NHL
The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Taylor Hall in a trade with the Boston Bruins. The Blackhawks sent restricted free agents Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula to Boston pending the expiring contracts of Hall and Nick Foligno. This gives the Bruins some valuable salary-cap space going into free agency. The 31-year-old Hall had 16 goals and 20 assists in 61 games last season. Hall has played with at least five fellow No. 1 picks. He is likely to go sixth as Chicago is expected to take Connor Beddard No. 1 in this week’s draft.
Connor McDavid won his third Hart Trophy as NHL MVP after scoring the most by a player in more than a quarter century. McDavid fell one vote short of unanimous selection. McDavid also won the Ted Lindsay Award as the NHL’s Most Outstanding Player, as voted by his peers. The captain of the Edmonton Oilers led the league with 64 goals, 89 assists and 153 points. This is the most points since Mario Lemieux in 1995–96. A vote of 196 selected Boston’s David Pasternak as the MVP. San Jose’s Erik Karlsson also became a three-time awardee, receiving the Norris Trophy as the top defenseman.
nba
Victor Vembanyama says he will not play with the France national basketball team at this year’s World Cup to protect his still-growing body. 1 draft pick for the San Antonio Spurs told L’Equipe newspaper that it was a “difficult” decision and that it was “irreversible”. The World Cup is scheduled from August 25 to September 10 in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia. Vembanyama says he made the choice “on his own” after consulting close friends and his medical team. L’Equipe reports that Wembanyama explained his decision to the France coach and other team players over the weekend.
The Atlanta Hawks have cleared significant salary cap space by agreeing to trade John Collins to the Utah Jazz for veteran forward Rudy Gay and a future second-round draft pick, according to a person with knowledge of the deal. According to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, Collins was the subject of trade speculation during the offseason and was transferred to Utah before rejoining last week’s NBA draft after being traded. May not be official before July. Collins, 25, scored in double digits in each of his six seasons in Atlanta.
mlb
Joey Wiemer hit a go-ahead two-run homer straight to centerfield in the sixth inning to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 2–1 victory that dropped the struggling New York Mets to a season-worst eight games under .500. Wiemer’s 422-drive ball off Drew Smith hit the black fence surrounding the Mets’ celebratory home run apple. Despite a major league record $355 million payroll on Opening Day, New York has lost seven of nine since completing a three-game sweep of Philadelphia on June 1 and is 6-15. They are 16 games behind NL East-leading Atlanta.
Meanwhile, the Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies were off last night. The Yankees begin a three-game set against the Athletics tonight at 9:40PM ET in Oakland. The Red Sox will begin a three-game set against the Miami Marlins at home tonight at 7:10 p.m. ET. The Phillies begin a three-game series against the Cubs tonight at 8:05 PM in Chicago.
It may take more than an injury to Jacob deGrom to knock the Texas Rangers out of first place. DeGrom is out for the season after Tommy John surgery, but the Rangers still lead the AL West by 5 1/2 games over Houston and six games over the Los Angeles Angels. Texas leads the major leagues in runs scored with 458. That’s about six per game. The Rangers also have baseball’s top run differential. The second-ranked Astros are currently struggling. He has removed seven out of 10. DeGrom spent the first nine years of his career with the New York Mets before signing a five-year, $185 million contract with the Texas Rangers ahead of the 2023 season.
Baltimore infielder Jackson Holiday, the top selection in last year’s amateur draft and son of former All-Star Matt Holiday, was one of 14 first-round selections selected for the All-Star Futures Game on July 8 in Seattle. Holliday is hitting .325 with 14 doubles, seven homers, 47 RBI and 20 stolen bases in 63 games this year for Class A Delmarva and High A Aberdeen. Holliday is MLB’s top-rated prospect and joins Milwaukee’s outfielder Jackson Chourio, the No. 3 prospect, on the roster.
Major League Baseball is looking to grow in Europe and is looking for ways to connect with local fans. The league hopes to organize games in Paris in 2025 and sees fashion as a way to generate more interest among French fans. City and team name caps and jerseys are proving fashionable. The league says that France is one of its hottest markets in Europe in terms of online merchandise sales, with volume up 152% this year and total sales up 25%. The New York Yankees are the top seller. MLB plans to play games in Paris during the 2025 season and the Yankees have been lobbying to headline the bill.
wnba
There was also a time in Brittany Griner’s life when a mid-season coaching change could be tough to handle. His 10-month detention in Russia has a way of changing attitudes. The Phoenix Mercury announced Sunday that they have fired coach Vanessa Nygaard and promoted assistant coach Nikki Blue to the top spot after a 2-10 start to the season. Griner said he took those changes seriously as the franchise tries to get its season right.
NCAA
A day after giving up the most runs ever in a College World Series game, LSU ramped up its offense and won its first national title since 2009 with an 18–4 victory over Florida in the third and deciding game of the Finals. LSU staved off elimination three times in bracket play and came back from a 24–4 loss in Game 2 to claim its seventh championship. It is second only to Southern California’s 12. The Tigers erased an early 2–0 deficit with six-run second inning runs against Jack Caglianone and Cade Fisher.
Golf
Now that the PGA Tour and European Tour have reached an agreement with the Saudis, step one is to decide how players can return to LIV golf if they so desire. This is part of the framework agreement that was signed last month. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the agreement. It was one of the documents requested for a Senate hearing on 11 July. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, wanted more details on how the deal came about. More details are still not given in the agreement. Part one is deciding how players will return from LIV Golf and what an appropriate punishment would be.
soccer
The soccer world was stunned when Lionel Messi announced he was joining Inter Miami and would bring the sport’s biggest face to the United States and Miami, where enthusiasm for the sport has grown over the past few years. Is. He is expected to make his Inter Miami debut on July 21 in a home match against Cruz Azul in the League Cup, and the anticipation of increased ticket sales for Inter Miami’s games is obvious.
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