HOCKEY

Ted Hart, an alumnus of Greely High School, may become the first Maine native to play for the ECHL Maine Mariners.

The Cumberland-born forward signed a standard player contract on Tuesday. Hart was in training camp with the Mariners, but did not make the Opening Night roster. He has played this season for the Peoria Rivermen, registering a goal and five assists for the Southern Professional Hockey League team. 

Hart was part of back-to-back state championship teams for Greely, in 2012 and 2013, and played at Yale University. Hart graduated last spring and signed with the Mariners over the summer, being released the day after appearing in Maine’s lone preseason game.

The Mariners play at home at 6 p.m. Saturday against the Adirondack Thunder.

BASEBALL

MAJORS: Cardinals Manager Mike Shildt has a new three-year contract through the 2022 season.

Shildt was hired in 2018 and his initial deal ran through 2020.

At its end-of-season news conference, St. Louis announced president of baseball operations John Mozeliak received a three-year extension through 2023. The Cardinals exercised a 2020 option on General Manager Mike Girsch and gave him a two-year extension through 2022.

Hired as interim manager to replace Mike Matheny on July 14, 2018, and given the job that Aug. 28, Shildt led the Cardinals to a 91-71 record and their first NL Central title since 2015. The Cardinals beat Atlanta in the NL Division Series, then were swept by eventual World Series champion Washington in the Championship Series.

Shildt is an NL Manager of the Year finalist.

TENNIS

NEXT GEN FINALS: Top-seeded Alex de Minaur of Australia beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in their opening match at Milan.

De Minaur won eight of the last nine games against Fokina to prevail 4-2, 3-4 (5), 4-1, 4-1 at the round-robin event, which features a unique five-set format where each set is first to four games.

SOCCER

ITALY: Hellas Verona will have part of its stadium closed for one match as punishment for its fans racially abusing Mario Balotelli.

The Brescia striker threatened to leave the field because of the racist chants directed at him by Verona fans during Sunday’s match, which was suspended for several minutes.

The league said that Verona’s “poltrone est” – the sector where the chants came from – will be closed for one match.

The league said the chants “were clearly audible” but added that there were chants of support and applause from other parts of the ground.

Balotelli, who is black, was born in Italy to Ghanaian immigrants and has represented the Italian national team. He recently returned to Serie A after several seasons in France.

• Brescia hired Fabio Grosso as its new coach, replacing Eugenio Corini.

The Serie A club made the announcement on Tuesday, two days after Corini was fired following a 2-1 defeat at Hellas Verona.

Grosso, who won the World Cup in 2006 with Italy as a player, previously coached the Juventus youth team as well as Bari and Verona.

DOPING

RUSSIA: The head of Russia’s rebuilt anti-doping agency pleaded with President Vladimir Putin for support as the country moves closer to a possible ban from next year’s Olympics.

Yuri Ganus worked the halls of an international antidoping conference that was headlined by a speech from Polish President Andrzej Duda, who spoke out strongly about the need for clean sports.

That led Ganus, who has been an outspoken critic of the Russian government and its role in the doping crisis, to ask Putin for help.

BASKETBALL

OBIT: Canadian Olympic basketball star Eli Pasquale has died at 59 of cancer.

Pasquale led Canada to a fourth-place finish at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and sixth place at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. He played in four world championships and two Pan American Games. He was inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.

Pasquale was drafted in 1984 by the Seattle SuperSonics but didn’t make the team. He played professionally in Argentina, West Germany and Switzerland.

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