HOCKEY

Roy walks away from position with Avalanche

In a stunning mid-August shake-up, Patrick Roy has stepped down as coach and vice president of hockey operations for the Colorado Avalanche, citing disagreements with the organization.

Roy made the announcement Thursday through a public relations agency, two months before the start of the NHL regular season.

“I have thought long and hard over the course of the summer about how I might improve this team to give it the depth it needs and bring it to a higher level,” Roy said in a statement. “To achieve this, the vision of the coach and VP-Hockey Operations needs to be perfectly aligned with that of the organization. He must also have a say in the decisions that impact the team’s performance. These conditions are not currently met.”

The Hall of Fame goaltender spent three seasons as coach and VP of hockey operations for the Avalanche. Colorado made the playoffs in Roy’s first year behind the bench and missed the past two.

BASEBALL

BABE RUTH: Eric Greenling hit a two-run double to cap a four-run fifth inning for Atlantic Shore, New Jersey, in its 5-1 win over Tri-County in their opening game of pool play at the Babe Ruth 14 World Series in Westfield, Massachusetts.

Janek Luksza doubled and scored in the second for Tri-County, which has players from Androscoggin, Cumberland and Oxford counties.

• Alex Smith struck out four in a two-hitter as Portland defeated host Westfield 3-0 to start pool play.

Caden Horton singled in Liam Niles in the third, and Portland added two runs in the sixth when Garon Kelley singled home Nathan Rogers and Luke Hill came home on a groundout by Francis Kiely.

BASKETBALL

NBA: LeBron James agreed to a three-year, $100 million contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers, a person familiar with the contract told the Associated Press.

• The NBA season will open Oct. 25 in Cleveland, with the Cavaliers raising their championship banner against the New York Knicks.

The league’s 2016-17 schedule, released Thursday, also has the Boston Celtics playing at New York in one of the five games on Christmas Day.

GOLF

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Vijay Singh rebounded from a bad shot on the 17th to birdie the final hole and take a two-stroke lead with a first-round, 4-under 66 at the U.S. Senior Open in suburban Columbus, Ohio.

PGA: Andrew Loupe topped the John Deere Classic leaderboard at 8 under when first-round play was suspended because of darkness at rain-soaked TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois.

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