National Sports

TORONTO — It was the moment the Toronto Raptors had been building toward since team president Masai Ujiri uttered the words "culture reset" nearly a year ago.

MINNEAPOLIS — Twelve years into his major league career, Toronto Blue Jays slugger Kendrys Morales has the self-assurance to endure a weeklong slump.

WINNIPEG — Ryan Johansen says the Predators stopped skating after Nashville surrendered a three-goal lead on the way to losing 7-4 to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday. Ryan Ellis took it one step further.

NEW YORK — Mike Soroka's family and friends came all the way from Western Canada to see his major league debut Tuesday night. Even still, the last thing he wanted to do was look up at them in the stands.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y.

PITTSBURGH — Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom have spent their entire careers chasing the Pittsburgh Penguins and shouldering their own franchise's onerous history of playoff failures.

TORONTO — Defensive lineman Alan-Michael Cash and receiver Jeff Fuller were among seven players released Tuesday by the Grey Cup-champion Toronto Argonauts. Toronto made the moves to reach the league's 75-man roster limit.

Canada's men will have to get past Papua New Guinea and Argentina to reach the quarterfinals of the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 in July in San Francisco. The tournament, which features 24 men's and 16 women's teams, runs July 20-22 at AT&T Park.

Canadian Mike Woods, fresh off a historic second-place finish at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, is looking to make his mark in the 101st Giro d'Italia.

Ryan Hunter will never forget the 2018 NFL draft. The North Bay, Ont., native reached a free-agent agreement with the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday after being bypassed in the draft.