National Sports

VANCOUVER — Watching games from afar hasn’t been easy for Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes. The 25-year-old star defenceman has remained remarkably healthy for much of his career — until this season.

TORONTO — Toronto FC coach Robin Fraser and Gregg Berhalter, his Chicago Fire counterpart, are no strangers, having played shoulder to shoulder at centre back for the U.S. "He was a great player to play with, actually," said Berhalter.

Victoria Mboko is winning so many trophies, she can hardly get them home. The up-and-coming Canadian tennis star is off to a stellar start this season with a 27-1 record and five tournament wins in singles on the second-tier ITF Tour.

LANGFORD, B.C. — Coach Dean Murten has named his 28-player Canadian under-20 women’s rugby squad for a tour of Ireland in May. The young Canadians will play their Irish counterparts on May 10 and May 17 at the IRFU High Performance Centre in Dublin.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Azteca Stadium has been renamed Banorte Stadium before it hosts its third men's World Cup next year.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia shared the lead at The Players Championship with vastly different finishes Friday morning on a TPC Sawgrass course that didn't let anyone get too far ahead of the pack.

Two years since backstopping the Vegas Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup, Adin Hill has become their undisputed No. 1 goaltender. Now he has the contract to show for it. Hill on Friday signed a six-year extension worth $37.5 million.

The Vancouver Whitecaps are getting noticed. The attention is warranted with the way the ‘Caps have started the season — three straight wins in Major League Soccer play and a big result over a LIGA MX giant.

CF Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois insists his team still has belief despite stumbling to start the Major League Soccer season.

CALGARY — Calgary Flames captain Mikael Backlund will be out on a week-to-week basis with an upper-body injury, the NHL team said Friday. Backlund was hurt in the first period of a 4-3 shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night.