National Sports

CALGARY — An unexpected steal and a force put Canada's Brendan Bottcher in the situation he wanted against Switzerland on Sunday at the BKT Tires & OK Tire World Men's Curling Championship.

KAMLOOPS, B.C. — Tristen Nielsen buried the lone goal in the shootout, leading the Vancouver Giants to a 1-0 victory over the Prince George Cougars in Western Hockey League action Sunday.

SAN ANTONIO — Tara VanDerveer hugged each of her Stanford players as they climbed the ladder to cut down a piece of the net. It took 29 years, but VanDerveer and the Cardinal are NCAA women's basketball champions again.

MONTREAL — Rafael Harvey-Pinard had two goals and an assist and the Laval Rocket dumped the Stockton Heat 4-2 in American Hockey League play on Sunday.

CHARLOTTETOWN — Lukas Cormier buried the shootout winner and the Charlottetown Islanders downed the Halifax Mooseheads 3-2 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play Sunday.

The Vancouver Canucks being brought to a standstill by the COVID-19 virus makes players and coaches elsewhere in the all-Canadian North Division uneasy for that team and their own.

NEW YORK — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. dropped 42 pounds after an underwhelming 2020. He's hoping less can be more — and the 22-year-old sure still looks like a heavy hitter.

KELOWNA, B.C. — It was close but the Kamloops Blazers kept their perfect record in tact with a 4-3 overtime win against the Victoria Royals in Western Hockey League play on Saturday.

CALGARY — Canada's Brendan Bottcher has been challenged in a variety of ways over his first three games at the BKT Tires & OK Tire World Men's Curling Championship.

MONTREAL — For Ottawa coach D.J. Smith, the growth of his young team was illustrated late in the second period Saturday when Josh Anderson scored to bring the Montreal Canadiens to within one at 4-3.