In brief: San Jose’s Thornton wins NHL’s Hart Trophy

Joe Thornton edged out Jaromir Jagr again.

Thornton, who beat out Jagr for the scoring title by two points, took the Hart Trophy as the National Hockey League’s MVP on Thursday with Jagr again relegated to runner-up.

San Jose’s star center already had the Art Ross Trophy tucked away as the league’s top scorer, thanks to a 125-point regular season. Thornton won the MVP in a close vote of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, finishing with 1,058 points to Jagr’s 974.

Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff was a distant third with 561 votes.

Jagr did win his third Lester B. Pearson Award as players’ choice for most outstanding player.

Kiprusoff won his first Vezina Trophy as top NHL goaltender, ending Martin Brodeur’s run at two in a row.

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league’s top rookie.

Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom won his fourth Norris Trophy as top defenseman, while Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff won his first Jack Adams award as coach of the year.

Golf

Curtis grabs lead

Ben Curtis shot a 9-under-par 62 at a TPC at Avenel course in Potomac, Md., topping a lackluster field in the first round of the Booz Allen Classic.

Curtis led Jeff Gove by one shot and Jose Coceres by two, with Steve Flesch and Will MacKenzie three back. Curtis birdied four straight holes on the front nine and five straight on the back nine.

“Shi Hyun Ahn bested the swirling winds and opened with a 7-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead over rookie Brittany Lang in the Rochester LPGA in Pittsford, N.Y.

Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., is tied for 10th place after opening with a 2-under 70, while Tracy Hanson of Rathdrum opened with a 73.

Auto racing

Riggs may miss race

Bill Elliott will stand by as a possible replacement for Evernham Motorsports driver Scott Riggs this weekend at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., following an accident in which the NASCAR driver sustained cuts to both feet while unloading a personal watercraft in an oyster bed.

A team release said Riggs was vacationing with his family in Myrtle Beach, S.C., when he was injured.

The wounds required a total of 20 stitches.

Miscellany

Former receiver dies

Former NFL receiver Theo Bell, who won two Super Bowl rings with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1978 and 1979 before finishing his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, died in Tampa, Fla., after a long battle with kidney disease and scleroderma. He was 52.

“The IOC executive board pared the field of cities hoping to host the 2014 Winter Games to three – Salzburg, Austria; Pyeongchang, South Korea; and Sochi, Russia.

Eliminated from the race were Almaty, Kazakhstan; Borjomi, Georgia; Jaca, Spain; and Sofia, Bulgaria.