(As of 12:01 AM) Weekend Wrap
WHL:
The Prince George Cougars snapped a club-record 13-game home losing streak with Saturday’s 5-2 victory over the Portland Winterhawks.
The Cougars first home win in eight weeks at CN Centre came before a season-high crowd of 3,806 on Mega-Jackpot night. (The 50-50 reached nearly 40-grand)
Missed it? Check out highlights from Saturday’s win over @pdxwinterhawks.
? https://t.co/J3A6vCuq8O pic.twitter.com/dxEtThoYBC
— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) March 10, 2019
Prince George Cougars 5 Portland Winterhawks 2 (Saturday)
Prince George exploded with four goals in the third period, two of them by Josh Maser, who hit the 30-goal plateau with an empty netter.
Connor Bowie tallied the winner against his former team with 7:35 left in the third.
.@CBowie09 scores against his old team @WHLWinterhawks in a 5-2 win for @PGCougars in @TheWHL on Saturday #CityofPG #sports #TheWHL pic.twitter.com/I3WkKmNY0F
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 10, 2019
Taylor Gauthier made 37 saves as P.G. outshot Portland 49-39 in a game that was tied 0-0 after one and 1-1 after two.
.@PGCougars snap 13 game home losing skid at @CNCentre, dump @WHLWinterhawks 5-2 on Saturday @mypgnow spoke with Austin Crossley postgame @TheWHL #sports #TheWHL #CityofPG pic.twitter.com/fN09LVi98u
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 10, 2019
The 18-40-5-3 Cougars ended a six-game losing skid with just their second victory in the last 25 games.
Prince George is 2-10-1-1 since general manager Mark Lamb took over as interim head coach.
The Cougars are 19th out of 22 teams in the WHL, five points ahead of Regina.
The standings are right here.
The Cougars will conclude with a home and home against the Blazers; Friday in Kamloops and Saturday in Prince George.
The Blazers are four points behind the Kelowna Rockets for 3rd place in the B.C. Division and a playoff spot with four games left.
Kamloops will host Spokane Tuesday and Victoria Wednesday.
Kelowna is home against Spokane Wednesday before the Rockets conclude with a home and home against the first place Vancouver Giants, Friday in Langley and Saturday in Kelowna.
Portland Winterhawks 3 Prince George Cougars 2 (Friday)
The Winterhawks erased a 2-0 deficit by scoring three power play goals, two of them in the third period.
Joachim Blichfeld tallied the winner, his league high 53rd goal, with 5:09 remaining before 3,391 fans at CN Centre.
LISTEN: @Hartley_Miller‘s Cat Scan – March 7th, 2019…. featuring longtime @PGCougars Equipment Manager Chico Dhanjal
| https://t.co/T56PIMnBgD #cityofpg #Sports pic.twitter.com/s9ihCwtmXD— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 8, 2019
(All of the PG Cougars Cat Scan Podcasts can be found right here)
MJ 3 SAS 5
PA 6 SC 0
KTN 0 EDM 4— The WHL (@TheWHL) March 11, 2019
JUSTIN ALMEIDA:
Former Prince George and Cariboo Cougar sniper Justin Almeida of Kitimat has signed a three-year deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the team that selected him in the fifth-round of the 2018 NHL draft.
Almeida, who turned 20 last month, has 101 points, including a WHL-leading 71 assists in 61 games.
BREAKING: Justin Almeida (@justinalmeida27) signs NHL Entry-Level contract w/ @penguins
DETAILS: https://t.co/E5aJuLqgXv pic.twitter.com/nCeAFBFCnp
— Moose Jaw Warriors (@MJWARRIORS) March 9, 2019
Post-game with Justin Almeida (@justinalmeida27) – March 9th, 2019 pic.twitter.com/tCXwCC58ai
— Moose Jaw Warriors (@MJWARRIORS) March 10, 2019
BCHL:(Mainland Division)
The Prince George Spruce Kings will play the Chiefs in the BCHL Mainland Division final starting Friday in Chilliwack.
The Chiefs erased a three games to none deficit to eliminate the Langley Rivermen, taking game seven 3-2.
Daniel Chenard made 43 saves as Langley outshot the Chiefs 45-21 before 2,837 fans in Chilliwack.
They did it! @Chiefs_Hockey gets a 43-save performance from Daniel Chenard and erases a 3-0 series deficit against the Langley Rivermen. Unbelievable! #BCHLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/eGUkKz7VF1
— BC Hockey League (@GoBCHL) March 11, 2019
The Spruce Kings knocked out the Coquitlam Express in five games, after P.G. clinched the series on Thursday with a 4-2 victory before 1,220 fans at the RMCA.
The Spruce Kings have won 11 straight on home ice and 16 of their last 18 games overall.
Tickets for Round 2 go on sale today.
Coquitlam-Prince George results: (Spruce Kings home games in bold)
Game 1 – Friday March 1st – Coquitlam @ Prince George – SK WON 3-1
Game 2 – Saturday March 2nd – Coquitlam @ Prince George – SK WON 3-2 (OT)
Game 3 – Monday March 4th – Prince George @ Coquitlam – SK WON 5-2
Game 4 – Tuesday March 5th – Prince George @ Coquitlam – EXPRESS WON 3-0
Game 5 – Thursday March 7th – Coquitlam @ Prince George – SK WON 4-2
The BCHL playoff brackets are right here.
The definition of clutch: Matt Gosiewski scores a shorthanded goal in the third period to lead the @WenatcheeWild1 to victory over West Kelowna.
There will be a game seven tomorrow night! #BCHLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/TfJloOsHxd
— BC Hockey League (@GoBCHL) March 11, 2019
BC MAJOR MIDGET LEAGUE: (in North Vancouver)
Cariboo Cougars 5 Vancouver North West Hawks 2 (Sunday)
Cariboo Cougars 4 Vancouver North West Hawks 0 (Saturday)
The 27-8-5 Cougars finished in second place in the 11-team league, just one point back of the (29-9-1-1) Fraser Valley Thunderbirds.
The Major Midget Cougars, riding a six-game win streak, host the 7th place (18-16-4-2) Greater Vancouver Canadians in the best of three quarter-finals.
The league schedule and standings are right here.
With that, we officially finish the season in second place (27-8-5-0) and are set to play the @GVCanadians in the first round in Kin 1! The games are:
Friday – 5:30
Saturday – 4:00
Sunday (if necessary) – 10:00am#defendthenorth— Cariboo Cougars (@cariboocougars) March 10, 2019
BC MINOR MIDGET LEAGUE: (in Abbotsford)
Fraser Valley Thunderbirds 4 Cariboo Minor Midget Cougars 1 (Sunday)
The Thunderbirds won the best of three semi-final series 2-1.
Fraser Valley Thunderbirds 3 Cariboo Minor Midget Cougars 2 (dbl ot Sat)
Cariboo Minor Midget Cougars 5 Fraser Valley Thunderbirds 4 (OT Fri)
Congrats to the @mmThunderbirds for their victory in the semis best of luck in the finals.
— Cariboo Cougars Minor Midget Hockey Club (@CC_MinorMidget) March 10, 2019
NHL: (5 games)
Calgary 6 Vegas 3
(The 42-20-7 Flames lead the Pacific Division and Western Conference by a point over San Jose)
Washington 3 Winnipeg 1
LA 3 Anaheim 2
Florida 6 Detroit 1
Pittsburgh 4 Boston 2
There are less than four weeks left in the NHL regular season, which concludes on April 6th.
Seven games are tap tonight with three of them involving Canadian teams: Edmonton hosts the NY Rangers, Toronto entertains Tampa and Ottawa visits Philadelphia.
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The Vancouver Canucks have lost five of six and eight of their last 10.
The 28-32-9 Canucks, coming off Saturday’s 6-2 loss to Vegas, host the New York Rangers Wednesday.
Vancouver is 13th in the Western Conference, nine points behind Minnesota for the final wild-card playoff spot with just 13 games remaining (9 home and 4 away).
Welcome to the #Canucks Quinn Hughes! Last year’s 7th overall pick signs a three-year entry-level contract with Vancouver. https://t.co/lDwkuR7EPU
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 10, 2019
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL PROVINCIALS:
The Duchess Park Condors won the bronze medal at the B.C. 3A boys high school basketball championship in Langley.
Duchess Park, ranked 4th entering the 16-team tournament, whipped A.R. MacNeill 75-54 in the 3rd/4th place game.
The Condors lost 62-61 to North Delta in the semi-finals.
North Delta went on to win gold by edging #2 Vernon 46-44 in the final.
Soren Erricson of Duchess Park was named to the first all-star team.
Schedule and results can be found right here.
With that, the 2019 BC 3A High School Boys Basketball Tournament is wrapped up. See the full draw here and visit https://t.co/tw3OzJdKjf for the full recap. pic.twitter.com/HbBMEK7ux0
— BC 3A Boys Basketball (@BC3ABoysBBall) March 10, 2019
Final: @NDHuskies defeats Duchess Park, sinking a game-winning three with seconds left. They’ll play @VernonSecondary in tomorrow’s 3A Final pic.twitter.com/xGi5bxBtFx
— BC 3A Boys Basketball (@BC3ABoysBBall) March 9, 2019
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The D.P. Todd Trojans finished 7th at the provincial 2A boys basketball championship in Langley.
D.P. Todd outscored Westsyde 68-59 in the 7th/8th place game on Saturday.
The Trojans, who were seeded second, had an overall 2-2 record.
Schedule and results can be found right here.
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The Cedars Christian Eagles placed 8th (one spot below their ranking) at the B.C. 1A boys basketball championship in Langley.
Vernon Christian beat Cedars 70-53 in the 7th/8th place game.
Northside Christian of Vanderhoof ended up 9th and McBride 14th in the 16-team tournament.
Schedule and results can be found right here.
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Nechako Valley of Vanderhoof finished 4th and Bulkley Valley Christian of Smithers 6th at the B.C. girls 1A basketball championship in Chilliwack.
Kelowna Christian beat Nechako Valley 68-45 in the bronze medal game.
Nechako Valley lost 69-44 to host Unity Christian in the semi-finals.
Bulkley Valley Christian of Smithers fell 55-51 to St. Andrew’s Regional in the game for 5th/6th in the 16 team tournament.
Schedule and results can be found right here.
RINGETTE:
The Prince George 18+A and U16 B teams won gold in the Ringette Provincial A and B Championships at the Kin Centre.
Both teams qualify for the Western Canadian Championships March 27-30 in St. Albert, Alberta.
The PG U14 B team captured silver (finishing behind Terrace) to give the host city three medals.
The Thompson Okanagan League took home four gold: won by Kelowna U19A and U16A teams, Westside U19B team and Vernon U14A team.
A total of 38 teams competed in seven divisions.
CURLING:
Kevin Koe has won his 4th Brier title.
Koe captured the Canadian men’s curling championship in Brandon after a 4-3 victory over Brendan Bottcher (Wild Card) in the all-Alberta final.
The 44-year-old Koe scored two in the final end after making a difficult double and stick with the final rock.
The Koe team, after going a perfect 13-0, will represent Canada at the men’s world curling championship March 30 to April 7 in Lethbridge.
Wild Card won the semi-final 5-4 over Northern Ontario and the quarter-final 7-2 over Canada
(Brad Gushue).
Jim Cotter of B.C. ended up eighth at 4-7.
The Championship Pool standings are right here.
BRIER CHAMPS!
Proud to have worn the Alberta jackets all week and be heading home to sport the MAPLE LEAF at Worlds in our home province next month!Thank you to everyone in Brandon who helped host such a great #Brier2019.
?: @TSNCurling pic.twitter.com/kwn6sOJYNS— TeamKevinKoe (@TeamKevinKoe) March 11, 2019
NBA:
Toronto Raptors 125 Miami Heat 104
The (48-19) Raptors visit the (16-50) Cleveland Cavaliers tonight.
The Raptors are second in the NBA Eastern Conference, 2 games behind the (50-17) Milwaukee Bucks.
The standings are right here.
NFL:
The Pittsburgh Steelers have agreed to trade disgruntled wide receiver Antonio Brown to the Oakland Raiders in return for a third-and fifth-round drafrt pick.
Brown will receive a new three-year deal worth up to $54 million, with $30 million guaranteed.