PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward Alex Galchenyuk on injured reserve after he aggravated an undisclosed injury that limited him during the preseason.

Galchenyuk joins center Evgeni Malkin and forwards Bryan Rust and Nick Bjugstad on IR for the Penguins, who are off to a 1-2-0 start. Galchenyuk, acquired in an offseason trade with Arizona, has two assists in three games.

Pittsburgh forward Patric Hornqvist sat out practice on Wednesday. Hornqvist left a 4-1 loss to Winnipeg on Tuesday night after getting hit by a shot off the stick of teammate Kris Letang.

The Penguins recalled forward Adam Johnson from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.

Pittsburgh wraps up a season-opening four-game homestand on Thursday night against Anaheim.

HUMBLE, Texas – When Cole Hammer was younger, he drilled two golf holes, about 12 feet apart, into the hardwood floor of his bedroom so that he could practice his putting into the night. The rug that was laid over it runs about a 10 on the Stimpmeter. The putters and balls scattered about make Hammer’s room look like a mini-PGA Tour Superstore.

These days, it’s Hammer’s dad, Gregg, who gets the most use out of the one-of-a-kind practice area, as the 19-year-old Cole is away at college, currently a star sophomore at the University of Texas. But this week, it’s back at Cole’s disposal.

The Longhorns stud, who first made headlines as a 15-year-old prodigy playing in the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, is making his first non-major PGA Tour start this week at the Houston Open, which is being played about a half-hour from the Hammer family’s home in the River Oaks community, just west of downtown.

“The fact that it’s in Houston, my hometown, makes it extra special,” said Hammer, who will sleep in his own bed this week, just feet from that putting setup. “This is the first PGA Tour event I ever came and watched and to have kind of my first [Tour] start being here where I’ve grown up – I’ve played this course quite a bit – is really cool.”

Hammer remembers attending tournaments at the Golf Club of Houston long before he received a sponsor invite to play in one. One year, he scored a parking pass in the players’ lot and spent the whole day getting autographs, including the signature of his favorite player, Rory McIlroy. He recalls a 3-wood that Lee Westwood hit on the third hole, still calling it “the purest golf shot I’ve ever seen hit in my life.”

Of course, living close by, Hammer also got to play the course many times. He and his family were members for a year while he was in high school as their home course, River Oaks, was being renovated. And for several years, beginning when Hammer was 11 years old, he and current Texas teammate Mason Nome would play the course with their dads in the weeks before the pros arrived.

“It was fun for us to come out and see a PGA Tour setup with stands,” Hammer said. “We were probably playing like the ladies tees out here and looking back at the back tees thinking, ‘Man, how do they hit the ball so far?’ But that was really special time for me. … To kind of look back on that tomorrow when I'm standing on the first tee will be something I'll remember for a while.”

But make no mistake, this experience isn’t all sentimental for Hammer.

“I’m trying to win the tournament,” Hammer exclaimed Tuesday.

He’s seen former peers Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa win this summer on Tour, and it was just in June, at the NCAA Championship, when Hammer drilled Wolff in a semifinal match. Gregg Hammer said that the success of those guys has created “unreasonable” expectations for young stars such as his son, but that doesn’t mean that Cole can’t meet them, even as quickly as this week.

For much of his short golf career, Hammer has played up a level – or three. A major championship as a high-schooler. Top amateur events as a junior. The Walker Cup before his sophomore year of college.

“He has gotten a comfort level with being in those positions,” Gregg Hammer said.

Hammer is coming off finishes of T-9 at Olympia Fields and T-42 at the Nike Collegiate to kick off his fall with the Longhorns. He’ll miss this weekend’s Big 12 Match Play, also in Houston, but for good reason. He’s ready to win himself a Tour event.

“It's cool to see these guys play well, and obviously I've played with them a bunch and I've had some success against them,” Hammer said. “Sure, it gives me confidence, but it's not confidence that I haven't had before.

"I’ve always known that the top amateurs have a great chance against these guys.”

And with that, it’s officially Hammer Time in Houston.

HUMBLE, Texas – In recent years, the Houston Open has been thrown one curveball after another – natural disasters, loss of a title sponsor, a costly date change.

But the longtime PGA Tour stop seems on the verge of hitting a home run.

Perhaps it’s fitting that the tournament, a regular in the Tour rota since 1946, is now being run by the Astros Golf Foundation, which is investing about $30 million into a new home for the event.

Memorial Park, a municipal course located in the western shadows of downtown Houston, is expected to host the Houston Open beginning next fall, replacing the Golf Club of Houston, which will host the event for the last time this week, and generating excitement for a tournament currently in a transition period.

“It’s a win-win-win-win,” said Jim Crane, owner of the Houston Astros, during a January city council meeting in which voters unanimously approved the project.

The $13.5 million first phase includes a course redesign by renowned architect Tom Doak, new maintenance and practice facilities, the latter with a two-level, 84-bay driving range, and a First Tee complex with four-hole course. The second phase will be a complete clubhouse rebuild that figures to cost about $17 million.

The course, founded in 1912, is set to reopen to the public on Nov. 4 and should continue to offer affordable tee times. (Before the redesign, golfers could play for under $40 on weekends.)

Now, the new-look layout, which annually saw upwards of 60,000 rounds a year, will challenge the world’s best while still being friendly to the average player.

What Doak did with this previously flat, flood-prone land was remarkable. He effectively added elevation and improved drainage into the Buffalo Bayou, which runs through the park. (How effective? Tropical Storm Imelda dropped nine inches on Memorial Park last month; the next day, the greens and fairways were being mowed.)

He cleared out trees. He lengthened holes. He shortened holes. He widened fairways. He completely changed the second hole, bringing it over a ravine.

“This course is going to make the Tour players really think about how they approach every hole,” said Butch Harmon, who played the old Memorial Park during his 16-year stint as a teaching pro in Houston and saw the redesign for the first time Tuesday. “You just can’t bomb it on every hole there.”

Yet, with its many teeing grounds, the 7,300-plus-yard layout will also be playable for anyone. The most noticeable change Doak made was adding a fifth par-3 while keeping the other four par-3s under 200 yards - a recommendation made to him by Brooks Koepka, who has done some advising on the redesign through his friendship with Crane and AGF president Giles Kibbe.

As Koepka told Doak: “We’ll be heroes if we do that.”

“I think that’s something that makes it harder for a guy who is trying to break par but easier for a guy trying to break 90,” Doak added.

In a world where many pro events are contested on private or expensive courses, the addition of Memorial Park to the Tour equation in Houston is a breath of fresh air.

“One week out of the year the PGA Tour is going to play an amazing golf course that was actually built for them, built with them in mind, but with the different teeing areas, for the other 51 weeks out of the year, the citizens of Houston are going to be able to play a world-class golf course for a reasonable amount of money,” Harmon said.

“… The city is going to love it. Everybody’s going to want to play there.”

But will the Tour’s stars? This year’s Houston Open field marks the weakest non-opposite-field event in nearly five years, according to the Official World Golf Ranking, which rates the strength of field a 73. With just two top-50 players participating, Houston Open tournament director Colby Callaway blames the lack of star power on the event’s new spot on the schedule.

Instead of directly preceding the Masters in April, the tournament now falls right before the Tour’s lucrative Asian Swing.

“I’m learning that in the fall, players are interested in chasing the big money internationally and playing overseas,” Callaway told Golf.com earlier this week. “That’s not up to me to figure that out, but up to the Tour to help out because there are tournaments here who are saying, ‘What about us?’

“Hopefully we can force the Tour’s hand to move us.”

Harmon, who as the event’s new recruiter is tasked with luring the big names back to Houston, believes that will happen. Harmon said that Crane met with Tour commissioner Jay Monahan on Wednesday to discuss another date change, even if it means moving just a few weeks earlier in the fall.

That would be huge for the Houston Open, which in the past couple of years has also experienced a hurricane and tropical storm, as well as Shell pulling out after 25 years as title sponsor and the AGF taking over for the Houston Golf Association.

So again, will the stars want to come back? With the arrival of Memorial Park, located in a prime location near downtown, Harmon believes there’s little reason for them not to.

“In the past, there has been criticism of this course (Golf Club of Houston); some of the players like it, some of them don’t,” Harmon said. “I’m not sure there can be anything to complain about when we get to Memorial Park.”

If that happens, if the big names do return, if Memorial Park lures them in again, that would be the game-changing homer that the Houston Open needs.

Legendary goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has attributed Manchester United's struggles to the disappearance of strong characters in the dressing room, and said the situation at Old Trafford is "a long way" from the club he left eight years ago.

Van der Sar spent the final six seasons of his decorated career with the Red Devils, winning four Premier League titles and playing in three Champions League finals with Sir Alex Ferguson's side. However, United have fallen on hard times since Ferguson's departure in 2013 and are in the midst of their worst-ever start to a Premier League campaign.

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When asked to comment on the difficult times Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team is facing, the former Netherlands international, who was a teammate of Solskjaer's at United, told ESPN FC in an exclusive interview: "Of course it's difficult. I left there eight years ago and it was a tremendous last six years of my career, winning four Premier League titles and playing in three Champions League finals.

"So it's a long way from the position where they are in now," van der Sar said. "And of course they have changed managers a couple times now and the real progress is not seen yet, only the thing that they bought in the summer. They bought younger, inexperienced players with a certain desire and hunger, and not like the big names they bought the last six, seven years."

Upon joining United from Fulham in the summer of 2005, the former Ajax and Juventus star walked into a dressing room full of established veteran leadership -- a makeup, he says, that is much unlike today's team.

"I think for ourselves, when I came in the dressing room we had Ryan Giggs, you had [Paul] Scholes, you had [Rio] Ferdinand, [Gary] Neville and even Roy Keane at that time. So I think there's always been strong characters. And I think for the last couple of years the strong characters have disappeared and [are] not making a difference anymore," van der Sar said.

Though despite the recent rocky times, van der Sar said he believes that United still have the power to attract top players capable of leading them back to glory.

"Of course, the name is there. And of course the following they have all over the world," he said.

"But for a player [...] you want to play at a certain level, you also want to have an idea that you can win trophies and they must take that opportunity also to improve the squad and make the world-class players they have, or the players that they're going to sign, that they feel welcome and that there's a good path to where they're going to go to."

Petr Cech, often considered among the best Premier League goalkeepers of all time, will continue his netminding ways -- but this time on ice skates.

The ex-Chelsea and Arsenal keeper signed a one-year deal with the semiprofessional Guildford Phoenix ice hockey club in England on Wednesday.

"I am delighted to have the opportunity to play with the Phoenix to get the match experience," the 37-year-old Cech said in a statement released by the club. "I hope I can help this young team to achieve their goals for the season and try to win as many games as possible when I have the chance to play.

"After 20 years of professional football this is going to be a wonderful experience for me to play the game I loved to watch and play as a kid."

Guildford was founded in 2017 and plays in the fourth tier of British hockey. Head coach Milos Melicherik said the ex-Czech Republic international could make his debut against the Swindon Wildcats on Sunday.

Cech is a noted ice hockey aficionado, having played in a testimonial for former NHL star Martin Havlat in 2017.

Cech serves as a technical advisor for Chelsea, where he played 10 seasons and won four Premier League titles and the 2012-13 Champions League. After his time at Stamford Bridge, he played an additional four campaigns at London rivals Arsenal before retiring from football last year.

Oakland Raiders linebacker Vontaze Burfict's appeal of a season-long suspension for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Indianapolis Colts tight end Jack Doyle has been denied, meaning he will sit out for the rest of the 2019 season.

The league announced the decision of appeals officer Derrick Brooks on Wednesday. Brooks was appointed jointly by the NFL and the NFLPA.

Burfict was ejected in the second quarter of the Raiders' Week 4 31-24 win late last month. He was initially flagged for hitting Doyle in the head across the middle. But after the officials conferred, Burfict was thrown out.

The league said that Burfict will not be paid during the suspension, which covers the postseason as well. The league cited his repeated violations of unnecessary roughness rules in handing out the longest suspension ever for an on-field incident.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, the suspension will cost Burfict more than $1.1 million in salary and per game active roster bonuses.

NFL vice president of football operations Jon Runyan wrote a letter to Burfict explaining the decision when the suspension was announced on Sept. 30.

"There were no mitigating circumstances on this play," the letter said. "Your contact was unnecessary, flagrant and should have been avoided. For your actions, you were penalized and disqualified from the game. Following each of your previous rule violations, you were warned by me and each of the jointly-appointed officers that future violations would result in escalated accountability measures. However, you have continued to flagrantly abuse rules designated to protect yourself and your opponents from unnecessary risk."

While with the Cincinnati Bengals, Burfict had one suspension reduced from five games to three games in 2017 but was unable to get a reduction this time. His punishment is by far the biggest for an on-field play, topping the five games Tennessee's Albert Haynesworth got in 2006 for kicking and stomping on Cowboys center Andre Gurode's face, leading to 30 stitches.

Burfict was repeatedly suspended by the NFL for egregious hits and violating its policy on performance-enhancers. He was fined regularly for hits that crossed the line, most notably the one to Antonio Brown's head that helped motivate the Steelers to rally for an 18-16 playoff win in the 2015 season. That led to a three-game suspension to start the 2016 season.

Burfict was also fined $112,000 last season for hits on Brown and James Conner in a game against Pittsburgh.

Brooks, who heard and ruled on the appeal, played for Raiders coach Jon Gruden in Tampa Bay and it was Brooks who ended quarterback Rich Gannon's career with a then-legal helmet-to-helmet hit in 2004.

Gruden was asked Tuesday if the Raiders would reach out to the NFL to "make a case" for Burfict in his appeal.

"Yes, we're going to try to do that," Gruden said at the time. "We're going to try to make our case. I respect the league's position. They have a tough job. At the same time, we have a lot of confidence that they'll do what's right. We want Burfict back. He's already been punished. We hope he can return to playing soon."

With Burfict out, Tahir Whitehead played middle linebacker as the defensive playcaller in London in the Raiders' defeat of the Chicago Bears, and Nicholas Morrow also saw extended time.

"They played every play," Gruden said Tuesday. "They didn't come off the field. They played great. That doesn't undermine that we miss Vontaze, his leadership and his experience, play making and all that stuff. Nick and Whitehead, they didn't come off the field the other night. They played every single play. Morrow had an interception. I think Whitehead did a great job of running the show. Those guys deserve credit."

Information from ESPN's Paul Gutierrez and The Associated Press was used in this report.

President Donald Trump, in his first public comments about the NBA's relationship with China, criticized Warriors coach Steve Kerr and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich for their response to questions about the controversy.

Trump weighed in on the topic Wednesday afternoon, saying the NBA has to "work out their own situation" with China while he was critical of Kerr and Popovich, saying they "were pandering to China."

Kerr, who has been publicly critical of Trump and vocal on several social issues in the United States, said Monday that he had no comment when asked about the fallout from Rockets GM Daryl Morey's tweet last week that showed support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong.

Trump ripped Kerr two days later, saying that the three-time championship-winning coach "was like a little boy, he was so scared to be even answering the question," Trump said. "He couldn't answer the question -- he was shaking 'Oh, oh, oh, I don't know. I don't know.'

"He didn't know how to answer the question, and yet he'll talk about the United States very badly."

Popovich also avoided directly discussing the specific issue regarding protests in Hong Kong, although he did praise NBA commissioner Adam Silver for his stance supporting free speech.

"I watched Popovich -- sort of the same thing, but he didn't look quite as scared actually," Trump said. "But they talk badly about the United States, but when it talks about China, they don't want to say anything bad. I thought it was pretty sad, actually. It'll be very interesting."

Warriors star Stephen Curry, who was made aware of Trump's comments about Kerr by team officials, including GM Bob Myers, told reporters that he got to "welcome Steve to the club."

Curry was singled out in tweets by Trump in 2016 after he had said he would vote no if the team were invited to the White House,

"We've obviously been really outspoken since I can remember, in terms of our organization and and all that," Curry said. "But from the league and China and just our presence there and building a business, it's an interesting situation because there's so much history involved in it.

"I don't know that history well enough to kind of speak on it or to form an opinion yet, so that's kind of where I'm at with the situation. ... I'm staying tuned like everybody else."

Many NBA coaches have remained largely mum on the current situation with China. Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni refused to answer questions on the topic after his team's game in Tokyo on Tuesday, while LA Clippers coach Doc Rivers didn't go too deeply into specifics when asked his opinion.

"I watch the way that Kerr and Popovich and some of the others were pandering to China, and yet to our own country, it's like they don't respect it," Trump said. "It's like they don't respect it. I said, 'What a difference -- isn't it sad?' It's very sad. To me, it's very sad."

Kerr is not expected to address the media until Thursday night's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves -- unless the Warriors make an exception.

Curry said he wasn't sure how this situation would affect his future plans, as he's traveled to China for the past six years. But his best advice for Kerr would be just to continue on.

"At this point, I don't know how Coach reacts -- or anybody else who gets called out like that -- so you just keep doing what you're doing for the most part," Curry said.

Silver, speaking in Japan on Tuesday, said he and the league are "apologetic" over the outcome and reaction that followed Morey's tweet, but he noted that "we are not apologizing for Daryl exercising his freedom of expression."

An NBA Cares event in Shanghai involving the Los Angeles Lakers was canceled Wednesday, just hours before it was scheduled to begin.

The NBA would say only that calling off the event, which was supposed to benefit the Special Olympics, was not its decision.

The protests in Hong Kong were sparked by a proposed extradition law that would have allowed suspects to be sent to China to face trial. Activists saw that as a threat to the legal rights that Hong Kong residents have under the current "one country, two systems" framework.

ESPN's Nick Friedell contributed to this report.

ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Braves have heard the complaints and are taking action to "reduce the Tomahawk Chop" for Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday.

The decision is a response to recent concerns voiced by Cardinals reliever Ryan Helsley, who is a member of the Cherokee Nation and expressed displeasure with the chop during Games 1 and 2 in Atlanta.

As part of their efforts, the Braves announced they will not distribute foam tomahawks to each seat for Game 5.

"Out of respect for the concerns expressed by Mr. Helsley, we will take several efforts to reduce the Tomahawk Chop during our in-ballpark presentation today," the Braves said in a statement.

The Braves also announced they will not play the accompanying music to the chant or use any "Chop-related graphics" on their scoreboard when Helsley is in the game.

"As stated earlier, we will continue to evaluate how we activate elements of our brand, as well as the overall in-game experience," the team's statement said. "We look forward to a continued dialogue with those in the Native American community after the postseason continues."

Helsley was informed of the decision by a reporter before batting practice, and he was pleased with the Braves' proactive stance during the series.

"I think they're taking the right steps," said Helsley, who attended Sequoyah High School in Oklahoma. "I think it's a positive thing. Fans might not like it, but maybe they can reflect back on it and see it was a good move."

The Cardinals were also pleased that their opponent listened to one of their players and acted.

"It's nice that the Braves are respectful of everyone involved, especially our player," Cardinals general manager Mike Girsch said.

Helsley has appeared in two games in the series, striking out three in 1 1/3 innings.

ATLANTA -- Fans were barely in their seats for the decisive fifth game of the National League Division Series before the St. Louis Cardinals made history, becoming the first team to score 10 runs in the first inning of a postseason game

The double-digit output against the Braves is also a record for the most runs scored in an inning in a division series or in any winner-take-all game, and it equals the most runs scored in any inning in any playoff game.

Of the four times that teams have scored 10 runs in a postseason inning, the Cardinals are the first to do so without hitting any home runs.

Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz lasted just one-third of an inning before being pulled with the bases loaded and the home team already trailing 4-0.

Reliever Max Fried didn't fare much better, walking Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty to make it 5-0 before allowing a pair of two-run doubles to Dexter Fowler and Kolten Wong.

When it looked like the Braves finally had the third out on Marcell Ozuna's strikeout, the ball got away from catcher Brian McCann, who fell down trying to retrieve it, allowing Ozuna to reach and the 10th run to come home.

The Braves missed a chance to get out of the inning after allowing just one run, but Freddie Freeman could not field a hard-hit ball that the first baseman could have turned into an inning-ending double play.

Foltynewicz was charged with seven runs on three hits and three walks, after he did not allow a run on three hits over seven innings in Game 2.

The Cardinals had just five hits in the inning, marking the first time a team scored at least 10 runs with five or fewer hits since June 2011. It's the second time this season a team scored 10 runs without hitting a homer, after the Marlins scored 11 against he Brewers in June.

To save their season, the Braves will have to break a 90-year-old record for the largest postseason comeback. In Game 4 of the 1929 World Series, the A's trailed the Cubs 8-0 heading to the bottom of the seventh before plating 10 runs in the inning to take the lead for good.

But St. Louis didn't let up, plating three more runs to set another postseason record for the most runs through three innings.

American teenager Coco Gauff is set to break into the world's top 100 for the first time after reaching her maiden WTA Tour quarter-final.

The 15-year-old, who made a memorable run to the Wimbledon last 16 in July, reached the Linz Open last eight when opponent Kateryna Kozlova retired.

Gauff has provisionally climbed to 94th in the rankings, closer to automatic qualification for the Australian Open.

She lost in Linz qualifying but entered the main draw as a lucky loser.

Following Greek Maria Sakkari's withdrawal, Gauff beat Swiss Stefanie Vogele on Tuesday and progressed again when Ukrainian Kozlova quit while trailing 6-4 4-6 0-2.

Gauff, who does not turn 16 until March, is the youngest player to reach a WTA quarter-final since Bulgarian Sesil Karatantcheva in January 2005.

The Austrian tournament is Gauff's first appearance since suffering a comprehensive defeat, which left her in tears, by Naomi Osaka at the US Open last month.

Gauff became the youngest player in the Open era to reach the Wimbledon main draw and was given a wildcard to play at her home Grand Slam in New York.

Although most would expect her to receive a wildcard for the Australian Open, she is on course to qualify automatically with the top 100-ranked players going straight into the main draw in Melbourne.