{allcanada} Canada's Victoria Mboko upsets Elena Rybakina at Qatar Open

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It's off to the semifinals at the Qatar Open tennis tournament for Canadian tennis star Victoria Mboko following yet another upset victory.

The 19-year-old from Toronto earned a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 quarterfinal win Thursday over second-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, the 2026 Australian Open champion. The 10th-seeded Mboko had reached the quarterfinals by upsetting fifth seed Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) on Wednesday.

The Canadian won Thursday in dramatic fashion, sealing the match with her sixth service break. After Mboko jumped out to a 40-0 lead in the 10th game, Rybakina fought back to deuce, but Mboko took the next two points to complete the stunning upset.

Mboko finished 6-of-12 in break attempts while Rybakina was 5-of-9. Rybakina fired 11 aces in the match, compared to six for the Canadian.

Three service breaks powered Mboko's opening-set win. Rybakina moved ahead 5-3 with a break and a hold, but Mboko held serve and then broke again to level the set at 5-5.

The Canadian clinched the set with her third break despite having fewer aces (two, compared to four for Rybakina) and a double-fault (Rybakina had none). Rybakina also registered two first-set service breaks of her own.

Rybakina broke for the third time in the opening game of the second set and held for a 3-1 lead. Mboko answered with her fourth break to pull even at 3-3, but Rybakina broke again for 4-3 and served out the set 6-4 to force a deciding set.

Mboko improved her record to 12-3 this season. She's coming off a breakout 2025 campaign in which she won two titles, including a WTA 1000-level crown at the National Bank Open in Montreal.

She entered the Qatar Open with a career-high ranking of 13th and is projected to move into the top 10 following Thursday's victory.

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{allcanada} Binnington posts shutout as Canada opens with dominant win over Czechia

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MILAN — Macklin Celebrini opened the scoring and Jordan Binnington made 26 saves for the shutout as Canada's NHL stars opened their quest for gold at the Milan Cortina Olympics with a 5-0 victory over Czechia on Thursday.

Mark Stone, Bo Horvat, Nathan MacKinnon and Nick Suzuki had the other goals for the Canadians. Connor McDavid had three assists, while Sidney Crosby and Thomas Harley had two assists each.

Lukas Dostal stopped 31 shots for the overmatched Czechs.

The NHL is back at the Olympics after a 12-year absence from the international spotlight. The league declined to attend the 2018 event in Pyeongchang, South Korea, before COVID-19 scuttled plans for a return in Beijing four years ago.

Canada, with a roster of 19 returnees from its victory at last year's 4 Nations Face-Off, played its first game at an Olympics with NHLers in 4,373 days.

Switzerland topped France 4-0 in the early Group A game. The Canadians meet the Swiss on Friday, while the Czechs and French will tangle in the other matchup.

Canada was greeted by whistles and boos from the boisterous, colourful, Czech-heavy crowd at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena ahead of Thursday's much-anticipated puck drop.

The Canadians came out flying in the opening moments, including a big hit from McDavid on Lukas Sedlak.

Canada's lightning-quick power play failed to connect despite some decent looks before MacKinnon's shot that flew in past Dostal's glove was negated by a Suzuki tripping penalty.

Binnington — a hero at 4 Nations some 12 months ago — got the start despite some iffy numbers in the NHL this season. David Kampf had a great chance to put the Czechs in front later in the period, but the netminder made a desperation save while lying on the ice and the net staring his opponent in the face.

Celebrini, the youngest player in the tournament and the youngest Canadian to play at an Olympics involving the NHL, opened the scoring in the waning moments of the first period when he tipped Cale Makar's hopeful point shot past Dostal with 5.7 seconds remaining on the clock.

The No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft was not yet eight years old the last time an NHL player representing Canada scored at the Olympics.

The Canadians, wearing their white jerseys with a red Maple Leaf, got a nice stop from Binnington on David Pastrnak early in the second before doubling their lead.

Mitch Marner picked up the puck along the boards and delivered a beautiful saucer pass over a sprawling Czech player for Stone to tap home at 6:40.

McDavid then moved in on a 2-on-1 with Brandon Hagel, but was denied twice by Dostal on the doorstep, including on the rebound.

The Canadians kept coming and made it 3-0 at 17:26 when Horvat split a sloppy Czech defence and slid a puck between the pads.

It wasn't all good news for the team in white, however, as defenceman Josh Morrisey left the game early in the period and didn't return. International rules allow teams to dress 13 forwards and seven blueliners. Shea Theodore slotted in alongside Colyton Parayko in Morrissey's spot. Travis Sanheim is the only other defender on the roster.

The Czech fans stayed in full voice throughout much of the game at the packed 11,600-seat venue, but were silenced midway through the third when MacKinnon scored on a power play off a setup from McDavid and Crosby at 7:42.

Suzuki made it 5-0 on another McDavid feed at 13:22 to cap a result that was never really in doubt.

Canada won best-on-best gold with its men's stars at the 2002, 2010 and 2014 Games, with Crosby and defenceman Drew Doughty back from the latter two looking for a third finish atop a Games podium.

Canada's last Olympic meeting with Czechia came six years ago in South Korea — minus NHLers — when the country secured a 6-4 victory and a bronze medal.

Canada fell to the Czechs in an infamous semifinal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, when Wayne Gretzky was left out of the shootout. The Czechs went on to win gold.

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{allcanada} Bettman says the NHL has more Olympic content access in Milan and hopes for further progress

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MILAN (AP) — Not getting to show iconic moments such as Sidney Crosby's golden goal for Canada in Vancouver in 2010 or T.J. Oshie's shootout heroics for the U.S. against Russia in Sochi in 2014 has been one of the biggest sticking points when it comes to the NHL participating in the Olympics.

The top hockey league in the world decided not to take part in 2018, and pandemic-related scheduling issues scrapped going in 2022. Back now in Milan for the first time in a dozen years, Commissioner Gary Bettman noted progress made in gaining more access to content, but hopes for more in the future with an eye on 2030 in the French Alps and beyond.

"I do believe that both the IOC and IIHF have been a tad more flexible in terms of the things that we can do, particularly with respect to intellectually property and how the games are covered so that we don't completely disappear for a couple of weeks," Bettman said at a joint news conference with Players' Association executive director Marty Walsh and International Ice Hockey Federation president Luc Tardif.

"I think there's an increasing recognition that we're a little unique compared to all the other sports in the Olympics — Summer or Winter — because to do this we're stopping our season in the middle and that is an imposition on the season. And I think, over time, that's something that the IOC has begun to respect more and more."

Bettman in particular pointed to players being able to create social media content as participating athletes and the NHL's ability to repost it as one improvement, along with shared logo use. A year since the league- and union-run 4 Nations Face-Off was a smashing success, this isn't their show, but players' desire to return to the Olympics has been a major priority for quite some time.

"Hockey fans and players want to see best on best," said Walsh, who left his Cabinet position as U.S. Secretary of Labor in 2013 to take over the union. "When I started at the PA, the first thing the players said to me: 'We want to be back in the Olympics.' I'm so honored to say that we worked collectively together to make that a reality."

No World Cup talk at the Olympics

A year to the day the NHL and NHLPA announced plans to stage a World Cup of Hockey in 2028 in the aim of having an international tournament on a cycle of every two years, Bettman and Walsh declined to discuss the event. They'd like to focus on this tournament first.

"Once we get done with the Olympics, there'll be some announcements," Bettman said. "We're making progress on our internal plans, but it would be both premature and, frankly, right now inappropriate (to talk about it)."

Tardif said the IIHF, which is not controlling the World Cup, has the framework of an agreement that would allow it to be scheduled. Some European leagues may need to pause their seasons to participate to fill out the rosters.

Russia is barred from hockey, just like other team sports, by the IOC given the ongoing war in Ukraine. Asked what the NHL would decide about its event, Bettman said it would go by how the rest of the international community is treating the situation.

Arena woes turn to celebration

Bettman was one of the first to express concern about the glacial pace of construction on the main hockey arena in Milan back in 2023, before the Olympic agreement was finalized. Sitting in the bowls of Milano Santagiulia Arena that got done just in time, he said league and union officials did "a lot of consciousness-raising as we came down the stretch" to help push the job over the finish line.

"We're here, we're playing the games and that's what we're focused on," Bettman said. "To the extent we feel like we need to debrief after the fact, we're going to do that."

Bettman deferred to Tardif, who's from France, on building of hockey rinks in Nice that are set to host games four years from now.

"For 2030, everybody sees the building is delivered on time, but we see with all the requests we've got about the tickets, why not have more seats?" Tardif said. "All of the fans all over the world, they deserve it. That's why you first build something that you're not going to have any other choice to come."

NHL not considering going to the international point system

The NHL awards two points for every win, one for a loss in overtime or a shootout and none for a loss in regulation. Internationally, it's three points for a regulation win, two for an overtime or shootout win, one for an overtime or shootout loss and none for a regulation loss.

Going to that system hasn't been discussed much and Walsh said players have not brought it up.

"We like what we have, and we like the way it plays out over our 82-game season and our playoffs, the way we do it," Bettman said. "We're not in search of a problem to fix."

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{allcanada} Pistons overcome suspensions to rout Raptors heading into All-Star break

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TORONTO — The Toronto Raptors will enter the all-star break on a sour note.

Toronto hardly came close in a 113-95 loss to the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena in both teams' final contest ahead of the annual midseason event.

The Raptors remain fifth in the East at 32-23 after the loss, while the Pistons improved to 40-13.

The Pistons, missing all-star Jalen Duren and fellow big man Isaiah Stewart due to suspensions, dominated the Raptors inside, with starting centre Paul Reed recording 22 points and five rebounds.

Cade Cunningham, also headed to the all-star game, led Detroit with 28 points while adding nine assists and seven rebounds.

The Raptors' all-stars didn't have quite the same effect. Scottie Barnes stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, seven rebounds, five assists, four blocks and three steals in just 30 minutes as he battled early foul trouble.

Brandon Ingram, added to the all-star game as an injury replacement on Tuesday, contributed 13 points but failed to notch a single assist or rebound.

Point guard Immanuel Quickley led the Raptors with 18 points on the strength of four three-pointers.

All-star weekend is set to take place at the Los Angeles Clippers' Intuit Dome, with on-court festivities beginning Friday and the game itself set to go Sunday.

Takeaways

Raptors: Jakob Poeltl returned from a 24-game absence due to a nagging back injury, started and played 20 minutes. The Austrian big man struggled some, scoring nine points (4-for-7) and snagging just one rebound in 10 first-half minutes before finishing with six. He'll get some more time off for the all-star break, with the Raptors hoping he returns rejuvenated for a second-half playoff push.

Pistons: Detroit hardly missed Stewart and Duren — who will sit seven and two games respectively, due to their roles in Monday's melee with the Charlotte Hornets — thanks to Reed, who put up 16 of his points in the first quarter. The 26-year-old veteran had scored double-digits just six times in 37 games while averaging 5.9 points per contest.

Key moment

The Raptors narrowed the Pistons' lead to five points early in the second, but Cunningham responded with three straight triples as part of a solo 9-2 run to restore Detroit's double-digit edge. Toronto never pulled back within one possession.

Key stat

The Raptors have now lost all seven of their games against the three highest-seeded teams in the conference, also including the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks. They'll face Detroit twice more in March.

Up next

Raptors: Barnes, Ingram and Darko Rajakovic's coaching staff are headed to the all-star game along with rising stars contestants Collin Murray-Boyles, Alijah Martin and A.J. Lawson. The team's next game is Feb. 19 against the Chicago Bulls.

Pistons: Cunningham, Duren and J.B. Bickerstaff's coaching staff lead Detroit's all-star contingent. The team will return to action Feb. 19 against the New York Knicks.

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