Off the wire

Maple Leafs fire Babcock

The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired head coach Mike Babcock and replaced him with Sheldon Keefe. Babcock had a record of 9-10-4 in 201920 for the struggling Leafs, who are 0-5-1 in their last six games, including five consecutive losses in regulation. Toronto, two points out of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, fell 4-2 to the Golden Knights in Vegas on Tuesday night. Babcock’s last win for the Leafs, on Nov. 7 against Vegas, was the 700th of his NHL career. He has a career record of 700-418-19 with Toronto, Detroit and Anaheim.

Osabuohien cleared to play

The NCAA has cleared forward Gabe Osabuohien to play at West Virginia this season. The Mountaineers said in a release that the NCAA approved the junior’s waiver request for immediately eligibility on Wednesday. Osabuohien (Oh-sah-BOY-en) transferred to West Virginia from Arkansas in August, when he was dismissed by Razorbacks Coach Eric Musselman without disclosing a reason. The 6-foot-8 Osabuohien played in 54 games with eight starts in two seasons with Arkansas. He averaged 2.4 points and 2.5 rebounds per game over his career.

Blazers waive Pau Gasol

The Portland Trail Blazers have waived center Pau Gasol but his career with the team may not be over. Gasol, who never played in a game with the Blazers, announced on social media Wednesday that the team had released him. In a video he posted, Gasol said he is still recovering from surgery on his left foot in May. Gasol said he plans to remain in Portland to continue his rehabilitation, and he is discussing a new role with the Trail Blazers.

U.S. eliminated from Davis Cup

Not even some late heroics were enough to keep the United States from being eliminated from the Davis Cup Finals. The U.S. failed to advance despite beating Italy 2-1 after a doubles match that ended past 4 a.m. local time in Madrid, the second latest finish in tennis history. Sam Querrey and Jack Sock won the decisive doubles match 7-6 (4), 6-7 (2), 6-4 against Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini, but it wasn’t enough to secure the Americans in the quarterfinals as one of the twobest second-place finishers from the six groups. Only a big win against Italy, without losing many sets or games, would have been enough to send the U.S. to the knockout stage of the revamped team competition. The doubles match ended 4:04 a.m. in the Spanish capital (9:04 p.m. CT), the latest finish in U.S. Davis Cup history. Taylor Fritz had kept the U.S. hopes alive by defeating Matteo Berrettini 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-2 to level the series at 1-1 after Fognini had beaten Reilly Opelka 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3 to put Italy ahead.