Greg Cronin was fired Saturday as coach of the Anaheim Ducks after two seasons, general manager Pat Verbeek announced.

“He is responsible in many ways for the improvement we’ve seen from our young core. However, after several weeks of careful evaluation, I concluded we needed a change in direction and a new voice,” Verbeek said in a statement about Cronin. “This was an extremely difficult decision for me to make, but I felt it was necessary to continue our progress toward becoming a Stanley Cup contender that I know we can be.”

Cronin is the first coach fired since the regular season ended on Thursday with more changes expected around the league. Chicago and Philadelphia have interim coaches.

The Ducks missed the playoffs for the seventh straight season, finishing 35-37-10. Their 80 points were a 21-point improvement over last year, but weren’t enough to save Cronin’s job.

Rangers fire Coach Laviolette >> The New York Rangers fired coach Peter Laviolette on Saturday in the aftermath of missing the playoffs.

The move made by general manager Peter Laviolette came after the Rangers missed the playoffs, the result of a lost season during which they massively underachieved preseason expectations following a trip to the Eastern Conference final last year.

Assistant Phil Housley was also fired. Owner James Dolan and Drury are expected to start the search for a full-time head coach soon, and roster changes are all but certain to happen in the coming weeks and months.

Baseball

Red Sox activate Hendriks from minors >> Liam Hendriks knew the number as if it was his career saves or ERA: 680 days.

The 36-year-old right-hander was back on a major league roster with the Boston Red Sox, in position to make his first big league appearance since June 9, 2023.

Hendriks was diagnosed with Stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in December 2022 and the three-time All-Star returned to the mound on May 29, 2023.

Pirates recall 2-time all-star >> David Bednar is back in the big leagues.

The Pittsburgh Pirates recalled their two-time All-Star closer ahead of their game against Cleveland.

Pittsburgh sent Bednar to Triple-A Indianapolis earlier this month after he struggled in three appearances to start the season. Bednar was 0-2 with a 27.00 ERA and one save at the time of the demotion.

NBA

Coaches Association votes Atkinson as coach of the year >> Cleveland’s Kenny Atkinson was announced Saturday as the winner of the National Basketball Coaches Association’s coach of the year award, after leading the Cavaliers to a 64-win season and the No. 1 seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The NBA will also give out a coach of the year award in the coming weeks. The NBCA has done its own separate award since 2017 named for Michael H. Goldberg, the organization’s first executive director.

It is voted on by the league’s 30 head coaches. The NBCA does not release voting totals, but revealed that four other coaches — Detroit’s J.B. Bickerstaff, Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault, Houston’s Ime Udoka and former Denver coach Michael Malone also received votes. Malone was fired by the Nuggets with three games left in the regular season.

Golf

woo kim leads at RBC Heritage >> Si Woo Kim didn’t make a bogey until the final hole at Harbour Town. By then he had played well enough that he still posted a 5-under 66 and wound up with a one-shot lead at the RBC Heritage.

Kim birdied the opening two holes to immediately catch 36-hole leader Justin Thomas and, right when he began to pull away, the 29-year-old South Korean came up short on the par-4 closing hole and made bogey.

He was at 15-under 198, one shot ahead of Andrew Novak (66) and Thomas, who had a most interesting day that ended with a 15-foot birdie for a 69.

Thomas was assessed a one-shot penalty from a waste area on the par-5 second hole when he notified a rules official that his ball moved a fraction while he was removing some loose gravel around it.

Dahmen leads at Puntacana championship >> Joel Dahmen shot a 1-under 71 to take a three-stroke lead into the final round of the Corales Puntacana Championship as he tries to complete a wire-to-wire victory at the site of his only PGA Tour victory.

Dahmen won the 2021 event. With a victory Sunday, he would would get a two-year exemption after narrowly keeping his PGA Tour card last year.

Dahmen had a 17-under 199 total, He opened with rounds of 62 and 66 to break the tournament 36-hole record.

Iwai leads at LPGA’s El Caballero >> Akie Iwai shot an 8-under 64 playing alongside her twin sister for a share of the third-round lead in the JM Eagle LA Championship with Lauren Coughlin and Ingrid Lindblad.

Coughlin made a 5-foot birdie putt on par-4 18th for a 66, and Lindblad — tied for the second-round lead with Ashleigh Buhai after a career-best 63 — shot 68 to match Iwai at 17-under 199 at El Caballero Country Club.

Top-ranked Nelly Korda was three strokes back after a closing three-putt bogey in her final start before her title defense next week in Houston in the major Chevron Championship.

Tennis

BMW Open final set >> Top-seeded Alexander Zverev will play for a record-equalling third ATP Munich title after reaching the final.

The German riding home crowd support will face second-seeded Ben Shelton in Sunday’s decider at the BMW Open.

Zverev lost his serve only once while beating Fabian Marozsan of Hungary 7-6 (3), 6-3 in the semifinals. Marozsan made 28 unforced errors.

Women’s hockey

Canada tops Finland to setup final rematch >> Canada blasted Finland 8-1 at the women’s ice hockey world championship and set up another final against archrival the United States.

The Canadians scored four goals in the span of 1:58. Daryl Watts scored twice, Claire Thompson had a goal and two assists, captain Marie-Philip Poulin, Sarah Nurse and Danielle Serdachny each registered a goal and an assist, and Erin Ambrose and Emily Clark also scored. Goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped 19 shots.

With her two points, Poulin surpassed Hayley Wickenheiser to become the most prolific Canadian with 88 points in women’s worlds history.