HOCKEY
Trotz resigns as Capital's coach
Veteran coach Barry Trotz is leaving the Washington Capitals less than two weeks after leading them to the Stanley Cup. Trotz informed the team of his decision Monday, 11 days after Washington won the championship in five games over the Vegas Golden Knights. It was the first Stanley Cup in franchise history. "After careful consideration and consultation with my family, I am officially announcing my resignation," Trotz said. "When I came to Washington four years ago we had one goal in mind and that was to bring the Stanley Cup to the nation's capital. We had an incredible run this season culminating with our players and staff achieving our goal and sharing the excitement with our fans." Trotz, 55, went into the season without any certainty about his future when ownership and General Manager Brian MacLellan last summer opted not to give him a contract extension. Trotz's situation was a significant story line throughout the Capitals' playoff run, and MacLellan said the coach would be back if he wanted to. Asked the day after the championship parade if he was confident of bringing Trotz back on a new contract, MacLellan responded: "I don't know. We'll find out." In a statement, the team thanked Trotz for his efforts the past four years and said it was grateful for his leadership and accomplishments. The Capitals went to the playoffs all four year under Trotz, including two Presidents' Trophy-winning seasons in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
BASEBALL
FSU's Martin to retire
Mike Martin will take one more shot at getting Florida State a national championship in baseball. The university announced Monday that 2019 will be Martin's 40th and final season as the Seminoles' coach. The 74-year old Martin, who became college baseball's career victories leader in May, has a 1,987-713-4 record and .736 win percentage. Martin was honored by Florida Gov. Rick Scott last Wednesday and said following the ceremony that he was hoping to finalize the rest of his career when he met with Athletics Director Stan Wilcox. Wilcox said in a statement he has talked with Martin several times over the past couple of years about his plans. Wilcox added that the school will wait until the conclusion of next season to conduct a search and name Martin's successor. Martin, who played at Florida State, was an assistant for five seasons before taking over the program in October of 1979 when Dick Howser was hired to manage the New York Yankees.
FOOTBALL
Vikings to honor Green
The Minnesota Vikings will induct former head coach Dennis Green into their Ring of Honor this season. The Vikings announced Monday they'll hold a halftime ceremony with Green's family during their Sept. 23 game against Buffalo. Green died at age 67 in 2016. His record over 10 seasons was 101-70, including eight trips to the playoffs. Only Bud Grant has more victories in franchise history. The Vikings won four division titles and reached the NFC Championship Game twice under his guidance, setting what was then the NFL single-season scoring record with 556 points in 1998. Green also was credited with initiating a culture of regular community service by players on their Tuesdays off from practice during the season. He's the 24th member of the Vikings' Ring of Honor.
BASKETBALL
FIBA changing qualifying
FIBA is changing the way women's basketball teams qualify for the Olympics and world cup. The International Basketball Federation announced Sunday the new qualification system that will give more countries a chance to qualify for both major international events. First-round qualifiers for the Olympics will be held in November 2019. Those tournaments will be geographically based with contests in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. Sixteen teams will advance to play in four mini-tournaments around the world in February. The top three finishers in each of those mini-tournaments will qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, making up the 12-team field. Japan already has an automatic berth as the host nation and the winner of the world cup this fall will also get a bid to the Olympics. The same process will repeat itself in 2021 to determine what teams make the following year's world cup. There will also be FIBA women's Continental Cups played in the summer of non-Olympic and world cup years.
TENNIS
Federer returns to No. 1
Roger Federer is back at No. 1 in the ATP rankings, once again swapping spots with Rafael Nadal. Federer's title at the grass-court tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, last week pushed him up from No. 2 on Monday. Nadal dropped down from No. 1 after sitting out last week following his 11th French Open championship earlier in the month. This is the fifth time the top ranking has changed hands between Federer and Nadal. That's the most switches at No. 1 in a single season since there were also five in 2003. The record for most changes at No. 1 is 10, set in 1983, when John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl all spent time there. This is Federer's record-extending 310th week at No. 1.
Cilic, Wawrinka win
Marin Cilic hopes another good run at Queen's Club will stand him in good stead for Wimbledon. The top-seeded Cilic was champion in 2012 and runner-up in 2013 and 2017. He came close at Wimbledon last year, losing to Roger Federer after suffering from bad blisters in the final. He made a winning start at Queen's Club on Monday, beating Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-3, 6-4. Another big-name winner was three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, who took apart Cameron Norrie of Britain 6-2, 6-3. Wawrinka, who spent six months out last year after a double knee operation, suffered a first-round loss at the French Open last month which allowed him extra time to prepare on grass. Sam Querrey eased past British wild card Jay Clarke 6-3, 6-3 but fellow American Jack Sock, the sixth seed, lost to Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 6-3. Also, Gilles Muller, a semifinalist last year, beat Denis Shapovalov of Canada 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6).
First round starts in Germany
Seeded players Dominic Thiem, Roberto Bautista Agut and Kei Nishikori all came through their first-round matches at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany, on Monday. The third-seeded Thiem hit 19 aces as he defeated Russian qualifier Mikhail Youzhny 7-6 (5), 6-2 for a second-round meeting with Yuichi Sugita. The 52nd-ranked Japanese player defeated German wild card Maximilian Marterer 6-4, 5-7, 6-3. The fourth-seeded Bautista Agut had little difficulty in beating Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 6-1, and the seventh-seeded Nishikori opened his grass-court campaign by beating qualifier Matthias Bachinger 6-3, 7-6 (3). Bautista Agut next faces Robin Haase of the Netherlands, who defeated Joao Sousa of Portugal 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. American qualifier Denis Kudla also progressed by beating Lukas Lacko 6-4, 6-4.
SOCCER
U.S. World Cup's Bahr dies
Walter Bahr, the last living member of the U.S. soccer team that upset England at the 1950 World Cup, has died at age 91. Bahr died Monday in Boalsburg, Penn., from complications that resulted from a broken hip, according to granddaughter Lindsey D. Bahr, a film writer for The Associated Press. A midfielder who scored one goal in 19 international appearances, Bahr collected a throw-in from Ed McIlvenny on June 29, 1950, at Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and took a shot from about 25 yards that Joe Gaetjens deflected past goalkeeper Bert Williams with a diving header late in the first half. The U.S. held on for a 1-0 victory, a triumph portrayed in the 2005 movie The Game of Their Lives. Sons Chris and Matt Bahr both became NFL placekickers.
Sports on 06/19/2018