National Sports

Winning is important to longtime football coach Greg Marshall, but not at the expense of player safety. Marshall has won plenty in the game.

TORONTO — He has played Canadian university football and coached the game, but Todd Smith is waiting before he lets his two sons get on the field.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Robert Wickens says he will be in a race car again, saying it's "all I know." Sitting in a wheelchair and looking to be in good spirits, the Canadian driver talked to media today ahead of Sunday's season-opening IndyCar race.

TORONTO — Shane Wright has become the sixth player to be admitted early entry into a Canadian Hockey League draft under the exceptional-player rule. The Ontario Hockey Federation announced Friday that the 15-year-old forward from Burlington, Ont.

BEIJING — Canada's Jennifer Abel captured two medals on Friday at the second Diving World Series event of the season. The 27-year-old native of Laval, Que.

MONTREAL — Given the Montreal Impact's continued struggles on the road, goalkeeper Evan Bush wanted to give his side a leg up — so he probed the opposition.

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Thailand has volunteered to ban itself from Tokyo Olympic Games weightlifting next year because of doping, another blow to a sport whose place on the Olympic program is precarious.

VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Whitecaps know that playing on the road isn't easy. Travel can be gruelling, especially for squads that call the West Coast home. A stadium full of opposing fans can be intimidating.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — With several players dealing with the flu, the San Jose Sharks managed to find a way to pull out a win that moved them closer to Calgary in the race for first place.

Thursday's Games NHL Boston 4 Florida 3 Pittsburgh 3 Columbus 0 Detroit 3 N.Y. Rangers 2 (SO) N.Y.