FRIDAY SPORTS: NHL ALL STARS!

NHL

Reigning NHL MVP Connor McDavid and 11 other All-Stars will do the skills competition with the winner taking home a $1 (m) million US prize Friday night. The event has a new format with a focus on old-school events like hardest shot and fastest skater. It’s part of a four-day celebration at Scotiabank Arena in downtown Toronto.

PWHL

Savannah Harmon stole the show at the Professional Women’s Hockey League showcase. She had a hat trick to lead Team King to a 5-3 win over Team Kloss at the three-on-three exhibition at the NHL all-star weekend. Ella Shelton and Kendall Coyne Schofield also scored for Team King. Alex Carpenter, Jocelyne Larocque and Brianne Jenner had goals for Team Kloss.

PRO BOWL SKILLS COMP

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield beat Houston’s C.J. Stroud in the Precision Passing skills challenge, helping the NFC build a 12-6 lead over the AFC on the opening night of the 2024 Pro Bowl Games.

The made-for-TV Pro Bowl Skills Show, aired Thursday night from a fieldhouse on the campus of the University of Central Florida, kicked off two days of competition that culminates Sunday with a seven-on-seven flag football game at Camping World Stadium.

It’s the second year for a revamped format that replaced the traditional Pro Bowl tackle football game last winter in Las Vegas. Opening night skills winners each earned three points that count toward their team’s overall score.

Mayfield, a finalist for AP Comeback Player of the Year after leading the Buccaneers to their third consecutive NFC South division title, edged Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts and Geno Smith of the Seattle Seahawks for the right to face Stroud in the precision passing final.

Stroud, who led the Texans to the AFC South championship as a rookie, advanced over Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa and Gardner Minshew of the Indianapolis Colts.

The Pro Bowl Games conclude Sunday with more skill events, as well as the flag game, which consists of four, 12-minute quarters played on a 50-yard field. Points accumulated during the game will be added to those earned in skill challenges to determine which conference wins the overall competition.

NFL

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Tickets on at least one secondary-market site are the most expensive in Super Bowl history. The prices underscore the anticipation of the game’s Las Vegas debut between the defending champion and what likely is the most popular team in the West. As well as the possibility Taylor Swift will be on hand when the Kansas City Chiefs play the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 11. The average purchase price on TickPick was $9,815 on Monday morning. That is nearly double the final average price of $5,795 for last year’s game between the Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles in Glendale, Arizona. Current prices could decline before the game.

MLB

All-star pitcher Corbin Burnes has been traded from the Milwaukee Brewers to the Baltimore Orioles for left-hander DL Hall, infield prospect Joey Ortiz and a competitive balance draft pick. It’s a blockbuster for the Orioles, who had a quiet off-season but remained hopeful they could add more pitching as they prepared to defend their AL East championship. Burnes went 10-8 with a 3.39 ERA last year.

NBA

The Toronto Raptors are in Houston Friday night against former point guard Fred VanVleet and his new Rockets teammates. Toronto has lost eight of its past 10 games. VanVleet signed with Houston as a free agent in the off-season after starting his career with the Raptors.

PGA

Thomas Detry has a one-shot lead over Patrick Cantlay heading into Friday’s second round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Adam Svensson of Surrey, BC, and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ontario, are tied for 29th at 2 under.

(Canadian Press)