(As of 12:01 AM)
WHL (PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS):
The Prince George Cougars host the Kamloops Blazers Saturday night at 7 and Sunday afternoon at 2.
The Blazers will start their weekend with a home game tonight against the Prince Albert Raiders.
The Cougars lost to the (38-5-0-1) Raiders 6-2 Wednesday.
Watch the highlights here.
The 16-23-1-2 Cougars are sitting in the second and final wild-card playoff spot, a point ahead of the (15-21-4) Seattle Thunderbirds and two in front of the (15-23-2-1) Blazers.
Prince George is also just three points behind the (17-22-3-1) Kelowna Rockets, who are third in the B.C. Division.
The Blazers are 3-0 against the Cougars this season.
LISTEN: @Hartley_Miller‘s Cat Scan – January 17th, 2019….featuring @PGCougars Corporate Sales Manager Gary Samis and Director Sales Mark Goodwin
| https://t.co/zz2puXVXTT #CityofPG #Sports pic.twitter.com/KSMViHkzTg— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) January 18, 2019
BCHL (PG SPRUCE KINGS):
The Prince George Spruce Kings are in the Okanagan for three games in as many days.
They visit the (28-12-1-2) Penticton Vees tonight, the (17-16-7-3) Vernon Vipers Saturday and the (24-19-0-1) West Kelowna Warriors Sunday afternoon.
The 26-11-2-3 Spruce Kings (with just 16 games left) are second in the Mainland Division, four points behind the (30-11-1) Chilliwack Chiefs.
The Chiefs beat the Merritt Centennials 4-3 in overtime on Thursday.
The Spruce Kings next home games will be against the Coquitlam Express on Jan. 25th and 26th.
BCMML (CARIBOO COUGARS):
The Cariboo Cougars are in Fort St. James this weekend for a pair of games, including the BCMML Winter Classic (first midget outdoor game in Canada).
The Major Midget Cougars play the Vancouver NE Chiefs Saturday night at 5 indoors at the Fort Forum and Sunday afternoon at 2 outdoors at the Ernie Sam Memorial Arena.
The 16-5-3 Cougars are in third place in the 11-team league, just a point behind the (16-5-2-2) Chiefs.
A few more photos of Ernie Sam Memorial Arena. Thank you to everybody who worked countless hours in the last few days to put this all together. We can’t wait @NakazdliWhuten . Special shoutouts to Marvin, Todd and members from the Youth Club to help contribute! Great stuff! pic.twitter.com/jXaXsuSXsR
— Cariboo Cougars (@cariboocougars) January 18, 2019
BCMML (CARIBOO COUGARS MINOR MIDGET):
The Cariboo Cougars Minor Midget team will host the Greater Vancouver Canadians in a three-game set.
The two teams face off tonight and Saturday night at 7:30 and Sunday morning at 11:15 at Kin 1.
The Cariboo 15-year-olds are 11-5-1-1 and in second place, a point ahead of the (11-3-1) Okanagan Rockets and three points back of the first place (13-4-1) Thunderbirds.
The (5-8-3-2) Canadians are in 8th place.
NHL: (Canadian teams 2-0 on Thursday)
Winnipeg 5 Nashville 1
Toronto 4 Tampa Bay 2
The Vancouver Canucks host the (24-17-6) Buffalo Sabres tonight.
The 22-21-6 Canucks are just a point back of Minnesota, Edmonton and Anaheim for the final wild-card spot.
Elias Pettersson will miss his fifth straight game with a knee injury (minor MCL sprain).
The 20-year-old Pettersson has 42 points, including 22 goals in 38 games.
The Canucks are 1-0-2 on a six-game homestand.
They also entertain Detroit Sunday and Carolina Wednesday before having a 10-day break.
There are six other NHL games tonight besides Buffalo at Vancouver. Elsewhere (involving Canadian teams), Calgary hosts Detroit, Toronto is at Florida, Montreal visits Columbus and Ottawa plays in Carolina.
CANADA WEST BASKETBALL: (UNBC TIMBERWOLVES)
The UNBC Timberwolves visit the Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas tonight and Saturday in Canada West basketball in Edmonton.
The @UNBCBasketball team sits 7-7, and are ready to take on a very-good @BearsandPandas team this weekend, in a big @CanadaWest matchup. Hear from TWolves’ leading scorer Jovan Leamy, and head to our website for a full preview: https://t.co/FgAxdK8TqB pic.twitter.com/A8BfdmySqc
— UNBC Athletics (@UNBCATHLETICS) January 18, 2019
UNBC is 9-5 in the women’s standings (7th place out of 17 teams) and 7-7 in the men’s division (7th place).
The top 12 teams advance to the playoffs.
The Timberwolves have just six regular-season games remaining.
The Alberta women have won 10 in a row and are third with a 12-2 record.
The Alberta men have won eight straight and are third with a record of 11-3.
(UNBC also plays at UBC the 25th and 26th before closing out its regular season with home games against Lethbridge Feb. 1st and 2nd)
NBA:
Toronto Raptors 111 Phoenix Suns 109
The 34-13 Raptors lead the Eastern Conference by half-a-game over the (32-12) Milwaukee Bucks.
The Raptors host the (19-25) Memphis Grizzlies Saturday.
FIGURE SKATING:
Justin Hampole of Prince George finished 13th at the Canadian Tire National Figure Skating Championships in Saint John, N.B.
There were 18 skaters in Hampole’s Jr. Men’s division.
The 17-year-old Hampole was 10th following the short program.
He dropped to 13th after the free program.
Hampole was fourth out of five among participants from the B.C./Yukon region.
NFL:
The NFL Conference Championship Games will be played Sunday.
In the NFC, the LA Rams visit New Orleans (12:05 p.m. PT).
In the AFC, New England is at Kansas City (3:40 p.m. PT).
The Saints are favoured by 3.5 and the Chiefs are 3-point favourites.
The winners advance to Super Bowl 53 February 3rd in Atlanta.
TENNIS:
Canadians Milos Raonic and Denis Shapovalov have advanced to the third round at the Australian Open tennis championships.
The 16th seeded Raonic will meet France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert in his next match while Shapovalov will face top-seeded Novak Djkovic.