2010 U.S. Olympic hockey player joins AHL club, eyes PyeongChang | NBC Sports 

It’s looking likelier and likelier that the 2018 U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team, though lacking active NHL players, will include at least one player with Olympic experience.

Ryan Malone, a 37-year-old forward and 2010 Vancouver Winter Games silver medalist, signed a 25-game tryout deal with the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League, which keeps him eligible for PyeongChang. Malone confirmed Friday that he is trying to make another Olympic team.

Also Thursday, the U.S. Olympic Committee announced that Brian Gionta, a 38-year-old forward who led the 2006 Olympic team in goals, will be the lone men’s hockey player among more than 50 Olympians and Olympic hopefuls at a 100-day countdown event in Times Square on Nov. 1.

Malone and Gionta have more than 1,500 NHL games between them.

Malone came out of a two-year retirement this summer to try out for the Minnesota Wild. He didn’t make the team but succeeded in his initial aspiration, to latch on with an AHL club so he could make an Olympic run.

Malone’s 25-game agreement with Iowa runs into December and can be renewed. The U.S. Olympic team of 25 players will be named around Jan. 1.

The unsigned Gionta did not take part in an NHL training camp this summer but reportedly had an exploratory meeting with the AHL club in Rochester, N.Y., on Sept. 25. USA Hockey confirmed that Gionta was on its Olympic team radar, but he will likely have to be playing for a non-NHL club to be considered for the final roster.

Malone and Gionta are older than all but one previous U.S. Olympic hockey player (Chris Chelios, who played at age 40 in 2002 and 44 in 2006 and is an assistant on the PyeongChang team).

Morgan Hurd wins shock world all-around title

Romania’s last golden gymnast says goodbye in Nadia Comăneci’s city

Two rookies added medals for the U.S. at the world gymnastics championships in Montreal on Saturday.

Jade Carey, who was not an elite-level gymnast a year ago, earned silver on vault. Uzbekistan’s Oksana Chusovitina, a 42-year-old who has competed at a record seven Olympics, finished fifth, missing a medal by one tenth of a point.

All five gold medalists on Saturday were repeat champions from two years ago — Russian Maria Paseka (vault), Japanese Kenzo Shirai (floor exercise), Chinese Fan Yilin (uneven bars), Brit Max Whitlock (pommel horse) and Greek Eleftherios Petrounias (still rings).

The U.S. men wrapped up their worlds with one medal — Yul Moldauer‘s bronze on floor — their lightest medal haul since 2010.

Frenchman Samir Aït Saïd, who horrifically broke his left leg in Rio, missed his first world medal by .008 on rings.

Worlds conclude Sunday with five more apparatus finals (broadcast schedule here). All-around champion Morgan Hurd goes on balance beam and Carey on floor exercise.

No American men qualified for Sunday’s high bar, parallel bars or vault finals.

Women’s Vault GOLD: Maria Paseka (RUS) — 14.85

SILVER: Jade Carey (USA) — 14.766

BRONZE: Giulia Steingruber (SUI) — 14.466

The top three went unchanged from qualifying to final. Paseka is now a repeat world champion after bagging vault silver and bronze medals at the last two Olympics. Carey beat Paseka on execution but was behind on difficulty.

Chusovitina, who was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in May, came close to earning her 11th career Olympic or world vault medal and first since 2011.

GOLD: Kenzo Shirai (JPN) — 15.633

SILVER: Artem Dolgopyat (ISR) — 14.533

Shirai, the 21-year-old known as the “Twist Prince” for his unmatched aerial moves, became the first man to repeat as world champion on floor since Russian Alexei Nemov in 1999. He finished his routine with his signature move, a quad twist. Shirai, now with three world titles on floor, was shockingly fourth in Rio. None of the Rio medalists were in Saturday’s final.

Moldauer, the 21-year-old U.S. all-around champion, earned a medal at his first worlds with the highest execution score and lowest difficulty. Whittenburg, the Olympic alternate built like a linebacker, struggled with the landings of his first two tumbling passes.

SILVER: Elena Eremina (RUS) — 15.1

BRONZE: Nina Derwael (BEL) — 15.033

Fan was the only returning woman from a four-way tie for gold at the 2015 Worlds. Also missing were all three Olympic medalists — Aliya Mustafina, Madison Kocian and Sophie Scheder.

Locklear, who battled Kocian for an Olympic spot last year, tearfully came off the high bar. She is the only member of the four-woman U.S. team with worlds experience, having finished fourth on bars in 2014.

SILVER: David Belyavskiy (RUS) — 15.1

BRONZE: Xiao Ruoteng (CHN) — 15.066

Whitlock, Britain’s only Olympic gymnastics champion, followed his 2015 World and 2016 Olympic gold medals with another title. Whitlock, also the Olympic all-around bronze medalist, has given up competing on all six events to focus on pommels and floor exercise to prolong his career another two Olympics.

The Olympic bronze medalist Naddour hoped to challenge for gold, but he was short on his scissors to handstand. The last American man to earn a world pommel horse medal was Sasha Artemev in 2006 (bronze).

GOLD: Eleftherios Petrounias (GRE) — 15.433

SILVER: Denis Ablyazin (RUS) — 15.333

4. Samir Aït Saïd (FRA) — 15.258

Aït Saïd is the story here. Fourteen months after that awful Rio vault qualification injury, the Frenchman was in medal position until Liu knocked him out by .008 on the last routine.

WORLDS: Broadcast Schedule | Scores | Women to Watch | Men to Watch

U.S. adds 2 medals at gymnastics worlds; 42-year-old finishes 5th

Morgan Hurd was the U.S.’ only hope. She was up to the task.

The 16-year-old in glasses won the U.S.’ seventh straight Olympic or world all-around title in Montreal on Friday night.

She followed the likes of Jordyn Wieber, Gabby Douglas and Simone Biles.

Hurd did so after U.S. champion Ragan Smith withdrew minutes before the competition with an ankle injury.

Hurd did so after finishing sixth at the P&G Championships in August and sneaking onto the four-woman world team at a September selection camp.

Hurd did so after going into the final rotation, floor exercise, two tenths of a point behind Canadian Ellie Black. Black, fifth in Rio, was the overwhelming crowd favorite at the 1976 Olympic Stadium.

Hurd edged Black by one tenth of a point overall. Russia’s Elena Eremina took bronze in a competition that lacked the top four finishers from Rio.

“I was just so honored to be even picked for the worlds team,” said Hurd, who hit her four routines solidly save a minor uneven bars error and some balance beam wobbles. “It honestly just felt like the best floor routine I’ve ever done.”

HURD VIDEOS: Beam | Floor | Uneven Bars | Vault

The highlight of the night may have been the medal ceremony. Hurd received her gold medal from Nadia Comaneci, the 1976 Olympic all-around champion in Montreal.

“In third grade I was actually [Comaneci] for a school project,” Hurd said. “I went and dressed as her.”

Every member of the Final Five — including Olympic all-around gold and silver medalists Biles and Aly Raisman — is sitting out this season.

Biles and Raisman have said they plan to come back with eyes on Tokyo 2020. (When she was 13, Hurd woke up before dawn to live blog Biles’ performance at the 2014 World Championships in China.)

Friday’s final also missed the two favorites going into the week — the Olympic alternate Smith and Romanian Larisa Iordache.

Smith left on crutches after injuring herself warming up for her first event — vault (video here).

She was taken for X-Rays, according to USA Gymnastics. Smith’s score in qualifying, a 55.932 with a balance beam fall, was seven tenths better than Hurd’s total Friday.

Iordache, a two-time world all-around medalist, tore an Achilles warming up for floor exercise before qualification on Wednesday.

Hurd, adopted from China as a toddler and living in Delaware, is the youngest Olympic or world all-around champion since Aliya Mustafina in 2010.

She repeated Biles’ feat of winning the world all-around title in her first year as a senior gymnast, the year after the Olympics.

Hurd had the added hurdle of coming back from spring elbow surgery, too.

Black, who had never before won an Olympic or world medal, became the first Canadian male or female gymnast to win an Olympic or world all-around medal of any color.

U.S. adds 2 medals at gymnastics worlds; 42-year-old finishes 5th October 7, 2017 4:13 pm

Morgan Hurd wins shock world all-around title October 6, 2017 11:59 pm

Ragan Smith out of gymnastics worlds with injury October 6, 2017 11:58 pm

LA mayor compares Olympic bid race to high school election (video) October 6, 2017 2:10 pm

Romania’s last golden gymnast says goodbye in Nadia Comăneci’s city October 6, 2017 1:58 pm

2010 U.S. Olympic hockey player joins AHL club, eyes PyeongChang October 6, 2017 1:52 pm

IOC suspends Brazil Olympic Committee, Rio 2016 boss after arrest October 6, 2017 1:30 pm

American who finished sixth set for bronze medal October 6, 2017 7:59 am

In Kohei Uchimura’s absence, a breakthrough world all-around champ October 5, 2017 11:59 pm

Galen Rupp, Jordan Hasay chase more history at Chicago Marathon October 5, 2017 2:43 pm

Rio 2016 Olympic boss arrested in vote-buying probe October 5, 2017 1:30 pm

‘The Freeze’ recruited for Winter Olympic sport October 5, 2017 12:07 pm

Gymnastics worlds women’s all-around, event finals qualifiers October 4, 2017 9:37 pm

Ragan Smith leads U.S. women in gymnastics worlds qualifying October 4, 2017 9:13 pm

Gymnastics world all-around favorite withdraws in warm-up October 4, 2017 1:57 pm

U.S. bobsledders remember Steven Holcomb as Olympic season starts October 4, 2017 12:31 pm

Oscar Pistorius’ family to take legal action over Lifetime movie October 3, 2017 7:26 pm

Lindsey Vonn’s bid to race men has support, but delayed October 3, 2017 7:11 pm

Olympic medalist faces machine in table tennis (video) October 3, 2017 3:43 pm

Lexi Thompson shows off Olympic rings tattoo October 3, 2017 3:21 pm

Katie Eberling at peace with bobsled retirement October 3, 2017 2:42 pm

Gymnastics worlds men’s all-around, event final qualifiers October 3, 2017 12:31 pm

Kohei Uchimura pulls out of world all-around, record streak ends October 2, 2017 9:40 pm

Sandi Morris safe after lockdown near Las Vegas shooting October 2, 2017 3:48 pm

Oleg Verniaiev: I can beat Kohei Uchimura October 2, 2017 2:31 pm

Nadia Comăneci returns to Montreal, linked by more than 1976 Olympics October 2, 2017 12:33 pm

John Carlos feels déjà vu watching NFL protests October 2, 2017 11:19 am

U.S. women’s eight 11-year winning streak ends at World Rowing Championships October 1, 2017 4:27 pm

Video games in the Olympics? Here’s how it might work October 1, 2017 10:19 am

South Korea Olympic officials relieved North Korea qualified September 30, 2017 9:30 am

Two-time Soviet Olympic pairs champion dies September 30, 2017 9:21 am

North Korea qualifies for PyeongChang Winter Olympics September 29, 2017 11:59 pm

Five female gymnasts to watch at world championships September 29, 2017 7:31 am

Five male gymnasts to watch at world championships September 29, 2017 7:31 am

World Gymnastics Championships broadcast schedule September 28, 2017 3:39 pm

All-time Olympic soccer goals leader quits national team September 28, 2017 10:59 am

Russian doping whistleblower faces arrest if he returns September 28, 2017 10:20 am

North Korea pair in Olympic qualifying spot after short program September 28, 2017 9:36 am

Lindsey Vonn’s proposal to race men to be heard September 27, 2017 1:48 pm

Gus Kenworthy, chasing first gold, recalls trembling when he came out September 27, 2017 12:09 pm