HOCKEY

Former Maine Mariner fired as Toronto GM after four years of missing NHL playoffs

The Toronto Maple Leafs fired General Manager Brian Burke Wednesday and promoted his longtime assistant David Nonis to fill the job. Burke will stay as a senior adviser.

Toronto has not made the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2004, four years before wooing then-Anaheim GM Burke.

Before joining Toronto, Burke spent more than three seasons with the Anaheim Ducks, leading them to a Stanley Cup in 2007. Burke also served as general manager of the Vancouver Canucks and Hartford Whalers (now the Carolina Hurricanes).

A Providence College graduate and defenseman, Burke played in the American Hockey League for the old Springfield Indians at the end of the 1976-1977 season and then played a full season for the Maine Mariners, the Philadelphia Flyers’ former top minor league affiliate. He then opted for Harvard Law School and worked as a players’ agent before joining the Vancouver front office.

CYCLING

TOUR DE FRANCE: Lance Armstrong has agreed to a “no holds barred” interview with Oprah Winfrey to address allegations he used performance-enhancing drugs during a career in which he won seven Tour de France titles.

TENNIS

HOBART: Australian wild card Jarmila Gajdosova beat Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-3, 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals at Hobart, Australia. Gajdosova won the Hobart International in 2011.

SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL: Top-seeded John Isner lost 6-4, 6-4 to fellow American Ryan Harrison in second-round play in Sydney, Australia. Isner later withdrew from the Australian Open because of a knee injury.

HEINEKEN OPEN: Top-seeded David Ferrer rallied to beat Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals in Auckland, New Zealand.

KOOYONG CLASSIC: Former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt beat Canadian Milos Raonic 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (4), advancing to a semifinal against Tomas Berdych in Melbourne, Australia.

SKIING

WORLD CUP: Lindsey Vonn is set to make her return at World Cup downhill training in Austria on Thursday after an absence of more than three weeks because of an intestinal illness.

SOCCER

LEAGUE CUP: Swansea beat Chelsea 2-0 in the first leg of the League Cup semifinals in London, moving the Welsh team a step closer to its first major final.

The second leg is in two weeks. Chelsea is seeking a fifth League Cup title while Swansea going for its first major trophy in its 100-year history.

PREP SCHOOLS

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL: Rebecca Siegel made a layup with 0.9 seconds left in regulation off a long pass from Torie St. Pierre following a steal by Maggie DuChene to lift Berwick Academy (7-2) to a 37-35 win over Dexter Southfield (5-2) at Brookline, Mass.

— From staff and news services