AP Sports

NHL postpones LA Kings’ home game against Calgary due to wildfires while NFL monitors situation

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The NHL postponed the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday with several massive wildfires still burning across the greater Los Angeles area. The Kings and Flames were scheduled to play Wednesday night at the Kings’ downtown arena. The NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers are scheduled to host the Charlotte Hornets in the same arena on Thursday night. The NFL is also monitoring the potential impact of the fires on the two Los Angeles teams’ playoff preparations and the Rams’ wild-card postseason game against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night at SoFi Stadium.

Bentancur carried off on a stretcher during Tottenham-Liverpool match after falling to the ground

LONDON (AP) — Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur has been carried off on a stretcher in the 14th minute of the match against Liverpool in the English League Cup semifinals after falling to the ground at a corner. Medical staff immediately ran onto the field as the Uruguay international lay face down on the turf, with players from both teams looking concerned. Bentancur had tried to head a ball that had been curled in from the right in the sixth minute. Fans applauded as he was carried off the field.

Outdoor hockey is coming to Florida. The NHL will have games in Miami and Tampa next season

MIAMI (AP) — Hockey. Outdoors. In Florida. Next season, the NHL is making it happen twice. The NHL announced Wednesday that the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers will play host to the New York Rangers at loanDepot Park in Miami on Jan. 2, 2026, in the Winter Classic, with the Tampa Bay Lightning playing host to the Boston Bruins at Raymond James Stadium on Feb. 1, 2026, in a Stadium Series game. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says “Stanley Cups, strings of sellouts and the exponential growth of youth and high school hockey throughout the state have demonstrated that Florida is a hockey hotbed.”

Penn State coach James Franklin calls for college football to have uniformity

DANIA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The Big Ten plays nine conference games in football. So does the Big 12. The Southeastern Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference are among those playing eight-game league schedules. The Mountain West played a seven-game league slate. Notre Dame doesn’t have a league. Enough, Penn State coach James Franklin says. Franklin said Wednesday on the eve of his team’s matchup with Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff semifinals at the Orange Bowl that the sport needs uniformity.

Former Baltimore Orioles left-hander Brian Matusz dies at 37, no cause of death announced

BALTIMORE (AP) — Former major league left-hander Brian Matusz has died. He was 37. Matusz spent eight seasons in the majors, mostly with the Baltimore Orioles as they returned to prominence a decade ago. The Orioles and the University of San Diego announced the death, with USD saying it received word from Matusz’s family. They did not announce a cause of death. The Orioles drafted Matusz with the fourth overall pick in 2008. He made his major league debut in 2009 and was a starter until shifting to the bullpen in 2012. That was the season Baltimore earned a wild card for its first playoff appearance in 15 years.

A plot twist from what college football has become: A player who stayed

DANIA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — When Penn State moved a different linebacker into what had been Tyler Elsdon’s starting spot, Elsdon made a choice that doesn’t really fit into the storyline college football has been selling these days. He stayed right where he was. In an era in which NIL money, playing time and the promise of the transfer portal are a phone call away, Penn State’s fifth-year senior decided to stay because he feels loyal to his teammates and loves his school. Elsdon and the Nittany Lions take on Notre Dame on Thursday in the College Football Playoff semifinals.

Briefly a Buckeye, Texas QB Quinn Ewers returned to his roots to lead Longhorns’ resurgence

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas quarterback and Texas native Quinn Ewers once played for Ohio State. After spending a semester deep on the depth chart in Columbus, Ewers headed back home to become the leader of Steve Sarkisian’s rebuilding project with the Longhorns. Ewers and Texas will face his former team on Friday at the Cotton Bowl in a College Football Playoff semifinal. The winner advances to the national championship game.

Masters gives another invitation to Niemann. Hojgaard invitation means Augusta gets twins

Joaquin Niemann is headed back to the Masters. He’s still the only LIV Golf player to get a special invitation from Augusta National. The club also has invited Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark. That means twins will be playing in the Masters together for the first time. Rasmus Hojgaard qualified by being among the top 50 in the world at the end of last year. Niemann received an invitation last year by playing outside LIV Golf and winning in Australia. He did the same this year and had another good finish. He won the Saudi International on the Asian Tour.

Daniels and Nix will become a rare rookie QB duo to start in the same NFL postseason

The impressive feats from the NFL’s 2024 rookie quarterback class will carry over into the postseason. Washington’s Jayden Daniels and Denver’s Bo Nix are expected to make their playoff debuts on Sunday in a rare case of two rookie starting quarterbacks in the same postseason. While there are a few examples of fill-in rookies getting the nod in the playoffs, this will be just the fourth time that two rookie quarterbacks start in the same postseason after making at least six starts during the regular season.

Final chapter: France’s greatest coach Didier Deschamps says he’ll leave after 2026 World Cup

Didier Deschamps says he won’t continue as France coach after the next World Cup. The 56-year-old Deschamps said in an interview Wednesday with broadcaster TF1 that he will leave when his contract expires in the summer of 2026. “It’s going to stop, because it has to stop at some point,” Deschamps said in an interview with broadcaster TF1. “I did my time, with the same desire and the same passion to keep the French team at the highest level.” Deschamps started in his role in 2012 and led France to victory at the 2018 World Cup, also reaching the final in 2022 and at the 2016 European Championship.