NHL to play 56-game season
Games slated to start Jan. 13 pending votes
Drop the puck in midJanuary? The National Hockey League is well on the way to making that happen.
The NHL and players reached a tentative deal Friday to hold a 56-game season that would begin Jan. 13. The NHLPA executive board gave the agreement a green light to proceed, but players and owners must hold formal votes and Canadian health officials give their approval before it becomes reality.
Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly confirmed the sides have an agreement, pending the approval of various executive committees.
Players on the NHLPA’s executive board call Friday night supported moving forward with the agreed upon terms, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because players had yet to officially approve the agreement.
The league’s Board of Governors could vote on the plan as soon as this weekend. Approval from health officials in the five Canadian provinces that have teams is still needed before the NHL can go ahead with the season.
Training camps for the seven non-playoff teams would open Dec. 31 and then Jan. 3 for the other 24 teams. It’s unclear whether teams would play in their home arenas or in “hub” cities, though an alldivisional schedule is expected.
Exhibition games aren’t expected to be included in the leadup to the new season. Sportsnet in Canada first reported the tentative agreement.
Golf
Top-ranked Jin Young Ko took the lead into the weekend in the LPGA Tour’s CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Fla., putting herself in position to win the season money title in only four events. Ko shot a 5-under 67 on Friday in chilly and breezy conditions at Tiburon Golf Club to take a onestroke lead over defending champion Sei Young Kim and 2018 winner Lexi Thompson in the season -ending event. “Before when I play in KLPGA it was really cold, so I hate cold weather to play golf, but right now I love it,” said Ko, who spent most of the season in South Korea.
• LPGA Tour Commissioner Mike Whan no longer measures success by making it to the end of year disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. A schedule for 2021 he released Friday suggests the LPGA Tour came out stronger than ever. The LPGA Tour has added two tournaments and didn’t lose any of the ones that had to cancel because of the shutdown.
Pro basketball
Kyrie Irving circled the Boston Garden parquet floor performing a spiritual cleansing ritual by waving burning sage in his hands before tipoff, then proceeded to torch his former team. After receiving hugs and high-fives at midcourt before tipoff from former teammates Tristan Thompson, Marcus Smart and others, the Nets point guard got down to business and handed out some punishment to the Boston Celtics. Irving scored 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting and had seven rebounds, five assists and two steals helping the Nets rout the Celtics 113-89 Friday night in the final preseason game for both teams. “Coming here is easy,” Irving said. “Basketball’s the easy part. It’s the external stuff.”
Olympics
Gold medalist and former Olympic executive Norm Bellingham and Olympian Eli Bremer have been named to a congressional committee to study possible reforms in America’s Olympic system. Also chosen for the panel by Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado, were athlete agent Peter Carlisle and former Defense Department inspector general Joe Schmitz.
• The Kremlin voiced regret about the ruling that banned Russia from using its name, flag and anthem at the next two Olympics, but emphasized that the verdict would still allow the country’s athletes to compete. The Court of Arbitration for Sport halved a proposed four-year ban to two and left Russia in full control of its roster while also scrapping a plan to exclude athletes suspected of benefiting from past doping cover-ups.