Fast Break
College football
Big Sky honors EWU quarterback
Eastern Washington quarterback Matt Nichols got off to a fast start to the season last Friday and as a result was named the Big Sky Conference offensive player of the week.
Nichols, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound sophomore from Cottonwood, Calif., tied a school record with six touchdown passes in Eastern Washington’s 52-13 victory over Montana-Western.
Nichols completed 20 of 26 passes for 229 yards with no interceptions. Four of his touchdown passes came in the first half as EWU stormed out to a 31-13 lead.
Nichols threw just eight touchdown passes his entire sophomore season. This is Nichols’ first Player of the Week Award.
Montana linebacker Loren Utterback is the top defensive player and Northern Arizona kicker Robbie Dehaze is the special teams player.
Hockey
Turgeon will retire today
Pierre Turgeon is expected to end his 19-season NHL career by announcing his retirement Wednesday.
The 38-year-old is to meet with the media at agent Bob Sauve’s office in Laval, north of Montreal. Turgeon, an unrestricted free agent, was expected to retire after groin and calf injuries limited him to only 17 games last season with the Colorado Avalanche.
The top overall draft pick by the Buffalo Sabres in 1987, he went on to score 515 goals and 1,327 points in 1,294 career games with the Sabres, New York Islanders, Montreal, St. Louis, Dallas and Colorado.
He won the Lady Byng Trophy in 1993 with the Islanders after posting career highs of 58 goals and 132 points.
Tennis
Sampras, Courier coming to Arena
Former professional tennis stars Pete Sampras and Jim Courier will square off at the Spokane Arena on Nov. 11.
The exhibition is put on by the Miracle Match Foundation, an organization established in 1997 by former tennis pro Bill Przbysz following his diagnosis of Acute Monocytic Leukemia. Przbysz will also play at the Arena.
Sampras is a 14-time grand slam tournament winner and Courier has won four.
Reserve tickets go on sale on Friday at 10 a.m. and range from $25 to $125. Tickets are available at TicketsWest outlets, online at TicketsWest.com or by phone at 325-SEAT.