(As of 12:01 AM) WEEKEND WRAP
WHL: (PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS)
Vancouver Giants 4 Prince George Cougars 1 (Sunday) in Langley
The Giants scored three unanswered goals in the third period to win their fifth straight game, four of them against Prince George.
Watch the highlights here.
The Cougars suffered their 13th consecutive loss (0-10-3), including two since general manager Mark Lamb replaced Richard Matvichuk as head coach.
Ethan Browne tallied on the power play to give Prince George a 1-0 lead after one.
David Tendeck made 32 saves for the Giants and Taylor Gauthier blocked 25 of 29 shots for the Cats before 3,663 fans in Langley.
RECAP: Giants score three in the third period to sink Cougars Sunday. | #NorthernUprising #WHL
? https://t.co/I4viXb60tE
? Rik Fedyck / Giants pic.twitter.com/TTiZoUrAxG— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) February 11, 2019
The (37-13-2-1) Giants became the third WHL team to officially clinch a playoff spot.
Vancouver won eight of nine against Prince George in the season series.
The 16-32-4-2 Cougars are last in the Western Conference, seven points behind the (20-27-4-1) Kamloops Blazers and 10 back of the (21-26-5-1) Seattle Thunderbirds.
The Thunderbirds hold down the final wild-card playoff spot.
Prince George, with just 14 games remaining, will begin a four-game homestand Friday and Saturday against the (27-22-1-2) Victoria Royals.
BDN 3 SAS 6
MJ 2 CGY 6
REG 2 EDM 5
PG 1 VAN 4
MH 2 POR 1 (SO)— The WHL (@TheWHL) February 11, 2019
Kelowna Rockets 4 Prince George Cougars 3 (Friday)
The Cougars led 3-1 after one period but gave up three unanswered goals over the final 40 minutes, two of them in the last period.
Captain Josh Curtis scored twice and Cole Moberg also tallied for the Cougars.
Watch the highlights here.
LISTEN: @Hartley_Miller‘s Cat Scan – February 7th, 2019…..featuring @PGCougars alumni Evan Fuller
| https://t.co/YjddMi8qq2 #cityofpg #sports #WHL pic.twitter.com/X40yFXPGXR— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) February 8, 2019
(All of the PG Cougars Cat Scan Podcasts can be found right here)
BCHL: (PG SPRUCE KINGS)
Prince George Spruce Kings 4 Surrey Eagles 1 (Sunday)
The Spruce Kings broke a 1-1 tie with three unanswered goals in the second period for their eighth consecutive victory, and third in as many days.
The 35-12-1-5 Spruce Kings are second in the Mainland Division, five points behind the (40-12-1) Chilliwack Chiefs.
Both Prince George and Chilliwack have five regular season games left, including three against each other.
The Spruce Kings host the (27-24-0-1) West Kelowna Warriors on Thursday.
The Chiefs play at Salmon Arm on Wednesday.
Prince George Spruce Kings 6 Langley Rivermen 0 (Saturday)
Logan Neaton made 17 saves for his 5th shutout of the season.
Prince George Spruce Kings 4 Coquitlam Express 2 (Friday)
Dustin Manz scored into an empty net and added two assists.
Spruce Kings remaining schedule:(5 games)
Feb. 14 West Kelowna at Prince George
Feb. 17 Prince George at Chilliwack
Feb. 18 Prince George at Surrey
Feb. 22 Chilliwack at Prince George
Feb. 23 Chilliwack at Prince George
BCMML: (CARIBOO COUGARS) at Kin 1
Cariboo Cougars 6 Okanagan Rockets 2 (Sunday)
Okanagan Rockets 2 Cariboo Cougars 1 (Saturday)
The 20-7-5 Major Midget Cougars are tied with (21-10-1-2) Okanagan for 3rd place in the 11-team league. They are three points back of the (21-7-4-2) Vancouver NE Chiefs and five behind the (24-6-1-1) Fraser Valley Thunderbirds.
Cariboo will host the 9th place South Island Royals Saturday afternoon at 4:00 and Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. at Kin 1.
2 goals and an assist for alumni @bconnolly8 with the @Capitals, he passes his all time NHL point record for a single season of 27, and there are still 27 games left! Doing the north proud! #defendthenorth pic.twitter.com/iCb6zX6tkB
— Cariboo Cougars (@cariboocougars) February 10, 2019
BCMML: (CARIBOO COUGARS MINOR MIDGET)
Cariboo Minor Midget Cougars 6 Valley West Minor Midget Giants 4 (Sunday)
Cariboo Minor Midget Cougars 3 Valley West Minor Midget Giants 2 (OT Saturday)
Cariboo Minor Midget Cougars 3 Valley West Minor Midget Giants 0 (Friday)
The Cariboo 15-year-olds finished their regular season with a 14-10-1-5 record.
They are currently in 3rd place in the 10-team league, but are they just two points ahead of the (14-9-1-3) Thompson Blazers with the Blazers having three games in hand.
NHL:
The Anaheim Ducks sacked head coach Randy Carlyle, and replaced him with the team’s general manager Bob Murray for the rest of the season.
The (21-26-9) Ducks have lost seven straight to sink to the bottom of the Western Conference.
Anaheim has just two wins in its last 21 games (2-15-4).
The Ducks are the sixth NHL team to make a coaching change this season, joining Los Angeles, Chicago, St. Louis, Edmonton and Philadelphia.
Anaheim plays its next game on Wednesday when they host Vancouver.
STL 5 – NSH 4 OT
CHI 5 – DET 2
BOS 2 – COL 1 OT
WPG 3 – BUF 1
NJD 3 – CAR 2
NYI 2 – MIN 1
TBL 5 – FLA 2
NYR 4 – TOR 1Via @Discover: https://t.co/ZjJ8L5r5ZT pic.twitter.com/FwVWIBZGpf
— NHL (@NHL) February 11, 2019
(Saturday)
Vancouver Canucks 4 Calgary Flames 3 (Shootout Saturday)
With 2 assists in the @Canucks win Saturday, Elias Pettersson reached 50 points in just his 45th game. That has the 20-year old behind only 5 rookies on a list dating back 30 seasons pic.twitter.com/XdnKvVAATJ
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) February 10, 2019
The Canucks host the (33-16-7) San Jose Sharks tonight.
The (25-24-7) Canucks are 9th in the Western Conference, two points behind the (27-22-5) St. Louis Blues and the (27-24-5) Minnesota Wild.
The Blues and Wild are tied for the final wild-card spot.
Vancouver is just two points ahead of Colorado and surging Chicago.
The Blackhawks have won seven straight.
Besides the San Jose at Vancouver match-up, there are two other NHL games tonight: LA at Washington and Pittsburgh at Philadelphia.
PG ICEMAN:
Despite cold weather in the minus 20’s, the 32nd annual Prince George Iceman took place on Sunday.
Rob McDougall (1:52:21) won the men’s solo race by a minute and eight seconds.
He was followed by Jordan Bax (1:53:29) and 2017 Iceman champ Cam McNamara (1:53:42).
The Icewoman championship went to Jocelyn Poirier-Hardy (1:58:53) followed by Emily Ertel (2:09:56).
There were 534 registered participants, which included 38 soloists, 73 adult teams and 30 junior teams.
The course consisted of a ski at Otway Nordic Centre, a 10-km run from Otway to Exhibition Park, a five km skate at the ice oval, a five km run and an 800-metre swim at the Aquatic Centre.
CANADA WEST WOMEN’S BASKETBALL:
The UNBC Timberwolves will visit the Calgary Dinos in the best of three Canada West women’s basketball quarter-finals.
Games will be played Friday and Saturday, with the if necessary game on Sunday.
Calgary had the first round bye after finishing the regular season 17-3 and on a 15-game win streak.
The Timberwolves are coming off their first Canada West women’s basketball playoff victory in program history, 80-78 over the Trinity Western Spartans Friday in Langley.
UNBC ended the game on a 12-2 run.
RECAP: The first @CanadaWest playoff win in @UNBCWomensBball history. A great night, a gutsy effort, and a special team. Read all about it.https://t.co/W62k8Wj0Cp
— UNBC Athletics (@UNBCATHLETICS) February 9, 2019
CANADA WEST MEN’S BASKETBALL: (Playoff action in Abbotsford)
Fraser Valley Cascades 67 UNBC Timberwolves 59 (Thursday)
The Cascades advance to the quarter-finals against the Thunderbirds at UBC while the UNBC men have been eliminated.
RECAP: The @UFVCascades clamped down in the second half and edged the @UNBCBasketball 67-59 in a gritty @CanadaWest playoff battle. Read all about it here: https://t.co/cx69sSaecl
— UNBC Athletics (@UNBCATHLETICS) February 8, 2019
NBA:
The Toronto Raptors host the (29-28) Brooklyn Nets tonight and the (24-32) Washington Wizards Wednesday before heading into the NBA All-Star break.
The 41-16 Raptors are second in the Eastern Conference, one game behind the (41-14) Milwaukee Bucks.
Toronto is coming off Saturday’s 104-99 victory over the New York Knicks.
The Knicks have lost 16 in a row.