NHL expansion reaches a "critical stage" today, when the league's nine-member Exec Committee is expected to meet in N.Y. and "make a decision on expansion for Las Vegas and Quebec City." NHL officials would not confirm the meeting, but sources said that "it’s on." The committee recommendations "will be put to a vote" by the BOG at its June 22 meeting in Las Vegas, with 24 of 30 votes needed for approval. Barring "something highly unusual, the board will take its cue" from the committee, which is chaired by Bruins Owner Jeremy Jacobs (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 6/7).

MLB sponsor T-Mobile has unveiled its Un-carrier 11 initiative, dubbed “T-Mobile Tuesdays,” in which the company will give each account holder weekly giveaways including pizza, movie tickets and ride-sharing credits, as well as the chance for larger prizes. T-Mobile’s Un-carrier 11 effort, seeking to break through more traditional loyalty programs based on seniority or spending levels, also will give each account holder one share of the company’s publicly traded stock. MLB will participate on several fronts, including supplying smaller rewards such as MLB.com Shop credits, and a larger prize of a trip for two to this year’s All-Star Game in San Diego that includes access to the Home Run Derby press conference and batting practice.

Don Cherry "is returning to 'Hockey Night In Canada' next season." Rogers President of Sportsnet & NHL Properties Scott Moore said that Cherry "has agreed to a multi-year deal." Cherry's current two-year deal with Rogers "expires at the end of the playoffs." Cherry's "role has also been reduced under Rogers' leadership," though he and Ron MacLean "continue to host their intermission segment 'Coach's Corner'" (CP, 6/6).

IMG has signed former Univ. of Alabama golfer Robby Shelton as the 20-year-old makes his pro debut on the PGA Tour at this week's FedEx St. Jude Classic in Memphis. Shelton, a three-time first-team All American and '15 U.S. Walker Cup team member, has signed an equipment deal with Titleist and has apparel deals with Fairway and Greene and Zero Restriction. He made his PGA Tour debut last year at the Barbasol Championship, where he tied for third, the best finish by an amateur in a tour event since '91.

The Triple-A Int'l League Pawtucket Red Sox, the city and the state of Rhode Island "have committed to pay equal amounts" for an $80,000-100,000 study "examining what it would cost to make McCoy Stadium 'comparable' to 'state-of-the-art Triple-A ballparks' and to explore potential economic-development issues for land surrounding" the ballpark. PawSox Chair Larry Lucchino said that the study "will go out to bid this week and should be completed by early to mid December." Lucchino added that the team "will continue playing baseball at the city-owned stadium for five seasons, through the summer of 2020, abiding by the terms of its current lease" (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL, 6/7).

Meanwhile, the Hartford Stadium Authority is "terminating its contract with the developers" of the Double-A Eastern League Hartford Yard Goats' new Dunkin' Donuts Park, "halting construction and casting doubt on whether the Yard Goats will play" in the $63M venue this season (HARTFORD COURANT, 6/7).

At services to be held Friday for the late Muhammad Ali, pallbeareres will include former boxer Lennox Lewis and actor Will Smith, who portrayed Ali in Michael Mann's '01 biopic "Ali" (Mult., 6/6).

Meanwhile, Louisville Mayor Greg Fisher announced "two more local efforts" to honor Ali. These include a special website, AliLouisville.com, to "aid visitors leading up to Ali's funeral ceremonies." It features "information about Ali’s childhood, early boxing career, humanitarian efforts and landmarks associated with Ali in the community." The city tomorrow will host an “I Am Ali” festival for children "to celebrate Ali’s life journey and determination as an example to all youth" (USATODAY.com, 6/6).

CBS’ Stephen Colbert last night paid tribute to Ali, with Basketball HOFer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar joining “The Late Show” to take part in the remembrance. Abdul-Jabbar said, “His understanding of what integrity was all about was remarkable, and it's an example for us to repeat for our kids and grandkids because it was the real deal” (“The Late Show,” CBS, 6/6). See the full clip:

“Hamilton” star Lin-Manuel Miranda writes an op/ed for the N.Y. Times today calling for stiffer penalties for people who use “ticket bots” in order to “gobble up as many hot tickets as possible, then offer them on legal resale sites like StubHub.” The use of ticket bots is “already illegal under New York law,” but the problem will “persist until we strengthen the existing law and make this recurrent illegal behavior a felony.” Miranda writes, “I want the thousands of tickets for shows, concerts and sporting events that are now purchased by bots and resold at higher prices to go into the general market so that you have a chance to get them” (N.Y. TIMES, 6/7).

Former Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik will join MLB Network for the remainder of the week as an in-studio analyst. He will contribute to coverage of the MLB Draft, which begins Thursday at MLB Network's Studio 42 (THE DAILY).

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was "scheduled to hear arguments" yesterday morning in New Orleans in Comcast's appeal of a '14 decision that "cleared the way for the sale" of bankrupt Comcast SportsNet Houston to AT&T/DirecTV (CHRON.com, 6/6).
 
ESPN's Holly Rowe last night threw out the first pitch in Game 1 of the Oklahoma-Auburn Women's College World Series championship series. Rowe, who has been "working during WCWS broadcasts" from ASA HOF Stadium in Oklahoma City, has had a "pair of battles against cancer" (TULSA WORLD, 6/7).

NeuLion has acquired Safforn Digital Limited, which helps customers build multi-platform digital video services for content that is distributed OTT to Internet connected devices (NeuLion).

"I’m not going to be able to go to Rio. The doctors say we shouldn’t because of the Zika virus so I’ll miss it. You’re going to have to go to female beach volleyball without me" – NBC's Savannah Guthrie, who is pregnant, saying she will not travel to Brazil for the Rio Games due to concerns over the Zika virus ("Today," NBC, 6/7).

"He's one of the most measured, consistent individuals you'll ever be around. He's easy to fall in line behind" – Univ. of Kansas AD Sheahon Zenger, on Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby (ESPN.com, 6/6).

"I'm done with the whole concept. I think it's ridiculous to think that a coach at Ohio State or Michigan or anywhere else, Notre Dame, needs to travel all over the country with his staff to be able to recruit" – ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit, on satellite camps in college football (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 6/6).

"I don't want to tell people what to do. If they want to let their kids play, then God bless them. But if they know ahead of time what the ramifications could be, that's the most important thing" – Pro Football HOFer Harry Carson, on the potential for head injuries in football and other contact sports (NEWSDAY, 6/7).

"Everything seemed to work in our favor. It was nice when I greeted our customers when they left the island that I could thank them for coming and having a good time instead of apologizing to them" – Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix Chair Bud Denker, on this past weekend's IndyCar Dual In Detroit being spared the rainy weather that hit much of the region (FREEP.com, 6/6).

YAHOO SPORTS notes UCF "presented its case for inclusion in an expanded Big 12 last month, but it could find itself on the outside looking in." Also, breaking down what is wrong with the Big 12 bringing back a conference title game in football while staying at 10 teams. Meanwhile, the Big 12 and SEC compete for audiences in the Houston market.

The N.Y. DAILY NEWS: "Imagine what the next chapter of Muhammad Ali’s life would have been like if Parkinson’s didn’t drastically alter it for over three decades? ... He would enter the world of television as not only a singular transcendent figure, but the consummate entertainer." Another N.Y. DAILY NEWS piece features the header, "Muhammad Ali's Impact Not Same For Younger Generations."

Also:

• NBA's Mark Tatum, Oris Stuart address league's diversity problem.
• U.S. men's tennis in need of a savior to break drought in major titles.
• How an ugly incident during '00 season led to Dodgers' "LGBT Night."
• Why are overuse injuries on the rise in youth , high school baseball?
• Flag football leagues emerge as safe alternatives to tackle version.
• Buffalo Wild Wings becomes battleground for e-sports acceptance.

I hope a good MMA journalist investigates how Kimbo Slice and Dada 5000 were deemed healthy enough to fight each other in February.

— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) June 7, 2016

Steph Curry bowing out of Olympics made such tiny news. It's like he announced he's skipping the Bing Crosby pro-am...

— Tim Cowlishaw (@TimCowlishaw) June 7, 2016

Talk of 16 team Copa America being a regular fixture in the US. Understand Conmebol not that keen on it. Time will tell

— tariq panja (@tariqpanja) June 7, 2016

Big days for #DFS in NY as legislative session closes June 16. Interestingly, online poker & #esports betting have become part of convo.

— Darren Heitner (@DarrenHeitner) June 7, 2016

Int'l Women's Golf Day is celebrated from 4:00-8:00pm local time across 360 locations in 15 countries, with participants being asked to wear red in support of the effort to grow the sport among women.

A source said that Verizon yesterday "planned to submit a second-round bid" of about $3B for Yahoo’s core Internet business. Yahoo is "expected to hold at least one more cycle of bidding, and the offers could change by the final round," according to sources (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 6/7). 

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “18th Century Names.”

“From the Latin, it’s one of the middle names of an 18th century luminary and means ‘lover of or loved by God.’”

NBC’s Jimmy Fallon said of the NBA Finals, “We're so happy to be back on the air after a nice hiatus, or as the Cleveland Cavaliers call that, a playoff game. Did you see this last night? The Golden State Warriors beat the Cavaliers by 33 points in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Even people switching over from ‘Game of Thrones’ are like, ‘This is brutal. I did not see this coming at all.’” More Fallon: “Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final was tonight on NBC. It was the Pittsburgh Penguins versus San Jose Sharks, but since it was on NBC, they still called it, ‘Chicago Stanley Cup.’ I saw that before tonight's game, members of Metallica performed ‘The Star Spangled Banner.’ Hockey and Metallica. Even Donald Trump was like, ‘That's too white, that's just a little bit too white.’” Fallon: “We're getting closer to the Summer Olympics in Rio and this is pretty amazing. I read that identical triplets from Estonia will all run the women's marathon, which raises the question, why wouldn't they just spread out along the route and pretend they're one person?” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 6/6).

Actor Scott Speedman was a guest on CBS’ “The Late Show” to promote his new TV show, “Animal Kingdom.” Host Stephen Colbert asked Speedman about competing in the Olympic swimming trials when he was 16 and why he eventually quit swimming. Speedman: “I don't know, the most boring sport of all time and I got injured, you know what I mean? It's not football or basketball or something cool. Literally, my shoulder gave out, so that was it.” Speedman explained how he transitioned from athlete to actor: “I was at a high school for gifted athletes and gifted artists.” Colbert: “Same high school, athletes and artists? Basically people who can't make it to class today.” Speedman: “A lot of weed and a lot of steroids” (“The Late Show,” CBS, 6/6).

“What is Amadeus?”