Penguins name Dubas as new director of hockey operations
Kyle Dubas didn’t stay out of work for long.
The Pittsburgh Penguins named Dubas as the club’s president of hockey operations on Thursday. The move comes less than two weeks after Dubas was fired as the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Dubas replaces Brian Burke, who was fired along with general manager Ron Hextall in April after the Penguins failed to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2006.
The 37-year-old Dubas takes over a team that still believes it can compete for a Stanley Cup if it builds properly around the core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang.
USA HOCKEY’S HILARY KNIGHT VOTED IIHF’S FIRST
FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR >> Hilary Knight was the runaway leader in voting for the International Ice Hockey Federation’s first female player of the year award on Thursday, some six weeks after the 33-year-old captained the United States to win gold at the women’s world championship.
The IIHF announced Knight received 40.9% of the votes submitted by more than 50 media members, representing 16 countries, and a select group of federation officials. U.S. defender Caroline Harvey was second at 18.2%, followed by Slovakia’s 15-year-old Nela
Lopusanova (13.6%).
The IIHF only revealed the percentage of votes each player received and not total votes cast in announcing the first-time award, which will be handed out annually. The IIHF is also introducing a male player of the year award, with the winner announced later this month.
NBA
REFEREE ERIC LEWIS NOT SELECTED TO WORK NBA FINALSA >> Eric Lewis was not selected as one of the 12 referees who will work the NBA Finals between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat, while the league continues to look into whether he used a Twitter account to defend himself and other officials from online critiques.
Lewis had been chosen to work the finals in each of the last four seasons. This year’s finals referees were announced by the league Thursday morning, about 12 hours before the start of the title series.
After some now-deleted tweets were revealed by a pair of Twitter users last week, the league opened an investigation into whether Lewis violated NBA rules by speaking about officiating in an unauthorized manner. It has not been determined if Lewis was using the account, which utilizes the name “blair cuttliff.” The account was deactivated briefly last week but was active again Wednesday evening.
NFL
NFL EXPANDING THE SMART HEART SPORTS COALITION >> The NFL has expanded The Smart Heart Sports Coalition to 26 member organizations as it continues to advocate for all 50 states to adopt policies that will prevent high school students from fatal outcomes from sudden cardiac arrest.
The coalition was founded earlier this year in response to the life-saving emergency care provided to Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin. It’s made up of men’s and women’s professional sports organizations and leading medical and advocacy groups.
Soccer
GERMAN SOCCER MOURNS DEATH OF 15 YEAR-OLD WHO DIED AFTER TOURNAMENT BRAWL >> The German soccer federation will hold a weekend of mourning for the 15-year-old player who died after a post-match brawl at an international youth tournament last weekend.
“This incredibly sad and shocking act at a soccer tournament for juniors leaves us speechless,” federation president Bernd Neuendorf said Thursday. “It is the ultimate challenge to all of us to take a firm stand against violence — in soccer and in society as a whole.”
The player from JFC Berlin died Wednesday from severe brain injuries sustained during a post-match brawl on Sunday. A 16-yearold player from a French team remained in detention in Frankfurt pending further inquiries. BALOGUN ON US ROSTER
AHEAD OF CONACAF NATIONS LEAGUE >> Striker Folarin Balogun was among 24 players picked by new U.S. interim coach B.J. Callaghan on Thursday for a training camp ahead of the CONCACAF Nations League semifinal and could make his national team debut against Mexico on June 15.
Wingers Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna and Tim Weah also are on the roster along with goalkeeper Matt Turner and outside back Sergiño Dest, among 13 veterans of last year’s World Cup squad. Pulisic, Reyna, Turner and Dest are coming off club seasons in which they sparingly started, and Weah was played mostly out of position.
Just four players were picked from Major League Soccer: defenders Mike Robinson and Walker Zimmerman, and goalkeepers Sean Johnson and Drake Callender. COACH CONFIRMS LIONEL
MESSI’S LAST MATCH FOR PSG >> Lionel Messi arrived two years ago wearing a Tshirt emblazoned with “Ici C’est Paris” (This Is Paris) — a favorite cry among Paris Saint-Germain fans — and to chants of “Messi! Messi! Messi!”
The soccer superstar will leave the team on Saturday not quite so revered. The cheers have been replaced by jeers and boos in recent weeks at the Parc des Princes, where the World Cup winner will play his final game for the French league champion.
Christophe Galtier confirmed on Thursday that the looming end of the season is also the end of Messi’s time at PSG. MARSEILLE COACH TUDOR
LEAVING AFTER ONE SEASON >> Marseille coach Igor Tudor is leaving the club after just one season in charge.
Tudor told a news conference on Thursday he was resigning for personal and professional reasons, and had not signed with a new club.
Marseille, the only French team to win the Champions League back in 1993, has fallen well behind Paris Saint-Germain since its bitter rival was taken over by Qatari investors in 2011.
But the club enjoyed a revival under Tudor. Before its final game at Ajaccio on Saturday, Marseille is guaranteed to finish in third place in Ligue 1. That’s outside the automatic Champions League places, but Marseille can still make the Champions League via the third qualifying round of the tournament this summer.
Baseball
BASEBALL LEGEND STEVE GARVEY CONSIDERING US SENATE BID IN CALIFORNIA >> You’d have to go back a generation — to 1988 — to find the last time a Republican candidate won a U.S. Senate race in heavily Democratic California. This time, the party might get an MVP on the ballot.
Baseball legend Steve Garvey, who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, is meeting with voters and senior GOP officials as he weighs a potential 2024 Senate bid in a race that already has several prominent Democratic contenders in the field. He appeared at a recent fundraiser for Republican Rep. Michelle Steel in Orange County, where he signed baseballs and talked about his potential candidacy.
Horse racing
CHURCHILL DOWNS IMPLEMENTS SAFETY, PERFORMANCE STANDARDS TO ADDRESS RECENT SPATE OF HORSE DEATHS >> Churchill Downs will limit horses to four starts during a rolling eight-week period and impose ineligibility standards for continued poor performance in the wake of the recent deaths of 12 horses at the home of the Kentucky Derby.
Other safety initiatives announced by Churchill Downs on Thursday include pausing incentives, such as trainer start bonuses and purse payouts to every race finisher, with payouts limited to the top five finishers. Churchill Downs officials say they’ll continue talks with horsemen to determine how to allocate funds.