New concussion protocol for NHL
The NHL, which is facing a class-action lawsuit over its policies regarding head trauma and brain injuries, announced it had modified its procedures and its concussion protocol. The most notable changes will empower specially trained spotters — who will watch every game at the league’s New York office — to request the removal from games of players who exhibit signs of a possible concussion, and the new authorization of on-ice officials to require that a player be removed from a game and be evaluated “if they observe a player displaying visible signs of concussion under the protocol, following a direct or indirect blow to the head.”
The new procedures, negotiated with the NHL Players’ Assn., will take effect when the season opens, on Wednesday.
Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen signed a six-year, $32.4-million contract. Ristolainen was a restricted free agent whose rights were retained by the Sabres in June . ... The Tampa Bay Lightning re-signed forward Nikita Kucherov to a three-year deal worth an annual average of $4.766 million.
Tiago Splitter of the Atlanta Hawks will miss the start of the regular season because of a strained right hamstring. The center-power forward is coming back from hip surgery
Running back Christian McCaffrey’s status for Stanford’s game against Notre Dame may not be clear until Saturday morning, Coach David Shaw said. McCaffrey did not play most of the second half of Saturday’s 42-16 loss to Washington State.
“He got banged up over the course of the game and it didn’t make sense to put him back in,” Shaw said.
Julian Green scored his second goal in two matches before Monty Patterson’s equalizer forced the United States to settle for a 1-1 draw in an exhibition against New Zealand in Washington.
With a third straight win in qualifying, defending champion Germany is enjoying a comfortable ride on the road to the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Things just got a bit tougher for England, though.
While England’s winning start to Group F ended with a poor display in a 0-0 draw at Slovenia, Germany maintained its 100% record after three rounds by beating Northern Ireland, 2-0.
The only team close to Germany in Group C is Azerbaijan, which settled for a 0-0 draw against the Czech Republic after two wins.
In Group E, Robert Lewandowski struck five minutes into stoppage time to earn Poland a 2-1 victory over 10-man Armenia and keep the team on pace with Montenegro at the top of the group.
Slovenia stayed two points behind England and was joined on five points by Lithuania, which beat Malta, 2-0.
Meanwhile, Brazil recorded a fourth straight win under its new coach to become the new leader of South America’s World Cup qualifying group after 10 matches. Argentina, however, was shocked, 1-0, at home by Paraguay and is in a precarious fifth place.