Sunday Sports

OILERS HIRE REGINA’S EVANOCHKO

EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers have promoted Warren Rychel to pro scouting director and added former Oiler forward Zack Kassian to the pro scouting staff.

Aaron Nagy was appointed amateur scout, Erik Elenz was hired as video and analytics coaching co-ordinator, Dominik Zrim joins the organization as director of hockey strategy and David Evanochko was hired as lead solutions architect, the Oilers announced Saturday in a statement.

Rychel, who played 406 NHL games over eight seasons with Los Angeles, Toronto, Anaheim, Chicago and Colorado, will start his third season with the Oilers.

Kassian played seven of his 13 NHL seasons for the Oilers before retiring in 2023. The 33-year-old from Windsor, Ont., amassed 92 goals, 111 assists and 913 penalty minutes in 661 career games.

Nagy was previously president of the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Georgetown Raiders and a player agent with Newport Sports.

Elenz came from the Seattle Kraken’s AHL affiliate after two seasons as video coach for the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

Zrim previously worked for the Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks.

Evanochko was formerly vice president of software development at Conexus Credit Union in Regina.

NHL

WINNIPEG – Jesper Wallstedt left a lot of Jets hopefuls shaking their heads on Saturday night.

The Minnesota goalie stopped 38 of 40 shots as the Wild whipped Winnipeg 5-2 in an NHL pre-season game.

Ben Jones, Jakub Lauko, Graeme Clarke, Daemon Hunt and Caeden Bankier scored for Minnesota.

Wallstedt stopped 28 of 29 shots through the first 40 minutes, 18 in the second period.

Colby Barlow and Colin Miller replied for Winnipeg. Kaapo Kahkonen made 23 saves on 28 shots for Winnipeg at the Canada Life Centre.

Jets coach Scott Arniel was expecting some sloppy play.

“The two power-play goals, there’s some sloppiness on execution, which you are going to see at this time of year,” he said. “Pretty much told the young guys just learn from it.”

• Five Canadian teams are in action on Sunday with 10 games on the NHL’s pre-season schedule. The Edmonton Oilers host the Winnipeg Jets, the Ottawa Senators visit the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Seattle Kraken host the Calgary Flames.

NFL

The Houston Texans visit the Minnesota Vikings today and the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Los Angeles Chargers in two battles of 2-0 NFL squads. Other unbeaten teams in action today include the Buffalo Bills, Seattle Seahawks, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs.

MLB

• The Toronto Blue Jays will be aiming to avoid a sweep in Florida today when they wrap up a three-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays took Friday’s opener 1-0 and won 3-2 on Saturday. Right-hander Shane Baz will be on the mound for the Rays. The Jays haven’t named a starter. The Jays open a three-game homestand Monday when the Boston Red Sox pay a visit to Rogers Centre.
• The Chicago White Sox tied the American League record with their 119th loss last night as Xander Bogaerts and Elias Díaz each hit a two-run homer to help the San Diego Padres win 6-2 and move closer to a playoff spot. With a record of 36-and-119, the White Sox matched the AL mark for losses set by the 2003 Detroit Tigers, who finished 43-and-119. One more defeat for Chicago over its final seven games would equal the post-1900 record of 120 losses by the 1962 expansion New York Mets.

WNBA

The WNBA playoffs tip off today with all four first-round series starting. This is the third straight post-season the league will employ a best-of-three format in the opening round, with the higher seed hosting the first two games. A decisive third game would be played at the home of the lower seed. The New York Liberty, Connecticut Sun, Minnesota Lynx and Las Vegas Aces will be the host teams today.

(Canadian Press)