TORONTO — The pest likes to text. Matthew Tkachuk, the shift-disturbing winger who earned a one-game suspension last month for inciting a line brawl against the Detroit Red Wings, uses slashes, spears and well-timed hits to get under the skin of opponents. But he tends to do his biggest damage with his smart phone. Forget…

TORONTO — There was a time in this MLS season when Toronto FC was a terrifying goal-scoring machine. During a six-match winning streak in which they all but clinched the regular-season title, TFC scored 21 times, an average of more than three per game. They have scored three goals, total, in their four playoff games.…

CALGARY — There is no paralysis in the analysis that Canadian Tire’s data-crunching wizards are doing for sport in this country. It’s all about moving forward. Sooner. Younger. Faster. More efficiently. And always, toward the podium. Lap times in swimming, start times in luge, split times in speed skating; the eight members of a sports…

A special edition of your midday sports snack. Russian athletes’ road to Pyeongchang Russian President Vladimir Putin made two big announcements today. One: He’s running for re-election next year. And two: His country will not boycott the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Putin seems to have acquiesced to the IOC’s ban on Russian uniforms and symbols…

Yu Baiwei carries the puck for Kunlun Red Star in their Canadian Women’s Hockey League game against Markham Thunder at the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Center in Shenzhen, China, on Nov. 22. Photograph by: Billy H.C. Kwok SHENZHEN, China — Yu Baiwei darted across the red line, under the arena’s bright lights, and winged a long…

MOSCOW — The Kremlin needs to analyze the International Olympic Committee’s ruling to bar Russia and its sports officials from the upcoming Pyeongchang Games before making any decisions regarding the country’s participation, a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday. Dmitry Peskov said “we need to put emotions aside” and “make a serious analysis” of…