The Spirit of Christmas was rekindled Friday in a friendly high school hockey rivalry at CN Centre that officially kickstarted the holiday break for two Prince George schools.
In the 19th annual Spirit Game, the Prince George Polars gave themselves an early present to put under the tree, earning bragging rights for the year after they defeated the College Heights Cougars 4-2.
First-period goals from Jackson Sigouin and Luka Flannery took some of the pressure off the Polars in front of an enthusiastic crowd of about 1,200.
Logan Svensen cut the lead in half midway through the second period , but less than two minutes later Nick Gerow made it a 3-1 game, and Aidan Sexsmith added to the count for PGSS just before the second intermission.
Cougar sniper Maddox Morland capped the scoring 10 minutes into the third period.
Introduced in 2005, the Spirit Game annually pits College Heights against PGSS and the Polars have now won it 12 of those 19 years.
Donations of gloves, toques and warm clothing were collected at the rink to be distributed by the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
