Illness and injury uncertainty abound as NHL camps open
Andrew Copp got a chance to skate in Michigan but isn’t sure how many of his Winnipeg teammates have been on the ice.
Voluntary player workouts have been going on for more than a month, but full NHL teams will be together Monday for the first time since March. Mixed with the excitement of hockey being back is the uncertainty of which and how many players might opt out and how the long layoff could contribute to injuries.
“(It’s about) trying to make sure that when you come back your hips and groins are all right,” Copp said. “For some guys, it’s going to be ease in and make sure you make it through the first four or five games healthy and making sure you don’t hurt yourself. At the same time, we are getting ready for the playoffs.”
It’s a training camp unlike any in history, with expanded rosters on 24 teams coming back from a fourmonth absence to compete for the Stanley Cup. It’s a two-week sprint from home cities to Toronto for Eastern teams and Edmonton, Alberta, for their Western counterparts.
Already, a handful of players have opted out of participating and more could make the same decision before a Monday afternoon deadline. More than half the eligible players have already been skating at team facilities trying to get their legs under them, and ramping up for the resumption of the season takes another step with the start of organized workouts.
Motor sports
NASCAR CUP ROOKIE COLE CUSTER WINS IN UPSET AT KENTUCKY » Cole Custer saw an opening and, with help from a friend, squeezed through for the most fulfilling moment of his young racing career.
Custer became the first rookie regular to win in the NASCAR Cup Series in nearly four years, surging to the lead in a four-wide, final-lap scramble at Kentucky Speedway.
Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. were dueling side by side for the lead on the Lap 266 final restart when Custer made his move from sixth in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. As the leaders bunched in Turn 1, Custer slid ahead and outlasted Truex’s Toyota.
Soccer
BOY, 12, ARRESTED AFTER PALACE PLAYER ZAHA GETS RACIST POSTS » A 12-yearold boy was arrested by police after Crystal Palace player Wilfried Zaha highlighted racist abuse he received ahead of a Premier League match at Aston Villa.
The racist messages and images referenced the Ivory Coast international being Black and showed the Ku Klux Klan. They were sent on Instagram from a user who referenced central England-based club Villa in their name.
“Woke up to this today,” Zaha posted on Twitter alongside screenshots.
“We were alerted to a series of racist messages sent to a footballer today and after looking into them and conducting checks, we have arrested a boy,” West Midlands Police said on Twitter. “The 12-year-old from Solihull has been taken to custody.”
FRANCE KICKS OFF FANS’ RETURN TO ELITE EUROPEAN SOCCER » For the first time since the coronavirus shut down sports and chased away spectators, fans returned to elite European soccer, turning out in their thousands to see Paris Saint-Germain’s superstars back on a pitch.
For their return to work, PSG’s marquee attacking duo of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe sported face masks in red, white and blue PSG colors on their way into the arena and wore messages of thanks for health workers on their kit.
“Now it’s for real ... we’re back,” Mbappe tweeted before kickoff against Le Havre. The exhibition match in the Normandy port city was the first encounter in front of fans to feature one of Europe’s elite clubs since the outbreak erupted.
Only 5,000 people were allowed inside Le Havre’s 25,000-seat Stade Oceane to see the French League 2 club take on PSG’s star-studded squad, with Neymar and Mbappe in the starting XI.
BOURNEMOUTH 4, LEICESTER 1» Dominic Solanke scored twice as Bournemouth’s bid for Premier League survival was boosted by a 4-1 victory over Champions Leaguechasing Leicester, which was reduced to 10 men.
They were the striker’s first goals since joining from Liverpool in January 2019 after failing to score in his 38 previous league appearances.
Bournemouth turned the game in its favor during a two-minute spell which saw Leicester lose a player. TOTTENHAM 2, ARSENAL 1 » Son Heung-min scored the equalizer and set up the winner as Tottenham came from behind to beat Arsenal 2-1, reviving hopes of European qualification for Jose Mourinho’s faltering side.
In the first Premier League north London derby at Tottenham’s new stadium, Alexandre Lacazette bent Arsenal’s opener into the top corner in the 16th minute.
But Sead Kolašinac’s misplaced pass allowed Tottenham to level inside three minutes, with Son taking the ball out to a tight angle but still managing to chip goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez.
Son, who was dropped from the starting lineup for the 0-0 draw at Bournemouth on Thursday, provided the corner that Toby Alderweireld sent past Martínez in the 81st with a glancing header.