Disgraced Ramzi could return in London (AP)
MANAMA, Bahrain (AP)—Disgraced 1,500-meter runner Rashid Ramzi will compete at next year’s London Games “if he gets good results” and his eligibility is approved by the IOC, the secretary general of Bahrain’s Olympic committee said Tuesday. “If Ramzi meets both criteria, then why not?” Sheik Ahmed bin Hamad Al Khalifa told The Associated Press in an interview. At the 2008 Beijing Games, the Moroccan-born Ramzi won Bahrain’s first Olympic track and field gold medal. He was stripped of the medal and banned for two years after testing positive in retroactive tests for the banned blood-boosting drug CERA. Sheik Ahmed said Bahrain will ask the International Olympic Committee if Ramzi is eligible for London. The Court of Arbitration for Sport threw out the IOC rule that bars any athlete with a doping suspension of more than six months from competing in the next games. Ramzi was banned by track and field’s governing body in January 2010, with the Bahrain association backdating his ban to May 2009. Since he finished serving his two-year ban in May this year, Ramzi has been training in Morocco. He failed to qualify for international competitions, including the world championships in Daegu, South Korea. The top sports court this month struck down the IOC rule and cleared American sprinter LaShawn Merritt, the Olympic 400-meter champion in Beijing in 2008, to defend his title at the London Games. Merrit completed a doping ban in July. The decision also affects dozens of other athletes around the world who had been covered by the suspension rule, adopted by the IOC in 2008 as part of its zero-tolerance approach on doping. “We will inquire with the IOC to see if the ban reversal applies to other athletes and if Ramzi could compete,” Sheik Ahmed said. “We also hope he continues to train hard and if he gets good results the decision will be made on his participation in the Olympic team.” “So far his results are not what we’ve been use to,” Sheik Ahmed said, adding that Bahrain now has seven athletes in track and field who have qualified for the London Olympics. Ramzi could not be reached for comment. Ramzi tested negative at the Beijing Games, but the IOC reanalyzed the samples when a fully validated test for CERA became available. His gold medal went to Asbel Kipruto Kiprop of Kenya.
Milbury won’t face criminal charges (AP)
BROOKLINE, Mass. (AP)—Former Boston Bruins coach and player Mike Milbury will not face charges after a Massachusetts clerk magistrate ruled Friday that there’s not enough evidence to criminally charge him after his confrontation with a 12-year-old youth hockey player. The decision came after a closed-door hearing involving witnesses and police in Brookline District Court. After the hearing, Milbury said he was pleased with the ruling. “Well, that’s good that it’s over a couple days before Christmas,” he said. “It was an unfortunate misunderstanding.” Police sought to have Milbury charged with assault and battery, making threats and disorderly conduct after the Dec. 9 incident at a public hockey rink in Brookline. They said Milbury grabbed, shook and threatened a boy who was fighting and jawing with his 12-year-old son. The 59-year-old Milbury, who has said he grabbed the player’s uniform to stop the fight but never assaulted or threatened the boy, recounted his version of the incident in an official statement following the ruling: “My family and I are gratified that the clerk magistrate found no reason to further investigate the incident at Larz Anderson Park two weeks ago when I separated two 12 year old boys in a Pee Wee hockey game, one of whom was my son. I was a coach and supervisor on the ice that day when the scuffle broke out after the game had concluded and the referee had left. I know I acted responsibly to break up an altercation between two young boys in order to prevent potential injury to both. My actions were in no way inappropriate and I would take the same actions today if confronted with a similar situation in the future.” Milbury, an NHL analyst with NBC Sports, was taken off the air while he dealt with the incident. His attorney, Mark Berthiaume, said Friday that Milbury will resume work after the holidays. John Burke, attorney for the family of the boy Milbury grabbed, said they were “obviously very disappointed with the magistrate’s decision.” He said the family believes the boy was assaulted and the decision sends a message that violence by an adult against a child will be tolerated. Milbury, a one-time defenseman, played parts of 12 seasons with the Bruins and later served as coach, leading the team to the Stanley Cup finals in 1990. He also was coach and general manager of the New York Islanders.
Weber scores 2 in 3rd, Preds beat Wings (AP)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)—Nashville’s red-hot power-play unit got only one chance against the Detroit Red Wings and made the most of it. Shea Weber scored two goals late in the third period, including one with the man advantage, to give the Predators a 4-3 win over the Red Wings on Thursday night. Detroit native David Legwand and Jordin Tootoo also scored for Nashville in its fourth straight victory. Tomas Holmstrom, Henrik Zetterberg, and Nicklas Lidstrom scored for the Red Wings, who snapped a three-game win streak. “In big moments, you need your top players to step up, and Shea stepped up in a huge way today,” Nashville coach Barry Trotz said of his captain. “The Detroit Red Wings, the way they have been playing, they have been the top team in the league the last month anyways. They are hard to play against.” Nashville got its only power play of the game with 4:46 remaining in the third when Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard was assessed a hooking penalty on Tootoo. Only 22 seconds after the penalty was called, Weber’s blast from above the left faceoff circle beat a screened Howard on the glove side. “When we got that power play, we knew we were going to have to score because we weren’t going to get another one,” Weber said. “We were fortunate enough to get one and then we used the momentum from the crowd after that.” The Predators have scored a power-play goal in seven consecutive games and are 14 for 43 over their last 13 games. Weber’s wrist shot from the right point just under 3 minutes later bounced in front of the net and slipped by Howard for the eventual winner. “They got a great bounce there at the end,” Howard said. “Weber just threw a knuckle-puck on net, it bounced right in front of me and went over my shoulder.” Holmstrom scored the game’s first goal at 5:15 of the opening period. With the Red Wings on a power play, White’s shot from the right point deflected off two Predators before landing on the blade of Holmstrom’s stick just to the left of Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne. Holmstrom had an easy tap-in for his sixth goal of the season. Legwand drew the Predators even midway through the first when he collected his own rebound to the right of the Detroit goal and put it past a diving Howard. “We want to play with the lead a little more,” Legwand said. “We don’t want to have to come back in every game we play.” Detroit regained the lead with 9:57 to go in the second on Zetterberg’s power-play goal. In the low slot, Todd Bertuzzi found Jiri Hudler in the left circle. Hudler quickly found Zetterberg on the right side, where he sent a wrist shot into a virtually open net. Prior to Thursday night, Nashville had not allowed a power-play goal in its last five games. Lidstrom gave Detroit a 3-1 lead with 8:30 left in the second when his slap shot from the left point beat Rinne high to the glove side. “It’s disappointing, especially having the lead going into the third and taking the penalty with less than five minutes left,” Lidstrom said. “It always stings when you are losing, especially when you play a division rival that we want to beat.” Nashville answered with 2:38 remaining in the period on a goal by Tootoo, who converted the rebound of Kevin Klein’s shot from the left side. Tootoo has ten points in his last ten games. Notes: Nashville is 6-1-3 in its last ten home games against Detroit. . Pavel Datsyuk has 16 goals and 40 assists in 54 career games played against Nashville. . The Predators’ last nine games have been one-goal games and they are 6-3-0 in those contests.
Wideman nets 3 on PP as Caps beat Leafs (AP)
WASHINGTON (AP)—Dennis Wideman had trouble believing the stat sheet after his first career hat trick. When the Washington defenseman was asked about his feat after the Capitals beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 Friday night, Wideman said he thought his third goal went off teammate Brooks Laich. In Wideman’s mind, he was still waiting for his first career hat trick. “I’ve never had one before. Still haven’t had one,” Wideman said. The stats told a different story. Wideman was credited with three power-play goals, making him the third Capitals defenseman with a regular-season hat trick and the first since Sergei Gonchar did it on Jan. 4, 2000, against Montreal. Wideman also tallied an assist, giving him a hand in all four Washington goals. Each of the goals came on the power play, which had been a weakness during the Capitals’ recent woes. “Dennis is a smart player. He knows when to pass, when to shoot. He was bang-on tonight,” Capitals coach Dale Hunter said. “Great decisions by him.” Laich didn’t answer when asked whether he deflected the puck on Wideman’s goal with 1:19 left in the game. “Don’t want to talk about that,” he said with a laugh. Washington got even for its worst loss of the season by going 4 for 6 on the power play against Toronto, after going 3 for 51 in the previous 14 games. It was the first time this season the Capitals have scored more than two power-play goals. “It helps to get our confidence back. It’s a long time ago we won two in a row,” said Nicklas Backstrom, who had a goal and two assists. “Hopefully we can keep going off this and keep building. We need the points right now.” Phil Kessel and Cody Franson scored for the Maple Leafs. “Five-on-five, I thought we controlled, and at times dominated the game,” Toronto coach Ron Wilson said. “Bad penalties, undisciplined penalties did us in tonight, simple as that.” Toronto defeated Washington 7-1 in Toronto the last time these teams met on Nov. 19. That game marked perhaps the low point for Washington this season. Four games later, the Capitals fired coach Bruce Boudreau and brought in Hunter to try and turn around the team. Washington lost three of the first four games under Hunter, but has now won two in a row. “It’s encouraging to start seeing results,” Laich said. “When you win, everybody feels good, and you’ve got pop in your step. The atmosphere around the rink is fun, and you just keep building it up.” The Capitals were scoreless on five power-play chances in the teams’ first meeting, but Washington scored on its first three power-play opportunities Friday after getting off to a slow start. The Capitals didn’t record their first shot on goal until nearly 12 minutes into the first period. The second shot came soon after, and Washington made it count. Toronto’s Jake Gardiner was called for slashing at the 12-minute mark, and the Capitals scored 33 seconds later on Wideman’s shot from the right circle. Maple Leafs goalie James Reimer was screened by Laich on the play, which gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead. “We kind of shot ourselves in the foot tonight,” Reimer said. “I thought we really out played them. We just took a few too many penalties.” Wideman’s second goal on a slap shot from the point came less than two minutes into the second period, and only 11 seconds after Toronto was called for too many men on the ice. His third goal also came on a shot from the point late in the game. Wideman also had a hand in Backstrom’s goal during a 5 on 3 at 18:50 in the second period. Wideman got the puck in the right circle, faked a shot and then passed to Backstrom who was in front of the net on the left side. The goal was Backstrom’s 11th of the season. “I’m sitting there,” Laich said, `looking at him, going, `Dennis, you’ve got two goals, just rip that baby and go for the hat trick.’ But he’s a patient guy.” NOTES: Canadian telecommunication companies Rogers Communications and BCE Inc. announced Friday they have agreed to buy a majority stake in the Maple Leafs and the NBA’s Toronto Raptors for about $1 billion. The deal is one of the richest in North American history. … Washington D Roman Hamrlik (lower body) returned after missing four games. D Jeff Schultz was a healthy scratch. … Toronto F Colby Armstrong was activated from injured reserve and returned to the lineup after missing 23 games with an ankle sprain. The Maple Leafs assigned F Joe Colborne to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League to make room. … F Clarke MacArthur also played after sitting out a game with an upper-body injury.
