
Kyle Clifford retires after 13 NHL seasons, joins Leafs' front office
He's not leaving the league, however, as he will serve in a player development role with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Clifford, 34, last played in the NHL with the Maple Leafs in 2022-23 and spent the past two years with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League. The enforcer had eight points in 17 games with the Marlies last season.
A two-time Stanley Cup winner with Los Angeles, Clifford totaled 144 points (66 goals, 78 assists) and 905 penalty minutes in 753 career games with the Kings, Maple Leafs and St. Louis Blues. He was selected by Los Angeles in the second round of the 2009 NHL Draft.
--Field Level Media
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The Independent
6 minutes ago
- The Independent
Women are flocking to DC for a historic pro baseball tryout. Here are some players to know
Hundreds of women will flock to Washington on Friday to take their first swings at turning pro baseball dreams into reality. Some at the historic tryout will be seasoned veterans and trailblazers in the women's game. Plenty others are beginners chasing a shot at the pros. They'll meet on the same field in a camp organized by the Women's Pro Baseball League. Set to debut next year, the league is holding the first pro women's baseball tryouts in more than 80 years this weekend in partnership with Major League Baseball 's Washington Nationals. The U.S. hasn't had a pro women's league since the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League — the one immortalized in 'A League of Their Own' — dissolved in 1954. Players will take part in drill-focused sessions, athletic performance testing and player evaluations at the Nationals' Youth Baseball Academy over the first three days, and the showcase will culminate in a live game at Nationals Park on Aug. 25. In the end, 150 players will advance to the league's inaugural draft in October. For co-founder Justine Siegal, the tryouts mark a crucial step in creating a true arena for female baseball players to compete against one another, which was the driving force behind her vision for the league. 'I didn't get to grow up and play girls baseball. I had to play baseball with the boys," said Siegal, the first woman to coach for an MLB team with the Oakland Athletics in 2015. 'We have players who have been waiting a lifetime for an opportunity not to just have a chance to try out for a professional women's baseball league, but to be seen and to be given a chance. 'It's very important to us that women know that we see them.' More than 600 players registered for the four-day camp. Here are five notable competitors to keep an eye on: Mo'ne Davis: right-handed pitcher, outfielder At 13, Davis became the first girl to earn a win — and pitch a shutout — in the Little League World Series. She drew national attention and became an instant celebrity, gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated and earning AP Female Athlete of the Year honors in 2014. Davis later played softball at Hampton University, where she last played competitively in 2020 before graduating in 2023. With few professional baseball avenues available, she sometimes wondered if her baseball career had ended. 'A lot of times I've talked to people in school,' Davis told The Associated Press, "and ... they just kind of assume that I have everything planned out in life, which isn't true at all.' Davis, now 24, has provided commentary on ESPN for Little League games but recently has explored other career options, including flag football, basketball and content creation. She hopes the next chapter of her career begins with the WPBL, where she will try out as a pitcher, shortstop and center fielder. 'I'm excited to get out there with all the women,' Davis said. 'Very excited just to play with each other, to share the field, to bring our love to each other and also to the fans watching.' Kelsie Whitmore: pitcher, outfielder Whitmore became the first female player in an MLB-partnered league when she suited up for the Staten Island FerryHawks in the Atlantic League in 2022. She first played on the U.S. women's national baseball team as a 14-year-old, helping earn a silver medal at the 2014 World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women's World Cup and gold at the 2015 Pan American games. The 27-year-old's pursuit of a pro baseball career has largely meant finding opportunities to compete alongside men. In 2016, she and Stacy Piagno played for the Sonoma Stompers of the independent Pacific Association, and last year, she became the first woman to play for the Pioneer League with the Oakland Ballers. Whitmore debuted with the barnstorming squad Savannah Bananas earlier this month. Ayami Sato, right-handed pitcher Sato, 35, has led the Japan national team to six women's baseball World Cup championships and is widely considered one of the best female pitchers ever, with a nearly 80 mph fastball and a precise curveball. A three-time MVP, Sato earlier this year debuted for the Toronto Maple Leafs in Canada 's Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) as the first woman to play professional men's baseball in Canada. Sato also grew up playing baseball alongside or against boys — but longed for a career on the mound even when she played girls basketball in middle school. Now, she's a special advisor to the WPBL and was featured in the baseball documentary 'See Her Be Her,' which chronicled the paths of seven female baseball players from around the world. Alli Schroder, right-handed pitcher Schroder, a right-handed pitcher, has played for Canada's national team since 2018. She debuted for the team at 16, helping Canada win bronze in the 2018 World Cup. In 2021, Schroder became the first woman to play in the Canadian Collegiate Baseball Conference at Vancouver Island University. She also works grueling two-week stretches fighting major wildfires. From her career as a firefighter, she deals with chronically sore shoulders and knees that could shorten her playing career, and the fingers on her non-throwing, left hand were injured to the point that she once worried whether she could even swing a bat. 'There's a lot more at stake on the fire line than there is in a big game," Schroder told the AP last year, "and I think that's something that I've really been able to use to calm myself down on the baseball field in big situations.' Kylee Lahners, third base Lahners played softball at the University of Washington from 2012 to 2015, helping the Huskies reach third place in the 2013 Women's College World Series and finishing her college career fourth in school history in home runs and walks. Now 32, Lahners has played third base for the U.S. national team since 2018 and was a part of the squad's silver-medal run in the World Cup last year. ___


Daily Mail
7 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Serena Williams reveals remarkable 31-POUND weight loss with new drug after sparking concern with 'too thin' photos
Tennis legend Serena Williams has shared the secret behind her dramatic body transformation - just one month after sparking fears among her fans. The 43-year-old has opened up on her drastic weight loss journey, revealing that she has shed 31 pounds over the course of the past year. But the 23-time Grand Slam winner has had a helping hand, admitting that she has been using a GLP-1 medication, a weight loss drug. GLP-1 is a natural hormone that helps regulate blood sugar and appetite that is found in popular weight loss medication brands such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro. While Williams didn't disclose which brand she had been taking, she insisted to People that it had left her feeling light 'physically and light mentally.' The tennis icon, who stepped away from the sport after the 2022 US Open, said that she began to struggle with her weight after becoming a mother for the first time with the birth of her eldest daughter, Alexis Olympia, in 2017. She dealt with similar postpartum struggles over the changes to her body following the birth of her second daughter Adira River in August 2023. Williams explained that she would go through quick bursts of weight loss only for her weight to then remain stagnant regardless of the healthy lifestyle she was accustomed to maintaining as a professional athlete. That's when she approached health care company Ro, for which she is a paid spokesperson, for guidance on GLP-1 medication. 'I never was able to get to the weight I needed to be no matter what I did, no matter how much I trained,' she told People. 'It was crazy because I'd never been in a place like that in my life where I worked so hard, ate so healthy and could never get down to where I needed to be at.' 'I had never taken shortcuts in my career and always worked really hard. I know what it takes to be the best,' she added. 'So it was very frustrating to do all the same things and never be able to change that number on the scale or the way my body looked.' She claimed that the drug helped enhanced the healthy and fit practices she was already implementing into her routine. Williams said that it has left her feeling more active, her joints in less pain and feeling 'pretty good.' However, Williams, who is married to Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, acknowledged the stigma surrounding weight loss drugs, insisting that shedding some pounds should 'never really change your self image.' 'I've never felt that pressure to maintain a certain appearance,' she admits. 'I always felt comfortable at any size, whether I was a lot heavier or not. I do feel like my body didn't like me at that weight. I had pain in my joints and pain in different areas just because of the extra weight that I'm not used to carrying since I had children.' Williams' confession comes just one month after she left fans concerned with her lean appearance in a sultry set of bikini snaps taken during a luxe yacht getaway. She flaunted her toned figure and sculpted curves like a seasoned swimsuit model in a bikini and sheer sarong on the luxury vessel with a postcard-worthy ocean behind her. While many praised her post-retirement glowup, others were quick to sound off — accusing the superstar of changing her figure too drastically. 'She's too thin… why?' one critic asked, sparking a heated back-and-forth in the comments. As the debate raged on, some fans defended the star's new look while others said they barely recognized her. One fan chimed in, 'She's definitely not thick anymore.' Someone else added, 'They don't know that she was even thinner from 1998-2007.' Of course, many rushed to staunchly defend the superstar. 'I dunno what ppl talking about she still thick and healthy let her live,' wrote one. A different commenter posted, 'She's not too thin, her body looks like how it looked around 2013-2014.' A fierce defender fired back, writing, 'They just want to trash Serena all the time. She too thick, she too muscular, she too slim, her husband white, she bleaching her skin. 'When they see she still dark they realize it was just makeup and lighting why she looked light, they ain't have sh** to say. One thing though, Serena is living her life.' One more agreed, sharing, 'Serena could care less about her haters. If she didn't look so good, she wouldn't have any haters. Serena and her mom and sister look fabulous!' Williams has always been a prominent figure in the public eye both on and off the court. Over her illustrious career, Serena has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles — the most by any female player in the Open Era — and spent 319 weeks as world No. 1. She last picked up a racket competitively at the US Open - which begins this week - back in 2022 when she fell short to Ajla Tomljanovic in a grueling three-hour, three-set thriller. Before the 2022 tournament began, Williams announced tin a special Vogue feature that she intended to step away from the sport - all but confirming her retirement.


BBC News
7 minutes ago
- BBC News
Shoulder injury forces Surrey bowler Dunn to retire
Surrey fast bowler Matt Dunn is to retire from professional cricket "with immediate effect" because of injury, his club has 33, has failed to recover fully after tearing cartilage in his shoulder during a second XI match against Middlesex in May had surgery, but Surrey's medical team and his surgeon have advised him to retire on medical grounds because of on-going made his debut for Surrey in 2010 and was part of their squad which has won the County Championship four times since explained his decision, claiming he had run "out of options" because of pain."Unfortunately, I've been struggling with a shoulder injury for the last 14 months now," he told Surrey's website., external"I had a surgery in January, tried my best this year to come back, took multiple injections, but unfortunately, we've reached a point where we're kind of out of options medically."For me, the club is, and has been, an absolutely massive part of my life for a long time and it will be for a long time. I don't think you ever really do properly leave this place."In a career hampered by a number of injuries, he claimed 115 first-class wickets for Surrey, including four five-wicket hauls, to go with a further 52 in white-ball cricket. Dunn returned after suffering a tragic personal loss Born in Egham, Dunn joined the Surrey talent pathway at the under-13 level before graduating to the first team in daughter Florence was diagnosed with Dravet Syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy, in 2021 and he took time away from the game to support his family. Florence passed away in 2023 and Matt, his wife Jessica and their family raised over £40,000 in her memory with the charity Dravet Syndrome knows he has had to sacrifice much personally because of cricket and is looking forward to putting his family first."At the end of the day, sport takes a lot of sacrifice, and I look back on my personal life, I've missed a lot of it here," he said."I've missed weddings, I've missed personal events. I've missed so much for my career, and a lot of people have stayed by my side throughout that. "I thank them for that because at times you do have to be selfish, you do have to put everything into the career."Everyone who's been there and facilitated that, just a massive thanks and on to the next chapter."