Avalanche hire Bednar
The Colorado Avalanche hired Jared Bednar as their new head coach. Bednar replaces Patrick Roy, who abruptly stepped down as coach and vice president of hockey operations earlier this month.
The 44-year-old Bednar won the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup championship as coach of the Lake Erie Monsters last season. He also won the ECHL’s Kelly Cup in 2009 with the South Carolina Stingrays.
President of hockey operations and general manager Joe Sakic said upon Roy’s sudden resignation that he’d look outside the organization for Colorado’s next coach. He did just that with Bednar, who had been in the Columbus system. . . . The Arizona Coyotes hired Dawn
Braid as skating coach and say she is the first full-time female coach in NHL history. Braid worked part-time for the Coyotes last season and served as a skating consultant with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres and Calgary Flames.
The Coyotes also acquired prospect Lawson Crouse and veteran Dave
Bolland’s contract from the Florida Panthers for two draft picks. . . .
Canada chose Sidney Crosby as its captain for the World Cup of Hockey, which begins Sept. 17 in Toronto.
Vermont says no to UNC
The University of Vermont canceled its women’s basketball game in North Carolina because of a state law that governs transgender bathroom access. The Catamounts were scheduled to face the University of North Carolina on the Chapel Hill campus Dec. 28 but announced the cancellation on their athletic website. . . . Kentucky men’s basketball coach
John Calipari said senior forward Derek Willis won’t miss any game time despite his June arrest for public intoxication. . . .
Texas gave men’s basketball coach Shaka Smart a contract extension through 2023 and pay raise of $100,000 per season.
Hartford team in jeopardy
Hartford could lose its minor league baseball team if there isn’t immediate action to resume completion of its ballpark. Eastern League president Joe McEacham issued the ultimatum during a news conference outside Dunkin’ Donuts Park. He said construction delays have already
forced the Hartford Yard Goats, a Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, to play the entire 2016 season on the road, and the league won’t risk that for 2017. He didn’t announce specific deadlines. . . .
Defending champion Petra Kvitova needed just an hour to beat Ekaterina
Makarova 6-3, 6-1 and move into the semifinals of the Connecticut Open despite suffering from a cold. She will face top-seed Agnieszka Radwanska,
who beat Kirstin Flipkens 6-1, 6-4. . . . John Millman upset top-seeded Richard Gasquet 7-5, 6-3 in the Winston-Salem Open quarterfinals. . . .
The National Olympic Committee of Kenya was disbanded by the government amid investigations into alleged mismanagement of the country’s team at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. . . .
Manchester City has completed the signing of goalkeeper Claudio Bravo from Barcelona for 13.75 million pounds ($18.2 million) in a move that could spell the end of Joe Hart’s decade-long career at the English club. . . .
English rider Simon Yates won a hot and hilly sixth stage of the Spanish Vuelta cycling race, while Darwin
Atapuma of Colombia kept the overall lead for a third consecutive day.