Dec 29, 2021 3 min read

Pens-Sens postponed

The NHL has postponed the Pittsburgh Penguins’ road game Friday against the Ottawa Senators. This was one of nine games in Canadian cities in the upcoming days that were postponed.

The NHL cited “current attendance restrictions in certain Canadian cities” related to the pandemic as the reason for the postponements.

This is the fifth consecutive game the Penguins have had postponed. Their next is scheduled for Sunday (1 p.m.) at home against San Jose.

In hockey

The remainder of the world junior hockey championship in Canada has been canceled over fears of a COVID-19 outbreak.

The International Ice Hockey Federation made the announcement Wednesday on the recommendation of the organization’s medical officials. Citing the spread of the coronavirus and the omicron variant, the IIHF canceled the rest of the tournament “to ensure the health and safety of all participants.”

Two games had already been forfeited because of positive coronavirus test results among U.S. and Czech players and another was imminent with Russia. Two U.S. players and one Czech player had returned positive tests, leading to team quarantine mandates.

The IIHF council determined the integrity of the event had been compromised by the forfeits, leading to the cancellation.

In college football

Tarheeb Still returned a punt 92 yards for a touchdown, Taulia Tagovailoa threw touchdown passes of 70 and 32 yards to Darryl Jones, and the sudden scores sparked Maryland to a 54-10 rout of Virginia Tech in the Pinstripe Bowl on Wednesday.

The game belonged to Tagovailoa, an Alabama transfer and younger brother of Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa. He threw for 265 yards and the two TD passes brought his season total to 26, which tied Maryland’s single-season record.

In the NBA

Cavaliers guard Ricky Rubio suffered a season-ending left knee injury, a devastating blow to a Cleveland team that he helped moved into playoff contention in the Eastern Conference.

The Cavs said an MRI taken Wednesday confirmed a torn anterior cruciate ligament, which was feared after Rubio got hurt late in Tuesday’s 108-104 loss at New Orleans.

In baseball

Kyle Seager announced his retirement Wednesday after 11 seasons in the majors, all with the Seattle Mariners.

The 34-year-old Seager became a free agent after the season when Seattle opted not to exercise a club option on his contract. Rather than test the open market and with the uncertainty created by the ongoing lockout, Seager chose to call it a career.

Seager’s retirement is a bit surprising considering he was coming off one of his best seasons. He hit a career-high 35 home runs and had a career-best 101 RBIs last season as Seattle made a late run into playoff contention only to fall short in the final days.

In college basketball

West Virginia’s game Monday at TCU has been postponed because of COVID-19 issues within the TCU program.

The game has not been rescheduled.

• Dick Vitale is taking an extended break from the airwaves to rest his voice.

The ESPN college basketball analyst said that on a recent visit to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, throat specialist Dr. Steven Zeitels advised him to rest his voice because he has pre-cancerous Dysplasia of the vocal cord membranes.