RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The memory of being unable to help the Carolina Hurricanes in the NHL playoffs last year still stings for Andrei Svechnikov. He has opened this post-season like a man savouring every moment of his return. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound forward who missed last year's post-season with a knee injury had a st...

UTSUNOMIYA, Japan - Paige Crozon had a team-high 10 points Friday as Canada opened with a 19-12 win over Kenya at a women's 3x3 basketball Olympic qualifying tournament. Crozon was effective from long-range with four two-pointers. Twin sisters Michelle and Katherine Plouffe added six rebounds apiece in the win. After a...

IRVING, Texas (AP) - Former Oregon State and Nebraska coach Mike Riley has been named to the College Football Playoff selection committee, executive director Bill Hancock announced Friday. Riley, who won two Grey Cups (1988, 1990) as head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, will replace Pat Chun, who stepped down from ...

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) - The Buffalo Bills announced the signings of Canadian wide receiver Chase Claypool, defensive end Dawuane Smoot and linebacker Deion Jones to one-year contracts on Friday. In a continuing need to upgrade their receiving corps after trading star Stefon Diggs and losing Gabe Davis in free agency,...

TORONTO - A career that started on the practice roster has earned Chad Owens a spot in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. The electrifying returner/receiver topped a stellar 2024 class announced Friday. Also named were players S.J. Green, Weston Dressler, Marvin Coleman and Vince Goldsmith with former CFL coach Ray Ja...

MADRID (AP) - Andrey Rublev beat Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-3 and reached the final of the Madrid Open on Friday. Rublev broke Fritz once in each set while never seeing his serve in danger. The eighth-ranked Russian will face Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime or Jiri Lehecka in Sunday's final. Rublev is seeking his 16th career...

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - A funeral is being held today for hockey broadcasting legend Bob Cole in his hometown of St. John's, N.L. The service is set to begin at 2 p.m. local time at St. Thomas' Anglican Church in the heart of the city. Cole was a giant of Canadian sports broadcasting and his career spanned more than half a ...

NASHVILLE - Rick Tocchet drew ample respect during his 18 seasons as an NHL player. Now he's doing the same behind the bench - and leading the Vancouver Canucks to their best season in over a decade in the process. Tocchet was named a finalist for the Jack Adams Trophy on Friday, awarded annually to the NHL's top hea...

NEW YORK - Rick Bowness of the Winnipeg Jets, Rick Tocchet of the Vancouver Canucks and Andrew Brunette of the Nashville Predators are the finalists for this season's Jack Adams Award. The award is presented annually to the head coach of the year as voted by members of the NHL Broadcasters' Association. Bowness guided ...

TORONTO - Sheldon Keefe's team had a decision to make. The Maple Leafs head coach watched his players put in a terrible Game 4 performance on home ice against the Boston Bruins - one that left them sitting in a 3-1 series hole against an opponent seemingly on cruise control to the second round of the Stanley Cup tourn...

MONTREAL - The Montreal Canadiens signed defenceman Adam Engstrom to a three-year, entry-level contract on Friday. The 20-year-old Engstrom had four goals and 18 assists in 51 games for Rögle BK of the Swedish Hockey League this season, ranking second among defencemen on his team with 22 points. The six-foot-two, ...

MONTREAL - CF Montreal head Laurent Courtois says the club wants Mathieu Choiniere to stay after a report the homegrown midfielder is seeking a trade surfaced earlier this week. The Athletic reported Wednesday that Choiniere requested a trade from the Major League Soccer club after talks of a contract extension died do...

CALGARY - Canada's para hockey team gets another swing at winning a world championship on home ice. Canada hosted the world para hockey championship for the first time in 2023 in Moose Jaw, Sask., where the home team took the silver medal behind the United States. The 2024 edition at Calgary's WinSport Arena, where the...

The Toronto Maple Leafs survived to see another day on Thursday night, while the Vancouver Canucks look to avoid allowing Nashville to do the same on Friday. Here are five things to know entering Friday's post-season action: LEAFS SURVIVE The Toronto Maple Leafs managed to survive to see a Game 7 on Thursday night. Sta...

TORONTO - The federal government is set to announce funding to help Toronto host six matches at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and federal Sports Minister Carla Qualtrough are scheduled to provide a funding update today at Toronto's BMO Field, where the matches will be held. Neil Lumsden, Ontario's ...

TORONTO - An uninspired Game 5 effort put the pressure squarely on the Boston Bruins in their first-round NHL playoff series against Toronto. A Game 6 dud only made things worse. The Maple Leafs topped the Bruins 2-1 on Thursday at Scotiabank Arena to force a seventh game on Saturday night at TD Garden. Bruins head co...

TORONTO - William Nylander scored twice and Joseph Woll made 22 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday to force Game 7 in their first-round series. Toronto has now won two straight - including Tuesday's 2-1 overtime victory in Game 5 - after falling behind their Original Six rival 3-1...

McKINNEY, Texas (AP) - Matt Wallace was relegated to watching the Masters amid a self-described "terrible" season when he found himself pondering what makes some of the best golfers in the world so good. Asked if Scottie Scheffler was among the players he was watching, Wallace stumbled over his words just a b...

The Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner and its Abuse-Free Sports Program will be absorbed by the Canadian Centre For Ethics in Sport by next year. OSIC was created in 2022 as a division of the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada amid a wave of complaints about abuse and harassment in Canadian sport. OSIC'...

HALIFAX - Ligue1 Quebec champion CS Saint-Laurent upset Halifax Wanderers FC 5-3 in a penalty shootout Thursday to earn a quarterfinal date with Toronto FC in the Canadian Championship. After Saint-Laurent 'keeper Konstantinos Maniatis stopped Christian Volesky's penalty, Mouhamadou Kane stepped up and beat Yann Fillio...

WINNIPEG - Disbelief seemed to be the overriding emotion among the Winnipeg Jets after their early exit from the NHL playoffs. "I am truly kind of puzzled why it didn't work because I really thought we had a really good group," defenceman Dylan DeMelo told reporters Thursday as players met with the media befo...

TORONTO - Montreal defender Erin Ambrose, who led all players in scoring last month, has been named one of the The Professional Women's Hockey League's top stars of April. Ambrose had a goal and six assists in four games as Montreal locked up second place in the league standings and home-ice advantage in the first roun...

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said Thursday he feels "really good" that he will reach a new contract with the team, mirroring optimism from president and general manager Don Waddell a day earlier. Brind'Amour - considered by many the face of the franchise with his long-running...

EDMONTON - During what they hope is a deep run through the gruelling Stanley Cup playoffs this spring, the Edmonton Oilers will take all the time off they can get. "Rest is always a good thing," captain Connor McDavid said. "Rest is a weapon this time of year." The Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Ki...

TORONTO - Daulton Varsho loves to go all out when tracking down a fly ball but the new smaller foul areas at Rogers Centre have him being a little more cautious. The Toronto Blue Jays completed the second phase of $400 million renovations to their downtown ballpark in the off-season, with the changes designed to improv...

NEW YORK (AP) - The average time of a nine-inning game is 2 hours, 36 minutes through the first full month of the major league season, down 1 minute from 2023 in the second year of the pitch clock. Over objections from the players' association, MLB lowered the timer to 18 seconds from 20 with runners on base while keep...

VANTAA, Finland - Carter George made 23 saves for his second shutout of the tournament as Canada defeated Latvia 4-0 in quarterfinal action Thursday at the world men's under-18 hockey championship. Team captain Porter Martone scored and 16-year-old Gavin McKenna had an assist. McKenna is second in tournament scoring wi...

The Prince Albert Pikes Artistic Swimming Club wrapped up another year in the pool last weekend, closing out a season full of highlights and memories with their annual year-end Watershow and fun swim. Among the many successful moments for the club this season was seeing nearly double the enrollment from a year ago, gro...