After months of speculation about the Prince George Cougars being on the market, the rumours became reality when a local ownership group headed by Greg Pocock bought the team.
Without question, it was the biggest Prince George sports story of the year.
Cougar fans, who after years of non-playoff teams, showed their frustration with a Western Hockey League franchise seemingly headed for extinction by deserting the team, driving attendance figures at CN Centre to league-worst levels. But the ticket-buying public suddenly felt a surge of optimism when Pocock and local businessmen Ray Fortier, Ernest Ouellet and John Pateman - along with NHL defencemen Eric Brewer and Dan Hamhuis - bought the franchise from Rick Brodsky in a deal believed to be worth $7 million.
"It certainly brings great credibility to the ownership group to have two of the arguably the most popular players in Prince George Cougar history - Dan Hamhuis and Eric Brewer are both very accomplished NHL players who had great experiences in the WHL," said WHL commissioner Ron Robison at a May 13 public reception to welcome the new ownership group at CN Centre.
"Their plans are focused on getting the community engaged in the team again to make the community feel it is their team. It was arguably one of the best franchises in the WHL but also in the Canadian Hockey League in terms of the type of atmosphere where you couldn't buy a ticket and we think it has potential to go right back there."
The new ownership group has poured money into the team, revamped the Cougar dressing room, made successful efforts to rebuild broken community ties and attract sponsors, and created new front office positions filled by prominent figures armed with new ideas to try to win back the fans and restore pride to a money-losing franchise. So far, it appears to be working.
Crowds are up an average of 1,000 fans per game, there's a buzz in the building on game nights and the team is doing better in the standings, currently ranked third in the B.C. Division and in a playoff position. Best of all, nobody's talking about when the moving vans will be backing up to the building. Pocock put an end to that very real possibility when he bought the team.
"We're a group of Prince George business people, we've lived here our whole lives and we're not interested in doing a business deal that would require us to relocate our businesses or operate elsewhere," said Pocock. "We're here in Prince George and want to make a go of it here."
The bottom line remains the team has to find a way to win to fill up all those empty seats but after three consecutive non-playoff seasons it appears the Cougars are on the right track.
Local content at CWG
On Feb. 13, the biggest sporting event ever to be hosted in Prince George begins with the opening ceremonies of the 2015 Canada Winter Games. The legacy the two-week Games will leave behind is already visible in the facilities now in use by the sporting public, including the rebuilt, Olympic-sized rink at Kin 1, the new biathlon range and widened ski trails at Otway Nordic Centre, the improved outdoor speed skating oval, better lighting over the ice at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club, and the new terrain-skills park and race course for skiing and snowboarding at Tabor Mountain. And there's more to come.
While players from the top midget triple-A female hockey team in the province, the Prince George-based Northland Dodge Northern Cougars, were told their services were not required to fill the Team B.C. roster for the Canada Winter Games, there will be more than a handful of Prince George athletes represented at the Games next February. In men's hockey, that list includes forward Justin Almeida and goalie Dorrin Luding, who both play for the Cariboo Cougars. Four of the eight B.C. biathlon team spots will be filled by locals from the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club - Emily Dickson, Claire Lapointe, Arthur Roots and Bobby Kreitz. The province's speed skating team will have a Prince George Blizzard flavour with Carolina Hiller, Callie Swan and Allison Desmarais of Vanderhoof on the short track team and Nico Hiller competing in long track. Archers Tony Procter and Mya Schouwenburg will represent the host city on the B.C. team, while Emerie Watson will draw support from Quesnel.
Four of the 18 Team B.C. ringette players are from the north central Interior, including forward Sydney Irving of Prince George and three from Quesnel - goalie Colleen Moorhouse and defencemen Jessica MacDonald and Hannah Young. Avril Harris, an able-bodied athlete, will play for B.C. in wheelchair basketball. Grace Northrop, Lavanna Laass and Kristen Yawney are part of the 14-member B.C. judo team.
Curling rookie goes to Scotties
Kesa Van Osch knocked off a curling titan to win her first B.C. Scotties title in January. Van Osch, a 22-year-old rookie competing at the provincial women's championship, stole a last-rock 5-4 victory over six-time B.C. champ Kelly Scott of Kelowna at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club.
With the win, Van Osch and her rink of third Stephanie Baier, second Jessie Sanderson and lead Carley Sandwith advanced to the national Scott Tournament of Hearts in Montreal.
Van Osch, whose team curls out of the Victoria Curling Centre, said she wasn't nervous despite the bright lights of a national sports network shining on her.
"We had never played Scott before until this week," Van Osch said afterwards. "Our plan was to play our game, keep it simple at first and figure out the ice and then go for it in the last half."
Trailing 4-2 going into the eighth end, Van Osch, already lying one after Scott's last-rock take-out rolled out, had an open draw to the top-12 foot with her last rock to earn her deuce and tie the game.
That was the turning point in the game.
"You want to keep pressure on the other team and make them make some difficult shots," she said.
Scott and her team of third Jeanna Schraeder, second Sasha Carter and lead Sarah Wazney blanked the ninth end to retain the hammer going into the 10th end.
Van Osch had clogged up front of house with a series of guards and was lying two, thanks to her last rock when she drew behind a centre guard to sit shot on the top of the button.
Scott's final rock, a heavy draw to nudge the rock out, came up light by a few inches, giving Van Osch the win and the B.C. title.
Two Prince George rinks qualified for provincials. Patti Knezevic and her crew finished fourth, while Tracey Jones and her team lost in a series of four-way tiebreakers for fourth place.
Iceman cancelled
The coolest and largest annual sporting event in Prince George had to be put on ice in February.
Organizers of the Prince George Iceman race were forced to cancel the always-popular race on Feb. 9 due to frigid temperatures.
So much for one of Prince George's slogans, We Are Winter.
How cold is too cold?
Well, with the mercury dipping to the -30 C mark at 8 a.m. on race day at Otway Nordic Centre, and the forecast not getting any better by the new 11 a.m. start time, the race was cancelled for only the second time in its 27-year history.
"We were definitely fretting over it [the weather] but the race committee said the nice thing about it, is it wasn't even close [to warming up]," said PG Iceman registrar Jim Van Bakel. "At 5:30 a.m. it was -28 C and -30 C by 8 a.m. It made cancelling it easy. It was too dangerous to put on and it wouldn't have been safe for participants and volunteers."
For the Iceman to proceed as scheduled, it had to be -19 C or warmer at Otway. On Saturday, organizers pushed the start time back an hour from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the hopes of warmer temperatures. They shortened the skiing portion from two four-kilometre laps to one for the adults.
Perfect Proctor
Tony Procter, then a 16-year-old member of the Silvertip Archers, got his elusive 300 at the club's indoor range on Austin Road. His flawless performance came during league shooting and made him just the ninth person in club history to accomplish the feat.
"It took me three years to shoot a 300," he said.
"I was really ecstatic over it. It was a great feeling to have."
Procter was shooting from 18 metres with a compound bow, complete with scope. All 30 of his arrows hit either the X or the centre ring, which is about the size of a loonie. Earlier, when he was warming up, he had no indication of what was to come.
"The night started off slow," he said. "I shot a couple nines in practice - didn't think it was going to be the hottest night out there. But I just kind of relaxed and shot every shot.
"They were all solid. There was nothing iffy about it."
On previous occasions when Procter was closing in on a perfect score, he'd let the stress of the situation get to him.
"The nerves would kick in hard and I'd end up missing that shot," said Procter, who was introduced to archery as soon as he was old enough to hold a bow.
"[This time] there were no nerves whatsoever."
Coincidentally, Procter scored his 300 a little more than a month after friend and clubmate Spencer Schouwenburg, a 14-year-old, got one. Before Schouwenburg's 300, it had been 16 years since a Silvertip archer had gone through a round of shooting without a miss.
In November, Procter qualified for Team B.C. in the male compound bow category for the 2015 Canada Winter Games.
Kings eliminated in first round of the BCHL playoffs
The Coquitlam Express ended the Prince George Spruce Kings post-season in early March with a 2-1 playoff victory in Coquitlam.
Bo Pieper's goal half-way through the second period turned out to be the winner for the Express as Coquitlam won the BCHL's best-of-seven series 4-2.
The Kings, trailing 3-2 and facing elimination in the Mainland Division semifinal, couldn't score the equalizer in Game 6 in Coquitlam and send the game into overtime.
Prince George forced the return to Coquitlam after a thrilling 3-2 win in double overtime in Game 5 in Prince George.
The Kings had finished the 2013-14 regular season in second place in the Mainland Division with a 32-20-4-2 record and 70 points.
New look for UNBC teams
Realignment of university teams competing in CIS Canada West meant a revised schedule for UNBC's soccer and basketball programs.
The new-look schedule is only for the 2014-15 season, said UNBC athletic director Loralyn Murdoch in early April.
"With Grant MacEwan (Edmonton) coming in [to Canada West] as a probationary member, a lot of decisions had to be made around the athletic directors' table," she said. "We put in the schedule for one year knowing it wasn't going to please everybody. Now we're working on some strategic planning what the schedule will look like sport by sport."
In soccer, Canada West was divided into a B.C. division (seven teams each on the men's and women's sides) and an eight-team Alberta-east or Prairie division.
With the addition of Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops and UBC Okanagan (Kelowna) into Canada West, they now compete against UNBC's Timberwolves, Trinity Western Spartans (Langley), University of the Fraser Valley (Abbotsford/Chilliwack), UBC and University of Victoria.
Ross retires
Thom Ross, a beacon for Prince George Special Olympics for the last 27 years, stepped down as president in June.
Under his leadership, the entire organization grew. When he started as a bowling coach in 1987, 25 athletes and between 10 to 15 volunteers comprised Prince George Special Olympics. It's now blossomed to 140 athletes and more than 100 volunteers.
They compete in bowling, swimming, rhythmic gymnastics, cross-country skiing, snow shoeing and soccer. There are 50 athletes who each compete in five- and 10-pin bowling. For some, it's the only sport they participate in.
As he reflected on his time with the organization, Ross found it tough to explain what his experience meant to him.
"I can't describe the feeling, I'm so grateful to have been given the chance to be a part of. It's helped me grow and I needed the support of my family.
"It's the satisfaction of getting athletes coming up to me and saying thanks."
"They're [the athletes] are all so grateful and happy," added Ross's wife Jackie. "For new bowlers, they first time they hit a pin, they're jumping. The first time they get a strike, they're really jumping."
PGARA revs things up
Perfect racing conditions meant a triumphant return for the Twin Rivers Tri City Race Invitational at PGARA Speedway in early August.
Main-event winners were Prince George's Wayne French and Victoria's Brian Clutchey.
"Both races went over with limited caution flags and it was exciting racing," said Bill Klugh who represents PGARA on the Tri-City Race Series organization. "It was really clean racing by all the drivers and everybody was happy go lucky."
Historically, the Tri-City Race Series was a joint effort of street stock racing between tracks in Prince George, Quesnel and Williams Lake.
It's now open to street stocks from across the province.
Twenty cars from Penticton, Victoria, Fort St. John and five from Prince George competed in the Stampede Invitational in Williams Lake June 28-29, the first race of the series, where Clutchey took the checkered flag.
Treasure shines
A season that started with so much uncertainty answered several questions for high jumper Alyx Treasure.
With her injury woes seemingly behind her, the 22-year-old from Prince George removed any doubts she's good enough to compete in next year's world championships and the 2016 Olympics.
Treasure capped a spectacular season with a win at the North America Central America Caribbean under-23 meet in Kamloops in early August, where she jumped 1.85-metres in front of her family and friends. In June in Moncton, N.B., she set a new personal record at 1.89m (six-foot-two) while winning her first senior Canadian title, to go with her junior national and youth national titles.
As a Kansas State University athlete, she won five of nine outdoor meets in 2014, finished second in the Big 12 Conference meet and tied for second at the NCAA championships, which far surpassed her own expectations and put her on the radar for the the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
"When I first came into the season it wasn't my focus to really come out and kill it, it was more to see where I was at after surgery," said Treasure. "I had a really rocky start with my first competition when I popped out my ankle and I didn't even know if I could jump still, so it was good to train through it and see that I was able to recover and have such a good season after surgery."
T-wolves soccer teams have memorable matches
UNBC made some history on the soccer pitch in early October.
With a 1-0 shutout victory against Trinity Western University, combined with a 5-3, the men's side posted its first-ever two-win weekend of the team's three-year history in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Canada West Conference. The Timberwolves earned the victories at home, on the second-last weekend of the regular season to improve to 3-7.
"This was a big weekend for us, it's our first six-point weekend in the CIS," said UNBC head coach Alan Alderson. "For a young team, we've gotten better all season."
-with files from Ted Clarke and Jason Peters
