Keweenaw Report Your Source for Local News and Sports
Finlandia
Finlandia University was the runner-up in the 2019-20 American Collegiate Athletic Association President’s Cup standings. The President’s Cup is calculated using a formula that awards points based on finishes in ACAA Championships, and strength of schedule ratings.
UC Santa Cruz easily won the overall title, with first-place finishes for both its men’s and women’s programs. Finlandia finished second in the women’s competition, and fifth in the men’s, to place second overall.
This will be the final President’s Cup awarded by the ACAA, which has merged with the Capital Athletic Conference for play beginning this fall.
MLB
The Detroit Tigers have been cleared to begin the Major League Baseball season in Michigan. Governor Gretchen Whitmer yesterday signed an executive order allowing professional sports games to take place. Fans are not permitted to attend the games, and other restrictions will continue to apply.
The Tigers have released veteran reliever Alex Wilson. Wilson was a major part of the Detroit bullpen from 2015 to 2018. He struggled last season, splitting time between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs, after failing to make the Cleveland Indians’ roster in spring training. He had returned to Detroit this spring as a minor league free agent. General manager Al Avila said Wilson was not going to make the roster this season. The release will give him time to try to catch on with another team.
NFL
The Detroit Lions have signed offensive lineman Jonah Jackson. Jackson was their third-round pick in the recent amateur draft. He played his senior season at Ohio State University, after transferring in from Rutgers.
The NFL has canceled its annual Hall of Fame game, and delayed induction of the 2020 Hall of Fame class to 2021. The Hall of Fame game is traditionally the first in the exhibition season. This year, the Dallas Cowboys would have faced the Pittsburgh Steelers.
NHL
The NHL Draft lottery will be held tonight. With the worst record in the league, the Detroit Red Wings have an 18.5 percent chance at winning the top pick. However, the Ottawa Senators have a better chance. They get a 13.5 percent chance based on their second-worst record in the league. And, they get another 11.5 percent chance, because they own the San Jose Sharks’ first-round pick – and the Sharks finished with the third-worst record in the league. The consensus choice to be the number-one pick is Canadian forward Alexis Lafreniere.
The complicated formula gives opportunities to the seven teams that didn’t make the cut for the resumption of the NHL season this summer, and the eight teams that lose in the qualifying rounds for the Stanley Cup playoffs. The date for the actual draft cannot be set until after after those teams are determined.
Email sports news and scores to mornings@up.net.
