Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Timothy Liljegren will return for the team's matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, he told The Hockey News' David Alter.

A high ankle sprain has kept Liljegren out of action since Nov. 2, when he collided with Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand in the first period of the outing. He was later placed on long-term injured reserve and missed 17 games.

Liljegren registered one assist and six shots on goal in 10 games this season before his injury.

The Leafs also called up forward Pontus Holmberg from the Toronto Marlies ahead of their tilt against the Penguins.

Saturday's encounter will also mark executive Kyle Dubas' return to Toronto for the first time since he was fired as general manager of the Leafs in May. The 38-year-old was named Pittsburgh's president of hockey operations in June and, in August, elected not to hire a new Penguins GM, opting to hold both roles simultaneously.

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Montreal Canadiens icon Guy Lafleur died at the age of 70, his sister Lise LaFleur announced Friday.

The cause of death was not immediately made known. On Tuesday, the Canadiens acknowledged reports of his health, asking for fans to respect the privacy of LaFleur and his family.

Lafleur played 14 seasons in Montreal between 1971-1985. Nicknamed "The Flower," he helped lead the Canadiens to five Stanley Cups in the 1970s, including four consecutive championships from 1976-79. He also won three straight Art Ross Trophies during that span.

He is the franchise's all-time assists and points leader with 728 and 1,246, respectively. He also ranks second in career goals for Montreal behind Maurice Richard.

LaFleur was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988.

Copyright © 2022 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that all venues in the state that can host a minimum of 10,000 people are now permitted to host fans at 10% capacity beginning Feb. 23, according to ESPN's Malika Andrews.

Spectators will have to provide a negative COVID-19 test up to 72 hours before the event in question. Fans will also be assigned socially distanced seating and be required to undergo temperature checks and wear face coverings while attending.

Cuomo cited the Buffalo Bills hosting 7,000 fans during the recent NFL playoffs as an "unparalleled success," opening up a similar opportunity for the state's other major sports franchises.

The Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks are on track to be the first New York teams to welcome fans back under the new arrangement. The Nets will host the Sacramento Kings on Feb. 23 at the Barclays Center, while the Knicks will welcome the Golden State Warriors on the same day to Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks announced they intend to host "roughly 2,000 fans at every game." Madison Square Garden normally has a maximum capacity of 19,500 people.

Brooklyn is still awaiting approval by the NBA, according to Andrews.

Copyright © 2021 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Calgary Flames signed forward Josh Leivo to a one-year deal worth $875,000, the team announced Saturday.

Leivo spent the last two seasons with the Vancouver Canucks. He totaled seven goals and 12 assists in 36 games this past campaign with Vancouver.

Leivo hasn't played since Dec. 19 after he fractured his right kneecap in a win over the Vegas Golden Knights. He was projected to be out for two-to-three months but he missed the rest of the season, including the league's restart.

The 27-year-old winger has recorded 65 career points in 169 NHL games after being drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the third round in 2011.

Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Buffalo Sabres re-signed defenseman Brandon Montour to a one-year, $3.85-million contract, the team announced Saturday.

Montour, 26, recorded 18 points in 54 games this past season, his first full year in Buffalo after being acquired from the Anaheim Ducks in February 2019.

His eight goals scored since Montour's team debut tops all Sabres defensemen over that span.

The Sabres announced Wednesday that Montour was among six of their restricted free agents who had been tendered a qualifying offer, allowing the club to match any other offers for the blue-liner, or at least receive draft-pick compensation if he signed an offer sheet elsewhere.

The Ducks selected Montour in the second round (55th overall) in 2014. He's tallied 91 points over 243 games across four NHL seasons.

Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Madison Square Garden Company chairman James Dolan, who owns the NBA's New York Knicks and NHL's New York Rangers, issued a second email to his employees Tuesday defending the lack of a public statement regarding George Floyd's death in police custody.

Dolan's email reads as follows, courtesy of SNY's Ian Begley:

Yesterday, I made a sincere attempt to provide my perspective on a very difficult issue, one that has no easy answers. I know how important this topic is to so many and I do not want there to be any confusion about where I as an individual, or we as a company stand. So let me be clear: we vehemently condemn and reject racism against anyone, period. It is against every value that we hold dear.

My point yesterday was about actions, and the importance of living your values. At Madison Square Garden, we have worked hard to build an environment of inclusion and mutual respect and those are the values that we try to live every day. Racism is born of ignorance and it's up to each of us to understand that the person working beside you is your equal without regard to color, or any of the other qualities that make us diverse. And any injustice to one person is an injustice to everyone.

This is how we at MSG fight racism. We start with ourselves, and through our actions, we define who we are. That is how we can be an example to the wider world. That was the point of my message yesterday.

I am proud of the environment you have created here. I know that this is a difficult time, and that we will always need to communicate with one another on the hard issues. I will continue to do as much as I can to help make our community even better. I know you will also.

Dolan issued on Monday an internal memo to employees, which attempted to explain why the company and its teams have remained silent.

"As companies in the business of sports and entertainment, however, we are not any more qualified than anyone else to offer our opinion on social matters. What's important is how we operate," he wrote.

The Knicks, San Antonio Spurs, and Atlanta Hawks are the only three NBA teams that have yet to release a public statement amid growing protests across North America in the fight against racial injustice.

However, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich criticized President Donald Trump on Monday for a lack of leadership during the widespread unrest, and the Hawks shared an interview with head coach Lloyd Pierce, during which he spoke about living in fear as a black man in the U.S.

Knicks players and employees are "furious" that the team hasn't issued a public statement, leading to a meeting Tuesday without Dolan to discuss his internal communications, reports Pablo S. Torre of ESPN.

In the NHL, only the Rangers and Ottawa Senators have not issued their own statements. The Senators, however, did retweet a message from center Chris Tierney that cited "an inequitable society that enables systemic racism."

Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Madison Square Garden Company chairman James Dolan sent an email to employees Monday defending the organization's decision to not release a public statement following the death of George Floyd, according to ESPN's Malika Andrews.

"This is a turbulent time in our country. The coronavirus and civil unrest have taken their toll on our way of life," Dolan wrote. "We at Madison Square Company stand by our values of a respectful and peaceful workplace. We always will.

"As companies in the business of sports and entertainment, however, we are not any more qualified than anyone else to offer our opinion on social matters. What's important is how we operate. Our companies are committed to upholding our values, which include creating a respectful workplace for all, and that will never change. What we say to each other matters. How we treat each other matters. And that's what will get us through this difficult time."

New York Knicks players and employees are furious that the team, which Dolan owns through MSG, has not released a statement, according to ESPN's Pablo S. Torre.

The New York Rangers, also owned by Dolan, have yet to release a statement despite several other NHL franchises doing so, including the New York Islanders.

Numerous sports executives, franchises, leagues, and other organizations across North America have condemned racial injustices faced by African-Americans following Floyd's death while in the custody of Minneapolis police on May 25.

Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.

New York Knicks and Rangers owner James Dolan has recovered from the coronavirus, a Knicks spokesperson told The Athletic's Shams Charania.

Dolan has donated his blood plasma toward research for potential treatments, Charania adds.

The 64-year-old executive tested positive for COVID-19 on March 28. He was said to be experiencing little-to-no symptoms and continued to oversee the team.

A day after the Knicks announced Dolan's diagnosis, it was reported that the NBA requested personnel within the league to consider donating plasma to the National COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Project.

Dolan is the only NBA team owner known to have contracted the virus.

In the state of New York, there have been more than 257,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and over 15,000 deaths as of Wednesday, according to The New York Times.

Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find out the latest on COVID-19's impact on the sports world and when sports are returning by subscribing to Breaking News push notifications in the Sports and COVID-19 section.

Dr. Anthony Fauci sees a way back for sports this year.

One of the leading medical experts for the Trump administration's coronavirus task force believes the best way to resume North American sports is meticulously monitoring players and keeping fans out of arenas for the foreseeable future.

"There's a way of doing that," the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told Snapchat's Peter Hamby when asked about starting up sports again. "Nobody comes to the stadium. Put (teams) in big hotels wherever you want to play. Keep them very well surveilled.

"... But have them tested, like every week," he added. "And make sure they don't wind up infecting each other or their family and just let them play the season out."

Fauci was answering Hamby's question specifically about the MLB, NFL, and college football seasons, which have yet to begin their respective 2020 campaigns.

However, his advice sounds similar to the NBA's reported plan from earlier this month that proposes hosting all remaining games in Las Vegas without fans in attendance. A comparable plan is reportedly being considered for baseball, but with all contests in Arizona.

"I mean people say 'Well you can't play without spectators.' Well, I think you probably get enough buy-in from people who are dying to see a baseball game," Fauci added. "Particularly me: I'm living in Washington (D.C.). We have the world champion Washington Nationals. I want to see them playing again."

President Donald Trump has expressed a strong desire to see sports restart soon in the United States, though medical experts, including Fauci, are cautioning against a return to normalcy too soon.

On Tuesday, Trump announced he's seeking advice from several prominent U.S. sports executives about how to best end the lockdown that the COVID-19 pandemic prompted.

Some within his newly formed panel include NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB commissioners Adam Silver, Roger Goodell, Gary Bettman, and Rob Manfred, respectively. UFC president Dana White and WWE CEO Vince McMahon were also named.

Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Washington Wizards and Capitals will entertain fans with video game simulations while finishing the rest of their regular seasons virtually.

Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the company that owns the NBA and NHL franchises, will broadcast video game simulations of both team's previously scheduled matchups that have been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. The games will air during every suspended contest's original time slot.

Wizards games will be simulated on NBA 2K20, with the first one scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m. ET against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Capitals' first simulation will be broadcast at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, when they'll face the St. Louis Blues on NHL 20.

Both the basketball and hockey broadcasts will span an hour and be shown on NBC Sports Washington and the Monumental Sports Network. The NHL games will also feature live commentary from Capitals TV announcers on NBC Sports Washington.

"We know that fans are as disappointed as we are not to be able to watch our favorite teams on a nightly basis," Zach Leonsis, the company's senior vice president of strategic initiatives, said in a statement.

"We hope that these fun and engaging video game simulations will entertain our fans and help provide a greater sense of normalcy during these challenging times," he continued. "We hope that when people tune in and watch these simulated games, they will be able to enjoy some friendly competitive play from the comforts of their own home."

The Phoenix Suns have also been using NBA 2K20 to play out their postponed contests. However, they aren't doing a full simulation, and real players are controlling the team and its opponents.

Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.