National Sports

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball payrolls dropped 4% in 2021 compared to the league's last full season, and the $4.05 billion total was the lowest in a fully completed year since 2015.

The explosion of COVID-19 cases amid the new highly contagious Omicron variant couldn't come at a worse time for the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Less than seven weeks before the Games open on Feb.

TORONTO — After being No. 2 with the Ottawa Fury, Calgary Foothills FC and Cavalry FC, Martin Nash is getting the chance to run his own show with York United FC.

TORONTO — Scottie Barnes and Precious Achiuwa were added to the NBA's COVID-19 protocols by the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday, hours after teammates Fred VanVleet and Malachi Flynn were sidelined. There are now seven Raptors in league protocols.

Ottawa 67's general manager James Boyd was bouncing potential coaching candidates off his longtime friend Dave Cameron when Boyd took a flyer. "All of a sudden I asked the question 'would you ever be interested in this?'" Boyd said.

MONTREAL — The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League has paused all activities until Jan. 7. The league says the pause is necessary because of surging COVID-19 infection rates in Eastern Canada. Players will report back to their clubs on Jan. 3.

Monday's Games NHL Dallas 7 Minnesota 4 Columbus at Buffalo, ppd Montreal at N.Y.

The NHL and the National Hockey League Players' Association have announced the suspension of all operations from Wednesday to Christmas Day amid an increase of positive COVID-19 tests.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A New Jersey man who posed as a former New England Patriots player in order to buy and sell Super Bowl rings that he claimed were gifts to Tom Brady's family will plead guilty to fraud, federal prosecutors said Monday.

CALGARY — Kaiden Guhle has been named Canada's captain for the upcoming world junior hockey championship.