National Sports

TORONTO — Ice cold water was dumped over Darko Rajakovic instead of champagne or sports drink to celebrate his first-ever win as a head coach in the NBA. It may have been a fitting way to mark a new era for the Toronto Raptors.

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. — Zacharie Giroux scored two goals in kick-starting a run of five unanswered as the Flint Firebirds earned a 6-3 comeback win over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds on Wednesday.

BAIE-COMEAU, Que. — Niks Fenenko netted the game-winning goal 3:28 into overtime as the Baie-Comeau Drakkar edged the Victoriaville Tigres 2-1 on Wednesday. Isaac Dufort also scored for Baie-Comeau (9-2-2). Olivier Ciarlo made 15 saves.

SANTIAGO — Maggie Mac Neil hit the motherlode in Santiago, Chile. The swimmer's fifth gold medal Wednesday was the most by a Canadian athlete at a single Pan American Games. The 23-year-old from London, Ont.

SANTIAGO, Chile — Canada continued its medal haul at the 2023 Pan Am Games with a big day in the pool highlighted by a record-breaking performance.

TORONTO — When Leonard Miller was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves he knew he had a natural mentor in Nickeil Alexander-Walker.

VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Whitecaps begin their playoffs against the same opponent they faced to end their season. Vancouver heads down to California to take on Los Angeles FC on Saturday as part of a best-of-three series in the MLS playoffs.

The fourth-ranked Canadian women's rugby team has lost 11 straight to top-ranked England, including three defeats in the last year. Most recently Canada was beaten 50-24 and 29-12 by the Red Roses in September in Exeter and London, respectively.

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Canada's Dan Shulman and Jacques Doucet are among the finalists for the Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in baseball broadcasting. Joe Buck, Gary Cohen, Joe Castiglione, Tom Hamilton, Ernie Johnson Sr.

Canada coach Kingsley Jones has named five uncapped players in his 32-man roster for next month's La Vila International Rugby Cup in Spain The five are forwards Zephyr Melnyk and Dewald Kotze and backs Ciaran Breen, Jamin Hodgkins and Reid Watkins.