NHL, players approve plan to resume season, extend CBA
Hockey became the latest sport to finalize a return during a global pandemic after NHL owners and players approved an agreement Friday to resume the season — and with it an assurance of labor peace through September 2026.
Games are scheduled to begin Aug. 1 in Toronto and Edmonton, Alberta, with coronavirus cases in the U.S. pushing the league into Canada for the summer and fall until the Stanley Cup is awarded in late September or early October.
Training camps open across North America on Monday, which is also the deadline for players to opt out of participating with no penalty.
The return-to-play plan, tentatively approved by the NHL and NHL Players’ Association on Monday, was ratified by the league’s board of governors and with majority approval from players following a three-day voting period. Along with it, the two sides also formally approved a four-year extension of the collective bargaining agreement.
NFL
EX-QB CUNNINGHAM BECOMES RAIDERS’ TEAM CHAPLAIN » Randall Cunningham, who starred at UNLV, will serve as the team chaplain for the Raiders.
“What a great group of people Mark Davis and Jon Gruden have put together,” Cunningham told Paul Gutierrez of ESPN. “I have a responsibility to look after these guys in this town and I accept that responsibility.”
Cunningham, 57, played quarterback and was the punter at UNLV from 1982-84. The Philadelphia Eagles selected him in the second round of the 1985 NFL Draft and he became a fourtime Pro Bowl selection.
Cunningham was ordained as a pastor in 2004. He leads Remnant Ministries in Las Vegas.
Former Raiders running back Napoleon Kaufman, also an ordained minister, was the chaplain before the team’s move from Oakland to Las Vegas.
Golf
MORIKAWA BUILDS BIG LEAD AT MUIRFIELD VILLAGE » Among the lessons Collin Morikawa took away from missing his first cut as a pro was that his reliable cut shot had left him. He found at it Muirfield Village, and suddenly looks as though he’ll be tough to catch at the Workday Charity Open.
Morikawa ran off four straight birdies after making the turn, finished with another birdie and shot 6-under 66 to build a fourshot lead over Sam Burns (66) in the storm-delayed tournament.