TORONTO –  Jakob Poeltl’s return didn’t exactly go to plan.

The Austrian big man played his first game Wednesday after missing 24 with nagging back pain against the Detroit Pistons, but his Toronto Raptors struggled in a 113-95 loss against the Eastern Conference leaders.

Toronto’s loss marked its seventh in as many attempts against the top three seeds in the East, also including the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks.

The Raptors are also now 4-13 against the 10 best teams in the league overall.

“I think they just outworked and outclassed us a little bit today,” Poeltl said. “They played really physical, they rotated really aggressively on defence and at times we played really well against it, but we just couldn’t knock down open shots. At times, it looked pretty bad and we turned the ball over or we got stuck.”

Detroit, which has just 13 losses on the season, became the first team in the conference to hit the 40-win mark. The Raptors remained fifth, dropping to 32-23.

Poeltl’s first shift partly portended the night to come. He scored the Raptors’ first basket of the game on a pick-and-roll with RJ Barrett, but missed a lefty layup attempt soon after.

On the defensive end, he matched up with regular backup Paul Reed and allowed him to score 11 of Detroit’s first 14 points. Reed finished with 22 points and five rebounds.

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Poeltl was much more active in the second half, picking up four points and three rebounds in the first two minutes. He finished with nine points and six rebounds, playing in roughly five-minute shifts at the beginning of each quarter.

The Austrian said his return “felt pretty good.”

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“Obviously not perfect. Still trying to find a little bit of a rhythm, trying to get my lungs back, trying to find myself again without offence and stuff like that, but overall the back felt good, so I’m happy about that,” Poeltl said.

The 30-year-old was averaging 9.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in 21 contests before Wednesday’s action, missing time on and off because of his back.

His return showed there may still be a long way to go before he is firing on all cylinders once again.

“It was encouraging that he was finally able to come back and play 20 minutes like we planned for him. And it was good to see that he did not have restrictions on the court,” Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said.

“I always say there is a return to play, and there is return to performance. So it was really good to see him on the court now before the all-star (break) and he can continue to build on this.”

Reed, a career reserve, was only starting because fellow big men Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren began serving seven- and two-game suspensions, respectively, in the wake of Monday night’s melee with the Charlotte Hornets.

Still, the Pistons snagged 17 offensive rebounds.

“When they’re missing Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart, that’s something we should not be dealing with. We should do a much better job with that,” Rajakovic said.

Toronto now has eight days off, though a large contingent will be headed to Los Angeles for all-star weekend.

Scottie Barnes and Brandon Ingram will play in the game, Rajakovic and his coaching staff will lead Team World, and rookies Collin Murray-Boyles and Alijah Martin along with Canadian A.J. Lawson will compete in the rising stars game.

It will be for some deserved recognition for a Raptors team that has exceeded expectations through 55 games. But Toronto will need to take a step against the conference’s elite if they want to make noise after the break.

“I think overall we can be happy with our progress, but we’re also aware that there’s much more room for growth individually and as a team,” Poeltl said. “We have such a long way to go still and teams like tonight kinda show that for us that we’re still not where we want to be.”

For now, Rajakovic is pleased — but sees more growth ahead.

“Hopefully after the all-star break we will have everybody healthy, so we’re gonna be able to make a next step for us,” he said. “I believe that our best basketball is ahead of us and not behind us.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2026.

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LIVIGNO – A skiing journey that began famously being towed behind a snowmobile as a child on Christopher Lake in Saskatchewan, took Maia Schwinghammer to a fifth-place finish in the moguls at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old from Saskatoon earned a score of 77.61, just 0.39 off the podium.

“I know I have more to give, so it’s a little bittersweet, being points-wise so close to the podium,” said Schwinghammer. “I knew I made a couple of mistakes in my run. So there’s that. It’s always tough when you know you can do better. But fifth at the Olympic Games … I’m so proud of the way I was able to handle the nerves.”

American Elizabeth Lemley won the gold with a storming run, awarded a score of 82.30 at Livigno Aerials and Moguls Park. Australia’s Jakara Anthony, the last competitor, had a chance to catch her and become the first woman to defend an Olympic moguls title, but lost an edge and skied off the top of the course, finishing eighth at 60.81.

American Jaelin Kauf won silver for the second games in a row with a score of 80.77, ahead of France’s Perrine Laffont, the 2018 champion in Pyeongchang at 78.00.

Japan’s Hinako Tomitaka also scored 78.00 but lost the bronze to Laffont on the turns score tiebreaker and finished fourth.

Schwinghammer learned to ski at Mount Blackstrap, a modest ski hill just south of Saskatoon, then managed by her parents that offered just 45 metres of elevation, one chairlift and one T-bar.

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That’s where she fell in love with the sport.

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Reminded of such humble beginnings Wednesday, Schwinghammer smiled.

“The little girl in me is screaming,” she said.

Her father, Rick, a former freestyle skier himself, was a freestyle ski official at the 2010 Games in Vancouver, and an eight-year-old Maia got to watch the moguls.

“Jennifer Heil was always a huge inspiration to me … I remember watching her get the silver medal and just knowing that I had to go become an Olympian one day,” she recalled in a media availability before the games.

That eventually led to a spot in the national team in 2018 at age 16. Heil, meanwhile, is the Canadian chef de mission in Milan Cortina.

Rick Schwinghammer went viral during the games as a proud dad for a tearful on-the street interview.

Canadian moguls coach Michel Hamelin said both he and Schwinghammer were surprised that the Canadian’s score wasn’t higher. He pointed to the top of the course, where skiers go off the first jump into a long stretch of moguls.

“If you do that super-smooth, it creates magic, and everyone is like ‘Whoa, OK, that’s amazing. And she actually landed and did a little slide. You see some snow, and that’s one thing the judges don’t like,” he explained.

“I think it’s around that that we lost a little bit and it cost us the (podium).”

In contrast, Lemley’s run was a blockbuster.

“One of the most beautiful moguls skiing runs I’ve seen to this date in this sport,” said Schwinghammer.

“She destroyed the course,” added Hamelin.

Schwinghammer, who just missed out on making the Beijing Olympics, enjoyed a banner 2024-25 season.

She was a bronze medallist at the 2025 FIS World Championships and finished third in the FIS World Cup moguls standings and fourth in the combined moguls/dual moguls standings. She earned three World Cup moguls podiums, including her first career World Cup win at Val St-Côme, Que., in January 2025.

But this season has proved to be more challenging with Schwinghammer citing injuries and a lack of confidence.

“I have to say this week has been the most fun I’ve had all year skiing. I can’t wait to bring that energy into dual (moguls), to take some confidence from today,” she said.

Dual moguls, which sees athletes compete head-to-head on parallel courses in a bracket-style format, makes its Olympic debut Saturday.

Laurianne Desmarais-Gilbert of Sainte-Adele, Que., finished 12th while Ashley Koehler of Lac-Beauport, Que., was 16th and Vancouver’s Jessica Linton 19th.

All four Canadian women were making their Olympic debut.

The Olympic moguls format is slightly different from that of World Cups.

The top 10 from the first qualifying round progress directly to the final round at the games. The rest get a second chance via a second round of qualifying, with 10 more advancing. The top eight competitors after the final then go after the medals in the super-final.

On Thursday, Canadian moguls star Mikael Kingsbury looks to make history by becoming the first to win medals in the same freestyle skiing event at four straight Olympics.

The 33-year-old from Deux-Montagnes, Que., who already has a gold medal from 2018 and a pair of silver medals from 2014 and 2022, qualified third Tuesday behind teammate Julien Viel and Japan’s Ikuma Horishima, who topped the 30-man field.

Elliot Vaillancourt of Drummondville, Que., was 16th in the first round of qualifying and will look to join his teammates in the second round of qualifying Thursday before the final.

In moguls, competitors race down a steep, heavily mogulled course featuring two jumps. Each run is judged on three elements: technical turns (worth 60 per cent), aerial manoeuvres (20 per cent) and speed (20 per cent).

Canada has won 11 moguls medals at the Olympics (six gold and five silver).

—

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2026

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Pitchers and catchers will report to the Toronto Blue Jays’ training facility Wednesday, although it’s likely some position players will arrive too.

The exhibition season will be interrupted by the Word Baseball Classic, with seven players from the Blue Jays’ major-league team suiting up to represent their countries for the international tournament in March.

Superstar first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., will play for the Dominican Republic, shortstop Andres Gimenez will represent Venezuela, infielder Leo Jimenez will suit up for Panama, utility man Ernie Clement joins the United States, catcher Alejandro Kirk will play for Mexico and third basemanKazuma Okamoto will take the field for Japan.

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Okamoto and star pitcher Dylan Cease were Toronto’s two biggest off-season signings.

Cease signed a seven-year, US$210-million contract with the Blue Jays on Dec. 2, adding to an already potent starting rotation.

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Okamoto, who also plays right field, followed suit, signing a four-year $60-million deal Jan. 4.

However, when Toronto does open its season, it will do so without outfielder Antony Santander and right-handers Shane Bieber and Bowden Francis.

Santander will have labrum surgery on his left shoulder and is expected to miss five to six months of the 2026 season. Bieber is dealing with forearm fatigue and won’t be ready to start the year while Francis will miss the entire ’26 campaign the result UCL reconstruction surgery.

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Sam O’Reilly scored his 20th and 21st goals of the season and added an assist as the Kitchener Rangers defeated the London Knights 5-2 at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium on Feb. 10

The Knights former captain matched his three-point output from six days earlier when he and Jared Woolley made their returns to Canada Life Place.

O’Reilly was named the game’s first star.

Gabe Chiarot of the Rangers scored the only goal of the first period on a play that started behind the net, as Dylan Edwards got his stick on a puck and put it out front to Chiarot and the Vancouver Canucks prospect managed to find a hole in Seb Gatto at 19:19.

Gatto stopped 18 of the 19 shots he faced in the opening 20 minutes.

Jesse Nurmi of the Knights tied the game just 47 seconds into the second period as he batted a deflected puck out of the air and in on a pass from Evan van Gorp. The play was reviewed for several minutes but it was called a good goal, giving Nurmi his ninth goal in seven games for London.

Nurmi helped to set up Will Nicholl on a Knights power play at 6:35 of the second period to give London a 2-1 lead before Kitchener came charging back.

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Dylan Edwards scored his 30th goal of the season from in front of the Knight net at 9:56. Then, just over one minute later, Christian Humphreys of the Rangers slapped in his 20th goal of the year to put Kitchener ahead 3-2.

Before the middle period ended, former London captain O’Reilly hit the 20-goal mark as he raced down the ice short-handed and snapped in a goal reminiscent of the one that ended a game between the Knights and the Rangers six days earlier and Kitchener led by a pair through 40 minutes.

O’Reilly scored the only goal of the third period into an empty net to finish the scoring.

The Rangers outshot London 39-23.

The Knights were 1-for-2 on the power play.

Kitchener was 1-for-4.

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Canadian Hockey League names Top 50 of last 50 years

Four London Knights have been named to the CHL’s Top 50 players of the last 50 years.

London led all other Canadian Hockey League teams, as Brendan Shanahan, Corey Perry, Patrick Kane and John Tavares were each included by the selection panel.

Two other area players in Drew Doughty of London and Joe Thornton of St. Thomas also made the Top 50.

Doughty played for the OHL’s Guelph Storm. Thornton was a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

Up next

The Knights will host the Storm on Feb. 11 on Sam Dickinson Bobblehead night.

Of the 16 games remaining on London’s schedule, four of the games will be against the Storm.

The Knights are 2-0 against Guelph so far but have not seen them since Nov. 5, 2025.

Coverage starts at 6 p.m. on 980 CFPL, at www.980cfpl.ca and on the iHeart Radio and Radioplayer Canada apps.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

MILAN – From Canada’s short-track speedskating silver to Canada’s loss to the U.S. in women’s hockey, here are five things to know from Tuesday, Feb. 10 at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games:

SILVER SKATERS

Short-track speedskating star William Dandjinou is making his Olympic debut in Italy. So is teammate Félix Roussel. The rookies joined forces with veterans Kim Boutin and Courtney Sarault to lead Canada to a sliver medal in the mixed team relay, behind host Italy and in front of Belgium. It’s the first Olympic medal for Dandjinou, Roussel and Sarault, and the fifth for Boutin. And the team is expecting more, as Dandjinou and Roussel won their men’s 1,000-metre heats, while Sarault and Boutin won their heats in the women’s 500 metres.

—

DEFENDING CHAMPS FALL

Canada’s struggles against the United States in women’s hockey continued with a 5-0 loss in Group A play. The Canadians, without injured captain Marie-Philip Poulin, only mustered up 20 shots on goal and were overwhelmed by the Americans. The U.S. outscored Canada 24-7 in a four-game sweep of their Rivalry Series late in 2025. The Americans finished atop Group A, going undefeated in four games, while Canada closes preliminary-round play against Finland on Thursday.

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OLYMPIC DREAM REVIVED

It looks like figure skaters Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps are going to have their Olympic moment after all. Skate Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee confirmed that the 2024 world champions are cleared to take part in the pairs competition that starts Sunday. The duo missed the team competition earlier in the Games after Stellato-Dudek hit her head and sustained an injury while training outside Montreal. Stellato-Dudek, who is making her Olympic debut at 42, is poised to become the oldest female figure skater in nearly a century to compete at the Olympics.

—

GOGOLEV IN TOP 10

Canadian figure skater Stephen Gogolev sits in 10th place after the men’s short program. The 21-year-old from Toronto landed two quad jumps to score 87.41 points in his routine to “Mugzy’s Move” by Royal Crown Revue, in which he portrays a 1920s Prohibition-era gangster. He finished the program despite having one of his boot laces shake loose midway through the skate. The free program takes place Friday to decide the medals.

—

SHIFFRIN STILL STRUGGLING

There is no one touching American skier Mikaela Shiffrin on the World Cup circuit. But lately, the Olympics have been a different story. Shiffrin extended her streak of Olympic races without a medal to seven when she and teammate Breezy Johnson finished fourth in the team combined event. Johnson handed Shiffrin a slim lead after the downhill portion, but the most successful World Cup racer of all time with a record 108 victories couldn’t make it stand up in the slalom. After taking two golds and silver from her first two Olympics, Shiffrin didn’t win a medal in any of her six races at the 2022 Beijing Games.

—

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2026.

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It took some time but Jarell Broxton is finally a Winnipeg Blue Bomber.

The six-foot-five, 325-pound American offensive lineman signed a two-year deal with Winnipeg on Tuesday, the first day of CFL free agency.

Broxton, 32, spent the last five seasons with the B.C. Lions and last season anchored an offensive line that allowed the fewest sacks across the league and averaged a CFL-record 8.04 yards per play.

While Broxton was B.C.’s most outstanding offensive lineman the past three seasons, he originally signed with Winnipeg in February 2020. The CFL didn’t play that year due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and Broxton went on to join the Lions.

Winnipeg also signed Canadian receiver Tommy Nield to a two-year deal Tuesday. The six-foot-three, 203-pound Guelph, Ont., native had 42 catches for 535 yards and five TDs in 13 regular-season games with the Grey Cup-champion Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2025.

Elsewhere, the Calgary Stampeders signed Canadian receiver Dejon Brissett to a two-year deal. The Mississauga, Ont., native spent the past five seasons with the Toronto Argonauts, winning two Grey Cups.

Brissett was named the top Canadian in Toronto’s ’24 championship win over Winnipeg.

The Ottawa Redblacks signed veteran defensive back Demerio Houston to a one-year deal. The 29-year-old American appeared in five games last year with Winnipeg, and has 14 career picks in 50 contests with the Bombers and Calgary.

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In Hamilton, the Tiger-Cats inked American receiver/returner Mario Alford and Canadian receiver Tyson Middlemost.

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Alford, 34, was the CFL’s top special-teams player in 2022 and spent last season in Saskatchewan where he returned 44 punts for 476 yards over 11 regular-season games.

Middlemost, 28, of Dundas, Ont., had five catches for 34 yards while adding eight special-teams tackles with Edmonton.

But the opening day of free agency was anti-climatic as many of Tuesday’s moves had been previously reported Feb. 1 when the CFL’s negotiation window opened.

Other transactions included:

— Calgary had the first move of the day, signing American defensive back Devodric Bynum. He played 19 games over two seasons with the Edmonton Elks, registering 40 tackles, five interceptions and one forced fumble.

— Saskatchewan signed American defensive lineman James Vaughters. The six-foot-one, 256-pound Vaughters had 36 tackles (four for loss), eight special-teams tackles, six sacks and two fumble recoveries (one returned for TD) in 17 games last season with Winnipeg.

— Ottawa added linebackers C.J. Reavis and Brian Cole II, and defensive lineman Dylan Wynn, all Americans. Reavis had 61 tackles, two sacks an interception and two forced fumbles in 17 regular-season games with Saskatchewan last year, while Hall registered 22 total tackles last year with Hamilton, including 19 on special teams. Wynn spent the past two seasons with Montreal.

— Winnipeg signed veteran American defensive back Jonathan Moxey to a two-year deal. He spent the last two years with Hamilton. Before the noon ET start of free agency, the Bombers agreed to terms with linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox, 31, on a one-year deal. The six-foot-two, 240-pound American began his CFL career in Manitoba (2017-18) but was released this off-season following three years with Ottawa (2023-25).

— Veteran American defensive back DaShaun Amos returned to the Toronto Argonauts after being named a CFL all-star last season with Hamilton (45 tackles, four interceptions, fumble recovery in 18 regular-season games). Before joining the Ticats, Amos played three seasons in Toronto (2022-2024), winning Grey Cups in 2022 and 2024. The Argos also signed Canadian defensive lineman Jonathan Kongbo who had a team-high four sacks last season with Edmonton.

— Montreal signed quarterback Dustin Crum and receiver Jerreth Sterns to one-year contracts. Crum spent the last three seasons with Ottawa and last year ran for 429 yards and 11 touchdowns. Sterns had 48 catches for 530 yards and four TDs in 14 regular-season games with Winnipeg in 2025.

— Hamilton signed Canadian defensive lineman Kene Onyeka and American offensive lineman Eric Lofton. Onyeka, 29, played six seasons with Ottawa (2019, 2021-2025) while Lofton, 32 sent the last two seasons with Winnipeg. The Ticats also signed punter Fraser Masin — taken first overall in last year’s Global draft by Calgary — to a two-year contact before the start of free agency.

— B.C. re-signed defensive back Dawson Pierre and linebacker Maxime Rouyer, both Canadians to two- and one-year deals respectively. Pierre spent the last two seasons with Ottawa while Rouyer has played in 42 regular-season games with the Lions since 2022.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 10, 2026.

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press

Monday’s day off for Egor Dëmin aside, the all-rookie backcourt is on for the Nets.

Nolan Traore joining Dëmin in the starting lineup isn’t just a nod to his recent development but a glimpse at what could be their backcourt of the future, as they hope to tank their way back to competitiveness.

The two foreign teenagers complement one another, their strengths not only covering up the other’s weaknesses but even accentuating their abilities.

“Yes, we complete each other, and we play great [together],” Traore told The Post. “He is a good shooter, and it is always good for me to play with good shooters.”