National Sports

OTTAWA — The Continental Cup curling competition was cancelled for a second straight season Wednesday due to challenges stemming from the pandemic.

LONDON (AP) — No U.K. government minister will attend the Beijing Winter Olympics, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Wednesday, calling it “effectively” a diplomatic boycott.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Not long after Serena Williams' name was absent from the entry list for the Australian Open, she confirmed the obvious: the seven-time champion won't play the 2022 edition of the season-opening major in January.

DENVER (AP) — A member of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee's board of directors is among those echoing the IOC's call for behind-the-scenes negotiations to ensure the well-being of tennis player Peng Shuai.

LONDON (AP) — Building materials maker Kingspan said it had agreed with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One racing team to end a partnership deal after protests from the families of people who died in a high-rise fire in London.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Tomas Hertl scored his fourth career hat trick and the San Jose Sharks used a three-goal barrage in the second period to beat the Calgary Flames 5-3 on Tuesday night.

MIAMI (AP) — Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky were honored as male and female athletes of the year at USA Swimming’s annual Golden Goggle awards on Tuesday night.

EDMONTON — The Minnesota Wild keep piling up the wins, and the goals. Joel Eriksson Ek had a goal and an assist as the Wild won their seventh straight game, rolling over the Edmonton Oilers 4-1 Tuesday.

WINNIPEG — Scoring power-play goals is nice, but Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour was impressed with his team's penalty kill in a 4-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.

MONTREAL — The Tampa Bay Lightning weren’t going to let the Montreal Canadiens avenge their loss in the 2021 Stanley Cup final.