HOCKEY
The NFL’s successful virtual draft and uncertainty surrounding the resumption of hockey this season have raised the possibility of an NHL draft held before the Stanley Cup final.
After postponing its draft scheduled for June 26-27 in light of the coronavirus pandemic, the NHL is considering having it earlier in June while the season is in an indefinite suspension. There are mixed feelings among executives about the idea, ranging from frustration to begrudging acceptance.
“We’re just going to try to prepare as though it’s going to happen,” Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Kyle Dubas said. “It’s not going to be normal regardless of what it is, so we’re fine with whatever is decided.”
Unlike the NFL, which held its draft as usual in the middle of its offseason, the NHL would face several wrinkles with a draft held before the season is complete: Teams would not be able to trade players, there would be a lack of clarity over next year’s salary cap, and the draft order would be determined before all games are played.
A week after the league sent a memo to teams outlining its proposal, Deputy NHL Commissioner Bill Daly on Friday said a decision has not made on the timing of the draft. GMs have asked for a month’s notice before holding a draft.
IRACING
NASCAR: Denny Hamlin closed NASCAR’s iRacing Series with a victory at a simulation of throwback North Wilkesboro Speedway.
The Daytona 500 winner was instrumental in organizing his fellow Cup drivers for the invitational series. Hamlin, who races barefoot on a top-of-the-line simulator, won the first iRacing event on March 22.
Hamlin, on four fresh tires, chased down leader Ross Chastain and nudged him out of the way. Chastain retaliated by hitting Hamlin’s car after the checkered flag.
NASCAR is scheduled to resume racing next Sunday at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina, where the series will compete without spectators.
MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
UFC: Ronaldo Souza, who was scheduled to fight Saturday night against Uriah Hall on the undercard of UFC 249 in Jacksonville, Florida, tested positive Friday for the coronavirus. ESPN, which is broadcasting the card, reported the news.
According to the report, Souza arrived in Florida on Wednesday and told the UFC that he had a family member with the virus. Without any symptoms, Souza was isolated and tested. The positive result came back Friday night.
SOCCER
GERMANY: Two players at German second division side Dynamo Dresden tested positive for the new coronavirus on Saturday, putting on hold the club’s planned return to soccer next weekend.
Dresden was to play at Hannover on May 17 when the league resumes after a two-month suspension, but the entire squad, coaching and supervisory staff must now go into 14 days of quarantine at home.
The players were not identified. Their positive results for COVID-19 were found in a third wave of tests conducted Friday as part of the league’s hygiene protocol to get soccer back underway in Germany.
One player tested positive for COVID-19 in the first wave of tests and has been in quarantine since May 3. There were no positive cases in the second wave on May 4.
COLLEGES
WISCONSIN: Athletic Director Barry Alvarez, football coach Paul Chryst and men’s basketball coach Greg Gard are being asked to take a 15% pay cut over the next six months as part of the school’s response to the pandemic.
School officials say Alvarez, Chryst and Gard are among 25 of the athletic department’s highest-earning employees who are being asked to take a cut.
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