NHL
– The Kings defeated the Devils 6-1 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals, giving LA their first Stanley Cup victory in the franchise’s 45-year existence. LA was up 3-0 and in position to sweep, but Jersey won two in a row to push it to six games. F Steve Bernier received a major for boarding that eventually led to three Kings powerplay goals, making it 3-0 after the first period. F Dustin Brown scored once and had two assists, while F Jeff Carter and F Trevor Lewis each buried a pair as D Matt Greene had the final one.
G Jonathan Quick was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy, becoming just the third American-born playoff MVP. He made 17 saves in the Game 6 clincher, and posted a stellar 1.41 GAA and .946 SV% throughout the playoffs. Quick is also a Vezina candidate–he stood on his head all season while the team consistently struggled to score goals.
– The Bruins have signed F Chris Kelly to a 4-year/$12M contract, and F Gregory Campbell to a 3-year/$4.8M contract. In his first full season with the Bruins last season, Kelly scored 20 goals and added 19 assists for 39 points in 82 games. Campbell scored eight goals and eight assists for 16 points in 78 games last season. He was acquired from the Florida Panthers in June of 2010.
– The Oilers have hired former coach Craig MacTavish to be the team’s senior vice-president of hockey operations. MacTavish, 53, was head coach of the Oilers for eight seasons from 2000 and 2009, including Edmonton’s run to the Stanley Cup final in 2006 when they lost in seven games to the Hurricanes. Mac-T was fired in 2009 after the Oilers missed the playoffs for a third straight season. MacTavish spent this past season coaching the Canucks’ AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, to a 42-27-7 record.
– Leafs’ prospect F Joe Colborne (wrist) underwent surgery Monday to repair an injury that plagued him for most of the season.
“I’ve been battling a wrist injury all year and we’re going to take care of that over the next week or so. Hopefully I’ll be ready by camp.”
NFL
– The Dolphins have signed WR Chad Ochocinco to a 1-year contract. The 34-year-old has an outside chance to beat out the slew of rookie wideouts for a starting job. Given his declining performance and lack of quarterback experience in Miami, though, it’s doubtful he’ll have a bounceback season.
– The Giants have waived TE Jake Ballard (dual knee surgeries), and will clear waivers before being placed on the IR. Ballard returned from a torn PCL in his right knee late last season, but proceeded to tear his left ACL and meniscus in Super Bowl XLVI. On February 21, Ballard underwent both an ACL reconstruction and microfracture surgery. He’ll sit this year out and try to make a comeback in 2013. Ballard caught 38 balls for 604 yards and four touchdowns last season.
– Bills’ WR Stevie Johnson (groin surgery) said Monday that he is “way ahead of schedule” in his return from early-May surgery. ”I’m ready to go. They said it was about six to eight [weeks], but I’m feeling like I’m ready to be out there, and I think we’re moving towards that next week.” Johnson is already performing individual drills and may get in some work at June minicamp. He should be 100% for training camp.
UFC
– UFC President Dana White commented on the possibility of WWE Superstar and former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar returning to the MMA organization:
“The meeting we had didn’t really go very well. It wasn’t a great meeting. It was probably one of the worst meetings we’ve ever had with Brock Lesnar, and I honestly have not talked to him since, so I don’t know where we are at.”
MLB
– CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reports that the Cubs have signed Cuban OF Jorge Soler to a 9-year/$30M contract. Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com adds that Soler can opt out once he is arbitration-eligible–once that happens, he will have the right to choose arbitration instead of the annual salaries specified by his contract. It’s a ton of money to invest in such a raw player, but given his potential, the deal could easily become a steal for the Cubbies. Soler is expected to begin his professional career at a low level of Single-A.
– Phillies’ 2B Chase Utley (knee) will begin a minor league rehab assignment Tuesday with High-A Clearwater. Utley began playing in extended spring training games last week, but is ramping up to game action. He’s expected to start out as the DH before testing his knee by playing the field. Barring setbacks, he should be back in the lineup by early-July.
– Angels’ RHP Jered Weaver (back) threw 30 pitches off the front of the mound Monday. Weaver is scheduled to throw a full bullpen session Tuesday and should throw a simulated game by the end of the week.
– Yankees’ OF Brett Gardner (right elbow) is scheduled to visit Dr. Timothy Kremchek on Thursday for a third opinion. Gardner had another setback with his elbow over the weekend and was scheduled to visit with Dr. James Andrews on Monday. Manager Joe Girardi already expects him to be sidelined through the All-Star break.
– Nationals’ RHP Drew Storen (right elbow) threw off a mound Monday for the second time since his April surgery. Storen threw off the mound for the first time last Friday, and is hoping to return around the All-Star break.
– Red Sox’ OF Cody Ross (bone fracture in left foot) is scheduled to begin playing in rehab games Friday with Triple-A Pawtucket. Ross has been on the DL since May 22. He was expected to miss a whole 6 weeks, but will return earlier than that. The 31-year-old was hitting .271/.349/.534 with eight home runs and 28 RBI in 37 games before the injury.
– The Blue Jays have signed 2012 1st-round pick OF D.J. Davis. Davis was the No. 17 overall pick in last Monday’s First-Year Player Draft. Jim Callis of Baseball America reports that he’ll receive $1.75M. The 17-year-old is known for his speed and athleticism, but is still raw offensively.
– Check out Royals’ C Humberto Quintero making a racial gesture behind RHP Bruce Chen’s back. Chen was supposedly OK with it.
– Check out Bill Murray, part-owner of the Yankees Single-A affiliate in Charleston, having fun during a rain delay:
NBA
– Billionaire telecom magnate Robert Pera has reportedly agreed in principle to buy the Grizzlies for roughly $350M. The sale will will be officially announced this week, and the team will stay in Memphis.
WWE
– WWE announced through their Mobile Alert service Monday that Alberto Del Rio will be unable to face Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship at No Way Out on June 17. A new No. 1 contender will be determined on tonight’s Raw SuperShow. The message reads:
“BREAKING NEWS: Due to a concussion on SmackDown, Del Rio wont face World Champion Sheamus @ No Way Out. New #1 contender to be named on tonight’s Raw (8/7 CT).”
Del Rio suffered a “serious concussion” at last Tuesday’s SmackDown taping in Columbia, South Carolina. During a skirmish, Sheamus slammed Del Rio’s head against the metal WWE logo, leading to the injury. He was subsequently pulled from this past weekend’s SmackDown live event tour.
– WWE Chairman Vince McMahon was trending worldwide on Twitter on Saturday night after the controversial Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley boxing match. Fans were so upset with the judges’ decision that Bradley won the fight that they accused promoters of rigging the results, which is where the McMahon reference came from. Despite the fact that McMahon’s name trended in a way that reflects negatively on the world’s most famous wrestling promoter, F4WOnline is reporting that there was actually talk over the weekend of mentioning Vince trending on RAW tonight.
– John Laurinaitis no longer officially serves as WWE’s Executive Vice President of Talent Relations; his bio has been removed from the WWE Corporate website’s index of executive officers. Therefore, the former ‘Dynamic Dude’ is solely an on-air performer for WWE. However, he is still branded as the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations in his WWE.com Superstars profile and on his Twitter account. Laurinaitis had overseen the Talent Relations department since April 2004, when he replaced Jim Ross. He was hired as a road agent after the sport entertainment organization’s acquisition of certain assets of World Championship Wrestling in March 2001. Paul “Triple H” Levesque, who oversees the talent relations and talent development departments, has been added to the website.
– Counting down to twelve days remaining on his thirty-day WWE suspension due to an irresponsible act of denigrating the Brazilian flag at a WWE live event in São Paulo on May 24, Chris Jericho tweeted Monday, “I was 12 years old when I started my first band, The Amplifiers. Our song was called ‘Cop Shop’. I still remember how it goes!”
– Former WWE announcer Jack Korpela issued a survey to his Twitter followers asking which current WWE or TNA Wrestling Superstar has the most potential to be a major “crossover” star. When a person named CM Punk, he responded, “CM Punk has the in ring talent and great mic skills. Could use a few more pounds of muscle though.” Another person vouched for Punk’s potential. Korpela reiterated, “He’s damn good. Needs to improve physique though. Hogan, Rock, Austin all looked the part.” When a person named Dolph Ziggler, Korpela said his height works against him. He wrote, “Is an amazing talent. Great physique, charisma and mic skills. Only thing working against him is he isn’t tall.” However, he then clarified, “Ziggler has it all and he CAN make it. All I’m saying is it’s harder for the smaller guys to get over.”
– Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson announced via Twitter that today is his first day shooting Empire State.
“On set. 1st day of shooting EMPIRE STATE. True story drama of the biggest heist in US history. Let’s have some fun.”
His co-stars include Liam Hemsworth, Emma Robberts, Nikki Reed, Michael Angarano, Jerry Ferrara and Chris Diamantopoulos. Empire State is scheduled for release in June 2013.
– Booker T talks about his most memorable moment from Raw, which was his match against Buff Bagwell in the show’s first-ever WCW main event.
“My favorite moment from Monday Night Raw would have to be the night myself and Marcus Bagwell main-evented on Monday Night Raw. It’s such a sweet night for me, actually coming from WCW.”
“That night for me man, a new chapter to the Booker T saga. It was a night that I’ll remember for the rest of my career.”
– Former WWE Superstar Lance Storm was asked via Twitter, “Chances of Ryback being the next Goldberg?” He responded, “ZERO. He should just try to be a successful Ryback.”
– Dolph Ziggler takes aim at the Kardashian clan in the latest episode of WWE Download:
– Former Ohio Valley Wrestling talent Marcus Anthony is branded as Lincoln Brodrick in the newly released Florida Championship Wrestling roster guide. The heavily muscled wrestler has yet to appear for the developmental promotion after signing a contract with WWE in February.
– The official website of Florida Championship Wrestling has removed Eli Cottonwood from their roster page, which would indicate that he has been released from his developmental contract with WWE. F4WOnline.com confirms he parted ways with the organization, for another line of work. Other talent removed from the website were Cameron, Damien Sandow, Maxine and Naomi, who no longer appear for the promotion after graduating to WWE’s main roster.
TNA
– Scott Steiner, who parted ways with TNA Wrestling in March, has continued to fire off messages on Twitter trashing his former employer’s uppeer hierarchy. In his latest series of messages, “Big Poppa Pump” slams Eric Bischoff, Brooke Hogan and Hulk Hogan for destroying TNA in his eyes. He also takes issue with Bischoff’s comments regarding him during a recent interview. When asked of Steiner’s scathing Twitter rants, Bischoff said,
“Scott is a 50-year-old man and is at a stage of his life where in his mind he is a much bigger star than in reality and he is having a hard time adjusting to that. It is sad to see, especially with people at one time you thought were friends become so bitter because their identities are so diluted in this wrestling character that they think it is their life. When that chapter of their life closes they can no longer perform to the level they need to perform to be able to compete with the younger talent.
“Some guys are able to adjust to that very well and just move on but other people like Scott Steiner just become bitter. I hope he finds a way to look back at his career and realise he was very fortunate, he made a lot of money, got to see the world and got to do things very few people got to do. I would like to see Scott become less bitter, he will be a much happier person.”
Steiner responds:
Brooke Tessmacher will now be called miss tessmacher bcuz hogan wants it that way…..really
How about brooke A and brooke B …A is for amazon B is for beautiful..guess which brooke is the amazon
Ive always said hogan n bitchoff are car salesman and are the best at it but how do these con men
Convince a company that they have brought nothing but bad storylines and bad ratings and trying
To save money hire their siblings who are both worthless,they were paying garrett bitchoff more money
To go thru school than they are paying most of their cruiserweights and he still cant throw
A believeable clothesline,fn bullshit
Leaving one cunt and going to another..bitchoff did an interview and all he has
To do is say what im saying isnt true but he cant so he tries too convince whoever that im bitter
No im telling the truth and im saying what everybody wishes they could in tna but cant,i am the voice
For these guys and im trying to save tna,bcuz ive seen this same bullshit before in WCW,where is hogans
And bitchoffs accountability,then he said he thought we were friends…really..hogan thought we were
Friends bcuz i gave him the # of the Dr who did my back surgery,and you thought we were friends bcuz
…WHY….you have an inflated opinion of yurself bcuz you are viewed by 99% of the wrestlers that
Were in WCW as the jackoff who made David Arquette champion and eventually running WCW into
The ground,and now for those wrestlers who werent in WCW but know about it you are a jackoff that
Doesnt know shit about booking and are destroying the fanbase of TNA
And anybody that knows wrestling; once you lose fans its not like turning the faucet back on it takes awhile
To get those fans back and sometimes you dont get them back
Thats why TNA should be in a panick bcuz these 3 assholes have brought bad ratings for 21/2 yrs
Bitchoffs then says when he was in wwe he wishes he would have picked vince’s mind more….are you
Fucking kidding me …bitchoff the only time vince let you in his office was to save you from the guys from
WCW kicking your ass,At raw flair went up to bitchoff and slapped the shit out of him and bitchoff being
The cunt that he is did nothing,then Arn was going too,then pretty soon a line of guys from WCW started
To form bcuz eric was a arrogant asshole and they wanted to take their shot and Vince brought bitchoff
In his office and then tried to calm everybody down,You wonder why your son is a pussy……bcuz you are
Age is a state of mind and i feel great,put me in the ring with garrett and we’ll see who looks better
Fuck the piece of shit cant even wrestle