SportsTwo

After much thought, the NHL Players' Association has given a thumbs-up to the league's proposed realignment plan.

"After discussions with the Executive Board, the NHLPA has given consent to realignment, to be re-evaluated following the 2014-15 season,'' NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr said in a statement Thursday night.

Both sides confirmed to ESPN.com that the NHLPA gave its consent to play in the proposed four-division system for three seasons -- through the 2015-16 season -- but the union will begin to re-evaluate the system after two seasons. Therefore, no changes would be made to the system before the 2016-17 season.

All that remains now is for the NHL's 30 owners to vote on the plan in order for it to go into effect for the 2013-14 season. A source told ESPN.com on Thursday evening that the NHL hopes to hold the board of governors vote within the next week.

"The NHL Players' Association confirmed to us today that it has consented to a revised plan for realignment, effective for the 2013-14 season," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement. "Our next step will be to bring the proposed Plan for Realignment to the NHL Board of Governors for its consideration. We will update the status of the process as future developments warrant."

The NHL sent details of its realignment plan to owners Feb. 26 after discussing it for more than three weeks with the NHLPA.

Read more http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/90...alignment-plan

The best start in NHL history is over. The Chicago Blackhawks finally left the ice without a point -- but with their heads held high.

The Blackhawks were stunned 6-2 by the struggling Colorado Avalanche on Friday night. It was their first loss in regulation and ended a remarkable run in which they earned at least one point in their first 24 games, an NHL record.

"We're proud of it, but it'll be nice to move on now," defenseman Duncan Keith said. "It's hockey, we've lost games before in our lives. It's not like we're going to sit here and cry."

Instead, they'll sit back and celebrate, said coach Joel Quenneville, who told his team afterward "that they should be very proud of what they accomplished. They found different ways to win, night in and night out, and everyone contributed to something that hadn't been done.

"It's a great feather in our cap, but let's move forward here and try to get better. Certainly it was a lot of fun up to today."

The Blackhawks (21-1-3) hadn't lost in regulation since a 6-1 rout by Nashville on March 25, 2012, and their last loss in regulation on the road came more than a year ago, with a 5-1 defeat at St. Louis on March 6, 2012.

Dating back to last year's regular season, the streak was 30 games.

Chicago's overall points streak was the second longest in NHL history. The 1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers set the league record with a staggering 35-game unbeaten streak that included 25 wins and 10 ties -- all in the same season.

Ending it was a jolt of adrenaline for the Avalanche, who started the night in last place in the Northwest Division.

"It's special, said Matt Duchene, who scored four points. "It's obviously something no one had done yet. But what a run by them. I mean, first of all, congratulations to them. What a run they had. I don't think they're going to slow down because of this. But it's pretty special. It's a good feeling in here. We're pretty happy."

Read more http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=400442827

The March 16th unification bout between WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (35-2, 10 KO’s) and IBF champion Miguel Vazquez (33-3, 13 KO’s) has been called off. According to the Scottishsun.co.uk, Burns was told last Saturday night about the fight being cancelled.

There’s a possibility that it could be rescheduled in the next 30 days. There isn’t a stated reason for why the fight has been called off, but we recently heard news that Commonwealth super middleweight champion George Groves had left Frank Warren, the promoter of the March 16th event, and is signing with Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport.

Losing Groves was definitely a huge blow to the card, which is headlined by a less than thrilling fight between WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly and Robin Krasniqi.

Alex Morrison, the manager for the 29-year-old Burns, said to thescottishsun.co.uk “While there is talk of it being rescheduled within 30 days, Ricky and I are very unhappy.”

There has been talk about Vazquez not being satisfied with the contract, and recently said the contract still wasn’t finalized during the past two weeks. We later saw photos of Vazquez holding a form that looked to be an agreement for the Burns fight, but who knows if that the contract that needed to be signed for the fight to be a done deal.

This is some crushing news for Burns, who has already had a couple of recent fights fall apart against Jose Ocampo and Liam Walsh.

Read more http://www.boxingnews24.com/2013/03/...ez-called-off/

Carl Edwards climbed from his car, stood on the door and landed a backflip near the finish line. He then hopped up on the wall in front of the grandstand, grabbed the checkered flag and waded into the crowd, trading high-fives with fans.

After a miserable week at Daytona, Edwards had plenty to celebrate.

That it came at Phoenix International Raceway only seemed fitting.

Coming through on his promise to dominate after his Daytona disaster, Edwards pulled away on a late restart and snapped a 70-race winless streak on Sunday, the second long drought he's ended at Phoenix.

"This win feels as good or better as any win I've ever had," Edwards said.

Edwards had a rough 2012 season, missing the Chase for the championship. His downward spiral continued at Daytona, where he wrecked five cars. On his way out of Florida, Edwards said he was ready to dominate and win at Phoenix.

He did just that, leading the final 78 laps on the 312-lap race around PIR's odd-shaped oval in the first non-restrictor-plate race with NASCAR's new Gen-6 car.

Read more http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cup...inless-drought

Michael Thompson's dream of winning his first PGA Tour event was walking up the final fairway with a big lead and very little stress.

The reality was much different Sunday in the Honda Classic.

He had a one-shot lead as he stood in the 18th fairway, some 240 yards from the flag with trouble in the way in the shape of large lake. The motto from his golf team at Alabama was to "finish strong," and Thompson did just that.

Instead of laying up, he drilled a 5-wood into the bunker left of the green, setting up a simple sand shot and a birdie he didn't even need. He closed with a 1-under 69, one of only five rounds under par on a punishing day at PGA National to finally become a PGA Tour winner.

"That for me kind of sealed the deal," Thompson said. "It allowed me to walk up the fairway and enjoy the experience, see the crowd and ... just finish strong."

The start wasn't bad, either.

Thompson holed a 50-foot eagle putt on the third hole, relied on a superb short game around the toughest part of the golf course to build a four-shot lead, and hung on for a two-shot win over Geoff Ogilvy that takes him places he always wanted to be.

He gets into his first World Golf Championship next week at Doral, and qualifies for two more WGCs this year at Firestone and in Shanghai. He's in the PGA Championship, gets to start next year in Hawaii and earned a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour.

And to think just two weeks ago he was so down after a 78-80 performance at Riviera that he wondered if he would ever make another cut.

"This week was magical," Thompson said. "Just had a groove and kept feeling it."

It turned out to be a big week for Ogilvy, too.

Read more http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/9...t-pga-tour-win

Qualifier Ernests Gulbis beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-6 (3), 6-3 on Sunday for his second title at the Delray Beach International Championships.

The 109th-ranked Gulbis, who also won the tournament in 2010, is the first qualifier to reach a final this season. The previous qualifier to win an ATP World Tour title was Jarkko Nieminen last year in Sydney.

Gulbis also became the third qualifier to win the title at Delray Beach, joining Kei Nishikori (2008) and Andrew Ilie (1998). The Latvian is set to move way up when the next rankings are released.

"I feel really good about it and I just talked to my coach (Gunther Bresnik) and he's happy, I'm happy, everybody is happy," said Gulbis, who has been ranked as high as No. 21 in February 2011. "We didn't think that it was going to happen so fast.

"My coach thought I wouldn't go back into the top 100 until around April."

Gulbis improved to 3-0 in ATP finals. He also won in Los Angeles in 2011.

It was the first time since 2007 in Houston that two players ranked outside of the top 100 reached the final. The previous player to win a title while ranked outside the top 100 was then-No. 141 Ricardas Berankis in 2012 in Los Angeles.

Roger-Vasselin, ranked No. 105, made his first appearance in an ATP final.

Read more http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/id...ay-beach-title

Dawie Van Der Walt became the fifth South African winner in 10 European Tour events this season with his two-shot victory at the Tshwane Open on Sunday.

Van Der Walt posted a final round 5-under 67 to finish at 21-under overall for his first win on the Tour.

The Texas-based golfer is ranked 436th in the world. Van Der Walt was among four players tied for the lead after the third round, including fellow South African Darren Fichardt, who shot 69 to finish second at 19-under in the European and Sunshine Tour event.

"You start doubting yourself and at 30 years old you start to wonder if you're good enough and this shows me that I am," Van Der Walt said. "I would have liked to win before 30, but I'll definitely take this. Golf is a game where you don't get a lot of chances to win, and to do it is fantastic.

"I hit the ball really good and I never really had to chip, which is not my strength. If you hit a lot of greens and don't three-putt then you're going to do well."

Local favorite Fichardt broke the early deadlock atop the leaderboard with birdies at Nos. 2 and 3.

Van Der Walt then countered by holing a 40-foot putt for eagle at the longest hole in the 41-year history of the European Tour -- the 685-yard par five, fourth hole.

Read more http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/9...s-tshwane-open

American Stacy Lewis won the HSBC Women's Champions on Sunday for her sixth career LPGA title, overcoming two bogeys and some shaky putting on the back nine to hold off South Korea's Na Yeon Choi.

Lewis, the 2012 LPGA Player of the Year, shot a 1-under 71 in the final round at Sentosa Golf Club to finish at 15-under 273, one stroke ahead of Choi.

"The last four or five holes, I was pretty nervous, I'm not going to lie," Lewis said. "I just played hard and put my head down and tried to make as many putts as I could and fortunately I came away with the win."

Choi, who had a 72, was runner-up at the tournament for the second consecutive year. She lost to Angela Stanford in a four-player playoff last year.

Paula Creamer, hampered by a shoulder injury from a car accident last week in Thailand, briefly held a share of the lead early in the day but struggled with her putting on the back nine and faded to a 71 to finish third at 13-under.

Top-ranked Yani Tseng shot a 74 to finish a disappointing week in a share of 28th place.

Read more http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/9...xth-lpga-title

Monica Niculescu of Romania defeated Olga Puchkova of Russia 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the final of the Brazil Tennis Cup to win her first WTA title on Saturday.

Niculescu had been runner-up twice on tour before finally breaking through at the outdoor hard-court tournament in southern Brazil.

The 75th-ranked Romanian broke Puchkova's serve to go up 5-4 in the final set then converted on her service game to close out the match in 1 hour, 59 minutes.

"It's unbelievable," Niculescu said. "This means a lot, I was so nervous and wanted to win this so much. My game was not brilliant today, but it shows that in tennis if you keep fighting you can manage to win."

She broke Puchkova three times to win the first set but allowed the Russian to rebound in the second with two breaks of her own, including in the final game of the set.

The 109th-ranked Puchkova, who ended with six double faults, had upset top-seeded Venus Williams in three sets in Friday's semifinals.

"It wasn't easy, she was in form and in good shape after beating Venus," Niculescu said of Puchkova.

Niculescu, ranked as high as 28th early last year, was playing in her third final on tour, and first since a loss to Williams in Luxembourg last October. The 25-year-old Romanian had also made the final in Luxembourg in 2011.

Niculescu defeated seventh-seeded Kristina Mladenovic of France in the semis.

Read more http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/id...up-first-title

Novak Djokovic rallied from a break down in the first set to win his fourth Dubai Championships title in five years on Saturday, downing third-seeded Tomas Berdych 7-5, 6-3.

The top-ranked Djokovic extended his unbeaten streak this year to 13 matches, which included his third straight Australian Open title. He's won 13 of their last 14 meetings en route to his 36th career title.

"It was never going to be an easy final for either one of us," Djokovic said. "Tomas is a fantastic player. He has been around the tour and was a Grand Slam finalist (at Wimbledon). ... I'm just fortunate to go through."

In an early display of power tennis, the sixth-ranked Czech used blistering groundstrokes and a serve that approached 132 mph. He hit a crosscourt winner to break Djokovic and go up 3-2 in the first set and extended it to 4-2 with another crosscourt winner.

But errors began creeping into the Czech's game and Djokovic took advantage.

The Serb broke to draw even when Berdych missed an easy volley winner and then saved three break points to make it 5-4. Djokovic broke Berdych a second time to win the set when the Czech made three unforced errors and finished with a double-fault.

"Well, I just wanted to hang in there and just try to wait for my chance to come back to the match. When it was presented, I took it," Djokovic said. "He basically gave me that break on 4-3 when he missed an easy volley. But still, I fought it and I believed I can come back, and that's I think something that can eventually decide the winner in these kind of matches."

Read more http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/id...th-dubai-title

Rafael Nadal surged past top seed and defending champion David Ferrer 6-0, 6-2 in Saturday's final of the Mexican Open.

Nadal's win was in a powerful performance that showed he has quickly returned to near his best after a knee injury.

Ferrer was a three-time defending champion and had won 19 straight matches in this event, but he could find no answer to Nadal, losing to his Spanish compatriot.

Nadal surprised himself with the one-sided victory.

"I did not do anything wrong today, I had a great match, almost perfect," Nadal said. "I would have never imagined playing at the level that I played today, I'm leaving happy and surprised.

"I played a great match against one of the top players in the world, a specialist in clay who did not look like himself out there, he had a bad day."

The women's final was similarly one-sided with Italy's Sara Errani beating Carla Suarez-Navarro of Spain 6-0, 6-4.

Nadal missed seven months with a left knee injury before making his comeback in the Latin American clay court season.

He has played three tournaments: making the final but losing to Horacio Zeballos in Chile, taking out the Brazil Open by beating David Nalbandian and cruising past Ferrer for his 38th clay title. Seven of those 38 have been against Ferrer.

Read more http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/id...can-open-final

Kyle Busch spun his wheels at the start/finish line for a few extra rotations, filling the track and grandstand with a fog of white smoke.

After waiting so long to win on the Nationwide Series again, it felt like the first time and he was going to enjoy it.

Overcoming a mid-race gaffe on pit road with a dominating performance, Busch led 142 laps at Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday to end a 24-race Nationwide winless streak.

"It was a phenomenal day for us to get back to Victory Lane, feel the taste of it again," said Busch, whose last Nationwide win was Sept. 9, 2011 at Richmond. "I was almost nervous, feeling like it was my first win even though it was, I think, No. 52 in the series. It's nice to be back."

Busch had a rough 2012 by his own high standards, finishing 13th in the Sprint Cup standings with just one victory despite leading the second-most laps. He also failed to win in 22 Nationwide races for his own team and came up empty in three trucks races.

Busch signed a deal to stay with Joe Gibbs Racing to drive the No. 18 Sprint Cup car this season and agreed to race for the team on the Nationwide circuit.

He bounced back from a rough start at Daytona in the season opener by earning the pole at Phoenix and was clearly the fastest car all day during the 200-lap race around the mile oval.

Read more http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/nat...-again-phoenix

Two-time defending champion Japan rallied to beat Brazil 5-3 on Saturday in its opening game of the World Baseball Classic.

Japan trailed 3-2 before adding three runs in the top of the eighth inning in front of a crowd of 28,181 at the Fukuoka Dome.

Hirokazu Ibata came off the bench to tie the game with a single to right that scored Seiichi Uchikawa from second. Japan took a 4-3 lead when Ibata scored from third on a fielder's choice and added an insurance run on Nobuhiro Matsuda's single to center that scored Hisayoshi Chono.

"This was a very difficult game for us," Japan manager Koji Yamamoto said. "Brazil put up a very good fight. But we got some timely hits in the eighth and were able to make a comeback."

Brazil, managed by Hall of Famer Barry Larkin, looked ready to pull off an upset when the tournament debutantes took a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning on a double by Leonardo Reginatto that scored Paulo Orlando from second.

"These players love to compete," Larkin said. "They love a challenge and this was a challenge similar to the qualifiers when we beat Panama. I'm extremely proud of the way my players performed in this game."

Japan is in Group A, which includes 2006 runner-up Cuba and China. Two teams from the group will advance to the March 8-12 second round at Tokyo Dome with a chance to move on to the March 17-19 championship round in San Francisco.

Japan pitcher Tadashi Settsu, who gave up one run on two hits over three innings of relief, picked up the win. Oscar Nakaoshi took the loss after giving up two runs in the eighth.

Read more http://espn.go.com/mlb/worldclassic2...seball-classic

Olga Puchkova[Above] upset top-seeded Venus Williams 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 to reach the final of the Brazil Tennis Cup on Friday.

The 109th-ranked Russian will play the final of the outdoor hardcourt tournament in southern Brazil against Monica Niculescu of Romania, who defeated seventh-seeded Kristina Mladenovic of France 6-0, 6-2.

Puchkova broke Williams's serve late in the second and third sets to close out the match in 2 hours, 31 minutes, reaching her first final since 2006.

Williams broke Puchkova's serve at 5-4 to win the first set and was up 2-0 in the second. However, she was not able to keep up with the 25-year-old Russian and was broken in the final game of each of the last two sets. Visibly tired and taking her time after every point near the end, Williams gave up 18 break points and was broken six times throughout the match.

"I gave my best but just couldn't play consistent enough today," Williams said. "She played so well, it was hard."

The 20th-ranked American was playing in her first tournament since losing to Maria Sharapova in the third round of the Australian Open in January.

The 32-year-old Williams was trying to win her 45th singles title, and first since last October in Luxembourg. She hasn't made a final since.

Read more http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/id...illiams-brazil

Raiders defensive tackle Desmond Bryant has been arrested in Miami on a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief and remained in jail Sunday morning, according to several reports.

Bryant was booked at 9:24 a.m. ET into Miami-Dade County jail on $1,000 bail, the reports said, citing facility records.

Following initial reports of the arrest, it was unclear whether the Cowboys' Dez Bryant had again landed himself in offseason legal trouble.

But Dez Bryant was quick to address the stir early Sunday morning via Twitter.

"Ooo (expletive) false rumors about jail?" Dez Bryant tweeted. "Lol I was working out at 2 something in the morning in Dallas tx."

Oakland's Desmond Bryant, who joined the team as an undrafted rookie out of Harvard in 2009, will become an unrestricted free agent March 12. He has 10.5 career sacks in four seasons, four of which came last season after a career-high five in 2011.

"We're aware of the situation and are gathering more information," Raiders spokesman Zak Gilbert told USA Today.

Read more http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/89...mi-reports-say

New York Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson suffered a fractured right forearm Sunday after being hit by a pitch in his first at-bat in a spring training game and will be out until at least the first week of May.

Granderson was hit by a 2-2 pitch from J.A. Happ and left the game in obvious pain. Originally, the injury was announced as a bruised forearm but he was taken to a local hospital for X-rays, which revealed the fracture.

The Yankees announced that Granderson will be "major league ready" in 10 weeks, or by approximately May 5.

"Obviously it's a big bump in the road," said Granderson, wearing a removable brace on his right arm. "To be down, pout, all of those things isn't going to change anything. We just continue to move forward."

It was to have been Granderson's first game in left field as the Yankees experiment with moving Brett Gardner to center field, but Granderson never got a chance to field a ball in the outfield.

Instead, he caught a fastball from Happ with two runners on and two out in the bottom of the first and was in obvious pain as he headed to first base, where he was met by manager Joe Girardi and a team trainer. Granderson was immediately removed from the game, though neither he nor Girardi initially believed the injury to be serious.

"It was just one specific spot," Granderson said. "Nothing moved up or down. No numbness. No tingling. Just that spot. Kind of felt like you hit your funny bone, but only in that spot."

Read more http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/stor...ks-forearm-may

A big first for Danica Patrick, but an even bigger second for Jimmie Johnson.

Patrick made history up front at the Daytona 500 Sunday, only to see Johnson make a late push ahead of her and reclaim his spot at the top of his sport.

It was the second Daytona 500 victory for Johnson, a five-time NASCAR champion who first won "The Great American Race" in 2006.

"There is no other way to start the season than to win the Daytona 500. I'm a very lucky man to have won it twice," said Johnson, who won in his 400th career start. "I'm very honored to be on that trophy with all the greats that have ever been in our sport."

It comes a year after Johnson completed only one lap in the race because of a wreck that also collected Patrick, and just three months after Johnson lost his bid for a sixth Sprint Cup title.

Patrick, the first woman to win the pole, also became the first woman to lead the race. She was running third on the last lap, but faded to eighth at the finish and admitted she'll replay it over in her mind.

"I would imagine pretty much anyone would be kicking themselves about what they coulda, shoulda have done to give themselves an opportunity to win," she said. "I think that's what I was feeling today, was uncertainty as to how I was going to accomplish that."

Read more http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cup...k-finishes-8th

David Price (15-1, 13 KO’s) was just knocked out and I’m still in shock. Price has just been knocked out in the 2nd round by veteran American Tony Thompson. I must admit m still in shock at how easy Price was knocked out. Price seamed to be in control but I suppose in the heavyweight division, if a guy who is almost 19st lands, it will hurt but it wasn’t a clean punch. What I’m most worried about Price is his inability to take a punch.

Price said the punches that hurt you are the ones you don’t see. I hate being hard on big Pricey but he is wrong. If he can’t see Thompson’s punches coming he is not going to go anywhere. He admitted he didn’t see it.

Lennox Lewis was knocked out but Lewis had the class to know where he went wrong. I suppose Wladimir Klitschko had been knocked out and moved on to become the no1 of he last 10 years, but I just thought, tonight, if you can’t take punch like that, wold level is miles away.

Price can hit hard against domestic level. But he hit Thompson with some good punches and he never looked in trouble.

Last year Price said he was 18 months away from a tittle shot, after that he is much further away than he thought. If Thomson can stop him, Wladimir will put him to sleep.

Read more http://www.boxingnews24.com/2013/02/...smashes-price/

A horrific multicar crash moments before the end of the Nationwide Series race Saturday at Daytona International Speedway injured 28 fans after Kyle Larson's car flew into the frontstretch catch fencing, shearing off its front half and leaving large pieces of the vehicle inside the fencing.

Speedway president Joie Chitwood said 14 of the injured spectators were transported off-property for medical attention and 14 were treated on site.

Seven were taken to Halifax Health Medical Center, two of which were in critical condition, hospital representative Byron Cogdell told ESPN. One adult suffered life-threatening head trauma but was later stabilized, while a 14-year-old was also in critical but stable condition.

At least one tire from Larson's car flew into the seating area at Daytona. Police officers and NASCAR safety officials quickly ran to the location where part of the car went through the fencing, destroying one section of the catch fence.

One of the injured taken to Halifax Health near the track was Eddie Huckaby, 53, of Krum, Texas. He suffered a severe laceration from the hip to the knee on his left leg.

His brother, Terry, of Hendersonville, Tenn., controlled the bleeding by turning his belt into a makeshift tourniquet.

"Stuff was flying everywhere,'' Terry Huckaby told ESPN. "It was like you was in a war zone or something. Tires were flying by and smoke and everything else."

Read more http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/nat...ona-nwide-race