Raptors head coach Nick Nurse says if Pascal Siakam hadn’t been injured at the start of the year, Toronto would have a second all-star player. Siakam looked the part of an all-star as he scored 21 points in the first quarter on his way to 33 for the night. Siakam also added nine rebounds and shot an efficient 11-for-16 from the floor as he netted yet another strong performance at Scotiabank Arena.
The owner of the Chicago Blackhawks won’t face discipline or sanctions after an angry outburst to reporters who questioned his team’s response to a sexual assault investigation. N-H-L commissioner Gary Bettman says Rocky Wirtz won’t face punishment. Wirtz says reacted poorly to questions about what the organization was doing to address the power dynamic between players and coaches in light of the accusations made by Kyle Beach, who says he was sexually assaulted by the Blackhawks’ former video coach a decade ago.
Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman won the Hardest Shot competition and St. Louis’ Jordan Kyrou was the Fastest Skater during an NHL All-Star skills competition with a distinct Vegas flavour. Carolina’s Sebastian Aho won the Accuracy Shooting contest at T-Mobile Arena on a night when the biggest impressions were left by the Sin City settings and showmanship. Columbus’ Zach Werenski won the Fountain Face-Off, in which the all-stars stood on a floating platform in the middle of the Bellagio casino’s famous fountains and shot light-up pucks at a series of targets all around them.
Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville and her team stole eight consecutive points over five ends to defeat Tracy Fleury 8-3 in Friday night’s playoff game at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Thunder Bay. In the other Page seeding game, Andrea Crawford of New Brunswick built an early lead to defeat Team Canada’s Kerri Einarson 8-6. It was the first loss of the tournament for the two-time defending champion. Northern Ontario and New Brunswick move to the Page playoff 1 versus 2 game tonight. The winner of that game advances directly to Sunday’s final. Fleury and Einarson meet in the Page 3 versus 4 game Saturday afternoon. The winner of that game faces the loser of the Page 1 v 2 game in the semifinal Sunday morning.
Canadian speedskater Isabelle Weidemann picked up Canada’s first medal at the Beijing Olympics with bronze in the women’s 3,000 metres. The 26-year-old from Ottawa finished with a time of three minutes 58.64 seconds at the Ice Ribbon oval. No Canadian woman had won a long track medal since the Vancouver Games in 2010. COVID-19 safety measures restricted the crowd to only a couple hundred fans, who politely clapped as cheering isn’t permitted.
Olympic downhill favourite Aleksander Aamodt Kilde was one of only three skiers to get a third run on the course before the final training session for the men’s Olympic downhill was halted prematurely. The world’s best skiers only saw the Rock course up close for the first time this week because test events were cancelled over the last two years amid the pandemic.
Sarah Nurse and Brianne Jenner each had three goals to power Canada to an 11-1 rout of Finland in preliminary-round women’s hockey action. Sarah Fillier and Laura Stacey scored two goals apiece as the Canadians improved to 2-and-0 in Beijing. Next up for the Canadians is a date with the Russians on Monday.
Canada’s mixed doubles team of John Morris and Rachel Homan have dropped to 3-and-2 after a 6-2 loss to Sweden at the National Aquatics Centre. The Swedes broke the game open with three points in the fourth end. The Canadians will look to get back on track when they take on the United States later today.
Canada’s men’s hockey team hit the ice for its first practice in China after cancelling back-to-back sessions. The team cancelled one session following a long travel day from training camp in Switzerland, and another so the team could march in the opening ceremony. Canada will play an exhibition game against the United States on Monday before opening its Group A schedule Thursday against Germany.
In action still to come from Beijing, Canadian freestyle skiing star Mikael Kingsbury tries to defend his Olympic men’s moguls title. Kingsbury dominated Thursday’s qualifying round, finishing two points ahead of the next closest competitor. Kingsbury is the reigning world champion in the sport and has amassed a record 71 World Cup wins over his career.
Friday’s Scoreboard
NBA
Boston 102 Detroit 93
Chicago 122 Indiana 115
Cleveland 102 Charlotte 101
Toronto 125 Atlanta 114
San Antonio 131 Houston 106
Utah 125 Brooklyn 102
New Orleans 113 Denver 105
Oklahoma City 96 Portland 93
Dallas 107 Philadelphia 98
Saturday’s Games (All Times Eastern)
NHL
All-star game at Las Vegas, 3 p.m.
NBA
Memphis at Orlando, 5 p.m.
Miami at Charlotte, 7 p.m.
Phoenix at Washington, 7 p.m.
New York at L.A. Lakers, 8:30 p.m.
Milwaukee at Portland, 10 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Sacramento, 10 p.m.