Steve O'Rourke's dream of coaching his men's hockey team to a medal at the Canada Winter Games ended Wednesday on the ice in Red Deer.
The Prince George Cougars associate coach watched his B.C. team lose 7-3 to Quebec in a quarterfinal playoff.
B.C. opened Saturday with a 4-2 loss to Manitoba, beat Saskatchewan 4-3 on Sunday, then on Monday lost 5-4 to Alberta (the winning goal came with 30 seconds left), followed by a 15-1 win over Prince Edward Island.
Alberta topped New Brunswick 8-3 in their quarterfinal Wednesday. Cougars prospect Craig Armstrong, a forward, had one goal in that game.
Semifinals and relegation games will be played today, with the medal matches scheduled for Friday.
Two Prince George Blizzard Speed Skating Club members continued their race for medals Wednesday on the outdoor long-track oval at Great Chief Park in Red Deer. Kieran Hanson, 16, finished 11th Wednesday in the men's 1,000-metre race, covering the course in 1:17.87, while Eric Orlowsky was a 16th-place finisher in 1:20.21.
They began the meet Saturday with the 1,500 m event and Hanson placed 11th, while Orlowsky was 15th. Orlowsky's best placing so far came in Tuesday's 5,000 m race in which he was 11th, while Hanson ended up 13th.
In other Prince George results, Joel Ewert and his B.C. wheelchair basketball team lost 58-50 Wednesday to Saskatchewan. B.C. will finish its tournament today at 10 a.m. (PT) in a placement game against Manitoba.
B.C. went 2-2 in the round robin after wins over Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and a losses to Alberta and Ontario. Those two teams will meet in today's gold-medal game. New Brunswick and Quebec will battle for bronze.
