Sports by Hartley Thursday, Jan. 18th as of 12:05 a.m.
(All times listed below are PST)
WHL:
Portland Winterhawks 5 Kelowna Rockets 4
The (27-10-2-1) Winterhawks moved within two points of the Western Conference-leading Prince George Cougars and Portland has two games in hand.
The Winterhawks, riding an 8-game point streak (7-0-1) visit the (29-12-0-1) Cougars
Friday night at 7:00 and Saturday night at 6:00 with the Saturday game part of Indigenous Night.
The WHL standings are here.
The PG Cougars regular-season schedule is here.
The WHL leading scorers can be found here.
The WHL transactions can be found here.
Cat Scan podcast:
On the @PGCougars Cat Scan #podcast coach/GM Mark Lamb discusses a variety of topics including high prices at the #WHL trade deadline, upgrading his team while not giving up a future 1st round pick, depth options in the lineup, strong team chemistry & the goal to finish 1st.
— Hartley Miller (@Hartley_Miller) January 16, 2024
NHL: (2 Wednesday games)
Montreal 3 New Jersey 2
Detroit 3 Florida 2 (OT)
The (29-11-4) Vancouver Canucks host the (21-18-3) Arizona Coyotes tonight at 7:00 to begin a 5-game homestand.
It is one of 11 Thursday games in the NHL with Winnipeg the only Canadian team idle.
The Edmonton Oilers put a club-record 11-game win streak on the line when they host Seattle.
Elsewhere, Toronto plays at Calgary and Montreal visits Ottawa.
The NHL regular season schedule and results are here.
The Vancouver Canucks regular season schedule and results are here.
The NHL standings are here.
The NHL scoring leaders are here.
BC Elite Hockey League:
The (19-5-2) U18 Cariboo Cougars host the (15-7-1-1) Okanagan Rockets Saturday night at 6:00 outdoors at the Ernie Sam Memorial Arena and Sunday morning at 10:00 indoors in the Fort Forum with both of those games in Fort St. James.
The U18 Cougars are tied with the (20-4) Fraser Valley Thunderbirds for second place in the BC Elite Hockey League, just one point behind the (19-4-1-2) North East Chiefs.
Okanagan is in 4th place in the 9-team league.
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The (8-17-0-1) U18 Female Northern Capitals have their annual outdoor game Friday night at 6:00 against the (5-14-0-5) Vancouver Island Seals in Fort St. James.
The same two teams also meet on Saturday morning at 9:00 in Vanderhoof.
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The Female U18 schedule and results are here.
The BCEHL AAA standings in Male U15, U17 and U18 plus Female U18 are here.
The U18 BCEHL schedule and results are here.
BCHL:
The Prince George Spruce Kings are back in action on January 26th and 27th when they host the (22-9-0-2) Salmon Arm Silverbacks.
The BCHL will hold its league All-Star Weekend Friday and Saturday in Penticton.
The (12-18-3) Spruce Kings are last in the 8-team Interior Division but are just a point behind the 7th-place (12-18-3-1) Merritt Centennials and three back of the (14-20-2) Cranbrook Bucks.
The BCHL standings are here.
The Spruce Kings’ regular-season schedule and results are here.
Canada West basketball:
The UNBC Timberwolves host the UBC Thunderbirds on Friday (noon for the women and 6 PM for the men) and Saturday (5:00 PM for the women and 7:00 for the men) in Canada West basketball.
Saturday is Pride Night at UNBC.
UNBC has a record of 6-6 for the men and 2-10 for the women.
UBC is 10-4 (men) and 12-2 (women).
The Canada West women’s basketball schedule and results are here.
The Canada West women’s basketball standings are here.
The Canada West men’s basketball schedule and results are here.
The Canada West men’s basketball standings are here.
NBA:
Toronto Raptors 121 Miami Heat 97
Before the game, the Raptors traded star forward Pascal Siakum to the Indiana Pacers for multiple players and three first-round draft picks (with two of them this year).
Siakum can become an unrestricted free agent in July.
Breaking: The Pacers are finalizing a trade to acquire All-Star Pascal Siakam in a deal that will send Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora and three first-round picks to the Raptors, sources told @wojespn.
New Orleans will be a third team in deal, sending Kira Lewis to the Raptors. pic.twitter.com/2VZLcK7DTQ
— ESPN (@espn) January 17, 2024
The (16-25) Raptors will conclude a 3-game homestand tonight (Thursday at 4:30) against the (19-23) Chicago Bulls.
The Raptors’ schedule and results are here.
The NBA schedule is here.
The NBA standings are here.
Figure Skating:
The Prince George Figure Skating Club will host the Cariboo North Central (CNC) Regional Championships from Friday to Sunday at Kin 1 and 2.
About 300 skaters from across the northern region, including Williams Lake, Quesnel, Smithers, Fort St. John and Chetwynd will participate.
NFL:
This just in: Dallas is not making a head-coaching change and Cowboys’ HC Mike McCarthy is returning for the 2024 season, per sources. pic.twitter.com/GHMJuqdxaT
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 18, 2024
The NFL Conference semifinals this weekend start with a pair of games on Saturday:
Houston at Baltimore (1:30 PM) and Green Bay at San Francisco (5:15 PM).
Both the Ravens and 49ers are favoured by 9 1/2 points.
The Sunday games have Tampa Bay at Detroit (Noon) and Kansas City at Buffalo (3:30 PM).
The Lions are 6 1/2 point favourites while the Bills are favoured by 2 1/2.
The NFL schedule/results are here.
The final NFL standings are here.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
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