THE HOT CORNER

1 2 3 4 5

PRO SOCCER:

Premier League clubs voted unanimously to resume contact training in the latest step toward restarting the soccer season amid the coronavirus pandemic. The league says players are now able to train as a group and “engage in tackling while minimizing any unnecessary close contact.”

PRO HOCKEY:

Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman said his previously announced plans to keep coach Jeff Blashill behind the bench have not changed. Blashill’s record over five seasons in Detroit is 153-194-52, and Detroit had a league-low 17 wins in its 71-game season. Every team in the NHL had at least 23 more points than the Red Wings, and the NHL-best Boston Bruins had 61 more points.

PRO HOCKEY:

The Pittsburgh Penguins will head into whatever becomes of the NHL postseason without forward Nick Bjugstad. He underwent spinal surgery to repair a herniated disk. GM Jim Rutherford said the surgery was necessary after Bjugstad had a “setback” while recovering from a lower-body injury suffered just before the NHL went on hiatus.

PRO HOCKEY:

The Kontinental Hockey League plans to return Sept. 2 to open the 2020-21 season. The last KHL game was played March 12, before the season was suspended because of the pandemic. The KHL is widely considered the strongest hockey league outside the NHL. It ended its 2019-20 season part-way through the playoffs without declaring a champion.

RODEO:

Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days, billed as the world’s largest outdoor rodeo, has been canceled for the first time in its 124-year history due to the coronavirus, the city’s mayor said. Organizers decided the risk of spreading the virus was too great for the more than 140,000 people who visit the city for Frontier Days over the last two weeks in July.