LITTLE ROCK — HOCKEY
Oilers change coaches
Pat Quinn was removed as coach of the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday after his team finished with the worst record in the league in his first season. He was replaced by Oilers assistant Tom Renney, who will be running his third NHL team. Quinn was assigned to the front office as a senior adviser. Edmonton was 27-48-8, 33 points below the playoff cutoff in the Western Conference. The team’s 62 points was just two points more than the franchise low, set in 1992-1993. Edmonton won just 18 games at home and nine on the road. The team hasn’t made the playoffs since reaching the Stanley Cup final in 2006. Renney has coached the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks. Quinn replaced fired Coach Craig MacTavish on May 26, 2009. It was Quinn’s first head coaching position since being dismissed by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2006. Before joining the Oilers this season, Renney spent five seasons as the Rangers’ coach andwas fired in February 2009.
BASKETBALL
Bucks, Warriors trade
The Milwaukee Bucks acquired forward Corey Maggette from the Golden State Warriors for guard Charlie Bell and center Dan Gadzuric. The Bucks also get a second-round pick from the Warriors in Thursday night’s NBA Draft. Maggette played in 70 games with 49 starts for Golden State last season, averaging 19.8 points per game. Bell played in 71 games for Milwaukee last season, averaging 6.5 points, 1.5 assists and 1.9 rebounds per game. Gadzuric appeared in 32 games for the Bucks last season and averaged 2.8 points and 2.9 rebounds in 9.8 minutes per game.
Former Seton Hall star John Morton has been hired as an assistant to new Fordham CoachTom Pecora. Morton was an assistant at St. Peter’s for the past four seasons. He was a four-year starter for Seton Hall from 1985-1989 and scored 1,621 points in 131 games. He led the team in scoring with a 17.3 average in 1988-1989 when Seton Hall reached the NCAA title game. He was selected in the first round of the NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers and played three seasons in the NBA.
GOLF
Weir wins skins game
Mike Weir of Canada won $270,000 in the Telus Skins Game on Tuesday at Bear Mountain Resort in Victoria, British Columbia. Weir’s victory came down to a 125-yard pitch-off on the final hole. Weir said he didn’t know he won the pitch-off until a tournament official said his shot was about 1 1 /2 feet ahead of thenext closest by Colombian Camilo Villegas. The money grew to include 12 skins, nine Tuesday and three left over from Monday’s nine holes. South African Retief Goosen won $75,000 on Monday with five skins, but was skinless Tuesday. Englishman Ian Poulter won one skin and $15,000 Monday, but nothing Tuesday. Villegas and Fred Couples of the United States were skinless over two days. Weir, who did not win a skin Monday, missed winning a $245,000 skin on the par-4 17th, but his putt hit the edge of the hole and lipped out.
MOTOR SPORTS
Ex-driver suspended
NASCAR suspended former driver Randy LaJoie for failing a drug test, and he said he’s enrolled in a substance-abuse program. LaJoie, who has not raced at any of NASCAR’s top three national levels since 2006, said that he smoked marijuana once in May. Lajoie said he has also been suspended from his role as a NASCAR analyst with ESPN. LaJoie was tested because he applied for alicense June 3 to become a spotter for one of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Nationwide Series teams. Lajoie was in 44 races over 12 years in the Cup Series. In the Nationwide Series, he won 15 races over 19 seasons.
FOOTBALL
Seahawks get safety
The Seattle Seahawks claimed safety Kevin Ellison off waivers from San Diego, a day after the Chargers released him following his arrest on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance. Police in Redondo Beach, Calif., stopped Ellison for speeding in a school zone near his former high school in late May. Police said a search of Ellison’s vehicle turned up 100 Vicodin pills. Ellison started nine games at strong safety for the Chargers as a rookie in 2009. He played for new Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll at Southern California.
HOCKEYGranato, James first women elected to hall
TO R O N TO - Cammi Granato and Angela James on Tuesday became the first women elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. Along with former NHL All-Star Dino Ciccarelli, Granato and James will go in as part of the players category during an induction ceremony in November.
Longtime Detroit Red Wings executive Jimmy Devellano and the late Daryl (Doc) Seaman - a founding owner of the Calgary Flames - were elected as builders.
While women have alwaysbeen eligible for induction, the hall made it easier for them to be voted in when it established a women’s subcategory this year. Up to four male players are eligible for induction annually.
“This is a dayI never really thought would ever happen,” James said. “I’m really honored to represent the female hockey players from all over the world.”
Granato played on the U.S. women’s hockey team for 15 years and led the club to a gold medalat the 1998 Nagano (Japan) Olympics. Her brother, Tony, played and coached in the NHL.
“I dreamed of being in the NHL my entire life, and this certainly makes up for those dreams,” Granato said. “Being amongst the first women to play at college and later at the Olympics, it certainly was worthwhile being a hockey pioneer.”
James was a four-time world champion with the Canadian women’s team. She starred in the 1970s and early 1980s in the Central Ontario Women’s League.
Ciccarelli played 19 NHL seasons with five teams, recording 608 goals and 592 assists in 1,232 games. In nine seasons with the Minnesota North Stars, he led the team in scoring five times. He also played for Washington, Detroit, Tampa Bay and Florida.
James was the top scorer for eight seasons and MVP for six in the Central Ontario Women’s League. James was also MVP at eight Canadian championships.
She recorded 34 points for Canada in 20 games over the first four world championships in 1990, 1992, 1994 and 1997. James scored 11 goals in the inaugural tournament in 1990.
James is now a mother of three and works as a sports coordinator at Seneca College in Toronto.
Sports, Pages 18 on 06/23/2010