(As of 12:01 AM)
WHL: (PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS)
Prince George Cougars 2 Kamloops Blazers 1 (SO)
The Cougars ended a club-record 17 game losing streak (0-13-0-1).
Prince George also beat Kamloops for the first time in seven meetings this season.
Taylor Gauthier led the Cougars with 41 saves and two more in the shootout.
#WHLThreeStars ⭐⭐⭐
Friday, February 22, 2019 pic.twitter.com/TgZfnHWjoJ— The WHL (@TheWHL) February 23, 2019
Josh Maser (23) scored on a first period power play and both Ethan Browne and Vladislav Mikhalchuk beat
Dylan Ferguson in the shootout.
The Cougars visit the Western Conference leading Everett Silvertips tonight in their ninth last game of the regular season.
(They also have two games remaining against Spokane, Victoria, Portland and Kamloops).
Prince George is 1-5-0-1 since general manager Mark Lamb replaced Richard Matvichuk as head coach.
The 17-35-4-3 Cougars are last in the Western Conference, nine points behind the (22-28-4-2) Blazers and 13 back of the (24-28-5-1) Seattle Thunderbirds.
The Thunderbirds hold down the final wild-card playoff spot.
SAS 2 BDN 6
CGY 4 REG 5 (OT)
MJ 4 SC 2
KTN 0 PA 4
RD 1 EDM 2
MH 3 LET 6
VIC 0 VAN 4
PG 2 KAM 1 (SO)
SEA 3 EVT 2 (OT)
KEL 4 SPO 3 (SO)
POR 2 TC 4— The WHL (@TheWHL) February 23, 2019
LISTEN: .@Hartley_Miller‘s Cat Scan – February 21st. 2019… featuring former @PGCougars player Greg Gardner @TheWHL | https://t.co/D5JEmvkqRj #cityofpg #sports #MyWHL pic.twitter.com/uRCvmAbwN6
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) February 22, 2019
(All of the PG Cougars Cat Scan Podcasts can be found right here)
BCHL: (PG SPRUCE KINGS)
Prince George Spruce Kings 5 Chilliwack Chiefs 3
The Spruce Kings extended their home win streak to seven games before 1,571 fans on Fan Appreciation Night.
Same two teams meet again tonight at the RMCA to close out the regular season.
The (42-14-1) Chiefs will finish first in the Mainland Division followed by the Spruce Kings, who are sitting with a team record 38 wins (38-13-1-5).
Prince George will conclude with the second best record in the BCHL.
Both teams have won 10 of their last 11 games.
The Spruce Kings, who have won 11 of their last 12 games, will meet the third place (28-24-3-3) Coquitlam Express in the first round of the playoffs.
The other Mainland Division opening round matchup has Chilliwack against the fourth place (26-26-2-2) Langley Rivermen.
BCMML: (CARIBOO COUGARS)
The Cariboo Cougars host the seventh place (15-14-3-2) Greater Vancouver Canadians this afternoon at 4:00 and Sunday morning at 10:30 at Kin 1.
The 21-8-5 Major Midget Cougars are in 4th place in the 11-team league with six regular season games left.
Cariboo is two points behind the (23-10-1-2) Okanagan Rockets, and five back of both the (23-7-4-2) Vancouver NE Chiefs (25-7-1-1) and the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds.
NHL: (5 Friday games)
Columbus 5 Ottawa 3
Prior to the game the Senators dealt Matt Duchene to the Blue Jackets for a 2019 first-round pick, a conditional 2020 first-round pick and a pair of prospects (Vitaly Abramov and Jonathan Davidsson).
Calgary 2 Anaheim 1
Winnipeg 6 Vegas 3
Colorado 5 Chicago 3
Minnesota 3 Detroit 2
The (26-27-8) Vancouver Canucks host the New York Islanders tonight and the Anaheim Ducks on Monday.
The Canucks are 12th in the Western Conference, four points behind Minnesota for the final wild-card playoff spot.
Vancouver is also a point behind Arizona and Chicago and three back of Colorado.
#
The NHL has slapped Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid with a two-game suspension for an illegal check to the head on Nick Leddy of the New York Islanders.
CURLING: (SCOTTIES TOURNAMENT OF HEARTS)
B.C. finished eighth with a 5-6 record at the National Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
On the last day in the Championship Pool, B.C. lost to Wildcard 11-6 and to Canada 5-4.
Alberta topped the standings at 9-2 followed by Saskatchewan, Ontario and Northern Ontario at 8-3.
In the Page Playoffs today, Ontario plays Northern Ontario in the three-four game with the loser out and the winner to the semi-final.
Alberta meets Saskatchewan in the one-two game with the winner to advance to Sunday’s final.
YOUR FINAL FOUR: Alberta (@TeamCareyCurl) will face off against Saskatchewan (@TeamSilvernagle) in the 1v2 game while Ontario (@TeamHoman) will take on Northern Ontario (@TeamMcCarville) in the 3v4 game.
?️: https://t.co/V7vLrdBTiL #STOH2019 pic.twitter.com/Gjn5dewBLV
— Curling Canada (@CurlingCanada) February 23, 2019
The B.C. team, skipped by Sarah Wark of Abbotsford, included two sisters (third Kristen Pilote and lead Jen Rusnell) and a coach (Rick Fewster) from Prince George.
(Fewster is Pilote’s and Rusnell’s dad)
The Wark team qualified after winning provincials in Quesnel.
PARA NORDIC SKIING:
There’s just two days of competition left at the World Para Nordic Skiing Championships in Prince George.
The Cross Country Relays go today and the Cross Country Long will take place Sunday, both starting at 10:00 a.m. at the Otway Nordic Centre.
Canada has six medals, including four by Mark Arendz of Hartsville, P.E.I. (two silver and two bronze) and a pair
from Colin Cameron of Sudbury, Ontario (gold and a silver).
The 28-year-old Arendz placed second on Thursday, behind Benjamin Daviet of France, in the men’s 15-kilometre standing biathlon individual race.
Daviet has a whopping five gold medals.
The Ukraine leads the medal standings by a huge margin with 36 (8 gold, 14 silver and 14 bronze).
Closing Ceremonies are set for Sunday night at 6:15 at the Prince George Civic and Conference Centre.
We love ? the crew working hard behind the scenes on making the World Championships in Prince George an amazing event!#PrinceGeorge2019 #ParaNordic pic.twitter.com/5tcsIUykvl
— Para Nordic Skiing (@ParaNordic) February 22, 2019
118 men and women athletes from 19 countries are competing in four cross-country skiing and four biathlon events.
Canada is represented by 11 athletes and three guides, including three athletes from B.C.
The participants are grouped into three classes: sitting, standing, and visually impaired.
CANADA WINTER GAMES:
Team B.C. is fourth in medals with 28 and third in gold with nine after Friday’s competition, at the Canada Winter Games in Red Deer.
The B.C. ringette team, which included Katie Young of Quesnel, finished fourth after a 6-4 loss to Manitoba in the bronze medal game.
Ryan Elden of Quesnel just missed his third medal by placing fourth Thursday in the men’s 12.5-kilometre individual biathlon race.
Elden earned a gold in the men’s biathlon 10 km individual pursuit and a bronze in the 3 x7.5 km team relay.
Joel Ewert of Prince George was part of the B.C. wheelchair basketball team that finished sixth.
A total of nine Prince George athletes are competing or have competed at the 2019 Canada Winter Games (four in speed skating, two in judo and one each in alpine skiing, snowboard and wheelchair basketball).
#Results – Long Track Speed Skating Male Mass Start – official results for #TeamBC
4th Place – Josh Telizyn (Fort St John)
10th Place – Eric Orlowsky (Prince George)
DNF – Kieran Hanson (Prince George)#WEareBC @BCSpeedSkating @SSC_PVC— Team BC (@GoTeamBC) February 21, 2019
NBA:
Toronto Raptors 120 San Antonio Spurs 117
The (44-16) Raptors, winners of seven straight, host the (27-33) Orlando Magic Sunday afternoon.
Toronto is second in the NBA Eastern Conference, a game behind the (44-14) Milwaukee Bucks.
Three players on the UNBC Timberwolves have been selected to the Canada West basketball all-star teams.
Vasiliki Louka, who led the conference in rebounding with 12.7 per game, became the first female athlete at UNBC to be named a first-team Canada West all-star.
HISTORY! @UNBCWomensBball‘s @VLouka13 has become the first female @UNBC TWolf to be a @CanadaWest 1st Team All-Star! V led the CW, and @USPORTS_Bball in rebounding, while registering 18 double-doubles! For context, that would put her top 20 on the CAREER list! Congrats, V! pic.twitter.com/xYyxNh2UDI
— UNBC Athletics (@UNBCATHLETICS) February 21, 2019
A couple of Timberwolves were voted to the third all-star teams; Maria Mongomo for the women and Jovan Leamy for the men.