National Sports

NORTH BATTLEFORD, Sask. — Edmonton's Brendan Bottcher and Scotland's Bruce Mouat advanced to the playoffs at the Grand Slam of Curling's Canadian Open by winning their A finals on Thursday.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Jason Zucker is squarely among the skaters Minnesota needs more production from over the second half of the schedule to return to the playoffs, a responsibility that's not lost on him or anyone else on the Wild.

ST. LOUIS — Jordan Binnington has played in 204 minor league games, plenty of time to wonder if he'd ever make an NHL start. The long wait was worth it for the rookie St. Louis Blues goaltender.

NEWARK, N.J. — John Tavares is earning every penny of the seven-year, $77 million contract the Toronto Maple Leafs gave him in the off-season . Not only is he living up to the hype, the 28-year-old centre is having a career year.

TORONTO — Free-agent guard Patrick McCaw is joining the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors announced Thursday that the club had signed McCaw, although terms of the deal were not disclosed.

LAS VEGAS — Cristiano Ronaldo is being asked by police to provide a DNA sample in an investigation of a Nevada woman's allegation that he raped her in his Las Vegas hotel penthouse in 2009 and paid her to keep quiet, the soccer star's lawyer and Las

CALGARY — He's won everything there is to win in moguls, yet Mikael Kingsbury still feels driven. It's common for athletes who stand on the Olympic podium to take a hiatus the following season, or at least skip the first few competitions.

WINNIPEG — Valour FC has signed midfielder Raphael Ohin and defender Raphael Garcia to multi-year contracts.

Centre back Kamal Miller was Syracuse University's best player in 2018, according to head coach Ian McIntyre.

One of the hottest attractions on Sin City's strip, the Vegas Golden Knights say they don't condone situations where season ticket holders "purchase a membership with the intent of profiting.