National Sports

COLUMBUS, Ohio — John Tortorella was being battered on social media a month or so ago by doubters who thought his act had gotten stale in Columbus.

MANCHESTER, England — As an excitable Pep Guardiola congratulated his players one by one in the centre of the field, a chant of "Champions" rang out from the Manchester City fans in one corner of an otherwise-deserted Old Trafford.

TORONTO — The clock is ticking, but CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie remains confident the league and its players can agree on a new contract in time for the start of training camp.

VANCOUER, B.C. — The Vancouver Canucks have signed goalie Thatcher Demko to a two-year extension. The club announced the deal on Wednesday, saying in a release that the new contract carries an annual average value of US$1.05 million.

VANCOUVER — Canadian moguls skier Andi Naude has announced her retirement. The 23-year-old from Penticton, B.C., placed sixth in women's moguls at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

BARCELONA, Spain — Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime is off to the third round of the Barcelona Open. The No. 16 seed from Montreal beat Malek Jaziri of Tunisia 6-3, 7-6 (7) at the ATP Tour 500 clay-court event on Wednesday.

CALGARY — Goaltending is a big-ticket puzzle for the Calgary Flames to solve this summer. Calgary got the goaltending it needed to be successful in 2018-19. It wasn't the reason for an early playoff exit.

VANCOUVER — Longtime B.C. Lions equipment manager Ken (Kato) Kasuya is being remembered as a tireless worker and valued friend. The CFL team released a statement on Wednesday saying it was "deeply saddened" to report that Kasuya had died.

STAVANGER, Norway — Canada's Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant are one step closer to reaching the playoffs at the 2019 world mixed doubles curling championship. Winnipeg's Peterman and Gallant of St. John's, N.L.

TORONTO — The Toronto Raptors significantly retooled their team for a deep playoff run this season. So did the Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto's opponent in the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals.