A roundup of junior hockey results from the Okanagan and area.
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Prince George at Kelowna
Here’s a first: The Prince George Cougars are the league’s top team.
In a case of strange but true, the Cougars currently lead the WHL in wins and points (30), having posted a record of 15-6 through 21 games.
Traditionally, the franchise is usually fourth or fifth in the five-team B.C. Division. Case in point: the Cougars have just nine winning seasons in the 29 years since the team relocated from Victoria to Prince George in 1994.
Contrastingly, Kelowna has just eight losing seasons in its 33 prior seasons and has four 50-win seasons. Not surprisingly, Prince George has zero 50-win seasons, but is on pace to reach that lofty goal this season.
The turnaround can be attributed to last season, when the Cougars rolled to a solid record of 37-24-6-1, good for 81 points.
It was also the franchise’s first winning season since 2016-17, when the Cougars (45-21-3-3) finished first atop the B.C. Division with 96 points, just one ahead of the Kelowna Rockets (45-22-5-0).
Yet that season, Prince George wasn’t the league’s top team. That honour belonged to the Regina Pats (52-12-7-1, 112 points) who steamrolled through the regular season but fell to Seattle 4-2 in the league championship.
And in that year’s playoffs, the Cougars were knocked out in the first round by Portland (40-28-1-3), 4-2.
But all that history is in the rear-view mirror for the Cats, who sport the league’s top offence this season.
To date, Prince George has scored the league’s most goals at 100, with Portland (12-5-0-1) in second with 88 goals.
And of the Cougars’ 100 goals, one-third at 33 has come on the power play, which is clicking at a league-best 30.3 per cent. By contrast, Kelowna’s power play is rated ninth at 22.8 per cent and has tallied 21 goals.
Pacing the Cougars’ offence is Zac Funk of Coldstream, who is second in the league scoring race with 36 points (17 goals, 19 assists), five behind leader Jagger Firkus of the Moose Jaw Warriors at 41 (21-20).
Other Cougars in the top-10 include Riley Heidt in third with 34 points (11-23) plus Terik Parascak (19-13) and Ondrej Becher (13-19) tied for fifth at 32 points each.
The Cougars and their winning ways will visit Kelowna on Saturday evening.
It will be Prince George’s fourth game of the week, having played back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday against Vancouver (5-0 win, 6-1 loss) followed by a road game on Friday night in Langley against the Giants (5-0 win).
Meanwhile, the Rockets haven’t played since Tuesday and are on an eight-game winless streak. That slide includes back-to-back losses this week against Victoria (3-2 in overtime and 5-3).
Prince George leads the season series against Kelowna 2-1. The last meeting was a 5-4 Rockets win on Oct. 13.
Friday’s results
- Swift Current 5, Regina 2
- Saskatoon 3, Moose Jaw 2
- Brandon 5, Edmonton 2
- Red Deer 3, Calgary 0
- Prince George 5, Vancouver 0
- Prince Albert 2, Portland 1
- Lethbridge 8, Victoria 3
- Tri-City 3, Wenatchee 2 (OT)
- Everett 4, Seattle 1
Saturday’s games
- Swift Current at Saskatoon
- Edmonton at Moose Jaw
- Medicine Hat at Brandon
- Calgary at Red Deer
- Everett at Seattle
- Wenatchee at Spokane
- Lethbridge at Vancouver
- Prince George at Kelowna
Sunday’ games
- Prince Albert at Wenatchee
- Everett at Portland
- Kamloops at Spokane
B.C. HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Penticton, the Vees scored early and often en route to smashing the Spruce Kings on Friday night.
Conyr Hellyer, Thomas Pichette and Attila Lippai, each with two goals, plus Simon Meier and Zack Stringer scored for Penticton (14-1-2-1-0), which led 3-0 after the first period.
Kilian McGregor-Bennett, who made it 4-1 early in the third after a scoreless second period, replied for Prince George (5-9-3-0-0) in what was a meeting of the Interior Division’s top team against the worst team.
Andrew Ness stopped 21 shots for Penticton as the Vees outshot the Spruce Kings 22-47. Ryan Sanborn made 39 saves for Prince George.
The Vees were 2-for-6 on the power play while Prince George was 0-for-3.
At Salmon Arm, Reid Varkonyi had a two-point outing with a goal and an assist as the Silverbacks held off the visiting Grizzlies on Friday night.
Casy Laylin, JJ Monteiro and Nathan Mackie also scored for Salmon Arm (11-5-0-0-0), which led 2-1 and 3-2 at the period breaks. Mackie made it 4-2 at 1:09 of the third.
Anthony Carone, who opened Friday’s scoring at 4:58 of the first, Ryan Watt and Anderson Pirtle, who closed out the scoring at 9:04 of the third, replied for Victoria (13-6-0-0-0).
Eli Pulver stopped 21 of 24 shots for the Silverbacks, with Owen Bresson turning aside 26 of 30 shots for the Grizzlies.
Salmon Arm was 1-for-4 on the power play while Victoria was 0-for-4.
At Merritt, Owen Kim tallied three points, all assists, as the Vipers defeated the Centennials on Friday night.
Luke Bibby, Connor Elliott, Linden Burrett and Erik Pastro scored for Vernon (13-5-0-0-0), which led 1-0 after the first period but trailed 2-1 midway through the second.
Elliott scored at 18:54 to level the game at 2-2, with Burrett and Pastro scoring in the third to finish the game.
Jaxson Murray and Dylan Lariviere, with back-to-back markers in the second, replied for Merritt (7-10-1-1-0).
Ethan David stopped 19 of 21 shots for the Vipers, with Merritt’s Andrew Ballantyne earning first-star honours for making 35 saves on 38 shots.
Both teams were scoreless on the power play, with Vernon at 0-for-4 and Merritt at 0-for-2.
Friday’s results
- Cranbrook 3, Cowichan Valley 1
- Chilliwack 3, Langley 2 (OT)
- Coquitlam 4, Powell River 1
- Surrey 5, Alberni Valley 4
- Nanaimo 5, Trail 3
Saturday’s games
- Powell River at Chilliwack
- Victoria at Penticton
- Vernon at Salmon Arm
- Nanaimo at Cranbrook
- Surrey at Coquitlam
- Cowichan Valley at Trail
- Prince George at Merritt
- Alberni Valley at Langley
Sunday’s games
- No games scheduled.
KIJHL
Friday’s results
- Kimberley 7, Summerland 0
- Fernie 5, Golden 2
- Princeton 2, Beaver Valley 1
- Columbia Valley 5, 100 Mile House 2
- Sicamous 6, Chase 5 (OT)
- Revelstoke 5, Osoyoos 0
- Grand Forks 3, North Okanagan 2
Saturday’s games
- Summerland at Fernie
- Creston Valley at Kimberley
- Princeton at Kelowna
- Beaver Valley at Osoyoos
- Chase at 100 Mile House
- Columbia Valley at Kamloops
- Nelson at Castlegar
- Spokane at Grand Forks
- Sicamous at North Okanagan
Sunday’s game
- Kamloops at Sicamous
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