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Sports briefs

3 min read

NHL MVP finalists

The NHL Hart Trophy voters agreed with NHL players in selecting Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl, Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon and Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers as MVP award finalists.

The finalists were announced by the NHL on Tuesday, and determined by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. The three were also named finalists for the Ted Lindsay Trophy, honoring the league’s most outstanding player as voted on by players.

The 24-year-old Draisaitl is seeking to become the first German-born player to win the Hart after leading the NHL with 110 points (43 goals, 67 assists). He registered a point in 56 of 71 games and also led the league in assists and 44 power-play points.

In auto racing

Attendance will be limited to 25% capacity for the Indianapolis 500 and spectators will be required to wear face coverings at “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

Indianapolis Motor Speedway can hold approximately 350,000 fans in the grandstands, suites and infield, but officials said last month only 50% capacity would be admitted for the rescheduled Aug. 23 race. The number was adjusted Tuesday.

In football

Michael Bennett, who won a Super Bowl as a defensive end with the Seattle Seahawks and made three Pro Bowls, says he is retiring.

The 34-year-old Bennett played for five teams and was an integral part of the Seahawks’ 2013 NFL championship. He said Tuesday on Instagram that the 2019 season, which he split between New England and Dallas, was his last.

• Texas will delay the start of the public high school football season for its largest schools by a month as the state grapples with a recent surge of new coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

Instead of starting practice Aug. 3, those schools can now start Sept. 7. The first games can be played Sept. 24, a month after the originally scheduled opening weekend.

The University Interscholastic League said it focused the delay on larger schools as many of them are in the states largest metropolitan areas, which have been hit hardest by the surge of virus cases.

In tennis

The hard-court tournament in the nation’s capital that was supposed to mark the official return of men’s professional tennis amid the pandemic was scrapped Tuesday – but the group in charge of the U.S. Open immediately said the tuneup’s cancellation “in no way impacts” its Grand Slam event.

The U.S. Open is to begin Aug. 31 without spectators.

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