In brief: Rangers trade Gomez to Canadiens
NHL: Scott Gomez’s brief New York tenure ended Tuesday when the star center was traded by the Rangers to the Montreal Canadiens as part of a six-player deal.
The key player coming back to New York is forward Chris Higgins, a Long Island native who is set to become a restricted free agent. The deal was announced before the NHL’s free-agent shopping season opens today.
New York had been looking to clear space under the NHL salary cap and cut out a major contract that still has five years and $33.5 million left on it. The cap hit on Gomez’s deal is $7.35 million.
Gomez was sent to Montreal with minor leaguers Tom Pyatt, a forward, and defenseman Mike Busto. Along with Higgins, the Rangers received defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Pavel Valentenko from the Canadiens.
Gomez never really found his stride in New York after leaving the New Jersey Devils as a free agent two summers ago. He is signed through the 2013-14 season, but is coming off a disappointing year in which he had 58 points – his fewest since he had 55 during the 2002-03 campaign with New Jersey.
George to be replaced at Indy
Auto racing: Tony George has been asked to step down as president and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and his family’s business. And it’s not clear how closely he’ll remain tied to the day-to-day operations of the Indy Racing League.
The board of directors of the speedway and Hulman & Company announced that a new management team will take over the Hulman-George companies effective Thursday.
The Hulman-George family has run the speedway, home of the Indianapolis 500, for six decades and also owns the IRL and Clabber Girl, a baking-powder company based in Terre Haute, Ind.
Speedway board chairman Mary Hulman George, Tony George’s mother, said it is in the best interests of everyone that her son concentrate his efforts on the IRL – primarily, she said, as a team owner.
•Milwaukee Mile track faces uncertain future: The Milwaukee Mile’s past includes more than a century’s worth of auto racing’s biggest names, from A.J. Foyt to the Unsers and the Andrettis. Now the track’s promoters are behind on payments to NASCAR and the Indy Racing League, leaving its future uncertain.
The Milwaukee Mile hosted its two biggest events of the year over the past month: An IndyCar series race May 31 and NASCAR’s Nationwide and Camping World Trucks series races June 20. While the IndyCar and Nationwide dates drew decent crowds, the track’s promoters still are struggling to meet their financial obligations.
Promoters have paid prize money to teams but they have not fully paid sanctioning fees owed to NASCAR and the IRL, according to reports in the Charlotte Observer and Indianapolis Star.
While neither NASCAR nor the IRL has publicly set a deadline for payment or threatened legal action, important deadlines loom. Both series are expected to issue next year’s racing schedule later this year – and if the Milwaukee Mile isn’t on those schedules, it could be the beginning of the end for the venerable track.
Groove changes remain on target
PGA: PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem has decided not to delay a new rule next year that will change the grooves in irons and wedges.
The USGA notified players and equipment manufacturers last year that effective Jan. 1, the dimensions in the grooves would change dramatically to create less spin on shots. The idea was to make shots out of the rough more difficult, and put more of a premium on driving accuracy.
Finchem was asked to consider delaying the change one year so players and manufacturers could continue testing, and the USGA said it would follow the tour’s lead.
Finchem said he decided it was in the best interests of golf to stay on schedule.
Stallworth’s 911: ‘Just ran in front of my car’
Miscellany: Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth said on a 911 call that the man he struck and killed while driving drunk came out of nowhere.
Stallworth is serving a 30-day jail sentence after pleading guilty to DUI manslaughter in the March 14 death of 59-year-old Mario Reyes. Stallworth also has two years’ house arrest after his release from jail and is suspended indefinitely by the NFL.
On the 911 call released Monday, Stallworth describes how the victim “just ran in front of my car.” Police have said Reyes was not in a crosswalk and was rushing to catch a bus when he was hit.
Stallworth tells the 911 operator, “You got to send an ambulance right now, man.”
Stallworth also reached an undisclosed financial settlement with Reyes’ family.