Crosby to miss start of NHL season
Penguins star Sidney Crosby will miss the start of the regular season after undergoing wrist surgery.
The team made the announcement Wednesday. General manager Ron Hextall said the surgery was necessary to address a lingering issue and that Crosby would be out a minimum of six weeks.
“After exhausting all minimally invasive options and much discussion, it was decided that surgery was in his best interest,” Hextall said in a statement.
The Penguins begin training camp later this month and open the 2021-22 season on
the road against two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning on Oct. 12. The door for Crosby’s possible routine would likely open around Oct. 20 at the earliest.
The 34-year-old Crosby missed just one game during the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 season, finishing with 24 goals and 38 assists to help lead the Penguins to the East Division title. He had a goal and an assist in six games during the Penguins’ opening-round playoff loss to the Islanders.
The Senators signed GM Pierre Dorion to an extenstion through the 2024-25 season. Dorion, 49, joined his hometown team in 2007 as the club’s chief amateur scout. He later served as the director of player personnel and as an assistant GM before being elevated to GM in April 2016. The Senators missed the playoffs last season after posting a 23-28-5 record.
Colleges: The Women’s College World
Series will expand to a nine-day event beginning in 2022, the NCAA announced. The event’s expansion by two days eliminates the need for doubleheaders for teams that lose on the first day of the tournament. Teams that advance to the finals will also get an extra day’s rest.
NFL: The Vikings signed RT Brian O’Neill to a contract extension through the 2026 season. ESPN reported that the deal is worth $92.5 million with $49 guaranteed, making the 25-year-old former secondround pick the second-highest paid player at the position behind Ryan Ramczyk of the Saints . ... Jimmy Garoppolo all but confirmed he will start at quarterback for the 49ers in Sunday’s season opener against the Lions. 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan had so far refused to say whether the nine-year veteran or rookie Trey Lance, the No. 3 overall pick in the draft, would get the job.
Soccer: England’s perfect record in World Cup qualifying vanished after conceding a stoppage-time equalizer in Poland, while Italy, Germany, Spain and Belgium all won to build big leads in their groups on the road to Qatar. Harry Kane’s 41st goal for England was canceled out when Robert Lewandowski crossed for Damian Szymanski to head home in the second minute of injury time in a 1-1 draw. England’s five-match winning run in qualifying ended. It still has a four-point lead with four games left.
WNBA: Storm F Breanna Stewart, the 2019 league MVP and last year’s finals MVP, left Tuesday’s 105-71 victory over the Mystics with a left foot injury suffered in the third quarter and didn’t return. “We’re waiting to get further evaluation,” Storm coach Noelle Quinn said after the game. Stewart is third in the league in scoring (20.3 ppg), tied for third in rebounds (9.5) and third in blocks (1.8).