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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Nashville Predators finally have the kind of security the former expansion franchise has been wanting for years after agreeing to a new 30-year arena lease that runs through 2049.
The Predators announced the agreement Thursday for Bridgestone Arena at a Metro Nashville Sports Authority meeting. The sports authority is expected to vote on the new lease next month.
"This is exactly where we want to be -- in the center of downtown and playing an integral role in our community's growth and development for the next 30 years," said Sean Henry, Predators' chief executive officer and president.
The extension comes 12 years after Craig Leipold, now owner of the Minnesota Wild, announced a deal to sell the franchise to Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie. That deal in May 2007 fell through after Balsillie started taking season-ticket deposits in Hamilton, Ontario, and local businessmen bought the team instead.
Since the Predators and Nashville revised the arena lease last in 2012, more than $78 million has been spent on improvements and renovations. Bridgestone Arena has hosted the 2014 Women's Final Four, the 2016 NHL All-Star Game and the 2017 Stanley Cup Final. The Southeastern Conference has made the arena home for its men's basketball tournament with an occasional women's tournament through 2035.
The Predators will take a 153-game sellout streak into next season.
This new deal will eventually end a Nashville city subsidy that costs Metro Nashville approximately $3.5 million a year for arena maintenance and improvements. The Predators will use money from sales and ticket taxes to help pay those costs. Nashville, through the sports authority, had been responsible for investing an estimated $183 million into the arena over the next 20 years.
Henry also announced at Thursday's meeting the Predators plan to spend $350 million in renovations and maintenance to the arena over the next 20 years. The Tennessean reports the first phase of those renovations scheduled for 2021 to add about 1,200 seats and a new press box.
"It's a moment when the city can look back and say, 'Aha, our investment in this team has paid off," Nashville Mayor David Briley said. "And now we're at a point where we don't need to worry about public subsidy for this team."
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Despite a missed hand pass that led to St. Louis' loss Wednesday, the Blues say they can't dwell on what happened while they look to come back from a 2-1 deficit to the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference finals.
"It is hard [to move on], for sure. It's not easy to do. It's a test. That's how you look at it," coach Craig Berube said Thursday. "It's a tough play, tough call, but it's just a test, and we've been tested over and over throughout the season and the playoffs, and I think we're pretty good at bouncing back. That's the way I look at it. It's a mental thing more than anything."
A hand pass by the Sharks' Timo Meier -- undetected by the on-ice officials and not reviewable under NHL rules -- led to Erik Karlsson's overtime game winner and the 5-4 victory.
Berube felt his team was moving past the controversy, rather than using it as a rallying cry. Blues players echoed the sentiment.
"We had chances to close the game out. We didn't. Play happened in overtime, we move on, move forward and look to Game 4," said forward Brayden Schenn." I think we've all seen it. Move on from it, don't worry about it."
Forward Vladimir Tarasenko said there's no reason to bring up the controversy because "it's not going to change" no matter how many times it's discussed.
"We have [the] option to discuss it for next days and be not ready for next game or just step over it," Tarasenko said. "We're down in the series, but we have a chance to tie it again. It's our focus and focus on ourselves. ... There's a lot of stuff around. It's your guys' job to do this too, but [it's] our job to prepare ourselves, and I think the best way to prepare is to stay tight and focus on our game and not anything going [on] outside of the team."
There was some good news for those who had wagered on the Blues on Wednesday. A few sportsbooks announced that they were refunding losing bets on the Blues.
But that's no compensation for the Blues.
Whenever a controversial call affects the outcome of a game, the immediate reaction is often outrage. Blues players smashed their sticks on the ice, and general manager Doug Armstrong profanely shouted his displeasure while banging on the officials' dressing room door. But eventually, those emotions can become more introspective; for example, the fact that there wouldn't have been the opportunity for the officials to miss the call in overtime had the Blues not given up a game-tying goal to Logan Couture at 18:59 of the third period.
"We scored four goals in a playoff game, we should win it," said Berube. "Some of it is self-inflicted by us on the goals. We've got to clean that up a little bit."
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The 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs continue to be defined by some of the most egregious officiating mistakes in recent memory. The St. Louis Blues were the latest to be on the wrong side of one of those mistakes, losing Game 3 to the San Jose Sharks as a direct result.
Here's what happened in the NHL last night (check out replays of every playoff game on ESPN+) and what to watch for tonight, in today's edition of ESPN Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily:
Jump ahead: Last night's game | Three stars
Play of the night | Today's game | Social post of the day
About last night ...
Game 3: San Jose Sharks 4, St. Louis Blues 3 (OT) (Sharks lead series 2-1)
It's a shame that the controversial goal by Erik Karlsson in overtime -- on a missed hand pass by Timo Meier -- overshadowed what was a tremendously entertaining playoff game. The Sharks scored twice in the first. The teams combined for five goals in the second, with the Blues leading 4-3 headed into the third. Logan Couture tied the game at 4 with a goal at 18:59 -- after a couple of icings by the Blues -- and then Karlsson's second of the night ended it. Well, the officials' blown call ended it, and Karlsson's tally was a formality.
Three stars
1. Logan Couture, C, San Jose Sharks. Overtime never would've even happened without Couture's goal late in the third period, when he tucked the puck past Jordan Binnington's pad for his 14th goal of the playoffs and his 20th point.
"I was happy that they kept icing the puck," he said. "I was a little tired, I had been out there for 30 minutes. [Alex] Pietrangelo kept icing it, gave me some time to catch my breath. I think a couple of us were tired, so we were happy that he kept icing it. Jumbo [Joe Thornton] made a good play on the wall, kind of a battle, their guy threw it at the net, we were able to outnumber him. The puck came loose a little bit, and I think I got my stick on it before Binnington could cover it."
2. David Perron, LW, St. Louis Blues. The forward scored two goals 2:39 apart in the second period to give the Blues the 4-3 lead, including the first power-play goal for St. Louis since Game 4 against Dallas.
3. Martin Jones, G, San Jose Sharks. The beleaguered goalie wasn't the sharpest early in the game, but also had two pucks go by him that deflected off defenseman Justin Braun. But as has been the case in the last two rounds, he was there when they needed him, making 15 saves in the third period and overtime. "For him to keep his composure, and then we're chasing the game in the third, you gotta open it up, so he's getting some grade-A looks," Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. "I didn't think there were a lot of grade-A looks in the second period, but in the third he did because we had to open it up, playing from behind. He came up with some huge saves to get it to overtime."
Play of the night
Alex Steen and Ivan Barbashev create the Blues first goal of the night here in Game 3. #stlblues>#StanleyCupPlayoffs>pic.twitter.com/BYMeade7WL - theBRKDWN (@theBRKDWNsports) May 16, 2019
Heck of a pass from Ivan Barbashev, fighting off Karlsson, to Alexander Steen for the Blues' first goal.
Dud of the night
What's a playoff game without controversy? It looks like the referees miss a hand pass and the original call on the ice is goal, so there's nothing that can be reviewed or reversed here. pic.twitter.com/B0vPpNTwEL - Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) May 16, 2019
The fact that all four on-ice officials all missed this hand pass from Meier is just stupefying. Said Kay Whitmore, the NHL supervisor of officials for the series: "It's a non-reviewable play. You can read between the lines. You can figure out what you want. You watched the video. But it's just non-reviewable. I know that sounds like a cop-out answer, but that's the truth."
It's technically not a cop-out. Going forward, this kind of play has to be reviewable in the NHL. What an embarrassment.
Craig Berube on the hand-pass the referees missed in OT in Game 3
On the schedule
Boston Bruins at Carolina Hurricanes, Game 4, 8 p.m. ET (Bruins lead series 3-0)
As Justin Williams of the Hurricanes so eloquently put it: "I can't sugarcoat it. This isn't an ideal situation." Carolina played its best game of the series and came up empty in Game 3, and sounded like it afterward. Is there any hope? Well, keep in mind that the 2010 Bruins are one of only four teams that have blown a 3-0 series lead in Stanley Cup playoff history. Three players who played in Game 7 of that series currently play for the Bruins: Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara and Tuukka Rask.
Social post of the day
Laila is a fighter. We know this. @STLChildrens>@Enterprise_Cntr,>#stlblues>#WeAllBleedBlue>pic.twitter.com/4dqVb0sfvG - St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) May 16, 2019
Laila Anderson, who has a rare disease called HLH (hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis), had been in only her home and in the hospital for the past four months. Her doctor cleared her to go to Game 3, and the results were emotional.
Quotable
"[Expletive] garbage." -- Blues GM Doug Armstrong, slamming his hand on the officials' dressing room door after Game 3.
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Highlights: Tiger's eagle bright spot of opening 72 at PGA
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Golf
Wednesday, 15 May 2019 18:10
Bethpage Black wasn't too kind to many players Thursday morning in the opening round of the PGA Championship. ( Well, unless your name is Brooks Koepka.)
But Tiger Woods battled through two first-nine double bogeys to come alive on the second side. Though he struggled down the stretch, shooting 2-over 72, there were still several highlights.
Woods' first circle came at the par-4 14th hole, where he sank a 15-footer that got him to 1 over through six holes.
After turning in 3 over, Woods caught fire. He started his second nine with birdie on the par-4 first hole and then added another at the par-4 second to get back to 1 over.
He then jumped into red numbers with a huge 30-foot eagle make at the par-5 fourth hole.
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FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Tiger Woods confirmed that his decision to skip practice on the eve of the PGA Championship was rooted in illness rather than a desire to get extra rest.
Woods made a scouting trip to Bethpage State Park for 18 holes last week, but he played only nine more in the three days leading up to the opening round. Those holes came Monday morning in dreary conditions, as Woods opted to simply hit balls on Tuesday.
But on Wednesday, he was nowhere to be found. It was an absence that Woods’ agent, Mark Steinberg, attributed to rest, adding in comments to ESPN.com that, “He’s all good.” When asked about that decision after his opening round, Woods shared that it was because he was under the weather.
“I wasn’t feeling that good yesterday, so I decided to stay home and rest,” Woods said. “I got a little bit sick, so I decided to stay home.”
Woods had his fair share of ups and downs during his opener on the Black Course, starting his round with a double bogey on No. 10 and later adding an eagle on No. 4. It added up to a 2-over 72, one that left him nine shots off the lead set by playing partner Brooks Koepka.
Woods struggled to maintain the momentum of his eagle, playing the subsequent five holes in 3 over to close his round, but insisted that those late bogeys had nothing to do with the illness that sparked his absence the day prior.
“Yeah, I felt good,” Woods said.
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Bethpage Black’s No. 10 takes down Woods, Fowler and more
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Golf
Thursday, 16 May 2019 08:30
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Everyone has to do it at some point, but that doesn’t make it any easier when you have to begin your day at the PGA Championship on what is statistically the toughest hole this season on the PGA Tour.
The par-4 10th hole at Bethpage Black is 502 yards of heartache under the best of circumstances, but for those who began their rounds there on Thursday it was particularly unsettling. The 10th played to a 4.524 stroke average, which would place it ahead of this season’s toughest hole (the par-4 ninth at the WGC-HSBC Champions that played to a 4.435 average). But it was how the dogleg left unraveled rounds right out of the gate that drew the most attention.
Tiger Woods started his day with a double bogey-6 at the 10th hole, as did Rickie Fowler and Kiradech Aphibarnrat. At least they fared better than Thomas Pieters, who hit his third shot from 99 yards about 3 ½ feet, took a drop and finished with a triple-bogey 7.
“Any time you have a 500-yard par 4, they're not ones you look forward to, especially when it's your first hole of the day,” Fowler said. “[No.] 10 is a lot easier as the 10th hole. You know where your game stands. You know where your misses are at and how you're driving the ball.”
Fowler rebounded from his potentially disastrous start to finish his day with a 1-under 69. Woods wasn’t as fortunate and finished with a 2-over 72 that also included a double bogey at the 17th hole.
“Didn't get off to a very good start,” Woods said. “It was a good drive and ended up in a bad spot, and I compounded the problem with trying to use the backboard behind the hole there and missing a putt I should have made.”
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Poa problems? Koepka shows no signs Thursday at Bethpage
Published in
Golf
Thursday, 16 May 2019 08:41
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – One doesn’t think weakness when they think of Brooks Koepka, particularly at major championships, but following his record-breaking start at the PGA Championship on Thursday the three-time Grand Slam winner conceded a rare shortcoming.
“I'm not the most confident person on Poa, believe it or not. I know I won Shinnecock on Poa, but I haven't played on it too much,” said Koepka, who won last year’s U.S. Open on that particular putting surface.
It might have been an even bigger surprise that he was able to post a 7-under 63 to match the PGA Championship scoring record and top the Bethpage Black course record by a stroke.
He opened his day with a 40-footer for birdie at the 10th hole and needed just 25 putts on Bethpage’s Poa greens, on his way to an early advantage. For Koepka, his newfound confidence on the greens, be they Poa or another surface, stems from some work with his short-game coach Pete Cowen before the Masters.
“It was nice because I was doing it on my own,” Koepka said. “To have him back and just kind of touch up some speed control, he comes over to the house every night and we just putt downstairs in the basement and make sure everything is fine tuned and ready to go.”
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Arsenal have demanded an explanation from UEFA over the decision to host the Europa League final in Baku after they were allocated just 6,000 tickets for the match against Chelsea.
UEFA has blamed transport and infrastructure concerns for the limited allocation of tickets to travelling fans, with both clubs offered only a small fraction of the seats available in the 68,700-capacity Baku Olympic Stadium.
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In a statement released Thursday morning, Arsenal said it was "simply not right" for UEFA to select a venue that could not provide better transport options for fans.
"We are bitterly disappointed by the fact that due to transport limitations UEFA can only make a maximum of 6000 tickets available to Arsenal for a stadium with a capacity of well over 60,000," the club's statement said. "Time will tell if it is even possible for 6,000 Arsenal fans to attend the match, given how extreme the travel challenges are."
"We have 45,000 season-ticket holders and for so many fans to miss out due to UEFA selecting a final venue with such limited transport provision is quite simply not right.
"The reality is that whoever reached the final would not be able to meet demand from their supporters."
Fans of both London clubs have hit out at the decision to stage the final in Baku which has left those who can afford to travel and are lucky enough to get a ticket with a 2,850-mile trip.
There are no direct flights to the Azerbaijan capital in the week of the final, with fans facing 25-hour long journeys and stopovers in Frankfurt, Vienna, Kiev, Istanbul and Tehran.
The Foreign Office has also warned fans terror attacks are "likely" in Baku where the final will take place on May 29.
UEFA has previously defended its ticket allocation for each to the two finalists, saying it would not have been responsible to offer more tickets when fans were unlikely to be able to make suitable travel arrangements.
"We have received many complaints from our fans about this and we fully share their concerns," Arsenal's statement continued.
"On behalf of our fans, we would like to understand the criteria by which venues are selected for finals, and also how supporter requirements are taken into account as part of this.
"Moving forward we would urge UEFA to ensure that supporter logistics and requirements are a key part of any future decisions for final venues as what has happened this season is unacceptable, and cannot be repeated. We would be happy to join any future discussions to avoid this situation happening again."
Arsenal forward Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been assured he will be able to travel to Baku for the final, despite tensions between his native Armenia and neighbouring Azerbaijan.
Mkhitaryan has previously avoided travelling to Azerbaijan and was not part of the Arsenal squad when they played Qarabag in the Europa League group stage in October.
Last week a spokesperson for the Azerbaijan Foreign ministry said the country had hosted many sporting events where Armenian athletes had taken part.
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Ruben Loftus-Cheek faces months on the sidelines after rupturing his Achilles' tendon during Chelsea's 3-0 friendly victory against the New England Revolution in Foxborough, Massachusetts on Wednesday.
The 23-year-old had to be helped from the field in the 68th minute and left the Gillette Stadium on crutches after getting his left heel trodden on and caught in the turf, having come on as a half-time substitute.
He is set for surgery on Thursday. It is not yet clear how long Loftus-Cheek will be sidelined, but his injury is a serious blow to Maurizio Sarri's preparations for the Europa League final against Arsenal in Baku later this month.
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- Europa League final: What you need to know
Sarri had earlier admitted that Chelsea's trip to the United States complicated his planning for their last competitive game of the season, while Loftus-Cheek's injury will also prompt fresh questions of the sub-standard pitch at Gillette Stadium.
Loftus-Cheek becomes the second Chelsea player to suffer a season-ending Achilles tear in less than a month, after fellow academy graduate and fan favourite Callum Hudson-Odoi suffered a similar injury during a 2-2 draw with Burnley at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.
Announcing his provisional 27-man England squad for this summer's UEFA Nations League finals in Portugal on Thursday, manager Gareth Southgate confirmed that both Loftus-Cheek and Hudson-Odoi were in line to be involved prior to their injuries.
"Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek would definitely have been in this squad, so it's very unfortunate they've both sustained injuries that will keep them out for some period of time," Southgate said.
"I went to bed last night with Loftus-Cheek in the squad and playing brilliantly, and now he misses a major European final and a big opportunity with us. He's come on a lot in the last few months, playing with a lot of confidence and coming on strong. I'm really disappointed for him."
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Manchester United chief Ed Woodward has said Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be backed in the summer transfer market in a bid to get the club back to the top of English football.
Solskjaer is embarking on a major rebuild at Old Trafford after United finished sixth in the Premier League table and executive vice-chairman Woodward has suggested the club will be able to provide the necessary financial backing to improve the squad ahead of next season.
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"After a turbulent season, everyone at Manchester United is focused on building towards the success that this great club expects and our fans deserve," Woodward said, as United announced their third quarter financial results on Thursday.
"Preparations for the new season are underway and the underlying strength of our business will allow us to support the manager and his team as we look to the future."
United finished 32 points behind champions Manchester City and, more significantly, five points off the top four to miss out on a place in next season's Champion League.
Solskjaer started his reign with 14 wins from his first 17 games but ended the season with just two victories from the final 12 games.
It has increased the pressure on the Norwegian just two months after he was appointed as Jose Mourinho's permanent successor but Woodward has insisted the 46-year-old has his backing.
"While the last few weeks were disappointing, we are delighted to have confirmed the appointment of Ole as our manager on a three-year contract and to have confirmed that key members of the coaching team -- Mike Phelan, Michael Carrick, Kieran McKenna and Mark Dempsey -- will all be remaining at the club," Woodward said.
"The season clearly didn't end the way we had hoped, finishing in sixth place and with a disruptive managerial change part way through. However, Ole and the squad battled back from mid-December to put us in contention to qualify for the Champions League next season but ultimately we came up short."
United have not challenged for the Premier League title since Sir Alex Ferguson lifted the trophy in his final season in charge in 2013 and have finished outside the top four for the fourth time in six years since the Scot retired.
Solskjaer's overhaul of the squad -- which could see as many as six players leave and five coming in -- is likely to cost more than £200 million but Woodward said money is available to return United to the top.
"Everyone at the club -- the board, the manager, the squad and all the staff -- are resolute in our desire to get United back to the top of English football," he said. "We continually look to improve staff on and off the pitch to achieve this.
"The strength of our business means we have the financial resources to continue to provide a solid foundation for backing the manager and creating success on the pitch.
"This, as ever, remains our No.1 goal."
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