NEW YORK -- New Jersey Devils forward Paul Cotter has been suspended for his team's final two games of the regular season for his illegal check to the head that injured New York Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech.

The NHL's Department of Player Safety announced the suspension Monday after a disciplinary hearing with him. Cotter, who had no prior history of supplemental discipline, will forfeit $8,073 in salary but not miss any of the first round of the playoffs.

After officials looked at the play on video review, they assessed a match penalty, ejecting Cotter and giving New York a five-minute power play.

Cotter, a third liner who is in his first season with the Devils, was the focus of the Islanders postgame media availabilities. Islanders coach Patrick Roy, who had no update on Pelech, told reporters "that's the kind of hit we don't like to see."

Cotter and the Devils are headed to the postseason and will take on the Carolina Hurricanes in Round 1. The 25-year-old center has 16 goals and 22 points this season.

Pelech, who was bloodied and angry after the left shoulder-to-head hit by Cotter six minutes into the second period of the teams' game Sunday, was quickly ruled out of the game, which his club won, 1-0. The Islanders will not be headed to the postseason, as they were eliminated from contention on Saturday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

EDMONTON, Alberta -- Mattias Ekholm will not be available for the Edmonton Oilers' first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Kings, coach Kris Knoblauch said Monday.

Ekholm's absence is a significant blow to the defending Western Conference champions' blue line in their attempt to make another long playoff run this spring.

The talented and rugged top-pairing defenseman returned to action Friday in Edmonton's 4-2 win over visiting San Jose after a seven-game absence because of an undisclosed injury. But he left the game when he aggravated the ailment after playing a couple of shifts.

Ekholm, a 34-year-old Swede, has nine goals and 24 assists in 65 games this season. He also played for Sweden in the Four Nations Face-Off this year.

The Oilers are facing the Kings in the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year. They expect to get MVP candidate Leon Draisaitl back for the series after he has been dealing with a nagging injury, while reigning playoff MVP Connor McDavid is resting late in the regular season after also missing time.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Zeev Buium was conducting his first media interview as a member of the Minnesota Wild on Monday, when a white practice jersey suddenly sailed over the circle of reporters and cameras and landed square in the rookie's face.

The rookie defenseman paused briefly to uncover his face, revealing a wide smile and an unfazed expression as he quickly resumed the conversation. While Buium's performance on the ice in the NHL has yet to unfold, the 2024 first-round draft pick with the unusual name and the unconventional pathway to the sport sure looks like he'll be able to more than hold his own.

After winning the NCAA championship as a freshman with Denver and returning to the Frozen Four last weekend, Buium decided to end his college career after two seasons and make the jump to Minnesota. He signed a three-year, entry-level contract on Sunday and joined the Wild at the rink for practice, meet-and-greets and more paperwork on Monday.

"Kind of like your first day school," coach John Hynes said. Buium, for the record, e-mailed his Denver professors to inform them he wouldn't be in class this week.

"I don't think there was much more, development-wise, for me in college hockey," said Buium, who was the country's highest-scoring defenseman and one of three finalists for the Hobey Baker player of the year award. "I can obviously get bigger, stronger and faster, but taking this next step and pushing myself even more, it's the right moment."

Wild defensemen Jake Middleton has missed the last four games with an injury, though he was on the ice on Monday. Another one of their top four defensemen, Jared Spurgeon, was recently banged up and didn't play in the last game. Even if they're both available for the critical final regular-season game on Tuesday against Anaheim, with a spot in the playoffs not yet secure, Buium could well find himself in the middle of the action.

"That's the dream, playing in the NHL and taking that rookie lap, so if I'm fortunate enough to do it, then I'm going to be super pumped and ready to go," Buium said. "But it's just still a dream right now. It's pretty awesome."

Buium, whose last name is pronounced BOO-yum, grew up in San Diego where his parents emigrated from Israel in their mid-20s to be near family and start a heating, venting and air conditioning business. Once Buium and his two brothers found a passion and skill for hockey, his mother drove them to daily practices in the Los Angeles area -- a 112-mile, one-way trip -- while their father worked.

Buium eventually attended the prestigious prep school Shattuck St. Mary's in Faribault, Minnesota, where numerous NHL players have come through. One of his brothers, Shai Buium, is currently a Detroit Red Wings prospect playing in the AHL.

If the Wild win on Tuesday, they're in the playoffs. Simply taking the Ducks to overtime would send them to the postseason as the first wild-card team, too, with one more point needed to ensure a finish ahead of St. Louis and Calgary. The Wild have the tiebreaker in hand with more regulation wins than both clubs.

But if the Wild were to lose in regulation, they'd be on thin ice. The Blues host Utah at the same time. The Flames host San Jose an hour later and also have an extra game remaining at Los Angeles on Thursday. If both St. Louis and Calgary win out, the Wild would be left out if they don't gain at least one point against Anaheim.

After playing in the world juniors and, most recently, helping Denver reach the national semifinals, Buium has been on plenty of big stages. That bodes well for the situation he's entering.

"He's a really well-spoken kid," Buium said. "He's been a captain at the levels he's been at, so when you have that type of a person and his personality and the experiences he's had, it certainly makes it a little bit easier."

ATLANTA -- FIFA President Gianni Infantino said he is not concerned about ticket sales for this summer's Club World Cup in the United States despite questions about how well the 32-team event is selling across the country.

Infantino, making an appearance at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Monday to promote the Club World Cup, said his reasoning for not being worried is because of how stadiums filled up for friendly matches between top-tier teams during preseason tours in the United States in years past.

"I'm not worried at all to fill a stadium when teams are coming to play a World Cup, to play for something real, not just an exhibition game where sometimes the second or third squads are fielded and so on," Infantino said. "This is a real game. This is a real competition.

"This is a real World Cup. It's the best players. It's the best teams coming."

He added that once people understand the competition, they'll buy in, but admitted FIFA has to explain the Club World Cup to fans.

The 32-team competition has never been this large before and has a new format after a 7-team version was held in 2021, 2022 and 2023. FIFA officials declined to release ticket sales numbers thus far when asked by ESPN on Monday.

The cheapest seat on Ticketmaster for the June 14 opening match in Miami Gardens, Florida, featuring Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF vs. Egyptian side Al Ahly, costs $356.80. Multiple sections in both the upper and lower decks of Hard Rock Stadium show over 100 tickets available on Ticketmaster.

The same goes for the second match of the tournament on June 15 in Cincinnati between Bayern Munich and Auckland City, with the cheapest seat going for a more reasonable $94.80 on Ticketmaster and multiple sections with over 100 tickets remaining.

For the first match at the Rose Bowl on June 15 between Paris Saint-Germain and Atlético Madrid, over half of the Rose Bowl's 26 sections have at least 100 tickets available on Ticketmaster, with the cheapest seat being $133.80.

FIFA also recently announced a package where fans can buy packages of tickets to this summer's Club World Cup with a "guaranteed option" to buy a ticket to one of next summer's World Cup games, not including the final.

"When people see what it is, then they realize that they have to come," Infantino said. "I was always told in the United States of America, you need to bring the best. Americans, they just want to see the best. They don't want to see average things.

"Well, the best are coming."

Infantino also addressed the possibility of Atlanta playing host to a Women's World Cup final. He joked the 71,000-seat venue would need another 20,000 seats, but also indicated the city, which has 14 games between the Club and regular World Cups, including a World Cup semifinal next year -- has a chance to make an impression.

While Infantino may say he's not worried about ticket sales for the Club World Cup, he did make one thing clear: Tickets are still available.

The FIFA president ended his introductory comments by saying he wanted to do some publicity after showing off the Club World Cup trophy and announcing a $1 million contribution "for social projects" for children in Atlanta.

"Let me do some publicity," Infantino said at the podium. "There are still some tickets available. FIFA.com/tickets, get them and enjoy the best of the best playing for this, which is something incredible."

Real Madrid legend Marcelo has said the club cannot be written off as they look to overturn a 3-0 deficit against Arsenal in their Champions League quarterfinal second leg on Wednesday.

A pair of stunning free kicks helped Arsenal stun Madrid at the Emirates last week, leaving Carlo Ancelotti's side with a mountain to climb. However, Marcelo, who won five Champions League titles with Madrid, said no task is too big for the club.

"You can never write off Real Madrid," Marcelo told ESPN in an interview in Mexico on Monday. "Although three goals is a lot of goals, but I am always thinking about Real Madrid and have a lot of faith that they'll come back. Real Madrid is Real Madrid and they always come back."

Marcelo is in Mexico this week playing in the Club Legends Clásico with other former Madrid and Barcelona players.

"The return leg is at the Bernabéu, the fans will push hard and the players are confident it can happen. Of course, we don't know what will happen, we have faith and Real Madrid will come back," Marcelo said.

Marcelo added that winning is in the DNA of Real Madrid players, as it is something taught to them from the moment they wear the shirt.

"I think that from the moment we joined Real Madrid, we're taught to never give up, and that's always been in our blood," he said. "It's been like this for many years, and apart from the DNA, it's hard work, humility, daily dedication, and the support of the fans as well. It's all part of making things work."

Madrid, who will welcome Arsenal to the Bernabéu, can boast a track record of recovering from the position they find themselves entering Wednesday, although the club has never come back from a 3-0 first-leg defeat.

Ancelotti's side delivered a series of logic-defying comebacks en route to the Champions League title in 2022, including two stoppage-time goals to deny Manchester City in the semifinals.

Sergio Ramos may have moved to Liga MX side Monterrey, but the notorious former Real Madrid and Spain defender is still getting involved in all sorts of headline-grabbing antics.

The 39-year-old picked up red card No. 30 of his club career last month in only his fourth match in Mexico, and last weekend he was involved in a bizarre bout of mind games around his other great area of expertise: penalty kicks.

Early in the second half of Saturday's clash at Tigres, Monterrey were awarded a penalty, and with it a golden chance for their spot-kick expert to score the opening goal of the game. Ramos -- who had scored each of his last 21 penalties at club level -- stepped up, placed the ball on the spot and readied himself to shoot, only to be met by the sight of Tigres goalkeeper Nahuel Guzmán attempting some utterly baffling diversionary tactics.

As Ramos carefully mapped out his run-up and visualized his shot from 12 yards, Guzmán stood on the goal line with his back to his opponent with his arms splayed out and simply refused to turn around. Cue more than a minute of confusion as Ramos flashed quizzical looks at the match officials.

Despite having made over 1,000 career appearances and winning just about all there is to win in professional football, Ramos had obviously never had to contend with Guzmán's particular brand of pre-penalty shenanigans before and had no idea what the correct protocol might be. After what felt like an eternity of forcing Ramos to stare bewilderedly at his shirt number, the Tigres keeper then changed things up and began prancing up and down his line, waving his arms in a further attempt to distract the Monterrey captain.

Ramos then decided to get involved in the pantomime himself and motioned to Guzmán that he was going to attempt a Panenka-style penalty, something at which he has proved adept over the years. Several more agonizing moments passed before Guzmán then turned his back once again in a final attempt to disrupt Ramos' preparations.

Unfortunately for Guzmán, his decision to delay the taking of the penalty for over 90 seconds proved to have little effect on Ramos, who calmly swept the ball into the bottom corner before charging off in celebration.

For all of his failed chicanery, Guzmán still managed to have the last laugh. Monterrey held their slim lead until stoppage time, at which point Tigres hit back with two late goals from Sebastián Córdova and Nicolás Ibáñez to pilfer a dramatic 2-1 victory.

Just to add to the drama, there were three players sent off in the second half at the Estadio Universitario. By some miracle, given his track record, Ramos was not one of them.

With just two rounds of games left in the Clausura championship, Monterrey are ninth with 22 points while Tigres are fourth with 29, four points behind leaders Toluca.

Las Vegas Raiders standout pass rusher Maxx Crosby has been named the assistant general manager for the Eastern Michigan football program, the university announced Monday.

Crosby is the first active NFL player to hold the position. He will help Eastern Michigan evaluate high school and portal prospects, manage its NIL budget and also serve as special assistant to the fundraising, alumni relations and student-athlete support.

"There is no place more important to my personal and athletic development than Eastern Michigan University," Crosby said in a statement released by the school. "It truly is an honor for me to not only be named the Assistant GM of the EMU, but together with my wife Rachel, make another donation aimed at creating opportunities for other athletes to be impacted by the EMU program, community, students and alumni."

Crosby is one of the best defensive players to ever come out of Eastern Michigan. In three seasons, he set the program record with 20 career sacks, and his 41 tackles for loss are the third most in school history.

Crosby, a fourth-round pick in 2019, has recorded 59.5 sacks in six seasons with the Raiders. He was rewarded by the Raiders this offseason, signing a three-year, $106.5 million contract extension in March.

In addition to his role as assistant general manager for EMU, Crosby also launched the "Maxx Match," which is a fundraising challenge in which he will personally match all donations to the Eastern Michigan football program, up to $100,000, made before the end of May.

In 2023, Crosby and his wife Rachel donated $1 million to the football program.

"Maxx Crosby's return to EMU in this leadership role is a transformative moment for our football program," athletic director Scott Wetherbee said in the release. "His passion, vision, and generosity are inspiring, and the Maxx Match is a powerful example of that. ... With him on board, we're building a better football program and a stronger future for EMU athletics."

While Crosby is the first NFL player to take an administrative job with an NCAA team, he is not the only athlete. Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry became the assistant general manager at Davidson College, his alma mater, last month.

Miami quarterback Cam Ward, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL draft, is one of 17 players confirmed to attend the event in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in two weeks, the NFL announced Monday.

Ward is one of three quarterbacks who will be in attendance, along with Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart and Alabama's Jalen Milroe. Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, widely expected to be the second quarterback selected, was not among those announced to be in attendance.

Travis Hunter, Sanders' star two-way teammate, will be in attendance, however. Other wide receivers who will be in attendance are Texas' Matthew Golden and Arizona's Tetairoa McMillan.

Other prominent players to be in attendance include Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter, Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, LSU offensive tackle Will Campbell and Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham. All four players are expected to be selected in the top 10 picks.

Alabama leads the way with three players confirmed to attend -- Milroe, guard Tyler Booker and linebacker Jihaad Campbell. Georgia (safety Malaki Starks and defensive end Mykel Williams) and Michigan (Graham and cornerback Will Johnson) will each have two players in attendance.

Rounding out the attendees are Ohio State offensive tackle Josh Simmons and Texas A&M defensive end Shemar Stewart.

The draft begins with the first round on Thursday, April 24 (8 p.m. ET), followed by the second and third rounds on Friday, April 25 (7 p.m. ET), and Rounds 4 through 7 on Saturday, April 26 (noon ET).

NEW YORK -- UConn star and newly minted NCAA champion Paige Bueckers was selected No. 1 by the Dallas Wings in the 2025 WNBA draft on Monday night.

Bueckers, a three-time first-team All-American from Hopkins, Minnesota, becomes the sixth player, and first since Breanna Stewart in 2016, to be drafted first overall and win a national championship in the same year. Bueckers led the Huskies to their first NCAA title in nine years last Sunday in her final collegiate game.

The 2021 national player of the year, Bueckers is also the sixth UConn player to be drafted No. 1, joining a distinguished group of WNBA superstars that includes Sue Bird (2002), Diana Taurasi (2004), Tina Charles (2010), Maya Moore (2011) and Stewart (2016).

The selection marks a hopeful change of fortune for the Wings, who went 9-31 last season, missed the playoffs and changed coaches. Dallas was rewarded the top pick in November when it won the draft lottery for the first time in franchise history.

The Wings organization, which previously played in Detroit and Tulsa when it was known as the Shock, has made the postseason in five of its nine seasons since relocating to Dallas in 2016, but advanced past the first round only once, in 2023.

Even before the addition of Bueckers, the 2025 Wings -- headlined by four-time All-Star Arike Ogunbowale -- were already set to feature a slew of newcomers. Stars Satou Sabally and Natasha Howard moved on to different teams, while new coach Chris Koclanes and general manager Curt Miller brought in DiJonai Carrington, Tyasha Harris, NaLyssa Smith and Myisha Hines-Allen during free agency.

Now the Wings will look to channel the momentum of drafting Bueckers into supercharging their franchise on and off the court. The team had already announced a move in 2026 from Arlington to Dallas, where it will have a standalone practice facility and play in a larger and newly renovated arena.

Bueckers enters the pros boasting the top career scoring average in UConn history (19.8 PPG) on remarkable efficiency (53% from the field, 42% from 3, 85% from free throw line), while also shining as a facilitator. The 6-foot guard overcame a pair of knee injuries, including an ACL tear that sidelined her the entire 2022-23 campaign, to play the best basketball of her career over the past two seasons with the Huskies.

While she can play both on and off the ball, multiple WNBA talent evaluators told ESPN they see her as a point guard long-term in the league. Her pairing with Ogunbowale in the backcourt could soon emerge as one of the best guard duos in the league.

DENVER -- Nuggets vice chairman Josh Kroenke said Monday that he twice balked at firing the winningest coach in franchise history and the general manager who connected the final pieces of the team's only championship puzzle before finally canning them last week with just three games left in the season.

Kroenke held off in November to give the team time to jell and an eight-game winning streak heading into the All-Star break tempered his desire to part ways in February with coach Michael Malone and GM Calvin Booth.

Kroenke finally fired both men last week in a move that stunned the league because the Nuggets were still in the mix for home court in the first round of the playoffs and less than two years removed from the city's first NBA championship parade.

"So, what would be crazier, me doing what I did last week or doing it on an eight-game winning streak?" Kroenke asked.

Only one of those eight wins leading into the All-Star break came against a team that would make the playoffs, the Orlando Magic, the No. 7 seed in the East.

"I think that those eight games masked a trend that was going on behind closed doors that ultimately started to really affect the end of our season," Kroenke said.

Kroenke said he also seriously considered a change around Thanksgiving with the Nuggets off to a so-so start and "I was really feeling like things weren't headed in the right direction." But he said he held off then to give the team time to settle in.

Despite leading Denver to its first title in 47 years, Malone and Booth long clashed over roster philosophies, a discord that led to a toxicity in the organization that began to affect the team's fortunes and which led Kroenke to fire them both.

Kroenke also addressed a report that he would not approve trading forward Michael Porter Jr. in part because of his ties to Porter's alma mater, Missouri, calling it "completely false."

"First of all I'll say, I'm incredibly proud of Michael," Kroenke said, referencing his journey back from multiple back surgeries earlier in his career. "... But I think that any kind of report saying that we're not open to trading everybody possible to improve the team is completely false.

"The other thing I'll say is ... I'm not going to be green-lighting any trades around here when I don't see complete organizational cohesion and we're not maximizing the group we got."

No players or club personnel requested the change in organizational structure, Kroenke added. He offered three-time MVP Nikola Jokic a chance to discuss a decision that had already been made, but Kroenke said Monday that Jokic's response was a head nod of "no."

"You have a responsibility when you have a player like that, especially, obviously, in his prime," Kroenke said of Jokic. "But I feel an even greater responsibility to the person. ... I'd be the dumbest guy in basketball if I wasn't asking him for his opinion on certain things. But it's my responsibility to make those decisions for the best of the organization and I think Jokic understands and respects that."

The Nuggets have won all three games under interim coach David Adelman to secure a third consecutive 50-win season and the fourth seed in the West, where they'll open at home Saturday against the fifth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers.

Kroenke said he'll commence a search for both positions after the season but he demurred when asked if he wanted to have a GM in place before hiring a head coach: "My thoughts aren't there because this season's not over."

Kroenke also announced he'd promoted Ben Tenzer to interim GM for the playoff run.

Kroenke began his nearly 30-minute news conference, his first since the firings, by praising Malone and Booth: "I want to start off by initially just staying thank you to both Calvin and Coach Malone ... And to be frank, neither one of them deserved it, so for that I apologize."

Kroenke said he ultimately made the decision to move on from both men "with the hope of kind of rejuvenating the energy of the group and re-establishing some positive thoughts before the playoffs. I think we did that over the last three games ... still have a long way to go."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.