National Sports

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.

His trophy case complete after winning the Champions Cup for the first time, Brad Gushue and his St. John's team are aiming for even bigger things over the next quadrennial.

OTTAWA — Guy Boucher will be back behind the Ottawa Senators bench next season, and so will his entire staff.

TORONTO — It's close to DeMar DeRozan's heart, and much bigger than basketball. And so the Toronto Raptors all-star is happy to be an advocate for mental health, and has lent his voice to the NBA's new initiative that launched Tuesday.