Sports Update

SPORTS SCOREBOARD JAN 15

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 08:48:00 GMT

Monday's Games

NBA

Washington 120 Orlando 91

Boston 100 Charlotte 89

Chicago 97 Atlanta 58

L.A. Clippers 99 Memphis 73

Dallas 113 Minnesota 98

Oklahoma City 102 Phoenix 90

Utah 104 Miami 97

Sacramento 124 Cleveland 118

AM SPORTS UPDATE JAN 15

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 08:47:00 GMT

It was Canada Day on the men's side at the Australian Open, where Milos Raonic and Jesse Levine won their opening round matches. Raonic, who is from Thornhill, Ontario, needed four sets to get by Jan Hajek, while Levine, from Ottawa, outslugged Tommy Robredo in just over three hours. Vancouver's Rebecca Marino didn't make it through the first round, losing 6-3, 6-love to Peng Shuai.

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Kimiko Date Krumm had the 40-something crowd in her pocket the Australian Open. The 42-year-old upset 12th-seed Nadia Petrova to become the oldest woman to win a singles match at the tournament. Number-Seven Sara Errani is the only other seed to fall, while the big names, Victoria Azarenka, Serena Williams won their opening matches in straight sets. Caroline Wozniacki (wohz-nee-AK'-ee) needed three sets to advance. On the men's side, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga breezed through the first round in straight sets.

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Lance Armstrong ended his cycle of denials. A person familiar with the situation says Armstrong confessed to Oprah Winfrey during an interview that he used performance-enhancing drugs to win his seven Tour de France title. The confession was a stunning reversal, after years of public statements, interviews and court battles in which he denied doping and zealously protected his reputation.

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Two noticeable players missing on the second day of the Calgary Flames' training camp. Captain Jarome Iginla was sidelined for the second straight day with a groin injury, while Jiri Hudler returned home to the Czech Republic for a family emergency. And, the Edmonton Oilers added another defenceman to their roster, acquiring Mark Fistric (FISS'-trick) from Dallas for a third-round draft pick.

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There's a report Montreal Alouettes coach Marc Trestman will return to Chicago for a second interview with the Bears. Trestman has also interviewed with Cleveland. Trestman is regarded as a quarterback guru and has a history with Chicago starter Jay Cutler and backup Jason Campbell, and helped both in their respective pre-draft preparations.

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Atlanta Hawks coach Larry Drew summed up his team's game in Chicago as very, very embarrassing. The Hawks scored just five points in the second quarter, and was held to a franchise-low 20 points at the intermission, in a 97-58 loss to the Bulls. The Hawks missed 17 consecutive shots during half.

NORTH AMERICA BEATS WORLD AT CURLING COMPETITION

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 09:31:00 GMT

North America cruised to a 37-23 victory over the World squad on the final day of the World Financial Group Continental Cup.

North America went into the final skins session Sunday at the Ryder Cup-inspired curling tournament with a 26.8-18.5 advantage, a deficit that proved too big for World to overcome in the 60-point competition.

World edged North America 8-7 in the first session, but were blown out 10.5-4.5 in the second session on the strength of three straight wins by Winnipeg's Jennifer Jones, Edmonton's Kevin Martin and Glenn Howard of Coldwater, Ont.

North America's team, which also included Americans Heath McCormick and Allison Pottinger, Edmonton's Heather Nedohin, captain Kelley Law of Coquitlam, B.C., and coach Rick Lang of Thunder Bay, Ont., received $52,000 ($2,000 per member), as well as a $13,000 bonus for winning the most points from the final three skins games.

World's team, coached by Sweden's Peja Lindholm, captained by Scotland's David Hay and including Scotland's Tom Brewster, Eve Muirhead, Niklas Edin and Margaretha Sigfridsson, Norway's Thomas Ulsrud and Mirjam Ott of Switzerland, settled for the runner-up prize of $26,000, ($1,000 per member).

Both sides have won the tournament four times since the first event in 2002. Next year's event will be held in Las Vegas.

SPORTS SCOREBOARD JAN 14

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 09:29:00 GMT

Sunday's Games

NFL Playoffs

NFC Semifinal

Atlanta 30 Seattle 28

AFC Semifinal

New England 41 Houston 28

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NBA

Milwaukee 107 Toronto 96

New York 100 New Orleans 87

Brooklyn 97 Indiana 86

San Antonio 106 Minnesota 88

Denver 116 Golden State 105

Oklahoma City 87 Portland 83

L.A. Lakers 113 Cleveland 93

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AHL

St. John's 4 Toronto 2

Portland 3 Worcester 1

Providence 2 Manchester 1

Bridgeport 5 Albany 4

Hershey 5 Connecticut 0

Texas 3 Oklahoma City 0

Charlotte 2 Houston 1 (OT)

Peoria 3 Milwaukee 2 (SO)

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NLL

Toronto 10 Edmonton 9

AM SPORTS UPDATE JAN 14

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 09:28:00 GMT

The Atlanta Falcons sweated out a 30-28 win over Seattle, and will host San Francisco next Sunday in the N-F-C championship game. The Seahawks overcame a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter to take a one-point lead in the final minute, only to give it up when Matt Ryan drove the Falcons into field goal range, setting up Matt Bryant's 49-yard field goal with eight seconds left.

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For the second straight year, New England will host the Baltimore Ravens with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. Tom Brady threw three touchdown passes, two of them to seldom-used running back Shane Vereen, in the Patriots 41-28 win over Houston. New England could be without tight end Rob Gronkowski for the A-F-C championship game -- word is, he needs surgery on his broken left arm that he injured in the first quarter.

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The Montreal Canadiens are cutting their losses with centre Scott Gomez, who's been a major disappointment the past two seasons. Gomez was told to take the season off, and the Canadiens will buy out his contract next summer to remove his 7.3-million-dollar salary cap hit from the books. Under the collective bargaining agreement, teams will be allowed two ``amnesty'' buyouts to help reach the cap, but if a player is injured when the buyout period begins in July, he cannot be bought out.

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The Washington Capitals are adjusting to new coach Adam Oates virtually on the fly. Washington opens the season Saturday at Tampa Bay, giving Oates just six practices and a scrimmage to install his system, which is a cross between Bruce Boudreau's up-tempo scheme and successor Dale Hunter's defensive-oriented game plan.

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Novak Djokovic got his Australian Open title defence off to a worry-free start, with a 6-2, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Paul-Henri Mathieu. Djokovic is attempting to be the first man in the Open era to win three consecutive Australian titles. Women's number-two seed Maria Sharapova (shah-rah-POH'-vah) opened with a 6-love, 6-love win over Olga Puchkova.

COLTS TAME ICE DOGS

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 16:09:00 GMT

Steven Beyers had two goals two assists as the Barrie Colts downed the visiting Niagara IceDogs 5-1 in Ontario Hockey League action on Saturday night.

Tyson Fawcett added a goal and two assists for the Colts (28-13-1) while Andreas Athanasiou and Mitchell Theoret scored a goal apiece.

Barrie's captain Ryan O'Connor picked up an assist, which gives him 42 points in 39 games and moves him past Dougie Hamilton and Cody Ceci for the OHL lead in points by a defenceman.

Shayne Rover replied for the IceDogs (23-17-3), who have lost five of their last seven games.

Mathias Niederberger turned aside 25 shots for the win as Christopher Festarini made 32 stops in defeat.

Barrie went 1 for 7 on the power play, and scored a short-handed goal, as Niagara finished the game 0 for 6.

SPORTS SCOREBOARD JAN 13

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 12:14:00 GMT

Saturday's Games

OHL

Barrie 5 Niagara 1

NFL

Baltimore 38 Denver 35 (2OT)

NFC Semifinal

San Francisco 45 Green Bay 31

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NBA

Orlando 104 L.A. Clippers 101

Indiana 96 Charlotte 88

Washington 93 Atlanta 83

Utah 90 Detroit 87

Philadelphia 107 Houston 100

Phoenix 97 Chicago 81

Dallas 104 Memphis 83

Miami 128 Sacramento 99

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AHL

Albany 4 Worcester 1

Toronto 6 St. John's 2

Portland 6 Bridgeport 3

Springfield 4 Providence 2

Peoria 3 Grand Rapids 2 (OT)

Hershey 4 Connecticut 3 (SO)

Binghamton 4 Norfolk 2

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 2 Adirondack 1

Rochester 4 Syracuse 1

Charlotte 4 Oklahoma City 3 (OT)

Texas 3 San Antonio 1

Rockford 2 Milwaukee 1

Lake Erie 3 Houston 2

Chicago 1 Abbotsford 0

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NLL

Buffalo 13 Minnesota 12

Toronto 13 Calgary 11

Washington 17 Colorado 13

AM SPORTS UPDATE JAN 13

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 12:13:00 GMT

The start of N-H-L training camps is just hours away after the players and owners agreed on memorandum of understanding on the new collective bargaining agreement. That bit of paperwork officially ended the lockout after the two sides came to an agreement last weekend. Owners ratified the deal on Wednesday, while the players gave the thumbs up yesterday.

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One of hockey's most storied rivalries will help kick off the lockout-shortened N-H-L season. The Montreal Canadiens host the Toronto Maple Leafs next Saturday night in one of 13 games. Earlier in the day, the Stanley Cup champion L-A Kings will raise their banner before they host Chicago. In other action on Day 1, Ottawa visits Winnipeg and Vancouver welcomes Anaheim.

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Peyton Manning will have a lot of time to think about the final throw of his comeback season. Corey Graham intercepted Manning's pass near midfield late in the first overtime period to set up Justin Tucker's winning kick as Baltimore upset Denver 38-35 in the A-F-C playoffs. The Ravens will visit the winner of today's New England-Houston matchup in next weekend's A-F-C Championship game.

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The San Francisco 49ers are heading back to the N-F-C Championship game. Colin Kaepernick (KAP'-er-nick) ran for a playoff-record 181 yards and two touchdowns and threw two scoring passes to Michael Crabtree to lead the Niners past Green Bay 45-31. San Fran will take on the winner of today's other N-F-C playoff game between Atlanta and Seattle.

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The Kansas City Chiefs have settled on a new general manager. The club has hired longtime Green Bay Packers personnel man John Dorsey to replace the fired Scott Pioli. Dorsey will be introduced at a news conference tomorrow. Dorsey played for the Packers in the 1980s and has been instrumental in building Green Bay into a perennial contender.

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Kasey Beirnes scored a hat trick to help the Toronto Rock hold off the host Calgary Roughnecks 13-11 in the National Lacrosse League season opener for both teams. Toronto led 10-5 halfway through the third quarter before Calgary stormed back. The Rock take on the Edmonton Rush this afternoon.

CANADIAN NHL TEAMS READY TO HIT THE ICE

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 12:12:00 GMT

Five Canadian teams will be on the ice when the lockout-shortened NHL season starts next Saturday.

The Winnipeg Jets host the Ottawa Senators in one of three afternoon games, that also include the Chicago Blackhawks visiting the Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings.

The Toronto Maple Leafs visit the Montreal Canadiens in the evening, while the Vancouver Canucks open the season at home to Anaheim.

On Sunday, the Calgary Flames host San Jose in their season debut, and the Edmonton Oilers kick off their 48-game schedule with a game in Vancouver.

A total of 13 games are set for Day 1 of the regular season that ends April 27.

The NHL released the schedule shortly after the league and players' association signed a memorandum of understanding that finalized the new labour deal agreed to last weekend and ended the 119-day lockout.

NHL LOCKOUT IS OVER

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 12:11:00 GMT

The NHL lockout is officially over.

The league and players' association have finalized a memorandum of understanding regarding the new labour deal signed last weekend.

The news comes hours after the union voted to ratify the new collective bargaining agreement agreed to last weekend. The owners had ratified the deal earlier this week.

With the memorandum out of the way, training camps are cleared the start Sunday, with a 48-game regular season set to begin next Saturday.

Teams are now expected to start signing players and making deals for the first time since the lockout started on Sept. 15.

The new CBA was reached last Sunday on the 113th day of the lockout.