EDMONTON - There are a few sure signs of spring in Alberta. The snow turns to slush, the Canada geese return to the ponds, lakes and streams, and the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings face each other in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs. The two rivals will meet in the first round for the third sea...

TORONTO - There was a welcome sighting of Toronto FC star Lorenzo Insigne running with a trainer Friday while the rest of the team warmed up before training on a damp day at BMO Field. But the former Napoli captain, who has not played since March 23 when he hobbled off the field with a hamstring injury in first-half st...

Toronto FC and the New England Revolution are both looking to climb out of a hole when they meet Saturday at BMO Field. After a promising start under John Herdman, injury-depleted Toronto (3-4-1) has lost three straight while being outscored 10-3. New England (1-5-1) made it as far as the quarterfinals of the CONCACA...

VANCOUVER - Expectations for the Vancouver Canucks were not high heading into the season. Asked in September if he expected the team to make the playoffs, president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford hedged. "To be very to the point, the changes that we made, we have a playoff team if everything goes right,"...

OTTAWA - Another season out of the playoffs has left Ottawa Senators players frustrated and disappointed, but a complete overhaul doesn't appear to be in Steve Staios's plans. In his media availability with media Friday morning, the Senators general manager acknowledged his players' feelings - captain Brady Tkachuk sai...

TORONTO - The Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and B.C. Lions have all been fined by the CFL for exceeding the league's 2023 salary cap. But none exceeded the $5.45-million cap by more than $100,000 so the selection order for the '24 CFL draft April 30 remains unchanged. The CFL released the results of its de...

Receiver Eugene Lewis can't wait to start earning quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson's trust. The signing of Bethel-Thompson, a two-time Grey Cup champion, was Edmonton's biggest off-season move. The Elks have finished last in the West Division three consecutive years. CFL training camps open next month. "I know w...

CALGARY - Pittsburgh Penguins general manager and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas has been named to Canada's front office team for the upcoming world hockey championship. Hockey Canada announced Friday that Dubas will make his international debut as an associate general manager on GM Rick Nash's staff. Dubas,...

CALGARY - Winning more games and the construction of a new arena will convince more NHL players that Calgary is a desirable place to play, some Flames say as they head for the exits. Calgary finished 17 points out of a playoff spot this season with a record of 38-39-5, and missed the post-season a second straight year....

General manager Don Waddell likes how his Carolina Hurricanes finished the season, winning 16 of their final 21 games. He knows it means nothing now. "Your points get erased and you all start with zeros," Waddell said. "Playoffs are a different time. That's what's great about the NHL. Once you get to the...

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Pittsburgh Penguins eventually became the team Kyle Dubas envisioned in his first season as the club's general manager/director of hockey operations. That evolution, however, came a touch too late for Sidney Crosby and company to make the playoffs. Pittsburgh's spirited 8-2-3 closing kick left it ...

Jacob Trouba is captain of the best team in the NHL this season, the New York Rangers, one of the oldest franchises in hockey in one of the world's greatest sports towns. The big-hitting American defenceman is also an artist, philanthropist, advocate and, most recently, an actor in a commercial urging early cancer det...

WINNIPEG - Sean Monahan was walking his dog when a car drove past him, braked, backed up and stopped. A mother and her son hopped out and approached the Winnipeg Jets forward, who was acquired in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 2. "She said, 'We just wanted to say hi and wish you luck and we're looking...

MONTREAL - CF Montreal will have to put their depth to the test this weekend with forwards Matias Coccaro, Josef Martinez and Mahala Opoku all out with injuries. Coccaro will miss eight to 10 weeks with an undisclosed injury sustained in last Saturday's 2-1 win over FC Cincinnati. He exited in the 26th minute after app...

TORONTO - Brave is unbeatable is the theme for Canada's Olympic team competing in Paris this summer. The Canadian Olympic Committee and broadcast rightsholder CBC unveiled the marketing campaign today. Nine athletes are featured, including sprinter Andre De Grasse and basketball player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Actor Mi...

GENEVA (AP) - Olympic sports bodies criticized World Athletics on Friday for promising to pay $50,000 for each track and field gold medal won at the Paris Olympics. Last week's move by the track body and its president Sebastian Coe broke with tradition because the International Olympic Committee does not pay prize mone...

The chase for the Stanley Cup is back underway, with the NHL's top 16 teams left to duke it out through four gruelling rounds. It's also arguably the most wide open the post-season has been in years, if not decades. Nearly everyone who qualified has a chance to win it all, with no prohibitive favourite as the first rou...

The NHL post-season is now set. The playoffs begin Saturday with the Toronto Maple Leafs taking on the Boston Bruins in opening-round action. The Vancouver Canucks open their first-round series against the Nashville Predators. The Winnipeg Jets, meanwhile, will matchup against the Colorado Avalanche. The Edmonton Oiler...

DENVER (AP) - Valeri Nichushkin scored twice, Nathan MacKinnon added two assists to break the franchise's single-season points mark and the Colorado Avalanche cruised into the playoffs behind a 5-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night. MacKinnon wrapped up the regular season with 140 points (51 goals, 89 assi...

CALGARY - Blake Coleman scored his 30th goal and MacKenzie Weegar got his 20th as the Calgary Flames set multiple personal milestones in a season-ending 5-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night. Adam Klapka, with his first NHL goal, Oliver Kylington, and Kevin Rooney also scored for Calgary (38-39-5). The...

WINNIPEG - Nikita Chibrikov scored the game-winner in his NHL debut and Cole Perfetti tallied a pair of goals as the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 to close out their regular seasons on Thursday. The victory produced some notable accomplishments in front of the ninth sellout crowd of the season at Can...

MONTREAL - Kristin O'Neill scored twice, and Montreal pulled off an epic comeback for a 4-3 win over Minnesota on Thursday night in the Professional Women's Hockey League. Down 3-2, Montreal pulled the goalie for an extra attacker with 2:49 left in the game - and it paid off. Laura Stacey fired a one-timer past Maddie ...

THE WOODLANDS, Texas (AP) - Nelly Korda, who is looking to tie an LPGA Tour record with her fifth straight win, shot a 4-under 68 on Thursday in the opening round of the Chevron Championship, leaving her two shots behind leader Lauren Coughlin in the year's first major. Coughlin shot a bogey-free 66 in windy conditions...

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - Dylan Strome was never good at losing, whether it was playing baseball in his front yard or stick hockey in the basement with his brothers. "He hated losing more than he loved winning," younger brother Matt Strome said. "He was never satisfied unless he won, and if he lost you would...

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) - Scottie Scheffler is running on fumes after an exhausting Masters victory just four days ago. He hit a shank from a bunker. He nearly lost his mind from mud on his golf ball. And he still managed a 2-under 69 at the RBC Heritage on Thursday. J.T. Poston set the pace on an idyllic day on ...

Canada's sports integrity watchdog is pushing for stronger policies to prevent competitive manipulation and match-fixing at all levels of competition. The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport issued its first draft of a new program to prevent competition manipulation on Wednesday, the same day that the NBA banned former...

The U.S. Justice Department has agreed to pay approximately $100 million to settle claims with about 100 people who say they were sexually assaulted by sports doctor Larry Nassar, a source with direct knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The deal has not been finalized, and no money has...

The so-called free agency period at the start of an Olympic quadrennial is typically the high-water mark for curling team adjustments and player movement. Surprise announcements in recent days and speculation on what's to come has created a Roaring Game version of a mid-quad trade deadline. Teams want to strike before...