National Sports

HENDERSON, Nev. — Auston Matthews believes those deep, painful battle scars of past playoff failures will eventually — finally — pay dividends. The Maple Leafs star centre, in truth, has little choice.

CALGARY — Momentum, yes, but Calgary Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson doesn't want his team feeling untroubled with the B.C. Lions in town.

VANCOUVER — For the second year in a row, the Vancouver Whitecaps need a big result against their regional rivals in order to preserve their faint playoff hopes. History, though, is not on Vancouver's side.

MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid has denounced the use of racist language to denigrate forward Vinícius Júnior.

TORONTO — Longtime industry executive Hugh Mitchell was appointed as chair of Woodbine Entertainment's board of directors Friday. The move is effective immediately.

Winnipeg forward Blake Wheeler admitted that being the Jets captain had become a burden, one that he has now been relieved of by new Jets coach Rick Bowness.

DALLAS (AP) — A jury convicted a 25-year-old man of capital murder Friday in the killing of former Texas Tech basketball star Andre Emmett, who had brief stints with the Memphis Grizzlies and New Jersey Nets after college.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Evander Kane and the San Jose Sharks reached a settlement Friday on the grievance he filed over the termination of his contract last season.

TORONTO — With the clock ticking, coach John Herdman offered a glimpse Friday into the player puzzle he is trying to assemble ahead of the Canadian men taking part in the World Cup for the first time in 36 years.

CHENNAI, India — Eugenie Bouchard left her doubles semifinal with an injury while Rebecca Marino was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the singles draw Friday at the Chennai Open tennis tournament. Bouchard, from Westmount, Que.