NOTEWORTHY Stars re-sign Faksa for 5 years, $16.25 million
DALLAS — The Dallas Stars re-signed center Radek Faksa on Sunday to a $16.25 million, five-year contract.
Faksa was a restricted free agent. The annual average salary of $3.25 million represents a little over a $1 million raise per season.
More NHL: The Detroit Red Wings signed free agent center Vladislav Namestnikov to a $4 million, two-year contract. Namestnikov, 27, split last year between Ottawa and Colorado. ... The Vegas Golden Knights signed forward Tomas Nosek, who returns for a fourth season after signing a one-year, $1.25 million contract. ... The St. Louis Blues signed free agent forward Kyle Clifford to a two-year, $2 million contract. Clifford was a two-time Stanley Cup-winner in spending his first nine-plus seasons with Los Angeles, before being traded to Toronto in February.
College football: LSU is out of The Associated Press college football poll for the first time since 2017 and is the first defending national champion to drop from the rankings since Auburn in 2011. No. 1 Clemson, No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Georgia held steady at the top of the rankings Sunday, setting up a top-three matchup Saturday when the Crimson Tide hosts the Bulldogs. Clemson received 59 first-place votes. Alabama got two and Georgia one. Notre Dame moved up to No. 4 and North Carolina is No. 5. LSU dropped out from No. 17 after falling to 1-2 with a 45-41 loss at previously winless Missouri. The Tigers had been ranked in 43 straight polls, dating to Nov. 5, 2017.
Cycling: Ruben Guerreiro claimed his first victory in a Grand Tour by winning the ninth stage of the Giro d’italia, and Portuguese compatriot Joao Almeida held onto the overall leader’s pink jersey.
Soccer: American-owned Liverpool and Manchester United want more control over decisionmaking in the English Premier League and are behind proposals that will also reduce the size of the top flight from 20 teams to 18. The plan would give $325 million and larger annual contributions to EFL clubs, which are struggling due to no fans being allowed into stadiums during the pandemic.