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NHL tells Marchand to stop licking opponents
The NHL has told Brad Marchand to stop licking opponents or the Boston Bruins forward will face punishment.
Senior vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell spoke to Marchand and Bruins general manager Don Sweeney on Saturday about Marchand’s actions against Tampa Bay a night earlier. Marchand licked Lightning forward Ryan Callahan during Game 4 of their second-round series after appearing to do the same to Toronto’s Leo Komarov earlier in the playoffs.
The league says Marchand has been put on notice that his actions are unacceptable and that similar behavior in the future will be dealt with through supplemental discipline. Marchand could be fined or suspended by the NHL if he continues to lick players.
Bills hire morgan as player personnel director
The Buffalo Bills have hired Dan Morgan to take over as their player personnel director.
Morgan joins the Bills after spending the previous seven seasons working his way up the Seattle Seahawks’ scouting ranks. He most recently served as Seattle’s pro personnel director in overseeing the team’s pro and advance scouting duties.
He replaces Brian Gaine, who left the Bills after just one season to return to Houston in January and become Texans general manager.
Morgan is a former NFL linebacker, who spent his entire seven-year NFL career playing for the Carolina Panthers from 2001-07. That makes him familiar with Bills general manager Brandon Beane, who spent 19 years with the Panthers before being hired by Buffalo a year ago.
Crutchlow sets track record
Cal Crutchlow set a track record at the Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto to take pole position for the Spanish MotoGP on Saturday.
Crutchlow pushed his Honda to a lap time of 1 minute, 37.653 seconds on the recently repaved track for his first pole since the British GP in 2016.
The 2017 race winner, Dani Pedrosa, had the second best time ahead of Johann Zarco and Jorge Lorenzo.
Defending champion Marc Marquez will start Sunday’s race from fifth on the grid, while points leader Andrea Dovizioso is eighth.
Valentino Rossi only managed the 10th fastest time, just in front of Yamaha teammate Maverick Vinales.
Dovizioso has 46 points, one more than Marquez, after three races.