John Barr understood it was likely a foregone conclusion and yet as NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman spoke nearly 3,000 miles away, he found himself getting emotional watching the televisions in the packed bar. Barr was among fans watching Tuesday morning as Seattle was awarded an NHL expansion franchise following a unanimous vote by the Board of Governors in Sea Island, Georgia, ending a lengthy dance between the league and the city that will finally see professional hockey return to the city. Seattle was the first U.S. city to win the Stanley Cup back in 1917. More than 100 years later, they’ll have that chance again. The Seattle ownership group organized the watch party as a central gathering spot to celebrate the announcement and hand out swag a short distance from the Seattle Center, where the yet-to-be named team will begin play in a reconstructed Seattle Center Arena in 2021.
Football | Hasenhuettl hired to manage Southampton in EPL
Southampton hired Ralph Hasenhuettl as its fourth permanent manager in 18 months on yesterday, tasked with developing the talent to revive the struggling Premier League club after impressing in Germany. Mark Hughes was fired on Monday with Southampton third-to-last in the standings with only one win from 14 matches. “The urgency to find a path back to our potential and to the results that we expect cannot be underestimated,” Southampton chairman Ralph Krueger said. “For that reason, we are extremely pleased that Ralph Hasenhuettl has agreed to become our new manager and do all he can to help guide us back on that path.” The 51-year-old Hasenhuettl, who has been out of work since leaving Leipzig in May, signed a contract until the end of the 2021 season.
Gymnastics | Int’l federation creates USD2M project to fight sex abuse
The International Gymnastics Federation has approved aUSD2 million project to safeguard athletes after an American sex abuse scandal The sport’s governing body says the Gymnastics Ethics Foundation will have a help desk for athletes, judicial panels to prosecute and judge cases, and a compliance section to monitor good governance. FIG acted in response to “abuse cases in the United States which so shocked the world of gymnastics.” Hundreds of girls and women, including many Olympians, said they were molested by Larry Nassar, a former USA Gymnastics doctor. He was jailed after pleading guilty to sexual assault and possessing child pornography. At a biennial congress, FIG member federations also incorporated the free-running sport of parkour as an official discipline.
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