Sports by Hartley Thursday, Jan. 4th as of 9:05 a.m.
(All times listed below are PST)
WHL:
Prince George Cougars 6 Wenatchee Wild 2
Zac Funk notched his 6th hat trick of the season to give him a CHL-leading 40 goals in just 37 games.
WHL scoring leader (and league Player of the Month for December) Riley Heidt tallied twice to give him 70 points in 35 games, an average of two per game.
A big dub to kick off our 2024 schedule!
Recap and reaction from Associate Coach Jim Playfair! 👇https://t.co/npOznymNEp
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) January 4, 2024
WHL rookie of the month for December Terik Parascak notched two assists and Borya Valis, in his first game in a P.G. uniform had a pair of assists to run his points streak to 11 games.
The (27-10) Cougars take over first in the WHL standings, a point ahead of the (25-8-2-1) Saskatoon Blades.
Prince George will visit the (12-18-2) Seattle Thunderbirds Friday (7:00), the (23-10-1-1) Portland Winterhawks Saturday (6:00) and the (22-14-1-1) Everett Silvertips Sunday (4:00).
Funk hits 40 goals with his 6th hat trick of the season.
Heidt hits 70 points in his 35th game played.
Borya has two points in his Cats debut.It’ll be a happy bus ride to Seattle!#ForTheNorth . #WHL pic.twitter.com/YbGULvT9et
— Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) January 4, 2024
The WHL standings are here.
The PG Cougars regular-season schedule is here.
The WHL leading scorers can be found here.
Cat Scan podcast:
Did you know the @PGCougars operate on a
$3-million-a-year budget? The financial aspect of the Cougars including how many fans they need to break even in the Cat Scan #podcast Part 2 with team president and co-owner John Pateman. #hockey #WHL https://t.co/MUt1eZEROw— Hartley Miller (@Hartley_Miller) January 2, 2024
World Junior Hockey Championship: (in Sweden)
Host Sweden beat Czechia 5-2 today (Thursday) in the World Junior Hockey Championship semifinals.
The other semi had the USA over Finland 3-2.
The medal games will be played on Friday.
Ondrej Becher of the P.G. Cougars is part of the Czechia team that will play in the Bronze Medal game against Finland.
The tournament results and schedule can be found here or here.
NHL: (2 Wednesday games)
Toronto 2 Anaheim 1 (OT)
Auston Matthews scored the game-winner, his NHL-leading 30th goal of the season in overtime.
New Jersey 6 Washington 3
The (24-10-3) Vancouver Canucks start a 7-game road trip tonight (Thursday 5:00) against the (18-17-1) Blues in St. Louis.
It is one of 13 Thursday games in the NHL.
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.
BCHL:
The (10-16-3) Prince George Spruce Kings host the league-leading (21-5-2-2) Penticton Vees on Friday night at 7:00 and on Saturday night at 6.
The Spruce Kings are last in the 8-team Interior Division but are just three points behind the 7th-place (11-15-3-1) Merritt Centennials and four back of the (13-17-1) Cranbrook Bucks.
The BCHL standings are here.
The Spruce Kings’ regular-season schedule and results are here.
BC Elite Hockey League:
The (16-5-1) U18 Cariboo Cougars are home against the (4-16-1-1) Thompson Blazers on Saturday night at 6:30 and on Sunday morning at 10:30 with games at Kin 1.
Cariboo is in second place in the 9-team BC Elite Hockey League, three points behind the (17-3-0-2) Vancouver North East Chiefs and just a point ahead of the (16-4) Fraser Valley Thunderbirds.
The BCEHL AAA standings in Male U15, U17 and U18 plus Female U18 are here.
The U18 BCEHL schedule and results are here.
Canada West basketball:
The UNBC Timberwolves play on home court in Canada West basketball this weekend when they host the Lethbridge Pronghorns on Friday and Saturday nights.
UNBC has a record of 5-3 for the men and 2-6 for the women.
Lethbridge is 0-10 (men) and 7-3 (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 116 Memphis Grizzlies 111
The (14-20) Raptors continue a 4-game road trip Friday night (7:00) against the (20-13) Kings in Sacramento.
The Raptors’ schedule and results are here.
The NBA schedule is here.
The NBA standings are here.
NFL:
The NFL regular season concludes this weekend.
There will be a pair of games on Saturday: Pittsburgh at Baltimore (1:30 PM) followed by Houston at Indianapolis (5:30 PM).
The other 14 will go on Sunday including the Buffalo at Miami night game (5:20) which will determine the winner of the AFC East.
The NFL schedule/results are here.
The NFL standings are here.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
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