• The Canadian Press

    Canucks set to face Predators in first playoff appearance since 2020

    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,” he said. Things did go right. On Sunday, the Canucks will host their first home playoff game since 2015 when they kick off a first-round matchup against the Nashville Predators. Vancouver h

  • The Canadian Press

    Maple Leafs, Bruins set to renew playoff hostilities: 'Here we go again'

    BOSTON — Auston Matthews has closed the book on his staggering regular season. The Maple Leafs sniper came one shot — one crossbar — short of becoming just the ninth player in NHL history to reach 70 goals in a campaign. Toronto's star attraction and his teammates limped over the finish line with four straight losses to close out the schedule in games that were largely insignificant as Matthews pushed for the milestone. The slate now wiped clean, the Leafs' attention is squarely on the playoffs

  • The Canadian Press

    TSS Rovers FC replace Victoria Highlanders in Canadian Championship field

    TSS Rovers FC are replacing the inactive Victoria Highlanders in this year's Canadian Championship and will face Pacific FC of the Canadian Premier League in the preliminary round. The Highlanders secured the Canadian championship berth by winning League1 B.C. in July. But the club announced earlier this month that it will not operate a men's or women's team this season. "Despite our best efforts over the past two months we have been unable to reach an agreement with the new owners of League1 B.

  • The Canadian Press

    Cam Booser walked away from baseball in 2017 and became a carpenter. Now he's in the major leagues

    PITTSBURGH (AP) — Cam Booser thought he was done with baseball seven years ago. Turns out, baseball wasn't done with him. The left-handed pitcher walked away from the game in 2017, discouraged by a string of injuries from Tommy John surgery to a broken back sustained when he was hit by a car while riding his bike, and self-inflicted wounds like a 50-game drug suspension. He returned home to Seattle and poured himself into carpentry, working on acoustical ceilings. He was good at it, just not as