(As of 12:01 a.m.)
DOYLE CUP JUNIOR HOCKEY:
Prince George Spruce Kings 4 Brooks Bandits 1
The Spruce Kings lead the best-of-seven Doyle Cup (Pacific Region championship) 3-2 with game six Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in Prince George.
A 7th game, if needed, would also be played at the RMCA, Sunday night at 7:00.
Patrick Cozzi, who scored the winner in game four, tallied twice to give him three goals in two nights. (The just-turned 21-year-old Cozzi opened and closed the scoring)
Patrick Cozzi scores another beauty for the @SpruceKings (his third in the last two games) and PG skates to a 4-1 win to retake the #DoyleCup series lead! Game 6 goes Saturday back in PG! pic.twitter.com/LzAt6J1dwu
— BC Hockey League (@GoBCHL) May 3, 2019
Captain Ben Poisson snapped a 1-1 tie late in the second period.
The captain puts the @SpruceKings back in front! Ben Poisson scores his second of the series to put PG back ahead 2-1 in Game 5 of the #DoyleCup. We are just underway in period 3! pic.twitter.com/Syybwg0neZ
— BC Hockey League (@GoBCHL) May 3, 2019
Corey Cunningham, the hometown boy on the team, added an insurance goal midway through the third.
First star Logan Neaton made 25 saves as Prince George outshot Brooks 31-26.
Tonight’s @CapriCMW 3 Stars
3rd – Dylan Anhorn (2 A)
2nd – Patrick Cozzi (2 G)
1st – Logan Neaton (24 Saves)Tonight’s @FortisBC Energy Player of the Game:
Ben Poisson (1 G, 1 A) pic.twitter.com/keeITD5L3w— Spruce Kings (@SpruceKings) May 3, 2019
The Spruce Kings increased their overall home winning streak to 19 games (dating back to mid-December) before 1,935 fans at the RMCA.
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The Spruce Kings and Bandits have a guaranteed berth in the national junior A hockey championship May 11-19 in Brooks.
The schedule for the nationals is right here.
The Spruce Kings play Sunday, May 12 at 1:00 p.m. PT, Monday, May 13 at 6:00 p.m. PT, Wednesday, May 15 at 6:00 p.m. PT and Thursday, May 16 at 6:00 p.m. PT vs. Brooks in the round robin.
The semi-finals are Saturday, May 18th at 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. PT and the Gold Medal game is on Sunday, May 19th at 2:00 p.m. PT.
SPRUCE KINGS-BANDITS SCHEDULE:
Game 1 Friday, April 26th, 2019 @ BROOKS PG won 2-0
Game 2 Saturday, April 27th, 2019 @ BROOKS Brooks won 3-1
Game 3 Sunday, April 28th, 2019 @ BROOKS Brooks won 4-0.
Game 4 Wednesday, May 1st, 2019 @ RMCA PG won 3-1
Game 5 Thursday, May 2nd, 2019 @ RMCA PG won 4-1
Game 6 Saturday, May 4th, 2019 @ RMCA 7 PM
*Game 7 Sunday, May 5th, 2019 @ RMCA 7 PM
WHL: (PG COUGARS)
The Prince George Cougars selected defenceman Keaton Dowhaniuk and forward Koehn Ziemmer from the Okanagan Hockey Academy (OHA) Edmonton Bantam Prep team of the Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) Program with the third and fourth overall picks in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft.
The Cougars made 10 selections comprised of six forwards, three defenceman and one goalie.
Six were drafted out of Alberta, three from B.C., and one from Saskatchewan.
Those picks are right here.
We were busy, making 10 picks at the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft in Red Deer. Missed anything? Don’t worry, we got you covered with our draft day recap. | #WHLBantamDraft #NorthernUprising
DETAILS ? | https://t.co/2c7wNb4W6h pic.twitter.com/HmbIqvSx7S
— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) May 3, 2019
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Forward Nico Myatovic was the only Prince George minor hockey player selected in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft.
Myatovic was chosen by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the 6th round, 119th overall.
T-Birds Director of Player Personnel Cal Filson on center Nico Myatovic: “Nico was the captain of his team. He has very good speed, has a nice stride and can put up points.” pic.twitter.com/rVwxlsXpwy
— Seattle Thunderbirds (@SeattleTbirds) May 2, 2019
Max Sanford of Williams Lake went one pick earlier, 118th overall in round six to the Kelowna Rockets.
With the 118th pick in the sixth round, we’ve drafted Maxwell Sanford from the North Central Zone Bobcats BAA. pic.twitter.com/K7HbvzE6LX
— Kelowna Rockets (@Kelowna_Rockets) May 2, 2019
Both Myatovic and Sanford played for Prince George based North Central Bobcats that won the provincial bantam tier 1 hockey championship this year in Prince George.
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The PG Cougars added a local product to their roster by acquiring 2003-born forward Fischer O’Brien from the Lethbridge Hurricanes in return for 2002-born defenceman Tyson Phare.
TRADE: Cougars acquire local product Fischer O’Brien from @WHLHurricanes on Thursday. | #NorthernUprising #WHL
DETAILS ? https://t.co/1HkRW72V4M pic.twitter.com/bF0Mmlgf5w
— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) May 2, 2019
O’Brien played the 2018-19 season with the B.C. Major Midget League champion Cariboo Cougars.
He scored twice and added five assists in 40 games.
O’Brien, who was selected in the 5th round of last year’s WHL Bantam Draft, is the younger brother of former Prince George Cougar & Spruce King Brogan O’Brien.
Phare was the Cougars first-round pick (18th Overall) in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft.
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The 53rd WHL Championship Series for the Ed Chynoweth Cup will start in Prince Albert tonight as the Raiders host the Vancouver Giants.
The winner of the best-of-seven will advance to the Memorial Cup May 16 to 26 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
| DATE | GAME | AWAY | HOME | TIME | |
| Friday, May 3 | 1 | Vancouver | at | Prince Albert | 7 p.m. MT |
| Saturday, May 4 | 2 | Vancouver | at | Prince Albert | 7 p.m. MT |
| Tuesday, May 7 | 3 | Prince Albert | at | Vancouver | 7 p.m. PT |
| Wed., May 8 | 4 | Prince Albert | at | Vancouver | 7 p.m. PT |
| Friday, May 10 | 5* | Prince Albert | at | Vancouver | 7:30 p.m. PT |
| Sunday, May 12 | 6* | Vancouver | at | Prince Albert | 6 p.m. MT |
| Monday, May 13 | 7* | Vancouver | at | Prince Albert | 7 p.m. MT |
*= if necessary
NHL: (2 Thursday playoff games)
Colorado Avalanche 3 San Jose Sharks 0
(The best-of-seven Western Conference semi-final is tied 2-2 with game five Saturday night at 7:00 in San Jose)
Boston Bruins 4 Columbus Blue Jackets 1
(The best-of-seven Eastern Conference semi-final is even 2-2 with game five Saturday at 4:15 p.m. (PT) in Boston)
BOS 4 – CBJ 1
Series tied 2-2COL 3 – SJS 0
Series tied 2-2Via @Discover: https://t.co/3HyjZe7Jws pic.twitter.com/OaLzDLQVFl
— NHL (@NHL) May 3, 2019
The season is on the line tonight for the New York Islanders who play in Carolina (4:00). The Hurricanes, riding a five-game win streak, lead the second-round series 3-0.
The late game tonight in the NHL has the Dallas Stars at the St. Louis Blues with their Conference semi-final tied 2-2.
The NHL playoff schedule is right here.
PG SENIOR LACROSSE:
(Second game of the regular season)
Mackenzie Lumberjacks 9 RPR Mechanical/JR Construction Bandits 5
PG Senior Lacrosse continues Monday night at 8:00 at Kin 2, with the (1-0) Westwood Pub Devils against (0-0) Northland Nissan Assault.
The Devils won the league opener 16-1 (Wednesday) over the Quesnel Crossfire.
NBA: (1 playoff game Thursday)
Philadelphia 76’ers 116 Toronto Raptors 95
(The 76’ers lead the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semi-final 2-1 with game four Sunday afternoon at 12:30 (PT) in Philadelphia)
Post-Game sound.
? | https://t.co/U1A3E2IztS pic.twitter.com/GQS7CbvbjH
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) May 3, 2019
There are a pair of NBA playoff games tonight: Milwaukee at Boston (5:00) followed by Denver at Portland (7:30). Both second-round series are tied 1-1.
The Warriors and Rockets play again Saturday night at 5:30 in Houston with Golden State enjoying a 2-0 lead.
The NBA playoff schedule is right here.
MLB:
LA Angels 6 Toronto Blue Jays 2
The Angels swept the three-game series in Anaheim.
The (14-17) Blue Jays visit the (14-15) Texas Rangers tonight (5:00 PT), Saturday and Sunday to conclude a 6-game road trip.
Toronto is third in the A.L. East, 3.5 games behind the NY Yankees and 6 back of the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Blue Jays schedule/results right here.
The MLB standings are right here.