National Sports

TORONTO — The Maple Leafs' stars are starting to heat up with the regular season just over the horizon. And a rookie making a surprise push for a roster spot took another step toward joining Toronto's big names on opening night.

MONCTON, N.B. — Justin Gendron scored twice as the Victoriaville Tigres topped the Moncton Wildcats 5-3 on Thursday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play. Francesco Iasenza, Tommy Cormier and Justin Larose also scored for Victoriaville (3-2-0).

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Chesson Hadley played bogey-free Thursday in the Sanderson Farms Championship and posted an 8-under 64 for a one-shot lead in his latest bid to secure his PGA Tour card.

THE COLONY, Texas (AP) — Hyo Joo Kim took the first-round lead Thursday in The Ascendant LPGA, breaking away at Old American with a back-nine birdie run in a 7-under 64. Kim, the 28-year-old South Korean player ranked No.

WENATCHEE, Wash. — Kevin Constantine has been fired as head coach of the Wenatchee Wild. Constantine's dismissal comes after an independent investigation into a violation of Western Hockey League's standard of conduct policies.

CALGARY — Carolina Hiller, Laurent Dubreuil, Valérie Maltais and Ted-Jan Bloemen all earned national titles on Thursday, the opening day of the Canadian long-track speedskating championships. Hiller, from Prince George, B.C.

CHICAGO (AP) — A photo of Dick Butkus sneering behind his facemask filled the cover of Sports Illustrated’s 1970 NFL preview, topped by the headline, “The Most Feared Man in the Game.

The deal is sealed: the NHL’s Calgary Flames are getting a new $800-million arena. A preliminary deal announced in April for a new $1.

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BURNABY, B.C. — Gradey Dick is doing his best to take it all in. The Raptors' first round pick, 13th overall, from the 2023 draft is taking part in his first pre-season camp as an NBA player in Burnaby, B.C. and looking to learn.