COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Peter Laviolette is returning to the bench after being selected as the coach of the United States men's national team competing at the world hockey championships in May.

The move was announced by USA Hockey on Wednesday, and comes seven weeks after Laviolette was fired by the Nashville Predators.

Laviolette ranks 16th in NHL wins with 637 covering four teams over 18 seasons, including the 2006 Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes. He also coached the New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers.

From Massachusetts, the 55-year-old Laviolette also has extensive experience representing the U.S. as a coach and player on the international stage.

The tournament being held in Switzerland will mark the fourth time Laviolette has coached the U.S. at the world championships, and the first since 2014, when the Americans lost to Czech Republic in the quarterfinals in Belarus. He was also U.S. coach in 2004, when the team won a bronze medal, and '05.

Laviolette also coached the national team to an eighth-place finish at the 2006 Olympics.

As a player, Laviolette was a two-time Olympian in representing the U.S. in 1988 and 1994, when he served as team captain.

"Peter is a terrific coach and someone who has had success wherever he's been," said USA Hockey's John Vanbiesbrouck. "We're thrilled to have him back as head coach of our men's national team."

Team USA's roster will begin being stocked once the NHL's regular season concludes during the first weekend in April. The Americans have been limited to winning just six bronze medals since a silver-medal finish in 1950.

The world championships are scheduled to run from May 8-24.

The USGA released Wednesday the 25 qualifying sites for the 2020 U.S. Women's Open.

The 36-hole qualifiers will be held between April 21 and May 14. Of the 25 sites, 21 will be played in the U.S., while England, China, Japan and South Korea will also host qualifiers.

As of now, the three Asian qualifiers remain on schedule despite ongoing concerns about the coronavirus. The host courses and dates for those events are: Dream Park Country Club, Incheon, Korea (April 23); Ohtone Country Club, Ibaraki Pref., Japan (April 27); Shanghai Lake Malaren Golf Club, Shanghai, China (April 29).

“The USGA is actively monitoring the situation in China as it pertains to the coronavirus to ensure the health and safety of our competitors and officials," said Julia Pine, USGA's senior manager of Women's Championship Communications. "Any changes to the qualifying schedule will be communicated as soon as possible."

The U.S. Women's Open will take place June 4-7 at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas.

Here's the complete qualifying schedule:

Tuesday, April 21

Meridian Valley Country Club, Kent, Wash.

Thursday, April 23

Dream Park Country Club, Incheon, Korea

Canyon Creek Country Club, Richardson, Texas

Monday, April 27

Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet Canyon, Beaumont, Calif.

North Ridge Country Club, Fair Oaks, Calif.

Foxhills C.C. & Resort (Longcross Course), Chertsey, England

Village Links of Glen Ellyn (Ill.)

Ohtone Country Club, Ibaraki Pref., Japan

Tuesday, April 28

The Clubs at Houston Oaks, Hockley, Texas

Wednesday, April 29

Shanghai Lake Malaren Golf Club, Shanghai, China

Friday, May 1

Sugar Mill Country Club, New Smyrna Beach, Fla.

Monday, May 4

Marin Country Club, Novato, Calif.

Riverdale Dunes Golf Course, Brighton, Colo.

Bradenton (Fla.) Country Club

The Falls Club of The Palm Beaches, Lake Worth, Fla.

Dunwoody (Ga.) Country Club

Oahu Country Club, Honolulu, Hawaii

North Oaks (Minn.) Golf Club

Spring Lake (N.J.) Golf Club

Tuesday, May 5

Gaston Country Club, Gastonia, N.C.

Shannopin Country Club, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Wednesday, May 6

Soule Park Golf Club, Ojai, Calif.

Dedham (Mass.) Country & Polo Club

Tuesday, May 12

Belle Haven Country Club, Alexandria, Va.

Thursday, May 14

Briarwood Country Club, Phoenix, Ariz.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Viktor Hovland has enjoyed hearing a lot of congratulations since breaking through to win his first PGA Tour title at the Puerto Rico Open on Sunday, but he took particular delight hearing it from European Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington.

They crossed paths arriving at this week’s Honda Classic.

“That was great,” Hovland said. “Hopefully, I can just keep playing well and kind of make more of my mark, that maybe I have a chance to be on the team.”

Hovland, the 22-year-old rookie from Norway, is highly motivated to make the European team that will meet the Americans at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin Sept. 25-27.

“I have been looking at the Ryder Cup as something that I want to play in for a really long time,” he said.

Hovland is now 20th on Europe’s world rankings points list. The top five will make the team when qualifying ends at the conclusion of the BMW PGA Championship on Sept. 13. His victory gets him into The Players Championship in two weeks and the PGA Championship in May. He’s also in good position to qualify for the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at the end of March. The top 64 the week before the match-play event qualify.

Those all give Hovland better chances to stack up the points he needs to make the European team.

If Hovland doesn’t end up making the team on points, the WGC-Dell Technologies gives him a great chance to impress Harrington with his match-play skills. Harrington will make three captain’s picks after five of his rosters spots are filled off the world rankings and four off the European Tour points list.

“I'm really a big fan of match play, and I would say I've played some of my best golf in matches,” said Hovland, the 2018 U.S. Amateur champ. “So, hopefully, I can get in there and do well.”

Wisconsin basketball transfer Kobe King has committed to Nebraska, sources told ESPN.

King, a 6-foot-4 guard, announced in late January that he was leaving the Badgers. Days earlier, the school announced that King would not play against Iowa to deal with a personal matter. Sources told ESPN at the time that King was unhappy at Wisconsin and that a parting seemed imminent.

King later told the Wisconsin State Journal that he told coaches and teammates he was leaving the team before the announcement about him missing the Iowa game.

King started 19 games for the Badgers this season, averaging 10.0 points and 2.8 rebounds. He scored a career-high 24 points against Indiana in early December and had 21 points against Illinois in January. King faced his future head coach, Fred Hoiberg, and Nebraska on Jan. 21, his next-to-last game at Wisconsin. He played 30 minutes and finished with nine points and five assists.

King played just 10 games as a freshman before suffering a season-ending knee injury in December 2017. He started one game as a redshirt freshman before emerging as a staple in the Wisconsin lineup this season.

King is expected to have two seasons of eligibility remaining and will likely apply for a waiver to play immediately next fall.

Charlotte Hornets guard Malik Monk has been suspended indefinitely for violating the NBA's anti-drug program.

The league announced the suspension Wednesday but did not disclose details of Monk's violation.

The NBA also left the suspension open-ended, saying it will begin with Wednesday's game against the Knicks and "will continue until he is determined to be in full compliance with the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program."

Monk, 22, is averaging 10.3 points in 55 games this season, his third with the Hornets.

Boston Red Sox prospect Chih-Jung Liu, who arrived from his native Taiwan last week, is in quarantine as a precaution against the coronavirus.

The 20-year-old right-hander is in his hotel room in Fort Myers, Florida, and says he feels fine.

Liu wrote on his Facebook page that he's doing some weight training, getting in an occasional run and reading about the team online.

The coronavirus originated in China and has killed over 2,700 people worldwide. There are now more new cases of the virus outside China than inside the country, according to the World Health Organization. WHO declared a global health emergency last month.

A Red Sox spokesman told the Boston Globe that the team was using "an overabundance of caution" in having Liu in quarantine.

Liu is scheduled to be released from quarantine on Saturday if he doesn't show symptoms for the virus.

CONCORD, N.C. – With only one 410 sprint car race this week, two-time Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions titlist Aaron Reutzel remained at the top of the Eastern Region standings in the National Sprint Car Rankings.

Reutzel has two victories in six starts this season and leads Brad Sweet, who has two victories in five starts, by six points.

Danny Dietrich, who won Saturday’s Icebreaker at Pennsylvania’s Lincoln Speedway, jumped into the top 10 with his first victory of the season. He’s made eight starts.

After finishing second to Dietrich at Lincoln, Logan Schuchart jumped from 10th to third in the Eastern Region rankings. Cory Eliason and Ian Madsen round out the top five.

There will be no national rankings until drivers begin reaching the 20-race plateau, which is required for ranking. To read how the National Sprint Car Rankings are tabulated, click here.

The Eastern Region is the only region which has begun its season.

The points:

Eastern Region

1. Aaron Reutzel – 286
2. Brad Sweet – 280
3. Logan Schuchart – 278
4. Cory Eliason – 271
5. Ian Madsen – 269
6. Danny Dietrich – 266
7. Donny Schatz – 238
8. Brian Brown – 234
9. James McFadden – 228
10. Daryn Pittman – 220

410 Feature Winners

Brad Sweet 2
Aaron Reutzel 2
Donny Schatz 1
Logan Schuchart 1
Kyle Larson 1
Danny Dietrich 1