SATURDAY SPORTS: PATS GET PUMPED, SCOTTIES DRAMA, BUSY WEEK FOR RIDERS

WHL

Regina, Sask. – The Swift Current Broncos downed the Regina Pats 7-2 on Friday at the Brandt Centre.

The Pats had a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes of play before allowing six unanswered goals in the final 40 minutes of action with five Broncos goals in the second stanza.

Aaron Krestanowich opened the scoring for the Pats less than two minutes in, and Sam Oremba gave the Pats a 2-1 lead with a power play goal. Luke Mistelbacher tied the game early in the second and Jakub Dvorak followed up shortly after with the go-ahead goal for his first in the WHL.

Reid Dyck recorded his fourth straight win, allowing two goals on 24 shots. 12 different Broncos players got on the scoresheet, with Clarke Caswell leading the way with three points (1G-2A) and Mistelbacher chipping in with two goals.

(ReginaPats.com)

NHL

• Jordan Martinook scored 16 seconds into the game, Pyotr Kochetkov (PEE’-tohr KAWTCH’-eht-kahv) stopped 30 shots and the Carolina Hurricanes blew past the Arizona Coyotes 5-1. The Hurricanes jumped on Arizona with two goals in the opening five minutes and kept up the pressure to win for the sixth time in eight games.
• BOSTON (AP) — Prosecutors dropped a domestic violence charge against Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic on Friday, saying the decision by his wife to invoke marital privilege made it impossible for them to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. The Bruins said he will not return from his leave of absence this season.

PWHL

Kristen Campbell made 30 saves in front of a women’s hockey-record crowd of 19,285 fans at Scotiabank Arena to help Toronto beat Montreal 3-0 in the Professional Women’s Hockey League. Coined as the Battle on Bay Street, the game broke the attendance record of 18,013 set at the 2013 world championships in Ottawa for a preliminary round game between Canada and Finland.

SCOTTIES

CALGARY – Kerri Einarson opened her bid for a record fifth straight Canadian women’s curling championship with a victory, but minus lead Briane Harris whose absence went unexplained.

Neither the skip nor Curling Canada provided an explanation Friday on why Harris was abruptly deemed “ineligible” to compete at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Calgary.

After cruising to an 8-2 win over Quebec’s Laurie St-Georges, and with Krysten Karwacki playing lead, the skip refused to answer questions about Harris’s absence.

Meanwhile Saskatchewan’s Skylar Ackerman opened with an 11-8 win over PEI. Alberta defeated Manitoba 7-5, Northern Ontario beat BC 9-5.

MLB

The Philadelphia Phillies have reached a contract agreement with utility infielder Whit Merrifield, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Friday.

The agreement is for an $8 million, one-year deal that includes a $8 million club option for 2025 with a $1 million buyout, a second person told the AP.

The people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal was not yet announced.

The 35-year-old Merrifield is a three-time All-Star and hit .272 with 11 home runs and 67 RBIs last season with the Toronto Blue Jays. He has 201 stolen bases and led the American League with the Kansas City Royals three times. He topped the AL with 206 hits and 10 triples in 2019.

CFL

After back-to-back disappointing seasons, Saskatchewan Roughriders general manager Jeremy O’Day knew changes had to be made when the CFL free agency period opened Tuesday.

The Roughriders finished 6-12 in 2022 and 2023, missing the playoffs both years and closing those campaigns on seven-game losing streaks. As a result, head coach Craig Dickenson was out as his contract was not renewed after the 2023 season, while O’Day signed a three-year contract extension as GM and vice-president of football operations in October.

“When you have a year where you’re 6-12, you have to make some changes and you have to change the mix of players that you have in the building,” O’Day said at a media briefing. “We went into it with some specific positions that we wanted to target. We feel good about where we ended up.”

He came out of the starting gate quickly on Day 1 of free agency, signing five players: American offensive lineman Jermarcus Hardrick, American running back A.J. Ouellette, American linebacker Jameer Thurman, American defensive lineman Malik Carney, and American cornerback Jalon Edwards-Cooper.

“These are good players, they’re leaving teams where they’re entrenched in their community, with their team and their teammates,” O’Day said. “It’s not as easy as just giving them a little bit more money to come to your team. There’s a little bit of a recruitment that goes through there.”

Day 2 of free agency was much calmer for O’Day, with no new signings announced. On Friday the Riders signed five-year veteran offensive lineman Ryan Sceviour. The UofC product has spent his entire career with the Stampeders, where he was an All Star in 2022.

NBA

Get ready to see some jaw-dropping skill at the NBA all-star festivities in Indianapolis tonight. Toronto Raptors all-star Scottie Barnes competes in the skills challenge, followed by the three-point contest and the slam dunk contest. Two-time MVP Steph Curry, widely considered the greatest shooter of all-time, will also take on WNBA sharpshooter Sabrina Ionescu in a three-point challenge.

(Canadian Press)