The Philadelphia Flyers fired coach John Tortorella on Thursday with nine games left in another losing season for a franchise that hasn’t been in the playoffs since 2020.

The Flyers are last in the Metropolitan Division at 28-36-9 for 65 points under the notoriously brusque Tortorella. The Flyers suffered their sixth straight loss Tuesday night, 7-2 to Toronto.

Tortorella, who won a Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay in 2004, said after the game he was not “really interested in learning how to coach in this type of season, where we’re at right now.”

“But I have to do a better job,” he said. “So this falls on me, getting the team prepared to play the proper way until we get to the end.”

The Flyers will get to the end without him.

The Flyers named Brad Shaw the interim coach, starting Thursday night against Montreal.

Crosby breaks Gretzy’s point-per-game record

Sidney Crosby’s career-long point-per-game consistency has broken an NHL record he shared with Wayne Gretzky.

By scoring 8:49 into the first period for Pittsburgh against Buffalo on Thursday night, Crosby registered his 80th point to assure he’ll finish his 20th NHL season averaging at least a point per outing.

The Penguins captain surpassed the mark first set by Gretzky, who finished all but his 20th and final NHL season in 1998-99 averaging a point a game.

basketball

NBA’s Silver watching for latest in Wolves’ sale

Last month, a few days after an arbitration panel ruled that ownership transfer of the Minnesota Timberwolves to Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez — who would get the majority stake for $1.5 billion — must continue as originally planned, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the league is waiting to see what happens next.

On Thursday, Silver said the league is still waiting, specifically to see if Wolves owner Glen Taylor will appeal that arbitration decision.

“Glen Taylor does have the right to appeal, and I know he is considering his various options right now, and I believe he’s also talking directly to Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez,” Silver said. “We’re on hold there and waiting for decisions among the parties.”

Alpine skiing

Shiffrin wins slalom at World Cup finals

Mikaela Shiffrin started the World Cup slalom season with a win. She closed it out the exact same way.

In between, a serious crash in the giant slalom, a difficult recovery, struggles with confidence, battles with post-traumatic stress disorder and finally rediscovering that winning form.

“This one has been quite a roller coaster,” Shiffrin said of her season. “There’s been some really thrilling moments and some moments where I questioned if I should even be in the sport.”

Shiffrin smoothly navigated a bumpy and rut-filled course to easily win the women’s slalom Thursday at the World Cup finals.

No playing it safe for the American ski racing standout, either. The first-run leader, Shiffrin found another burst to finish in a combined time of 1 minute, 45.92 seconds and beat Lena Duerr of Germany by 1.13 seconds. Andreja Slokar of Slovenia took third.

GOLF

Hull’s 63 leads LPGA’s Ford Championship

Charley Hull shot a bogey-free card of 9-under 63 that gave her a one-shot lead over Nanna Koertz Madsen in the opening round Thursday at the Ford Championship.

Nelly Korda, returning to work after skipping the Asia swing, rallied with four birdies on the back nine and opened with a 67 in her bid to catch up to Hull.

Koertz Madsen also had nine birdies, offset by one bogey on the par-5 fifth.

Brooke Henderson of Canada and Sei Young Kim were among eight players at 65 on a day of low scoring.

Scheffler, McIlroy in hunt at rainy Houston Open

Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy wanted a final tune-up before the Masters and spent parts of the Thursday at the Houston Open under an umbrella in wind and rain that prevented anyone from getting too far away.

Keith Mitchell made a late eagle and Ryan Gerard let a good start slip away by finishing with two bogeys. They both wound up at 5-under 65, tied for the lead with Alejandro Tosti and Taylor Pendrith when play was suspended by darkness.

Scheffler played bogey-free and made a pair of long birdies on the back nine that added to a 67, leaving him two shots behind.

McIlroy, coming off his second victory of the year at The Players Championship two weeks ago, had two birdies (both on par 5s), two bogeys and 14 pars for a 70.

BRIEFLY

Football >> Kenneth Sims, a standout at Texas who became the No. 1 overall draft pick in the NFL draft in 1982, has died. He was 65. The University of Texas said Sims died on March 21 at his home.

College football >> Jeremy Pruitt is suing the NCAA for $100 million for lost and future wages, accusing the organization of conspiring with the University of Tennessee making him possibly the “last coach in America to be punished for impermissible player benefits.”

Figure Skating >> Ilia Malinin, the reigning gold medalist delivered a season-best short program, highlighted by a pair of quads and a brilliant triple axel, and scored 110.41 points, just three off the world record set by American predecessor Nathan Chen at the 2022 Winter Olympics. The big score put Malinin three points clear of Yuma Kagiyama in what is quickly becoming a two-man race to this year’s title.

Alpine skiing >> Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway clinched the season-long slalom title Thursday by taking fourth in a race won by teammate Timon Haugan to close out the World Cup finals.

NBA >> The NBA may soon be significantly expanding its presence in European basketball, in the form of partnering with FIBA on a new league that the sides have been talking about for many years.

WNBA >> The Los Angeles Sparks will retire Candace Parker’s No. 3 jersey at halftime of the team’s game against the Chicago Sky on June 29.

— From news services