Friday Sports: Draft Day

NHL

• Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon is being rewarded for his stellar NHL season. He’s the winner of the Hart Trophy as league MVP. MacKinnon had 140 points this past season. He also won the Ted Lindsay Award as the most outstanding player as voted on by the NHLPA. Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck won the Vezina Trophy as top goalie and Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes won the Norris Trophy as top defenceman.
• The San Jose Sharks have the first overall pick in tonight’s NHL draft in Las Vegas. Boston University centre Macklin Celebrini is expected to be the top selection. It could be a busy weekend on the trade front. The Calgary Flames dealt forward Andrew Mangiapane to Washington last night for a second-round pick in next year’s draft. 

CFL

BC kicker Sean Whyte remains perfect on the season. He hit the game-winning field goal to give the Lions a 24-21 victory over Edmonton. Whyte has made 27 straight field goals. The Elks are winless after four games while B-C is three-and-one. Montreal visits Toronto in tonight’s lone CFL game.

MLB

The Toronto Blue Jays have a modest two-game win streak going after a 9-2 rout of the New York Yankees. George Springer hit a pair of three-run homers for the Blue Jays. Jose Berrios threw seven strong innings for the victory. The teams will continue the four-game series tonight at Rogers Centre.

CEBL

• Justin Wright-Foreman’s 22 points and CEBL single-game record 16 assists led the Winnipeg Sea Bears (6-5) to their third consecutive win with a decisive 94-82 victory over the Niagara River Lions (6-4) on Thursday night.
• A trio of 21-point performances and a strong defensive showing bookended the Ottawa BlackJacks (3-7) 102-80 win over the Scarborough Shooting Stars (6-5) on Thursday night. Tyrell Tate, Keevan Veinot and Isaih Moore off the bench each chipped in with 21 apiece as they sparked Ottawa’s first triple-digit scoring output of the season.
• The Saskatchewan Rattlers are home to the Niagara River Lions Saturday at 7:30 pm at SaskTel Centre.

SOCCER

Jose Fajardo beat backup goalkeeper Ethan Horvath in the 83rd minute to give Panama a 2-1 victory over the United States at the Copa America soccer tournament. The host Americans will be in danger of elimination if they don’t beat Uruguay in their first-round finale. Canada will play Chile tomorrow night.

(Canadian Press)