National Sports

MINEHEAD, United Kingdom — Canadian Jeff (The Silencer) Smith lost to England's Nathan (The Asp) Aspinall in first-round play Friday at the Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals.

The Canadian women look to put the finishing touches on a golden year Saturday with the first of two matches against Mexico. The sixth-ranked Olympic champions take on No.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov scored and tied a career high with three assists to help the Minnesota Wild rout the Winnipeg Jets 7-1 on Friday.

REGINA — Craig Dickenson knows who his starter will be for the West Division semifinal Sunday, but the Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach will need a bit more time to determine who'll back up Cody Fajardo.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A young Canadian men's side suffered three losses Friday at the Dubai Sevens, the opening event of the 2022 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.

LAKE LOUISE, Alta. — Brodie Seger had to wait another day to debut a race helmet that means a lot to him. Friday's cancellation of the first of two World Cup men's downhills in Lake Louise, Alta.

SOCHI, Russia — Canadian men's competitor Roman Sadovsky and ice dancers Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen are both in third place after Friday’s short programs at the Rostelecom Cup figure skating event. Sadovsky, from Vaughan, Ont.

Claude Julien has been named head coach of Canada's men's hockey team for a pair of international tournaments next month. And if the NHL pulls out of the 2022 Winter Olympics, he'll also be behind the bench at the Beijing Games.

GENEVA (AP) — The World Cup in Qatar is sure to be without either Italy or Cristiano Ronaldo.

Simoni Lawrence and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats don't need to be reminded about what's at stake. Hamilton hosts the Montreal Alouettes in the East Division semifinal Sunday. And with the Grey Cup game scheduled for Tim Hortons Field on Dec. 12.