(As of 12:01AM)
PRINCE GEORGE COUGARS:
The Prince George Cougars have four home games in five nights beginning this evening against the Kelowna Rockets.
The same teams also meet Wednesday at the CN Centre.
The (20-33-4-4) Cougars have lost 14 of their last 17 and haven’t won in five meetings this season against the Rockets.
Kelowna has won the last nine match-ups against Prince George going back to the 2016-17 season.
The (38-18-4-2) Rockets are seven points ahead of the second place Victoria Royals in the BC Division.
The Cougars have failed to score the first goal in their past 13 games.
Prince George is 20th in the overall WHL standings after Monday’s action, just three points ahead of Calgary and four in front of Edmonton.
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE:
Vancouver Giants 2 Kamloops Blazers 0
BC DIVISION STANDINGS:
Kelowna, 62 games = 38-18-4-2 (82 points)
Victoria, 63 games = 35-23-3-2 (75 points)
Vancouver, 61 games = 32-21-5-3 (72 points)
Kamloops, 64 games = 27-32-1-4 (59 points)
Prince George, 61 games = 20-33-4-4 (48 points)
WESTERN CONFERENCE WILD CARD:
Tri-City, 61 games = 32-21-7-1 (72 points)
Seattle, 61 games = 28-24-7-2 (65 points)
Kamloops, 64 games = 27-32-1-4 (59 points)
Prince George, 61 games = 20-33-4-4 (48 points)
PRINCE GEORGE SPRUCE KINGS:
Prince George Spruce Kings goalie Evan DeBrouwer will play in NCAA Division 1 in the 2018-19 season after he committed to the Arizona State University Sun Devils.
DeBrouwer, who just turned 21, posted a 26-14-4 record, a 2.24 GAA, and a .920 save percentage.
He also had three shutouts and the second most minutes played.
DeBrouwer is a finalist for the BCHL Top Goaltender Award.
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The Spruce Kings host the Chilliwack Chiefs Friday and Saturday in the first two games of their Mainland Division semi-final.
The best-of-seven series will shift to Chilliwack for games three and four Monday and Tuesday of next week.
BCHL:
MAINLAND DIVISION:
Prince George, 58 games = 33-17-4-4 (74 points)
Langley, 58 games = 25-20-10-3 (63 points)
Surrey, 58 games = 26-22-8-2 (62 points)
Chilliwack, 58 games = 26-26-3-3 (58 points)
Coquitlam, 58 games = 15-38-1-4 (35 points)
CARIBOO COUGARS:
The Cariboo Cougars have a two point lead on the second place Valley West Hawks in the BCMML, but the Hawks have two games in hand.
The (29-6-3-0) Major Midget Cougars get the bye this weekend.
They will conclude their regular season on March 10th (3PM) and 11th (10AM) in Kelowna against the Rockets.
The (28-5-2-1) Hawks host last place South Island Saturday (6:30PM) and Sunday (12:45PM) in Surrey before wrapping up at 10th place North Island March 10th and 11th in Nanaimo.
NHL:
Colorado 3 Vancouver 1
Nathan MacKinnon had two goals (one into an empty net) and an assist to give him eight points in his last two games against Vancouver.
The (24-32-7) Canucks entertain the New York Rangers Wednesday to begin a five-game home-stand.
Tampa 4 Toronto 3 (SO)
Philadelphia 1 Montreal 0 (SO)
Los Angeles 3 Vegas 2 (OT)
Columbus 5 Washington 1
NHL TRADES:
There were 16 NHL trades, the fewest number of deals on Deadline Day in the past six seasons.
31 players were sent packing and 18 Draft Picks were swapped with nearly $31 million in salaries exchanged.
The five first round picks that were dealt is an NHL Trade Deadline Day record, breaking the previous mark of four in 2007.
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–The Vancouver Canucks sent Thomas Vanek to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Jussi Jokinen and Tyler Motte. The Blue Jackets will be Vanek’s eighth NHL team while Jokinen joins his sixth team.
–The Canucks acquired forward Brendan Leipsic from Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for defenseman Philip Holm.
–Vegas obtained forward Tomas Tatar from the Detroit Red Wings in return for a 2018 first-round pick, a 2019 second-round pick and a 2021 third-round pick.
–The New York Rangers dealt captain Ryan McDonagh and JT Miller to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a first round pick this year, a conditional second round pick plus three players (Libor Hajek, Brett Howden and Vladislav Namestnikov).
–The San Jose Sharks acquired forward Evander Kane from the Buffalo Sabres for a conditional first-round pick in 2019, a conditional fourth-round pick in 2020 and center Danny O’Regan.
–The Winnipeg Jets picked up forward Paul Stastny from the St. Louis Blues for a 2018 conditional first-round pick, a 2020 fourth-round pick and prospect Erik Foley.
–The Edmonton Oilers sent forward Patrick Maroon to the New Jersey Devils for a third-round draft pick this year and prospect J.D. Dudek.
BREAKING: @Canucks trade Forward Thomas Vanek to the @BlueJacketsNHL for Jussi Jokinen & Tyler Motte | #CityOfPG #Sports #NHLTradeDeadline pic.twitter.com/lL5mfpWaQp
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) February 26, 2018
BC WINTER GAMES:
PG Blizzard speed skater Keanan St. Rose won five gold in five races to lead Prince George athletes at the 29th BC Winter Games in Kamloops.
The 16-year-old St. Rose took top spot in a pair of 500 metre races plus he finished first in the 1000, 1500 and 3000.
Cariboo-North East athletes earned 26 medals (seven gold, seven silver and 12 bronze) to place sixth out of eight regions.
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL:
The Duchess Park Condors AAA boys and the DP Todd Trojans AA boys will compete next week at the Provincial high school basketball championships (March 7-10) in Langley.
Both teams advanced after going undefeated in their zone tournament.
The Condors are ranked sixth in BC.
CANADA WEST BASKETBALL:
The medal games will be played this week in Canada West basketball.
On the women’s side, the Regina Cougars host the Saskatchewan Huskies for the gold medal on Friday.
The Trinity Western Spartans are home against the Calgary Dinos on Saturday in the bronze medal game.
Cedars Christian grad Kayla Gordon of Trinity Western will conclude her University career.
Gordon is the Spartans all-time leading scorer and was selected a third-team all-star.
On the men’s side, the Calgary Dinos visit the top-ranked Alberta Golden Bears in the championship game Saturday night.
The Alberta men whipped the UNBC Timberwolves 98-64 and 80-41 in the quarter-finals in Edmonton.
NBA:
Toronto 123 Detroit 94
Boston 109 Memphis 98
The (42-17) Raptors lead the Eastern Conference by half-a-game over the (43-19) Celtics.