Bruins sign veteran forward Patrick Brown to one-year extension

The Bruins have a lot of business to take care of in this offseason, but they completed a small bit of it on Tuesday.

The B’s signed forward Patrick Brown, the veteran captain of the Providence Bruins, to a one-year, two-way extension worth $775,000.

The 32-year-old Brown notched 17-29-46 totals in 56 games with Providence this season. The Boston College product also played 15 games with Boston (0-1-1), most of which came after the trade deadline when the B’s shipped out a handful of regulars out of town.

While Brown does not possess the foot speed to be an every day NHL player, he is a highly regarded leader at the AHL level with a strong work ethic, something management no doubt took into account.

Brown played 164 NHL games with Carolina, Vegas, Philadelphia and Ottawa before arriving in the Bruins’ organization two years ago. He’s played 501 AHL games with 91-141-232 totals.

— By Steve Conroy

New Haven accepts invitation to Northeast Conference as it begins transition to DI

WEST HAVEN, Conn. >> The University of New Haven has accepted an invitation to become a full member of the Northeast Conference when it begins its transition from Division II to Division I on July 1.

Commissioner Noreen Morris and school president Jens Frederiksen announced Tuesday that New Haven would become the conference’s 10th full member. The Chargers will become full Division I members in 2028-29.

“Making the move to Division I is a bold step, and we’re honored that New Haven chose to take that step with us,” Morris said. “From the start, it was clear that they share our values — putting academics, competitive excellence and the student-athlete experience at the forefront.”

New Haven sponsors 20 sports and will be integrated into NEC schedules beginning this year with the exception of football. Football’s addition to the conference schedule is still to be determined.

During its transition, New Haven will immediately be able to participate in conference championships in sports that do not have automatic qualifiers for NCAA championships. The Chargers will become eligible for NCAA championship competition in 2028-29.

Maradona requested alcohol and ‘tore out his own IVs’ in days after surgery

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina >> The director of the clinic where Diego Maradona had surgery two weeks before his death in 2020 testified Tuesday that the Argentine soccer star requested alcohol during the post-operative period and was difficult to deal with, which made his subsequent recovery in home care inadvisable.

Pablo Dimitroff, medical director of the Olivos Clinic, said that neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, one of the seven health professionals on trial requested “a place” so the former player could undergo surgery in early November 2020.

Maradona had surgery for a hematoma that formed between his skull and brain and stayed in intensive care at Olivos between Nov. 4-11. He then was sent recover to a private home where he died on Nov. 25 of 2020 at age 60.

The deficiencies in Maradona’s home care are one of the prosecution’s key pieces of evidence against the defendants. A cardiologist testified that he was against moving Maradona from the Olivos Clinic.

Dimitroff said the surgery was not “an emergency,” although there were indicators “that it was necessary at some point.”

— The Associated Press