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SPORTS Wednesday 5 april 2023
Handful of NHL contenders thrive following major injuries

By STEPHEN WHYNO banged up as well. … In
AP Hockey Writer general, it was a great time
Mark Stone missing two for us and it showed com-
months and counting after ing out of it.”
back surgery threatened Before the break, the Is-
to sink the Vegas Golden landers made a move that
Knights. Instead, they’ve ultimately ensured that Bar-
risen to the top of the West- zal getting injured wouldn’t
ern Conference. doom their chances of get-
Losing Kirill Kaprizov for sev- ting back in the playoffs.
eral weeks looked like a big Veteran GM Lou Lamoriello
blow to the Minnesota Wild. pounced early by getting
They’ve since moved into center Bo Horvat in a trade
first place in the Central Di- with Vancouver, and the
vision. 30-goal scorer has fit in just
Similarly, in the East, the about as well as anyone
New York Islanders have could have expected.
more than compensated Of course, there aren’t
for the absence of Mathew many teams like the Island-
Barzal and the Carolina ers, who pushed the then-
Hurricanes have found their defending champion Tam-
game since Andrei Svech- pa Bay Lightning to seven
nikov was ruled out for the games in the Eastern Con-
remainder of the season ference final in 2021 after
with a torn ACL. Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud (2) celebrates with the defenseman Ben losing Lee to a major knee
With the NHL playoffs on Hutton (17) and the bench after scoring against the Minnesota Wild during the first period of an injury.
NHL hockey game Saturday, April 1, 2023, in Las Vegas.
the horizon, those four con- Associated Press If anyone’s built to with-
tenders have not only sur- stand the loss of a top play-
vived but thrived after los- other sports. We empha- by far their leader in goals It’s impossible to replace er, it’s New York, thanks to
ing a star player to injury. size it’s a team game, it’s and assists and a legitimate Stone, a strong defensive depth down the middle
They’ve done it thanks to a a team sport and there’s MVP candidate. winger who was on track and smart decisions all over
combination of savvy trade 20 other guys that are still Boldy has 13 goals and five for his eighth 20-goal sea- the ice.
deadline acquisitions, going to try to get the job assists for 18 points in 12 son, but the Golden Knights “We got four good center-
good coaching and other done.” games since Kaprizov went used the All-Star break and men still. That helps,” veter-
players taking advantage Minnesota, Vegas, Caro- down. their annual father’s road an forward Cal Clutterbuck
of bigger opportunities. lina and New York have “It’s a good time for him to trip to reset mentally and said. “I think just generally
“That’s what makes hockey combined to go 44-22-11 really get that hot and get physically without him. They the style of game that we
so great is teams have lost since each team’s signifi- those goals for us,” forward have won 20 of 33 games play and the structure that
top players and continued cant injury. Joel Eriksson Ek said. since. we play with allows us to
to go about their jobs and In the Wild’s case, the Vegas has been used to “It was really good for us,” get through situations like
win hockey games,” Caro- emergence of young wing- injuries in recent years, in- first-year coach Bruce that. It’s just kind of a credit
lina general manager Don er Matt Boldy and strong cluding several to goalies Cassidy said. “Timing was to the guys who have been
Waddell said. “Our sport’s goaltending have made this season that have tested perfect. Some guys got a in and the way that they’ve
different than maybe some up for not having Kaprizov, the organization’s depth. breather that were a little been following the plan.”q

Retired boxer Amir Khan gets 2-year

ban for doping

LONDON (AP) — Retired growth and, according mance against Kell Brook
British boxer Amir Khan to UKAD, is designed to lost the fight. If I went in
has been banned from all have similar effects to tes- there and knocked Kell
sports for two years after tosterone. Khan, who an- Brook out it’s different,” he
testing positive for a pro- nounced his retirement said.
hibited substance following three months after the fight, The 36-year-old Khan said
what proved to be the last accepted a violation of he found it strange he has
fight of his career. anti-doping rules but said been banned now that he
Khan, a former light-wel- he had not intentionally in- is retired from boxing.
terweight world champion gested the substance. That “If they ban me, they ban
and Olympic silver-medal- was accepted by an inde- me,” he said. “I am retired British boxer Amir Khan, right, reacts after losing the Welterweight
ist, returned a positive result pendent panel following a anyway.” Contest fight against Kell Brook at the AO Arena, Manchester,
for anabolic agent ostarine hearing in January. One of the best British England, on Feb. 19, 2022. Associated Press
after his loss to Kell Brook His ban will expire on April boxers of his era, Khan re-
in Manchester in February 5, 2024. Reacting to the an- tired with a record of 34-6, career that started with a welterweight title with vic-
2022, UK Anti-Doping said nouncement, Khan speak- though the independent gold medal at the 2003 Ju- tory over Andreas Kotelnik
Tuesday. ing in London told Sky News panel has disqualified his nior Olympics and a silver in Manchester in July 2009,
Ostarine is a selective an- he has “never cheated in result from the fight against at the Athens Olympics in before unifying the WBA
drogen receptor modula- my life.” Brook. 2004, aged just 17. and IBF titles with a win over
tor that can help muscle “You can see by my perfor- It’s a sad final entry to a Khan won the WBA light- Zab Judah in 2011. q