Henrik Lundqvist to miss NHL season due to heart ailment
Henrik Lundqvist looked straight into the camera and spoke haltingly, the out- of-nowhere news as difficult for him to comprehend as it must have been for fans of the Washington Capitals, his new club, the New York Rangers, his long-time employer — or any hockey team, really.
“It’s still very hard for me to process all of this,” Lundqvist said. “And kind of shocking, to be honest.”
Calling it “a pretty tough and emotional day” in a video posted on social media by the Capitals, the popular goaltender announced Thursday that he will sit out the upcoming NHL season because of a heart condition.
The man known as “King Henrik” said he has been undergoing various tests on his heart “for several weeks.” He joined the Capitals about two months ago, after 15 years with the Rangers.
“After lots of discussions with doctors around the country, and finally receiving the last results earlier this week, I unfortunately won’t be able to join the team this year,” Lundqvist said.
The 38-year- old from Sweden was bought out by the Rangers and signed a $1.5 million, one-year deal with Washington in October to try to earn his first Stanley Cup — and try to help Alex Ovechkin win a second.
Lundqvist said Thursday he had been excited to play with the Capitals, a team he said “checked every box” when he agreed to go to Washington.
The plan had been for the longtime face of the Rangers to share goaltending duties for the Capitals with 23-year-old Ilya Samsonov. The Capitals added Lundqvist to take the spot of 2016 Vezina Trophy and 2018 Stanley Cup winner Braden Holtby, who left to sign an $8.6 million, two-year deal with the Vancouver Canucks.
“Heartbreaking and emotional,” Capitals owner Ted Leonsis wrote on Twitter. “I am only concerned and thinking about Henrik Lundqvist as a person and for his family’s wellbeing.”
NO NAME CHANGE >> The Chicago Blackhawks are going to remain the Blackhawks and there is no sign of a change coming anytime soon.
Speaking publicly for the first time since baseball’s Cleveland Indians announced Monday they plan to change their name, Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz reiterated the same message the team shared this summer after lingering questions about Native American team names returned to the forefront.
“Obviously respect the decision the Cleveland Indians made to go down that path, but we continue to deepen our commitment to upholding our namesake and our brand,” Wirtz said Thursday.
Golf
TIGER, SON READY TO PLAY >> Tiger Woods and his 11-year- old son were
on the practice range together Thursday at the PNC Championship, and social media was blazing with how good Charlie’s swing looked, right down to the club twirl.
What got the attention of Justin Thomas was competitive chirping.
He recalled a putting contest they had two years ago in Woods’ backyard. Thomas said it was one of the few weeks he occupied the No. 1 world ranking.
“Charlie was leading going into the last hole,” Thomas said. “Charlie is mouthing off, ‘Here I am a 9-year-old beating the No. 1 player in the world and supposedly the best player of all time.’ He three-putted and I made it. Shut him up pretty quick.”
The next competition will be on national TV.
Woods and his son are among 20 teams in Orlando, Florida, for the PNC Championship that starts Saturday, a 36-hole event known for many years as the Father- Son Challenge. Moving with the times, players who won a major or The Players Championship can have sons, daughters and even fathers as their partners.
Woods is playing for the first time, turning a cozy December gathering into must-see TV.
Is the son too young for so much attention? It’s all relative considering Woods was 2 when he made his TV debut on “The Mike Douglas Show.”
“When I was 11, it was a totally different world,” Woods said. “I was playing a lot of tournaments, but I wasn’t in front of the media like this. It was so different. He’s been handling this and playing and being a part of golf. And this is part of golf.” THOMPSON LEADS LPGA TOUR’S SEASON FINALE >> With brother Curtis back at her side at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla., Lexi Thompson shot a 7-under 65 to take the first-round lead in the LPGA Tour’s CME Group Tour Championship.
Curtis, a Korn Ferry Tour player, also caddied for his sister in 2018 when she won the season- ending event. Thompson birdied five of the first seven holes. She played the next nine holes in even par with a birdie and a bogey, then birdied the final two holes. The 11-time LPGA Tour had her lowest score of the year a week after missing the cut in Houston in the U.S. Women’s Open.
NBA
COACHES’ CHALLENGE STAYS >> The NBA coach’s challenge is back, and here to stay. Following the recommendation from the league’s competition committee, the NBA’s board of governors voted Thursday to keep the challenge as an option for coaches going forward. It was introduced last year on a one-year trial.
Coaches challenged 700 calls last season, including the playoffs. Calls were overturned 308 times, or a rate of 44%.
Also approved by the board of governors Thursday: a plan to give teams the ability to expand their active roster on game nights from 13 to 15 for this season — a move being made largely in response to the coronavirus pandemic and in anticipation of the likelihood that teams will be missing players from time to time.
Olympics
RUSSIA’S DOPING BAN CUT IN HALF >> Russia will not be able to use its name, flag and anthem at the next two Olympics or at any world championships for the next two years after a ruling Thursday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The Lausanne-based court halved the four-year ban proposed last year by the World Anti-Doping Agency in a landmark case that accused Russia of state- ordered tampering of a testing laboratory database in Moscow. The ruling also blocked Russia from bidding to host major sporting events for two years.
Russian athletes and teams will still be allowed to compete at next year’s Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, as well as world championships including the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, if they are not banned for or suspected of doping
One win for Russia is the proposed team name at major events. The name “Russia” can be retained on uniforms if the words “Neutral Athlete” or equivalents like “Neutral Team” have equal prominence, the court said.
IOC ACCUSED OF IGNORING HUMAN RIGHTS >> A coalition representing ethnic minorities in China is again accusing the International Olympic Committee of ignoring widespread human rights abuses as the country prepares to hold the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Rights groups speaking for Tibetans, Uighurs and others representing Hong Kong have sent an open letter to IOC President Thomas Bach and IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., who oversees preparations for the Beijing Games. Obtained by The Associated Press, the letter says the IOC has “turned a blind eye to the widespread and systematic human rights violations being committed by the Chinese authorities.”