National Sports

TORONTO — The new COVID-19 surge is affecting sports fans in Ontario. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Raptors plus the Ottawa Senators will see their venue capacity reduced to 50 per cent at home games starting Saturday.

NHL players had been expressing an overwhelming desire to take part in the Beijing Olympics.

VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Canucks have named former scout Derek Clancey assistant general manager.

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Blackhawks have settled a lawsuit by a former player who said he was sexually assaulted by an assistant coach during the team's 2010 Stanley Cup title run.

HALIFAX — The Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus has reached all four Atlantic provinces, after Newfoundland and Labrador on Wednesday confirmed its first case of the mutation believed to be more infectious than Delta.

OTTAWA — The 16-team field for Canada's Olympic mixed doubles trials was confirmed Wednesday by Curling Canada. The Dec. 28-Jan. 2 competition at Stride Place in Portage la Prairie, Man.

EDMONTON — The Edmonton Elks signed defensive back Aaron Grymes to a two-year contract extension on Wednesday. The seven-year CFL veteran had 51 defensive tackles and one interception in 13 games last season.

CALGARY — An outbreak that has forced the postponement of four Calgary Flames games worsened Wednesday after seven more players were added to the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list and the team's return to game play was delayed through Saturday.

OTTAWA — Bayern Munich star and national men's team anchor Alphonso Davies was named Canada Soccer player of the year on Wednesday.

With the number of coronavirus cases and game postponements climbing, the NHL is reintroducing enhanced COVID-19 protocols that include restricting players to staying in their hotels while on the road in a bid to limit a growing outbreak among player