Avalanche win NHL lottery, will pick first
NHL: The Colorado Avalanche have won the NHL draft lottery.
The Florida Panthers own the second pick for June’s draft, while the Tampa Bay Lightning have the third selection.
Colorado had an 18.8 percent chance of winning Monday’s lottery after finishing the regular season with a 16-25-7 record, worst in the Western Conference.
The Panthers, who finished last in the NHL with a 15-27-6 mark, had the best odds of winning the lottery at 25 percent but had to settle for the No. 2 pick.
Portland Winterhawks defenseman Seth Jones is the No. 1 ranked North American skater according to the NHL Central Scouting Bureau.
• Crosby uncertain for opener: Penguins star Sidney Crosby practiced Monday but his status remains uncertain for Wednesday’s playoff opener against the New York Islanders.
Crosby hasn’t played since breaking his jaw a month ago, missing Pittsburgh’s final 12 regular-season games. He said he’ll see doctors again today and will not play until he is given clearance.
Buffalo, Indianapolis trade linebackers
NFL: The Buffalo Bills traded Kelvin Sheppard to the Indianapolis Colts for Jerry Hughes in a swap of linebackers two days after the NFL draft.
Sheppard was a 2011 second-round pick from LSU, while Hughes was the Colts’ 2010 first-round draft pick from TCU.
Baffert won’t saddle horse in Derby
Miscellany: Bob Baffert won’t be saddling a horse in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby for the first time since 2008.
Baffert has won the race three times, but not since 2002.
• Golf vans crash, killing three: A minivan carrying six members of a Michigan high school boys’ golf team collided with another van on a rural road, killing the 30-year-old coach and a 17-year-old golfer, and a 27-year-old woman in the other vehicle.
Four other members of the Grayling High School golf team were in critical condition after the crash 25 miles east of Traverse City.
The names of the victims were not released.