Hockey Hall of Fame member Henri Richard had stage 3 chronic traumatic encephalopathy at the time of his death in 2020, the Concussion Legacy Foundation Canada announced Wednesday.

Denis Richard, Henri's son, publicly released the findings of the posthumous brain study through the foundation in an effort to help raise awareness about the risks of head impacts in hockey.

"I hope my father's brain donation and diagnosis will lead to more prevention efforts, research and eventually a CTE treatment," Denis Richard said. "I want people to understand this is a disease that impacts athletes far beyond football."

According to the foundation, 16 of 17 NHL players whose brains have been studied have been diagnosed with CTE, including Stan Mikita, another Hall of Fame member.

Richard played for the Montreal Canadiens from 1955 to 1975 and won 11 Stanley Cup titles -- the most by one player in NHL history. He was 84 when he died.

"Henri Richard was not an enforcer, and CTE still ravaged his brain. It is far past time for all of us in the Canadian sports community to acknowledge the long-term effects of repetitive impacts on the brain," said Tim Fleiszer, executive director of the foundation and a former football player who won four Grey Cup titles. "We are grateful to the Richard family for their decision to share Henri's diagnosis publicly to help others and are hopeful it will inspire change."

Richard, a 5-foot-7 forward, tallied 1,046 points (358 goals, 688 assists) and was the younger brother of Hall of Famer Maurice Richard. They played five seasons together with the Canadiens.

The NHL did not make helmets mandatory until 1979.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins have hired two-time NHL All-Star Jason Spezza as assistant general manager.

President of hockey operations Kyle Dubas announced the move on Wednesday. Spezza spent the 2022-23 season working as a special assistant to Dubas when Dubas served as the general manager in Toronto.

Spezza, 40, scored 363 goals during a 19-year NHL career with Ottawa, Dallas and Toronto. He retired in May 2022 and immediately went to work for Dubas. Spezza's role in Toronto included working inside several departments with the Maples Leafs, including player personnel, player development, minor league operations and hockey research and development.

"After a decorated playing career, Jason fully immersed himself on the management side of the game learning all facets of hockey operations this past season while with Toronto," Dubas said in a statement. "He showed tremendous work ethic, curiosity, and ability to build relationships throughout all departments at the team facility."

The Penguins are still searching for a general manager to replace Ron Hextall, who was fired after Pittsburgh failed to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2006. Dubas, hired as director of hockey operations on June 1, said he will serve as the general manager in a temporary capacity and plans to ramp up the hiring process in July.

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues have hired Mike Babcock's son, Michael, as a skills coach.

Babcock and former defenseman Mike Weber are joining Craig Berube's staff, general manager Doug Armstrong announced Wednesday. Berube oversaw the search for replacements for Craig MacTavish and Mike Van Ryn, assistants who were fired after St. Louis missed the playoffs.

Babcock, 28, finished this past NHL season with the Ottawa Senators, helping the coaching staff with developing game plans, pre-scouting and on-ice skill development. Before that, he spent two years working for his father as an assistant for the men's hockey team at the University of Saskatchewan.

His father has been linked to the head-coaching job for the Columbus Blue Jackets, who may have to wait until June 30 to hire him. Mike Babcock, despite being out of the league since being fired by Toronto in 2019, is under contract with the Maple Leafs until the end of the month, with six figures still due to him.

Michael had been garnering interest around the NHL as a young assistant.

Weber, 35, who joins Berube's staff as an assistant coach, spent the past three seasons in that role with the American Hockey League's Rochester Americans. He played 360 NHL games from 2007 to '16, after which he attended Blues training camp on a tryout before playing in the AHL and then Europe.

Federal scrutiny of the “framework” agreement between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia intensified Tuesday when a pair of U.S. senators urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to examine the deal for potential antitrust violations.

According to ESPN.com, the letter was sent by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to Garland and Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter following last week’s announcement of the agreement, which has not yet been approved by the Tour’s policy board.

“The red flags regarding antitrust concerns are clear,” the senators wrote, adding the agreement, “raises an array of potential legal and regulatory issues, including relating to the PGA Tour's non-profit tax status and antitrust law.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), the chairman of the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, sent a similar letter to Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman on Monday. The PIF owns 93 percent of LIV Golf.

The letter from Warren and Wyden also claimed the Tour is enabling the fund and Saudi Arabia to “sportswash” its human rights record and referenced a countersuit filed by the Tour against the PIF last year that claimed, “LIV is not a rational economic actor, competing fairly to start a golf tour. It is prepared to lose billions of dollars to leverage [U.S. golfers] and the sport of golf to 'sportswash' the Saudi government's deplorable reputation for human rights abuses.”

“The PGA [Tour]-LIV deal would make a U.S. organization complicit – and force American golfers and their fans to join this complicity – in the Saudi regime's latest attempt to sanitize its abuses by pouring funds into major sports leagues,” the letter read.

Last summer, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Tour is being investigated by the Department of Justice for potential anticompetitive behavior toward LIV Golf.

Monahan – who is “recuperating from a medical situation” the Tour announced Tuesday – pushed back at criticism last week in a letter to senators, claiming the agreement was needed to end a long and costly legal battle with the PIF and LIV Golf. He also said the agreement was the byproduct of inaction by lawmakers.

“While we are grateful for the written declarations of support we received from certain [congressional] members, we were largely left on our own to fend off the attacks, ostensibly due to the United States' complex geopolitical alliance with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” Monahan wrote.

LOS ANGELES – Ten years ago at the 2013 Pac-12 Championship, Jon Rahm, then a freshman at Arizona State, thought he’d flagged a lob wedge at Los Angeles Country Club’s diminutive one-shotter, the par-3 15^th hole.

“It landed a foot from the hole,” Rahm recalled, “and went long into the rough.”

Expect a similar script this weekend.

While No. 15 is listed at 125 yards on the official card for the 123^rd U.S. Open, it is expected to weigh in at just 80 yards – or perhaps a couple yards shorter. That yardage would make it the shortest hole ever played in a U.S. Open. By comparison, Royal Troon’s famed eighth hole, nicknamed the Postage Stamp, plays around 120 yards for Open Championships.

“It will prove that par-3s don’t have to be 200 yards,” Rory McIlroy said of the hole, which is part of LACC’s five par-5s, two of which tip out at 284 yards or longer.

The par-3 11^th can stretch to 290 yards, but in the eyes of some competitors, it’s got nothing on the pound-for pound punch of No. 15.

“I would argue that at 78 yards, stand there with a lob wedge in your hand and you're going to be a little bit more intimidated than with a 3-wood in your hand,” Matt Fitzpatrick said.

Added Max Homa: “I'm not going to sit up here and say I'm some architect buff by any means, but it's amazing when you look at this golf course. They have two of the longest par-3s that we'll play, and the coolest hole is 78 yards.”

And Scottie Scheffler: “It's really kind of a genius design.”

It’s unlikely No. 15 will draw unanimous praise this week, especially on Saturday. After all, the hole has had a mixed history, considered a masterpiece by some and an afterthought, or forced hole, by others. After George Thomas and Billy Bell redesigned the iconic layout in 1928, they added a bunker in the center of the green, much like the bunker Thomas installed on Riviera’s sixth green the year before. But that was short-lived, as the bunker was sodded over two years later.

“We think – and Geoff Shackelford did all the research on it – that they had the bunker in there and it was so unpopular that Thomas took it out,” said Gil Hanse, who led a 2010 restoration of LACC. “It was probably experimental. Either that, or one of the founders hit it in there.”

Hanse’s work on the hole didn’t restore the middle bunker, but it did re-do the three traps (front, wraparound back left and back right) around the boomerang-shaped green, returning the rugged, shark-toothed edges that Thomas was known for, as well as ramping back up the intensity of the center mound that splits the green into two sections. Much of the perimeter of the green is sloped in ways that funnel balls back toward the center of the green rather than off of the putting surface, and the hole length can span almost 50 yards, falling in line with the theme of variety that Thomas desired with his designs.

The half-wedge distance was used not only at the 2013 Pac-12s, but the Saturday singles session of the 2017 Walker Cup saw No. 15 play 78 yards. The shot of that day was hit by Will Zalatoris, who delivered a miraculous up-and-down par from behind the green to the front hole location that Shackelford still raves about.

“It’s honestly the coolest hole I’ve ever played,” said Zalatoris, who used the center bump to funnel his ball toward the cup, in Shackelford’s story for Golfweek in 2017.

Stewart Hagestad, an LACC member, bogeyed the hole at that Walker Cup.

“I don't love it [at that length],” Hagestad said. “It's downwind, you're landing on a downslope. This hole, there's a very good chance that this hole gets moaned about at some point if it gets really firm and like kind of a hotter, windier day. I would love to see them put it at like 85 yards to generate a little bit more speed and a little bit more height so the ball can stop and that you kind of avoid any controversy.”

Hanse argues that LACC reveals itself the more one studies it. “I love seeing when players have thoughtful study of the golf course and then they figure something out and the light bulb goes off,” Hanse said. And that’s especially true for No. 15.

So, how does one figure out this 78-yard challenge?

“It’s not a full club for those guys,” Hanse said. “You’ve got to be so precise to that yardage because short’s no good, long’s no good, you have to be in that bowl. It wouldn’t surprise me if some players try and play at the mound and let it spin down off it.”

Morikawa played out to the left during the Walker Cup and two-putted from 20 feet, a speedy putt that gets quicker the deeper the ball ends up on the green.

“You have like a yard and a half to land it if you want to hit a good shot,” Morikawa said. “If not, you've got to play left and hopefully hit a good putt. Yeah, it's frustrating because you can hit an OK shot and not get rewarded at all.”

Added Hagestad of the safe play: “You can be like 20-25 feet left, but then there's a very good chance you could leave it like 6 or 7 feet short or potentially even putt it off the green.”

Then there’s the right-brained play that Rickie Fowler shared with NBC Sports’ John Wood, where Fowler talked about “laying up” short right and chipping uphill for an easy par.

But what if one wants to be aggressive and attack the pin? Morikawa and Homa have some advice.

“I remember like you almost had to practice teeing it up with a 60-degree lob wedge like an inch off the ground, which you never do, and just trying to try and hit it perfect, because you had to with height, with spin,” Morikawa said. “It's only going to be that much more important this week if they do move it up.”

Added Homa: “You're going to have to spin the life out of it and hit your number.”

Homa remembers attending the Walker Cup with his mom and posting up that Saturday afternoon behind the 15^th green.

“It was so fun watching everybody kind of make a mess of this little dinky hole,” Homa said. “I'm looking forward to the fans getting to enjoy that this week.”

No. 15: Short, sweet, and stressful. Just like the scriptwriters like it.

LOS ANGELES – PGA Tour executive vice president Tyler Dennis said Wednesday that the Tour’s priorities remain unchanged even with commissioner Jay Monahan currently sidelined because of an undisclosed medical situation.

The Tour released a short statement Tuesday saying that Monahan, 53, will step aside from the day-to-day operations while recuperating from a medical issue. The Tour did not provide any additional details about Monahan’s condition. Dennis said Wednesday there was no further update on Monahan’s status.

Dennis, along with chief operating officer Ron Price, will fill Monahan’s duties in the interim.

It’s been a tumultuous period for Monahan and the Tour, which last week announced that it had entered into a partnership with Saudi Arabia and the DP World Tour to create a new for-profit company that will oversee the Tour’s commercial interests. Monahan stressed that they have only reached a “framework” agreement with the Saudis’ Public Investment Fund, and that more details would need to be finalized over the coming weeks.

“We’re full steam ahead as a business,” Dennis said Wednesday while appearing on Golf Channel’s “Live From the U.S. Open”.

“All of our priorities remain unchanged. We had a big announcement last week and nothing is changing in that regard. We’re working very hard toward the definitive agreements. There’ll be a lot of news on that subject in the coming weeks and months.”

Dennis added that the Tour is also close to announcing the circuit’s 2024 schedule, which should be released in the next few weeks.

“It’s full steam ahead, day to day as a business,” Dennis said, “and we’re stronger than we’ve ever been and we’re focused on the future.”

Golf fans everywhere will have a brand new, unique streaming opportunity during the U.S. Open this week.

Ahead of Round 1 Thursday, Golf Channel's parent company, NBC Sports, announced 'U.S. Open All-Access presented by Lexus' – a 20-hour, limited commercial, whip-around coverage stream of the third major of the year.

The Peacock-exclusive stream will be hosted by radio and podcast personality Chris Vernon and former PGA Tour pro Johnson Wagner in what is expected to be a fun, fast-paced and high-energy way to watch the action from Los Angeles Country Club. They'll be joined by guests throughout the Thursday-Sunday coverage, including NBC Sports analyst Jay Croucher, as well as some of the sport's stars and celebrities.

How to watch: U.S. Open All-Access presented by Lexus

This broadcast will be exclusively on NBC's streaming platform, Peacock, and will utilize footage from all live NBC Golf feeds across linear and digital during the afternoon session each day (all times ET; click on the link below to watch stream when live).

LOS ANGELES – Rickie Fowler has been all smiles this week.

Friends and family have followed him during all three practice rounds. His young daughter could hardly contain her excitement when Fowler approached the ninth green during Tuesday afternoon’s walk around Los Angeles Country Club. She demanded the putter, then a couple of airborne tosses from her father into the blue California sky.

The SoCal native is back home, but he’s also returned to golf’s biggest stage, and that’s reason enough for his ear-to-ear grin.

“Back where we should be,” Fowler said after his Wednesday practice round. “It’s nice to finally be back into the top 50 in the world and to be back in this tournament. It’s a sign things are headed in the right direction.”

Fowler is in the field this week after missing each of the past two U.S. Opens. He came agonizingly close to a spot in last year’s tournament, but he lipped out a 6-foot birdie putt that would have forced a playoff at the Jupiter, Florida, qualifier.

Fowler, currently ranked No. 45 in the world, fell to as low as No. 185 in September 2022. It’s been a steady rise back to his current position, which was the primary focus when the struggles reached their peak.

“The goal was to get inside the top 50, so now it’s nice to see all of the hard work pay off,” he said. “I obviously want to get back inside the winner’s circle, but this was the first step. Now, it’s all about continuing the improvement.”

Fowler will start his U.S. Open in the early wave at 11:02 a.m. ET. He is grouped with Jason Day, another player who hasn’t competed in the past two Opens, and Justin Rose.

Fowler is expecting a huge change in conditions between his early first round and late Friday tee time (4:32 p.m. ET). The golf course is expected to harden throughout the week, but he doesn’t see any added pressure to go low when conditions might be at their easiest Thursday morning, partly because there’s an air of mystery on what exactly will be required this weekend.

“Nobody’s really sure what the scores are going to be, so I think that makes it even more important to just play the game with yourself and just execute. You see what you can do and where that puts you at the end,” he said.

No matter the end result, getting back to this stage is a huge step in Fowler’s resurgence. 

FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura is leaving after seven years as the highest-profile woman working in world soccer, the governing body said Wednesday.

Samoura will stay in the job she has held since 2016 through the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand this July and August and will leave at the end of the year, FIFA said.

- Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

"FIFA today is a better governed, more open, more reliable and more transparent organisation. I will leave FIFA with a high sense of pride and fulfilment," Samoura said in a statement.

"I had intended to share my news first with the FIFA Council members next week, but I am aware there has been growing speculation about my position in recent months.

"For now, I am fully focused on the preparation and delivery of the upcoming Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand."

The 60-year-old former United Nations official from Senegal was an unexpected hire seven years ago soon after the election of Gianni Infantino as FIFA president.

She became the first woman, first Black person, first Muslim and first non-European to be FIFA's top administrator.

However, Infantino's hands-on style as an executive president has meant Samoura has often struggled to establish a clearly defined public role in the $2 million-a-year job.

"Fatma was the first woman, and the first African, to be appointed to such an important position at FIFA," Infantino said.

"We respect Fatma's decision and I would like to thank her for such dedication and commitment to football."

Samoura's time in FIFA included helping oversee men's World Cups played in Russia and Qatar, plus awarding the 2026 edition that will be played in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

She also oversaw the restructuring of FIFA, which included appointing two deputy secretary generals and creating a new women's football division.

Information from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.

Premier League clubs agreed Wednesday to measures for tackling the rise in tragedy-related chanting at matches, with criminal prosecution of offenders a principal aim.

The move comes in response to incidents of chants and other behavior -- often between rival clubs -- taunting victims and survivors of soccer-related tragedies.

A Manchester United supporter was arrested following the FA Cup final at Wembley this month after he was seen wearing a soccer shirt that appeared to make an offensive reference to the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, which led to the death of 97 Liverpool fans.

Manchester City and Chelsea both apologised to Liverpool in recent months for Hillsborough-related chants sung by their fans, and appealed for supporters to stop. United supporters have been targeted repeatedly with chants that reference the Munich air disaster of 1958 in which 23 people died, eight of them players.

The measures, which were agreed to unanimously on Wednesday at the league's annual general meeting, come after a working group of stakeholders from across the game was established six months ago, and will also look at issues surrounding regulation and enforcement, online abuse and education.

"(These) issues have continued to cause significant distress to the victims' families, survivors and affected-club supporters, in addition to damaging the reputation of the clubs involved and football in England and Wales," a Premier League statement read.

"The action will focus on criminal prosecution, the regulatory environment, enforcement, online abuse, education and communications."

The league also confirmed that it had agreed unanimously to amend its owners' and directors' test to prohibit fully leveraged buyouts, in which prospective owners borrow all of the required funds, thus loading the club with debt and interest charges.

The Glazer family's purchase of Manchester United in 2005 was largely propped up by loans, with the owners strongly criticized in the years since for taking money out of the club to service the debt.