7:00 AM ET Aesthetics matter in hockey. The player with the wooliest thicket of playoff beard competes with the might of King Leonidas of Sparta. The team that gets the spiffy state-of-the-art arena stands just a bit taller in its skates. I think the New York Islanders are a playoff team this season not because
7:49 AM ET Oleksandr Usyk’s upset victory over Anthony Joshua kicked off a hectic fall season for the sport of boxing. The biggest stars will return over the next few months, and in many cases they’ll be competing against top-level competition rather than doing the stay-busy fights that have become all too common. Teofimo Lopez
Australia’s Tour Down Under has been cancelled for the second year in a row because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Restrictions in Australia made it difficult for teams to travel to the event, which was due to be part of the men’s UCI World Tour and women’s UCI Pro Tour. The Tour Down Under is traditionally
6:02 AM BST Thirty-eight-year-old prop Greg Holmes has seen a few different incarnations of the Wallabies in his time. The Queenslander made his Test debut way back in 2005, in the final year of Eddie Jones’ reign, and has since played under both John Connolly and Michael Cheika within the national setup. And he will
Heiko Salzwedel, who held coaching roles with British Cycling from 2002 to 2017 across three separate spells, has died at the age of 64. Salzwedel had most recently worked for OSP Brandenburg, in his native Germany’s Olympic training centre. With British Cycling, he was involved in three Olympics, including helping a men’s team pursuit squad
Qatar will make its debut on the Formula 1 calendar with a race in November and has signed a 10-year deal to host a Grand Prix from 2023. The Gulf state will fill the vacant slot on this season’s schedule on 19-21 November with a race at its Losail circuit, known for hosting MotoGP. Qatar
7:00 AM ET Ranking the NHL’s goaltending tandems used to be a predictable process: Pencil in the Boston Bruins, Vegas Golden Knights, Dallas Stars and whoever the Tampa Bay Lightning have playing with Andrei Vasilevskiy at the top, and then figure out the rest. Unfortunately for us, and fortunately for the rest of the NHL,
1:49 AM BST Liam Napier With due respect to Tonga, Fiji, Australia and Argentina, the Springboks were always going to provide the litmus test for the All Blacks. Setting aside their great rivalry, and the occasion surrounding last week’s 100th Test, the Boks are the antithesis to the All Blacks. Where the Wallabies and Welsh,
1:06 PM BST Rugby Championship organisers have ordered players and staff to isolate in their hotels amid a COVID-19 outbreak in Brisbane ahead of the final match of the competition. New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina and hosts Australia are allowed to continue training outside their hotels at closed sessions but cannot mix with the public,
2:01 AM BST ESPN staff The Chiefs have announced a change in coaching structure for the inaugural Super Rugby Pacific season with Warren Gatland moving into a director of rugby role on his return from British & Irish Lions duty. The decision means Clayton McMillan will remain coach of the Chiefs next year having led
5:30 AM BST While he’s been earmarked as a long-term fullback option at Test level, Jordan Petaia is set to take advantage of the absence of star Wallabies winger Marika Koroibete. Workhorse Koroibete will miss the final round of the Rugby Championship on the Gold Coast on Saturday, as the Wallabies aim to secure their
5:58 AM BST SANZAAR and Rugby Australia have apologised to Argentina for an “error” that led to a photo of the Rugby Championship captains, minus Pumas skipper Julian Montoya, being taken in Townsville last week. RA and SANZAAR officials had for the past fortnight been trying to coordinate a picture of all four captains to
3:41 PM BST Argentina coach Mario Ledesma has launched a scathing attack on his Rugby Championship rivals, slamming a photo opportunity in Townsville that was without Pumas representation. Ledesma unloaded on his fellow tournament combatants after his side had been beaten 27-8 by the Wallabies at Queensland Coountry Bank Stadium on Saturday night, the Pumas
10:42 PM ET Associated Press LAS VEGAS — Turns out 21 was Denny Hamlin‘s lucky number in Vegas. After finally getting his first career victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on his 21st try, Hamlin is on an undeniable hot streak he just might ride all the way to his long-sought first NASCAR Cup Series
3:30 PM ET Associated Press BOSTON — Even without Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic on the roster, Team Europe clinched its fourth consecutive Laver Cup victory by going up 14-1 against Team World on Sunday. Tokyo Olympics singles gold medalist Alexander Zverev of Germany and Andrey Rublev of Russia gave Team Europe an
Julian Alaphilippe has retained the men’s road race title at the Road World Championships in Belgium. The 29-year-old Frenchman finished the 268.3km race in five hours 56 minutes 34 seconds. There was a sprint finish for silver which was taken by Dutchman Dylan van Baarle, while Denmark’s Michael Valgren finished third. Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock
Lewis Hamilton won the Russian Grand Prix after a frantic last few laps caused by heavy rain dashed Lando Norris’ hopes of a maiden victory. And the rain helped Hamilton’s title rival Max Verstappen vault from seventh to second in his Red Bull after timing his change to wet tyres perfectly. The Mercedes driver’s 100th
10:43 PM ET Associated Press LAS VEGAS — Josh Berry moved teammate Justin Allgaier out of the way with 42 laps remaining Saturday night to win the Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was the opener of the seven-race Xfinity Series playoffs and Allgaier, who started the race ranked third, could have