National Sports

PRAGUE — Any anxiety Canada felt entering the elimination round of the world hockey championship was put to rest quickly in a 6-3 win over Slovakia in quarterfinal action Thursday.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) — The first sign this wasn't a Gabriel Landeskog retirement announcement: The Colorado captain showed up wearing an Avalanche hat, shirt and shorts as if he'd just gone through a workout.

ANTALYA — Canada fell 3-1 to top-ranked Poland on Thursday in men's Volleyball Nations League action. Canada started strong and took the first set 25-18 before Poland rebounded and took the next three 25-20, 25-23 and 25-21.

DALLAS — Kris Knoblauch thought he spied a weakness. The head coach of the Ontario Hockey League's Erie Otters was looking for an edge against the rival London Knights during the 2015-16 season.

TORONTO — The arrival of a professional women's basketball team to the Toronto sports landscape creates new opportunities to capitalize on long pent-up demand from local fans, say experts who study the business of sports.

Canada coach Bev Priestman is starting to get some of her injured talent back ahead of the Paris Olympics. And while that's good news, it also adds to the degree of difficulty in choosing her Olympic roster ahead of the July 3 deadline.

TORONTO — Toronto's Natalie Spooner, Montreal's Marie-Philip Poulin and New York's Alex Carpenter are the Billie Jean King MVP award finalists for the Professional Women's Hockey League's inaugural season.

RICHMOND HILL, Ont. — University of Montreal quarterback Jonathan Senecal was among the finalists announced Thursday for the Canadian university sport athletes of the year awards.

TORONTO — Canadian flyweight Jasmine Jasudavicius will take on Brazol's Viviane (Vivi) Araujo on a July 13 UFC Fight Night card.

HAMILTON — Like Mike Filer and Ryan Bomben before him, Brandon Revenberg has become the conscience of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats' offensive line. The six-foo-three, 301-pound left guard is entering his eighth CFL season, all with Hamilton.