TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper opened his end-of-season news conference Wednesday apologizing for making what he called an inappropriate analogy of putting skirts on goalies. Cooper after the Game 5 loss that eliminated his team from the playoffs on Monday night vented about two questionable go...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - All players and coaches were at work on Wednesday at the Florida Panthers' practice facility. Nobody was on the ice. That's a nice problem to have right now. Florida will open the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at home. That much is certain. The opponent - Boston or Toronto - won't be ...

TORONTO - The chief executive of Rogers Communications Inc. says the company plans to pursue a renewal of its rights to broadcast NHL games when its current agreement expires in two years, but offered no hints on whether it will go it alone or seek out a partner. Speaking Wednesday at a lunch hosted by Canadian Club To...

MADRID (AP) - Carlos Alcaraz's bid to win a third straight Madrid Open title ended with a three-set loss to Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. The second-seeded Spaniard got off to a good start but then was outplayed by the seventh-seeded Rublev, losing 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 at the Caja Magica center court. Alcar...

WINNIPEG - Lyle Bauer, a former CFL player and executive, has died. He was 65. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the team Bauer played for and later served as CEO, announced Bauer's death on its Instagram page Wednesday. Bauer, a Saskatoon native, played his entire 10-year CFL career as an offensive with the Blue Bombers (198...

NEW YORK - Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks, Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche, and Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators are the three finalists for the Norris Trophy, awarded to the NHL's best defenceman, the league announced Wednesday. The trophy is voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Ass...

BOSTON - Joseph Woll knew he wasn't getting the nod for Game 1 of the playoffs. The Toronto Maple Leafs had clearly been trending towards Ilya Samsonov late in the regular season, including a week of rest for the goaltender ahead of the Stanley Cup chase. Woll didn't pout or show any disappointment at getting passed ov...

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have given an insight into their long-term ambitions for Welsh soccer team Wrexham, which they hope could eventually see the capacity of its Racecourse Ground stadium increase massively to 55,000. The Hollywood pair have already transformed the fortunes of the historic but down-on-its-l...

LONDON (AP) - German tennis legend Boris Becker was discharged from bankruptcy court in London after a judge found Wednesday he had done "all that he reasonably could do" to repay creditors tens of millions of pounds. Becker fell far short of repaying his creditors in full, but Chief Insolvency and Companies ...

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The Carolina Hurricanes are getting production throughout their lineup to start the NHL playoffs. They'll need it going forward if they're going to take down the Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers. The Hurricanes closed out the New York Islanders in a first-round series on Tuesday night. T...