Canada into gold medal game at para hockey worlds
GANGENUNG, South Korea — Tyler McGregor scored a hat trick as Canada routed Germany 9-0 on Wednesday to advance to the gold-medal game at the para ice hockey world championships.
Adam Dixon added a goal and two assists for the Canadians (5-1-0), who play the U.S. for gold on Thursday. Dominic Cozzolino and Corbyn Smith both struck twice with Bryan Sholomicki rounding out the attack.
Dominic Larocque stopped two shots for the shutout while Klaus Brzoska turned away 36-of-45 shots for Germany (0-5-1).
“Solid effort from our team,” said head coach Ken Babey. “We played smart, fast, and most importantly, as a team. The team has done a great job of sticking to the game plan through the world championship. Now we have an opportunity to play for a gold medal.”
Canada was coming off a 2-1 loss to the Americans in its last game.
“It’s a great opportunity, and an honour, especially to play the U.S.A. which is our long-time rival,” said Sholomicki. “We just want to get out there and stick to our plan and to play our game. If we do that, we can pull out the win.”
The sport’s name was recently changed from sledge hockey to para ice hockey.
TORONTO — Raptors 905 head coach Jerry Stackhouse has been named the NBA D-League coach of the year.
In his first season as head coach, Stackhouse led Raptors 905 to its first Central Division title and a league-best 39-11 mark, including a D-League record 21-4 on the road.
Stackhouse received the only coach of the month award in team history after leading Raptors 905 to a 9-3 record in December. Raptors 905 continued to improve with a 10-2 record in January and an 11-2 record in March.
Raptors 905 hosted the Maine Red Claws in Game 2 of the D-League Eastern Conference final Wednesday night, leading the best-of-three series 1-0.
Stackhouse played 19 seasons in the NBA following a stellar collegiate career at North Carolina. He joined the Raptors organization as an assistant coach in 2015.
Raptors 905 coach named D-League coach of the year UEFA gives suspended bans to Lyon and Besiktas
NYON, Switzerland — French club Lyon and Turkey’s Besiktas have been given suspended one-season bans from European competition following crowd trouble at their Europa League quarterfinal.
UEFA said in a statement Wednesday that both clubs would be excluded from the next competition for which they qualified — with the ban being deferred for a probationary period of two years.
The clubs were also fined 100,000 euros ($107,000) each after fireworks were lit and missiles were thrown at Lyon’s stadium before the first-leg match on April 13. The trouble followed fighting among French and Turkish fans in the city earlier in the day.
About 20 minutes before the scheduled kickoff, Lyon fans spilled on to the field for their own safety after the fireworks were set off and missiles were lobbed from an upper section of the stadium containing Besiktas supporters.
The game finally began 45 minutes late after police intervened in the stands.