HOCKEY
Carolina Hurricanes Coach Rod Brind’Amour said Thursday he feels “really good” that he will reach a new contract with the team, mirroring optimism from President and GM Don Waddell a day earlier.
Brind’Amour – considered by many the face of the franchise with his long-running ties here that include being the captain of the 2006 Stanley Cup winner – is in the final year of a deal reached in 2021. His status has become a talking point around the league with multiple jobs open as Carolina prepares to face the New York Rangers in the second round of the NHL playoffs.
“Yeah, I had a great conversation yesterday with Don, and then again this morning,” Brind’Amour said. “I feel really good that we’ll figure it out quickly. Yeah, I’m not concerned.”
That came a day after Waddell said he was “very confident” that the two sides would reach a deal.
COLLEGES
MEN’S BASKETBALL: Nebraska forward Rienk Mast will have surgery on his left knee and miss the 2024-25 season, Coach Fred Hoiberg said.
Mast, who averaged 12.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, said he plans to take a medical redshirt and return in 2025-26.
SOCCER
OLYMPICS: Iraq qualified for the men’s soccer tournament at the Paris Olympics with a 2-1 win over Indonesia in the third-place playoff at the Under-23 Asian Cup at Doha, Qatar.
Ali Jasim’s extra-time winner means Iraq takes Asia’s third automatic place at the Olympics. Japan and Uzbekistan, who meet in Friday’s cup final, have both already qualified for the Paris Games.
HALL OF FAME: Tim Howard was 10 years old when he walked into Giants Stadium’s upper deck in June 1989 for a United States-Peru friendly that featured goalkeeper Tony Meola making his second international appearance.
“My earliest soccer memory,” Howard recalled last month.
Howard went on to follow Meola in a line of outstanding American goalkeepers, and on Saturday he will join Meola, Kasey Keller and Brad Friedel in the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Josh McKinney, captain of the U.S. seven-a-side Paralympic team, also was elected from the player ballot. Midfielder Tisha Venturini-Hoch was chosen from the veteran ballot and United Soccer Leagues founder Francisco Marcos was picked from the builder category.
AUTO RACING
NASCAR: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. signed a multiyear contract extension with JTG Daugherty Racing, which he took to victory lane in the Daytona 500 two years ago, to continue driving the No. 47 car in the NASCAR Cup Series.
• Erik Jones was cleared by doctors and approved to return by NASCAR, but his Legacy Motor Club team will hold him out of this weekend’s race at Kansas Speedway to allow him more time to recover from his crash at Talladega.
Corey Heim will drive the No. 43 Toyota in Sunday’s race. Jones plans to be in attendance at Kansas and help crew chief Dave Elenz before returning to the driver’s seat at Darlington Raceway, where he has two Cup Series victories.
TENNIS
MADRID OPEN: Iga Swiatek cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 win over Madison Keys to reach the final for the second consecutive year.
Swiatek will face either world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka or No. 4 Elena Rybakina.
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