merritt on Friday, Cowichan Valley on Saturday and Victoria on Sunday.
The 25-9-1-2 Spruce Kings are in first place in the Mainland Division and the BCHL by just one point over the (26-11) Chilliwack Chiefs.
The Spruce Kings next home game will take place on January 11th when they entertain Cowichan.
CARIBOO COUGARS:
The Cariboo Cougars have returned home to Prince George after posting a 2-1-1 record at the Mac’s international midget hockey tournament in Calgary.
Cariboo beat the Swift Current Legionnaires 3-2 in its final game but it wasn’t enough to advance to the quarter-finals.
The Cougars lost 4-2 to Lethbridge AAA Midget Hurricanes, beat the Brampton (Ontario) 45s 4-3 and tied the Calgary Midget AAA Flames 2-2 in their other three games.
The 16-5-3 Major Midget Cougars are in second place in the BCMML, five points behind the (19-3-1-1) Fraser Valley Thunderbirds.
Cariboo will play its next league game January 19th in Fort St. James against the third-place (14-5-3-2) Vancouver NE Chiefs.
NFL:
The NFL playoffs begin this weekend.
Wildcard games have Indy at Houston (1:35 PT) and Seattle at Dallas (5:15) on Saturday plus LA Chargers at Baltimore (10:05 a.m.) and Philadelphia at Chicago (1:40) on Sunday.
The Texans, Cowboys and Ravens are all favored by 2 1/2 while the Bears are 6-point favorites.
New Orleans and LA Rams in the NFC and K.C. and New England in the AFC have first-round byes.
NBA:
The Toronto Raptors host the (18-19) Utah Jazz tonight.
The 27-11 Raptors are half-a-game ahead of the (25-10) Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference and 1 1/2
games in front of the (25-12) Indiana Pacers.
CANADA WEST BASKETBALL: (UNBC TIMBERWOLVES)
The UNBC Timberwolves are back in action this weekend when they host the Thompson Rivers University (TRU) Wolfpack of Kamloops Friday and Saturday in Canada West basketball at the Northern Sport Centre.
The women tip-off at 6 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m Saturday with the men to follow two hours later.
The Timberwolves are 6-4 in both divisions.
The UNBC women are tied for seventh while the men are eighth out of 17 teams.
The TRU women are 3-7 while the TRU men have a 4-6 record.