HOCKEY
Boston Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk is expected to miss a month because of hand and lower-body injuries he sustained in the Winter Classic on Monday.
DeBrusk, who is second on the Bruins with 16 goals, was put on long-term injured reserve Thursday.
DeBrusk suffered the hand injury when he was slashed on a first-period power play, and he was treated on the bench. He presumably suffered the lower body injury – reportedly a fractured fibula – when he was struck by a Matt Grzelcyk slap shot in the third period, just before he scored the tying goal. He would go on to score the winner in a 2-1 victory over Pittsburgh.
WORLD JUNIORS: Chaz Lucius completed a hat trick in overtime and the United States beat Sweden 8-7 to finish third in the world junior championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Canada faced the Czech Republic in the championship game Thursday night.
OLYMPICS: The head of the International Ice Hockey Federation said he would like a decision on NHL participation in the 2026 Olympics by the spring of 2024.
IIHF President Luc Tardif told reporters at the world junior championship in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that a decision by 2024 would give the parties involved two years to prepare for the Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told The Associated Press by email it’s “likely a reasonable timeline” to make that call.
The league and its players’ association have agreed to participate in 2026 after skipping the past two Olympics, if they can reach a deal with the IIHF and the International Olympic Committee. The NHL did not participate in 2018 after the IOC would not pay travel- and insurance-related costs, as it did on five previous occasions from 1998-2014.
BASKETBALL
G LEAGUE: Marial Shayok and Mifoundu Kabengele scored 18 points apiece as the Maine Celtics beat the Motor City Cruise, 132-102, at the Portland Expo.
Seven players scored in double figures for Maine (4-0). Scottie Lindsey had 17 points off the bench, and Luka Samanic scored 16.
SKIING
WORLD CUP: Mikaela Shiffrin will have to wait at least a couple of more days to match Lindsey Vonn’s World Cup women’s wins record.
A night slalom scheduled for Zagreb, Croatia, was canceled because of warm temperatures and strong wind, organizers announced.
Shiffrin has 81 wins, one fewer than Vonn’s record. Ingemar Stenmark holds the men’s record of 86.
Shiffrin, who has won five straight races across multiple disciplines, can match or break the record in two giant slaloms scheduled for Saturday and Sunday in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.
SOCCER
ENGLAND: Manchester City trimmed its gap to Premier League leader Arsenal to five points by winning at Chelsea, 1-0, after a double substitution paid off immediately.
Riyad Mahrez and Jack Grealish entered in the 60th minute and combined for the only goal three minutes later, with Mahrez tapping in from close range after a perfectly weighted cross by his fellow winger.
AUTO RACING
FORMULA ONE: General Motors will attempt to enter Formula One by partnering with Andretti Global under its Cadillac banner as it supports Michael Andretti’s bid to launch a two-car American team.
Andretti has been lobbying the FIA, the governing body for F1, to expand the 20-car grid and join the series after a failed 2021 attempt to purchase Sauber. His petition to expand the grid has been met by fierce resistance from existing F1 teams who have argued an 11th team will dramatically dilute their revenues.
BASEBALL
MAJOR LEAGUES: The Yankees hired Omar Minaya, a former Montreal Expos and New York Mets general manager, as a senior adviser to baseball operations.
• The Baltimore Orioles designated first baseman Ryan O’Hearn for assignment, two days after acquiring him in a trade with Kansas City. They also claimed infielder Lewin Diaz off waivers from Atlanta after trading him to the Braves last month.
TENNIS
ASB BANK CLASSIC: Emma Raducanu blamed slippery indoor courts for an ankle injury that forced her to withdraw from her second-round match in Auckland, New Zealand, less than two weeks before the start of the Australian Open.
The 2021 U.S. Open champion was in tears after retiring in the third set against Slovakian qualifier Viktoria Kusmova.
Matches were moved indoors for the second straight day because of heavy rain.
Venus Williams couldn’t hold on to a 5-3 lead in the third set as she lost to Zhu Lin of China 3-6, 6-2, 7-5.
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