Ulster's Billy Burns and Stuart McCloskey are among 13 players to have been released by Ireland before this weekend's Pro14 return.

Ulster face Ospreys on Saturday during a break in the Six Nations tournament.

Jack McGrath and Tom O'Toole have also been released as Ireland embark on a two-day training camp in Cork.

Ulster scrum-half John Cooney has been retained by Ireland coach Andy Farrell after featuring in the wins over Scotland and Wales.

Connacht pair Ultan Dillane and David Heffernan, Leinster quintet Max Deegan, Dave Kearney, Ronan Kelleher, Luke McGrath and Will Connors, and Munster duo Chris Farrell and Jack O'Donoghue round out the 13 players released back to their provinces.

Conference A leaders Leinster host Cheetahs on Saturday with Munster also at home to South African opposition as Southern Kings visit Thomond Park, while Connacht are at home to Cardiff Blues in Conference B.

Ireland will continue their bid for the Grand Slam when they take on England at Twickenham on 23 February.

Ireland squad for Cork training camp:

Backs:

Will Addison (Ulster), Bundee Aki (Connacht), Ross Byrne (Leinster), Andrew Conway (Munster), John Cooney (Ulster), Keith Earls (Munster), Robbie Henshaw (Leinster), Jordan Larmour (Leinster), Conor Murray (Munster), Jonathan Sexton (Leinster), Jacob Stockdale (Ulster).

Forwards:

Caelan Doris (Leinster), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster), Cian Healy (Leinster), Iain Henderson (Ulster), Rob Herring (Ulster), Dave Kilcoyne (Munster), Peter O'Mahony (Munster), Andrew Porter (Leinster), James Ryan (Leinster), CJ Stander (Munster), Devin Toner (Leinster), Josh van der Flier (Leinster).

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – Brad May and Gio Scelzi headlined the winner’s list on the third night of the annual World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway Sunday evening.

May dominated the 35-lap super late model feature, leading every lap en route to the victory. He qualified sixth, but the pre-race invert put him on the pole. He took the lead as the green flag waved and was never challenged during the caution-free feature.

The victory also moved May into the World Series championship lead after a pair of third-place finishes on the first two nights of action.

Ryan Moore was third in the super late model feature, followed by Sammy Smith, Jesse Love and Stephen Nasse.

Scelzi was victorious in a wild and crazy pro late model feature that saw only four cars officially finish the race.

A late-race restart saw Connor Mosack and Hayden Sprague battling for the win, but the two made contact in the final corner of the race. Mosack spun as the result of the contact and Sprague made it to the checkered flag first.

However, track officials black flagged Sprague for rough driving. That meant Scelzi, who crossed the finish line second, was the race winner. The triumph is the young sprint car ace’s first in a pro late model.

Lastly, Travis Eddy won the Florida Modified feature after starting the 35-lap race from the sixth position.

BARBERVILLE, Fla. — Night six of the 49th DIRTcar Nationals presented by Bozard Ford featured the second of two Gator Qualifier Nights for the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds at Volusia Speedway Park, setting the field for Monday’s $5,000-to-win Big Gator Championship.

After taking the lead from his outside front row starting spot, Kyle Strickler in his potent No. 8 Bilstein Shocks / Longhorn Chassis never wavered en route to picking up his second feature win of the week and eighth of his career

This win moves Strickler into a tie for fourth in all-time DIRTcar Nationals wins with 2009 DIRTcar Nationals Champion Jared Landers. Strickler and Landers are both now just a single victory behind two-time (2014 and 2012) DIRTcar Nationals Champion and current NASCAR Cup Series driver Ty Dillon.

“I wasn’t really sure where to run, and I couldn’t see my guys in the infield. They were right by a caution light, and I tried to get them to move around so I could see where I needed to move around,” explained Strickler. “The track really didn’t change much. I felt more comfortable at the top, but I was a little faster on the bottom, so I just tried to move around. We still have a chance at Nick (Hoffman), but man, I wish we could take that bad night back. But tomorrow is the big night for all the money. The Redraw is going to be really important.”

Nicely and Strickler led the massive field to Chief Starter Dave Farney’s green flag, and as soon as the cloth waved, Strickler was on a mission. He rocketed out to the race lead as the rest of the field scrambled behind him.

A caution flew on lap five when a big pileup involving National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame driver Donnie Moran as well as Austin Holcombe, Curt Myers and Dave Weiteholder forced a red flag.

After cleanup was completed, the green flew again with Strickler again jumping out to a big lead. Nicely tried to keep pace with the race-long leader — and a caution with just two to go gave Nicely one last chance — but on the final restart, Strickler again got away from Nicely and the rest of the field and sailed to victory lane

Nicely recorded his best finish of the week in second as NASCAR Xfinity Series star Justin Allgaier posted his best finish of the week completing the podium in third. Ryan Cripe was fourth over David Stremme, who finished off the top five.

The finish:

Feature (20 Laps)– 1. 8KS-Kyle Strickler [2][$1,000]; 2. 25-Tyler Nicely [1][$600]; 3. 7JA-Justin Allgaier [4][$400]; 4. 23-Ryan Cripe [9][$350]; 5. 35-David Stremme [7][$300]; 6. 96M-Mike McKinney [27][$275]; 7. 95-Michael Altobelli [5][$250]; 8. 77-Ray Bollinger [3][$225]; 9. 7-Drake Troutman [12][$200]; 10. 7CT-Christian Thomas [8][$200]; 11. 7A-Shane Sabraski [15][$175]; 12. 99M-Mike Mullen [22][$140]; 13. 75-Terry Phillips [26][$130]; 14. 52-Colin Green [14][$125]; 15. 24D-Travis Dickson [29][$125]; 16. A1-Gary Bentley [20][$125]; 17. 9-Sheldon Creed [23][$125]; 18. 4UW-Bobby Regot [24][$125]; 19. 5F-Jerry Foster [25][$125]; 20. O7-Curtis King [28][$125]; 21. 24-Zeke McKenzie [11][$125]; 22. 97-Mitch Thomas [17][$125]; 23. 8-Steve Stevenson [21][$125]; 24. 2A-Donnie Moran [16][$125]; 25. 11-Jesse Rupe [18][$125]; 26. 8A-Austin Holcombe [13][$100]; 27. 1M-Curt Myers [10][$100]; 28. O5-Dave Wietholder [19][$100]; 29. 90-Jason Beaulieu [6][$100]; 30. 88-Matt Crafton [30][$100];

LAKE CITY, Fla. — Jonathan Davenport, the three-time and defending Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National champion, closed out the Georgia-Florida Speedweeks with his first win of the season on Sunday night at All-Tech Raceway.

Davenport collected his 48th career series win in the first series race held at the track.

Devin Moran jumped to the early lead ahead of Gregg Satterlee, who was making his first start with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series this year. Fourth starter Davenport took the lead from early pacesetter Moran on lap 20.

He sprinted away to win by over three seconds over runner-up finisher Mike Marlar in the Rocket Fuels/Rocket. Marlar started in eighth and recorded his best finish of the week.

Brandon Sheppard, a three-time winner at the East Bay Raceway Park Winternationals this week, moved from his 10th starting spot to clear Clanton with two laps to go to finish in third, after a hard-fought battle in the closing laps.

Sheppard maintains the Midwest Sheet Metal Point Leader Spoiler Challenge, heading to the series’ next events at Atomic Speedway in Ohio on March 20 and Brownstown Speedway in Indiana on March 21.

Jimmy Owens went to a backup car and took a series provisional to start 24th. Owens moved through the field to finish in fifth, earning Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the race honors.

Davenport, the reigning series champion, was relieved to get his first win.

“You have no idea. My team has worked so hard and we have so much bad racing luck, it’s been unbelievable,” he said. “Thanks to Lance and Darla Landers, I know they are watching back home. Thanks to Steve Martin, from Nutrien Ag Solutions, for supporting us again this year. This was a brand-new car that we never got to test, and then we had to run it at East Bay. We needed this win.”

Marlar was pleased with his runner-up finish.

“This track is so racy,” Marlar said. “We had a pretty rough week at East Bay, but this track fits me much better. I felt like we had a good run and there was plenty of good racing out there.”

Sheppard, whose worst finish during the eight nights of racing was a tenth, replaced that finish with his third-place finish tonight.

“We had a really good car, especially there early in the race. We passed some guys there on the top, but I could run the bottom well too. I should have picked the top on that last restart.  I chose the bottom on Devin because I thought the bottom would be better, but I had my momentum broke there. We had a good race between myself and Clanton, we were fortunate to get by him on the white flag lap. Thanks to all of my crew, we’ve had a great start to this month.”

The finish:

Jonathan Davenport, Mike Marlar, Brandon Sheppard, Shane Clanton, Jimmy Owens, Devin Moran, Tim McCreadie, Josh Richards, Billy Moyer Jr., Gregg Satterlee, Jesse Stovall, Mark Whitener, Dennis Erb Jr., Tyler Erb, G.R. Smith, Kyle Bronson, Logan Roberson, Tanner English, Michael Page, Shanon Buckingham, Brian Shirley, Colton Flinner, Stormy Scott, Charles Powell, Earl Pearson Jr., Jeff Mathews.

BARBERVILLE, Fla. – The wild hunt commenced Sunday night at the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series finale at the DIRTcar Nationals presented by Bozard Ford.

The trophies: A golden gator. And a Big Gator.

Logan Schuchart put an assault on the 27-car field in front of a packed house to earn his first win at Volusia Speedway Park and Brad Sweet cruised to his third podium finish in a row, earning him his second Big Gator championship. Sweet won his first Big Gator in 2016.

“It was a lot of fun,” Sweet said about the event. “I thought we had a lot of different tracks all week. The NAPA car was fast on all the different conditions, but we’ll take that… 2020 is looking to be a strong year for us.”

Schuchart, who had never finished inside the top-five and never led a lap at the half-mile speedway, ended his DIRTcar Nationals with three top-five finishes in-a-row and 50 laps led. He placed second the first night. Charged from 25th to fifth the second night. And won the DIRTcar Nationals Sprint Car Week finale.

“This place is just so tough,” Schuchart said. “You know, we come here, we learn, I watch videos in the wintertime. We just try to make our cars better as a whole.

“Just kind of studying the race track. Notes from the past. Watching the highlight videos from the past few years and what other people’s cars look like compared to ours and maybe what we could have done better to qualify and put us in better positions… First three races were awesome. To pull away with a win really helps our confidence.”

That confidence showed before the conclusion of Sunday night’s 30-lap Feature when the Hanover, PA driver powered his way underneath Daryn Pittman on Lap 2 to take the lead. From there, he never relinquished it, leading the final 29 laps. Although, those on the hunt behind him tested his poise.

Schuchart held a commanding lead on the field but as lap traffic continuously hindered his pace, Pittman closed in. With 10 laps to go, Schuchart got caught behind a slower car coming off turn two, allowing Pittman to close within a car length’s distance.

However, once Schuchart found his way back into clean air, Pittman was left having to fend off Cory Eliason and Sweet.

In the closing laps of the race, Eliason found another gear. With five laps to go he charged his way around the outside of Pittman for second and set his sights on Schuchart. Three laps later, with smoke billowing out of his exhaust, Eliason powered his way around Schuchart off turn two.

Not willing to forgo his first DIRTcar Nationals win, Schuchart threw a hold-your-breath-slide job on Eliason through turns three and four to reclaim the lead.

A large cloud of smoke erupted from Eliason’s motor the next lap, ending his night. The yellow flag flew with one lap to go.

On the restart, with Pittman and Sweet breathing down his neck, Schuchart darted away from the field. No one could touch the red and white Drydene car. Pittman and Sweet had to settle for second and third, respectively.

“Just pissed off at myself,” Pittman said. “I feel like if I would have stayed second… Man, like on that white flag, I couldn’t believe how far back he (Schuchart) came to me and Cory (Eliason). Honestly, I think it was anybody’s race going down the backstretch there on the white flag lap. We were kind of nose to tail. I wish I would have been in second there, I think I would have had a shot.”

Behind the top-three, Sheldon Haudenschild had one of the most impressive runs of the race in his NOS Energy Drink No. 17 car. For the second time in three races during the DIRTcar Nationals, Haudenschild earned the KSE Hard Charger award, racing his way from 18th to fourth.

Ten-time series champion Donny Schatz, who opened the World of Outlaws season with a win, found himself having to settle for a seventh-place finish. He finished sixth the night before.

Sweet started the DIRTcar Nationals being presented his 2019 World of Outlaws championship ring and ended it being presented his second Big Gator trophy. He’ll also leave Florida with the Series points lead – two points ahead of Schuchart.

The championship is far out of Schuchart’s head with more than 80 races to go this season. He said his focus is just to win as many races as he can. Nabbing his first golden gator trophy is one he can finally cross of his list.

“I really wanted one of these gators,” Schuchart said. “I’m really glad we got one.”

For complete results, advance to the next page.

If the coronavirus outbreak continues for much longer, NHL players could be struggling to find a key piece of equipment: sticks.

During Thursday's Sabres-Wings broadcast, NBC's Pierre McGuire said that equipment managers for NHL teams are talking about a shortage of sticks.

This is becoming true, but there is an important distinction. The majority of pro players use custom composite sticks -- made by weaving and gluing synthetic fibers into one piece that is incredibly stronger than its individual parts. About 75% of the sticks are made in China, where the coronavirus has shut down travel to much of the country and slowed the export of products to a trickle.

Reached by The Boston Globe, representatives for Bauer -- which provides 39% of the league's sticks -- said that retail stores have all the stick stock they need for the rest of the season. The company acknowledged that custom orders have been stopped but said that there is enough stock to last a while and that production is supposed to ramp back up this week.

Professional players go through sticks at a much higher rate than recreational or lower level players. Not only do they break composite sticks more often, they put so much stress on the sticks that they will switch one out when it starts to lose its snap. It's not unheard of for players to go through three to five sticks in a game. If custom production doesn't get going soon, a shortage will occur.

In the big picture of a sickness that has killed over 700 people, hockey stick production does not rank very high at all. But it is one indicator of the tremendous economic impact that the outbreak has had worldwide.

On June 22, 2017, then-New York Islanders forward Ryan Strome was flying from Toronto to Chicago. He was supposed to meet his brother, Dylan, at O'Hare International Airport, and together, they were going to attend the NHL draft to cheer on their youngest brother, Matthew.

While surfing Twitter on the plane, Ryan saw that there had been a big trade involving the Islanders and Edmonton Oilers, but the players involved had not yet been notified. By the time Ryan landed, he learned it was him.

"He called me as soon as he landed," Dylan recalls. "He was nervous but excited for the opportunity."

Ryan had been a first-round draft pick -- No. 5 overall in 2011 -- for the Islanders. But after scoring 17 goals and 50 points in his first full season as a pro in 2014-15, he had struggled to meet expectations. Edmonton would mean a fresh start.

Ryan loved being an Oiler. "People like to trash talk Edmonton, but I enjoyed my time there," he said. "We had a great group of guys." In summer 2018, he signed a two-year, $6.2 million extension. His now-wife, Sydney, got a great job in the city, and then earned a promotion, too. But Ryan got off to a sluggish start in 2018-19, scoring just one goal and one assist in his first 18 games. And he was on the move again.

"Ryan sent a message in our group chat: 'Traded, waiting to find out where to,'" Dylan said. "Because they didn't tell him where. We were all kind of shocked."

He soon learned it was back to New York, this time with the New York Rangers, in a one-for-one swap for the also-slumping Ryan Spooner. Ryan Strome's career was at a crossroads. Traded twice in three years, the 25-year-old was at risk of being categorized as a first-round bust. "For so many years I was the youngest guy on the team and then all of the sudden you're one of the older guys," he said. "It's funny how quickly things turn and the situation is so different."

Strome knew being on the Rangers while they transitioned in and out of a rebuild added an extra challenge. "It's no secret the Rangers are trying to get younger," he said. And so with just a year and a half before he became a restricted free agent again, Strome needed to prove he could fit into New York's future equation.

He is making his case to stick this time.

Just 53 games in, Strome is six points shy of matching his personal high in points and should break 20 goals for the first time in his seven-year career. It coincides with increased responsibility; Strome is averaging 19:29 per night, up nearly four minutes from his career average, and is playing his natural position of center on a regular basis. (The Islanders and Oilers often played him at wing.) When top center Mika Zibanejad missed a month to injury, New York gave Strome top-line minutes for the first time in his career, after he'd been buried behind John Tavares and Connor McDavid in previous stops. Strome also developed chemistry with Artemi Panarin -- "We think the game the same way; he likes to play give-and-go hockey, and make a lot of plays," Strome said -- which cemented his value even further.

"It feels good to prove to people that you can actually do it. Not just that you have potential, but you can actually live up to it," Strome said. "My confidence is at an all-time high. This is the place I've felt the most at home, the most liked and wanted by the staff and the coaches. It's been reciprocated in my play, and I'd love to stay here a while."

Strome feels he has grown as a player a lot this season; filling in for Zibanejad was especially eye-opening. "Playing on the top line meant every night you're going against [Patrice] Bergeron and [Steven] Stamkos. Every team is giving you their top guys, which only challenges you more."

He also has had time to reflect on his career. "Looking back now, I'm much more equipped to handle the ups and downs," he said. "I'm seeing it now with Kaapo Kakko. There's so much pressure on high draft picks to be good right away, even though they're so young. The expectations of fans, especially with social media, can be a lot. I think every player takes a different path; some guys pan out later than others. It doesn't mean you're a failure."

Strome said some of his lowest points with the Islanders came when he was sent down to Bridgeport in the AHL. It always meant a lot to him when Islanders players reached out to him. It reminded him that the world wasn't ending; it's just hockey. "A message like that, just letting me know that they were thinking of me, went a long way," he said.

Now, he tries to do the same with the Rangers. If a guy is sent to the AHL, Strome often will message him: "Good luck -- I'm sure you'll be back soon."

In some ways, his career has mirrored that of his brother Dylan, who was also a top-five draft pick who got traded early in his career. While Dylan never truly found his stride in Arizona, he is thriving in Chicago. And like Ryan, Dylan is hoping this could be his last stop.

Ryan is a restricted free agent this summer. He said his agent has not had any contract talks with the Rangers. "With the [trade] deadline coming, there are a lot of moving parts," he said. "So we'll see what happens in the next couple weeks."

Strome's good first-half play may have driven up his value, but he's not worried about getting a call on trade deadline day. "After being traded twice now, it's nothing that I can't handle," he said. "But I definitely want to stay in New York. I'm comfortable here. And I finally feel like I've found a really good fit."

Jump ahead:
Emptying the notebook | What we liked this week
What we didn't like this week | Three stars
Biggest games coming up | Quote of the week

Emptying the notebook

• I mentioned the youngest Strome brother, Matthew, earlier. He was taken in the fourth round of the 2017 draft by the Philadelphia Flyers. I asked Dylan to give an update on how Matthew is doing.

"Started the year in Lehigh Valley (Pennsylvania) -- he's with their farm team in Reading now in the ECHL," Dylan said. "He's been down there a few weeks; hopefully he'll be back up soon. I think he's got a great future. He's a typical Philly-type player. He's big. He's rough and tough, like the Philadelphia type, but he also can score. He's gotta work on his skating a bit, but he's great player. [Matthew] got a lot of points in junior as well, and led his team to an OHL championship and was a big part of his team there. I think the Philly fans, when they see him, are going to love him."

• Sean Couturier came on the ESPN on Ice podcast on Wednesday and gave an update on teammate Oskar Lindblom, who is away from the team for the rest of the season as he battles a rare form of bone cancer. "I actually saw him last night," Couturier said. "Went over to Robert Hagg's place -- a few guys were there to try to hang out with him. He's been doing good, I think. We're trying to support him in every way we can. He's such a positive guy, such a nice guy. We're sure he'll fight through it."

• Ovi 700 watch will be on full effect this week, as the Capitals' captain sits at 698 career goals -- and could reach the milestone at home against the Islanders tonight, on the road against the Avalanche on Thursday or at the Coyotes on Saturday. After that, we'll be monitoring Alex Ovechkin's chase for Wayne Gretzky's all-time goal record (894). If Ovi keeps up his torrid pace -- he's on track for a 60-goal season -- it should come sooner rather than later.

Ovechkin has averaged 0.61 goals per game, which ranks fifth in NHL history (minimum 300 games played), including an NHL-best 0.59 rate since his 30th birthday on Sept. 17, 2015. Among players in the 700-goal club, only two scored at a rate of 0.5 goals per game or higher from the age of 30 onward: Phil Esposito at 0.57 and Marcel Dionne at 0.51.

What we liked this week

• The U.S. versus Canada women's game in Anaheim, California, drew 13,320 fans, the largest crowd ever to watch a women's hockey game in the U.S. America won the game 4-3, as Megan Bozek scored 42 seconds into overtime. The U.S. also won this year's series, 4-1. Kudos to the Anaheim Ducks, who did a heck of a job promoting the game. When it comes to women's sports, promotion matters.

• Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins might just be the best story in the NHL right now. NHL Network analyst and former NHL goalie Kevin Weekes posted some interesting thoughts to Twitter. Weekes was the backup to Henrik Lundqvist during the King's rookie season. Weekes wrote: "Stylistically in the net, and in terms of early impact, Merzlikins reminds me of Lundqvist. It's a long road ahead, no doubt. But style, flare, technical, intensity, fire, performance -- very similar!"

• It has been lost a bit considering their plethora of injuries, but Evgeni Malkin is having a heck of a season for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Malkin is riding a four-game point streak into Tuesday's game against the Lightning (which should be a must-watch matchup) and is averaging 1.39 points per game, his best mark since the 2011-12 season when he won the Hart Trophy.

• Here's a neat gesture from St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong.

Nice gesture by Blues GM Doug Armstrong offering to fly Joel Edmundson's parents, Bob and Lois, to St. Louis from Manitoba for tomorrow night's game. They'll get to see their son receive his Stanley Cup ring on the Blues' dime. Very respectful of a mom/dad who supported the club.

— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) February 3, 2020

• Could Raleigh be getting an outdoor game sometime soon? According to the News & Observer, Carolina Hurricanes GM Don Waddell submitted a written request to the Centennial Authority, asking for the PNC Arena landlord to contribute $200,000 to 250,000 "to assist in landing an NHL Stadium series game next season." According to the report, the Canes said in the request that they'd expect 50,000 people to attend, and that "the game likely would be played January or February 2021 in N.C. State's football stadium if approved by the NHL. No potential opponent was named."

• We've noted before that the Detroit Red Wings have fared exceptionally well against the Montreal Canadiens this season. Add the Boston Bruins to that list. The Red Wings shocked the previously red-hot Bruins 3-1 on Sunday for their 14th win of the season. Half of Detroit's wins have come against the Atlantic Division this season, and of those seven wins, five have come against either Montreal or Boston.

What we didn't like this week

• The Arizona Coyotes could be facing stiff financial penalties for illegal pre-draft testing. According to Darren Dreger of TSN, "There are at least 20 incidents of the Arizona Coyotes fitness testing draft-eligible players." Each violation can carry a fine of $250,000 or more. The league is investigating.

• The Winnipeg Jets and defenseman Dustin Byfuglien are reportedly heading toward a divorce (Frank Seravalli of TSN had the news first), and it's sad to think of Big Buff's career in Winnipeg and maybe his NHL career period ending so unceremoniously.

Here's what Winnipeg captain Blake Wheeler told reporters this week: "I think it's a very Buff way to do it. Buff has always marched to the beat of his own drum. He's the type of guy that when his mind's set on something, that's the way it is. So I think that's probably where it's at today. Like I said, the way he played for this organization for eight years is kind of where I've come back to. Especially when you don't have him. You just really appreciate how hard he played every single night and how much you missed him."

• Last month, former NHL defenseman Brandon Manning, now in the AHL with Bakersfield (California), was suspended five games for directing a racial slur at Ontario Reign forward Bokondji Imama. Manning has returned, and on Friday night he faced Imama for the first time since the incident. Things got heated, and Imama and Manning fought (Imama won). It was quite the night for Imama and the Reign. He recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick as Ontario won 10-3. If this game was in any way cathartic for Imama, good for him. It's just unfortunate a circumstance like this had to exist to begin with.

Brandon Manning was suspended for using a racial slur against Boko Imama. In Manning's first game back, Imama destroyed him in a fight ?? pic.twitter.com/5guTlP4UJe

— Gino Hard (@Ginohard_) February 8, 2020

Three stars

John Tavares, C, Toronto Maple Leafs: The Leafs captain scored five goals and recorded two assists in four games this week, including the game-winning goal in the waning seconds of overtime against the Ducks to preserve Jack Campbell's first win as a Toronto goalie.

Philipp Grubauer, G, Colorado Avalanche: The Avs goalie went 3-0 in three starts this week, allowing only three goals. That included a 31-save performance in a 2-1 win against the Blue Jackets in which Grubauer outdueled Merzlikins.

Mackenzie Blackwood, G, New Jersey Devils: When a Devils goalie plays well, we've got to give him due credit. Blackwood posted shutouts in both of his starts this week (stopping 37 saves against the Kings and a wild 46 shots against the Flyers).

Games of the week

Monday, Feb. 10: New York Islanders at Washington Capitals (ESPN+)

Did we mention that Ovi Watch can be tracked on ESPN+? Our streaming service is carrying each of the Caps' next three games. The Isles are looking to climb back into one of the Metropolitan Division playoff slots (they're atop the East's wild-card race now). They'll be monitoring the health of defenseman Ryan Pulock, who left Saturday night's game after absorbing a tough hit from Alex Killorn. The Isles can't afford to lose Pulock, especially since Adam Pelech is out for the season with a torn Achilles.

Monday, Feb. 10: Tampa Bay Lightning at Columbus Blue Jackets

This game deserves your attention. Over the past month, the Lightning and Blue Jackets have the most points in the league (19). They've both done it with stingy defense, as they're the only two teams averaging fewer than two goals against per game in that span (Columbus has a ridiculous 1.18 goals allowed average, while Tampa Bay is at 1.92). Oh, and perhaps the best storyline: It's a rematch of last season's first-round series in which the Blue Jackets improbably swept the Lightning.

Saturday, Feb. 15: Los Angeles Kings at Colorado Avalanche (2020 Stadium Series)

This game, being played at the U.S. Air Force Academy's Falcon Stadium, should provide some pretty awesome optics, and I'm not just talking about Colorado's super-sharp special jerseys for the game.

Quote of the week

"I waited a long time, thought a lot about possibly never doing that again." -- Dallas Stars defenseman Stephen Johns after scoring his first goal in nearly two years on Monday against Henrik Lundqvist. Johns had been sidelined for 22 months because of post-traumatic headaches.

Manchester United's preseason plans are on hold because of the coronavirus, sources have told ESPN.

United have discussed the possibility of returning to Asia this summer, but talks have stalled while the club seek advice about the virus, which has infected more than 40,000 people globally, mostly in China.

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Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his squad have been sounded out to spend at least some time in China during their preseason tour. United look to promote club-themed entertainment centres in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenyang, which are due to open before the end of 2020.

Nothing has yet been finalised, but there have also been talks about playing friendlies in other parts of Asia and India in July before the start of the Premier League season on Aug. 8.

United played warm-up games in Singapore and Shanghai last summer and visited China for a two-game tour in 2016. They also held a supporter viewing party in Shenzhen for the 4-0 win over Norwich in January as part of their "I Love United" series.

Coronavirus has been declared a "serious and imminent threat" to public health by the U.K. government as the number of deaths in China approaches 1,000.

Striker Odion Ighalo, signed from Shanghai Shenhua on deadline day, has not travelled with Solskjaer and his squad for a warm weather training camp in Spain over fears he would not be able to clear U.K. immigration upon return, having been in China less than 14 days ago.

Ighalo, 30, has remained in Manchester and is yet to take part in a full training session with his new teammates.

Sources have told ESPN that United will "wait and see" before making any firm plans for their summer tour. They have spent four of their last six summers in the United States and a return to North America remains a possibility if the situation in Asia does not improve.

Less than a year after completing the ban for his role in the ball-tampering scandal, David Warner was crowned the Allan Border medalist despite his horror Ashes series while Ellyse Perry took the Belinda Clark medal at the annual Australian Cricket Awards in Melbourne.

Warner, who became clearly emotional during his acceptance speech, pipped Steven Smith by one vote (194 to 193) and Pat Cummins to the main men's award following a prolific World Cup campaign and outstanding home summer which included his first Test triple century against Pakistan in Adelaide.

The awards for international cricket are based on votes from players, umpires and the media on a 3-2-1 basis from each match for the period January 8, 2019 to January 9, 2019.

Those performances on either side of the Ashes, which included impressive T20I returns which earned Warner that honour as well, were enough to counter an England series where he made just 95 runs in 10 innings. Over the voting period, Warner was Australia's leading cross-format run-scorer with 1815 (881 in Tests, 647 in ODIs and 287 in T20Is). He had previously won the Allan Border Medal in 2016 and 2017.

"I'm taken aback by this It's been quite challenging," he said as his voice cracked. "It's hard to put a finger on where I should start. But as I said before, I want to thank Cricket Australia for that opportunity. The work that you guys did…I think was absolutely fantastic and I thank you again for that.

"I want to really thank my home club team at Randwick-Petersham for giving me that opportunity to go out there and play grade cricket. I realised a lot of things during that time off that we don't actually understand or realise when we're in this bubble, the importance of what this game is and the smiles on the faces that we bring to a lot of people.

"It's just been remarkable to come back. With the World Cup, to not go the whole way was disappointing. The Ashes, retaining that was fantastic -- I obviously didn't turn up and I apologise for that -- but I really had the hunger and determination to come back and do the best for our team. To come back and have a summer like that and just contribute, it really put a smile on my face -- and I hope it did for you guys as well."

Perry, who had also previously won the Belinda Clark medal twice, took the major women's award ahead of Alyssa Healy - who claimed the ODI and T20I titles - with her standout performance in the Ashes Test, where she scored 116 and 76 not, being a key part of her year which also saw her take 7 for 22 in the third ODI of the multi-point Ashes series which Australia won comfortably. Across all formats, Perry scored 783 runs at 97.87 and took 28 wickets at 16.50.

"It's actually a huge surprise," Perry said, "especially considering how successful the team has been this year but also the outstanding individual performances, none more so than Midgy [Healy], but it's been a really special 12 months, one which we'll all savour for a long time to come. The most exciting thing is every 12 months we have seems to get bigger and better and new things come our way so a very special time to be involved."

The other main winners in the men's awards were Marnus Labuschagne, who took the Test player title after his magnificent run since coming into the team as a concussion sub for Smith at Lord's, and Aaron Finch who was named ODI player of the year after making 1141 runs at 51.86 with four centuries.

Full list of awards

Allan Border Medal: David Warner
Belinda Clark Medal: Ellyse Perry
Men's Test player: Marnus Labuschagne
Men's ODI player: Aaron Finch
Men's T20I player: David Warner
Men's domestic player: Shaun Marsh
Men's Young player: Wes Agar
Women's ODI player: Alyssa Healy
Women's T20 player: Alyssa Healy
Women's domestic player: Molly Strano
Women's young plaer: Tayla Vlaeminck
Community champion: Corinne Hall

Corey Anderson, the New Zealand middle-order batsman, has re-signed for Somerset for this summer's Vitality Blast.

Anderson, who will join Babar Azam as the club's second overseas signing in T20 cricket, was the fifth-highest run-scorer in the competition in 2018, scoring 514 runs at a strike rate of 169.07 as Somerset reached Finals Day. He also appeared for the county in 2017, though had his stint cut short by injury.

He last played international cricket in November 2018, with persistent injuries effectively ruling him out of the 2019 World Cup, and is a beneficiary of visa regulation changes pushed for by the ECB in order to ensure the world's best players would be eligible to play in the Hundred.

Previously, players needed to have played at least one Test or 15 white-ball internationals for a full-member country in the past 24 months to qualify for a 'governing body endorsement', but the ECB successfully had that criterion extended to those who had played at least 20 domestic T20 fixtures in recognised leagues in that time period, in order to ensure that players like Sunil Narine and Sandeep Lamichhane would be eligible for Hundred deals. That qualification extends to all domestic competitions, which means that Anderson will meet the new regulations.

Anderson will form part of an imperious batting line-up that also includes Babar, Tom Banton, Tom Abell and Lewis Gregory, and will be available for all 14 group games and a potential quarter-final.

Andy Hurry, the club's director of cricket, said: "Corey has made a big impression both on and off the field for the club in his two previous stints with us. He was one of the first names mentioned when it came to considering our overseas players for next season because he is one of the best T20 players in the world and he was extremely popular with the playing staff and also with our members and supporters.

"His contributions in 2018 were absolutely outstanding and he was one of the main reasons that we reached Finals Day that year."

"I'm looking forward to playing for Somerset again next summer," Anderson said. "The club has a great squad and the atmosphere in the dressing room is one of the best I've experienced.

"The supporters are very knowledgeable and get right behind the team. It's a great place to play cricket and hopefully I can help the Club go one better than we did in 2018 and make the Vitality Blast final."