The Chicago Blackhawks have traded veteran defenseman Duncan Keith and forward Tim Soderlund to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for defenseman Caleb Jones and a third-round pick.
The 37-year-old Keith is a three-time champion, three-time All-Star, a two-time James Norris Memorial Trophy winner as the top defensive player and the 2014-15 Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup playoffs MVP. He has spent his entire 16-year career in Chicago.
Keith asked the Blackhawks for a trade to Western Canada to be closer to his 8-year-old son, Colton. Keith said on a video conference call: “I knew I didn’t want to go those long periods of time without seeing him. That was a huge thing for me, and I just felt like the Edmonton Oilers — right now it was a good fit, a great fit and I’m excited to start this new chapter of my career.” Keith has two years left on his contract at a salary-cap hit just over $5.5 million.
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Chris Young releases his new single, “One Of Them Nights”
Chris Young just released his latest single, “One Of Them Nights,” one of 14 songs that will be released via Young’s new album Famous Friends, due out Aug. 6.
The album’s title track with Kane Brown recently reached number-one on Mediabase’s country radio charts. Said Young: “There are so many incredibly talented artists, songwriters and producers — all friends of mine — who helped make this album possible. Having friends share their talents as collaborators, songwriters, producers and more, it’s only natural to call the album Famous Friends.”
Check out the lyric video for One Of Them Nights – here.
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Thomas Rhett, Carrie Underwood, Luke Combs to headline 2022 Stagecoach Festival
Thomas Rhett, Carrie Underwood and Luke Combs are set to headline the 2022 Stagecoach country music festival, takin g place April 29 to May 1. California officials canceled Stagecoach for 2021 in January due to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with Coachella.
Stagecoach Festival posted on Twitter: “Are y’all ready? Stagecoach 2022 on sale is kicking off this Friday, 7/16 at 10am PT at StagecoachFestival.com. Pay in full or use a payment plan.” Rhett will be performing on April 29 with Underwood taking the stage on April 30 and Combs on May 1. The festival will be held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif.
Maren Morris, Midland, Brandi Carlile, Jordan Davis, Tanya Tucker, Brothers Osborne, Lee Brice, Cody Jinks, Mitchell Tenpenny, Margo Price, The Black Crowes, Cody Johnson, Smokey Robinson, Locash, The Mavericks and more also a part of the Stagecoach 2022 lineup.
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Cedric the Entertainer to host 2021 Emmy Awards on CBS
CBS announced that Cedric the Entertainer will be hosting the 73rd Emmy Awards in September, which will return to a live, in-person format. A “limited audience of nominees and their guests” will also be present, according to a press release. The event will take place at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles on September 19.
Cedric the Entertainer said in a statement: “Since I was a little boy huddled up next to my grandmother, television has always been my reliable friend, so it is an enormous honor for me to host this year’s Emmy Awards. Throughout the roller-coaster of a year that we have all lived through, television has helped us stay connected as a society like never before. It not only entertained us, but as it always has, it helped to open our eyes, educate us, and hopefully brought about a better understanding of who we are as a people. I can’t wait to take the stage to celebrate all of the great shows and performances that made us laugh, cry, dance and sing over the past year.”
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Drake Bell sentenced to 2 years probation after pleading guilty to attempted child endangerment
Drake Bell was sentenced to two years probation and 200 hours of community service in Cleveland court on Monday, July 12. The ruling came nearly three weeks after the 35-year-old actor pleaded guilty via Zoom to one count of attempted endangering children, a fourth-degree felony, and one count of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, a first-degree misdemeanor.
Bell — who starred on the Nickelodeon show Drake & Josh in the early 2000s — was arrested by the Cleveland Division of Police and charged with both counts on June 3. He was released on a personal $2,500 bond and initially pleaded not guilty to both charges. A 15-year-old girl filed a report with her local police department in Canada in October 2018, regarding an alleged incident between her and Bell at a Cleveland nightclub in 2017. The Canadian authorities then contacted the Cleveland Division of Police, and an investigation was conducted. The investigation revealed the teen had attended Bell’s concert in December 2017, where Bell “violated his duty of care” and thus “created a risk of harm” to her. The investigation also showed Bell had sent the young female “inappropriate social media messages” in the months leading up the concert and that the teen “had established a relationship with Bell several years prior.”
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4 people arrested after weapons are found in hotel near MLB All-Star site
Four people were arrested after a hotel housekeeper tipped off authorities to more than a dozen weapons and 1,000 rounds of ammunition stored at a hotel room in Denver. Police removed 16 long guns, body armor and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition from a hotel room on the eighth floor of the Maven Hotel near Coors Field, which is set to host the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
Police executed a search warrant and found a man inside the room which featured a balcony overlooking the downtown Denver area along with the weapons. The suspects were identified as 42-year-old Richard Platt and Gabriel Rodriguez, 48, who are both facing investigation for possession of weapons by a previous offender and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. Ricardo Rodriguez, 44, is being investigated for possession of a weapon by a previous offender and Kanoelehua Serikawa, 43, is being investigated for possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. Platt and Serikawa were both also wanted on warrants from other jurisdictions.
The FBI on Sunday said it had “no reason to believe this incident was connected to terrorism or a threat directed at the All-Star Game. We are not aware of any threat to the All-Star Game events, venues, players or the community at this time.” The MLB All-Star Home Run Derby is set to be held at Coors Field on Monday, followed by the All-Star Game on Tuesday.
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Billionaire Richard Branson goes into space on Virgin Galactic spaceship, lands safely
Billionaire Sir Richard Branson and five other passengers successfully launched to the lower edge of space — about 50 miles above Earth — and back to planet Earth on Sunday in the first fully crewed flight from his private space tourism firm Virgin Galactic.
Virgin Galactic’s reusable SpaceShipTwo returned to Spaceport America, about 170 miles south of Albuquerque, N.M., in the desert after taking off 1/2 hours earlier from the same runway attached beneath to a twin-fuselage jet. Unity was launched from the Eve mothership at an altitude of 50,000 feet and live stream video showed it shooting into space. Within 30 seconds the spacecraft reached Mach 2 speed and a few seconds later hit Mach 3 at an altitude of weightlessness. Branson, 70, served as a mission specialist on the flight. Onboard video showed Branson and the three other astronauts unbuckling their seatbelts to float around the cabin and take in view of the curvature of Earth. At around 11:40 a.m. ET the spacecraft touched back down on Earth, making a smooth landing back in New Mexico.
Branson said at a news conference following the historic flight: “I think like most kids I have dreamt of this moment since I was a kid and honestly nothing can prepare you for the view of Earth from space.” He said he was honored to “test the customer experience” and declared, “Welcome to the dawn of a new space age. It’s just magical. I’m just taking it all in. It’s just unreal.”
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Italy win the European Championship after shootout win over England
Italy won the European Championship for the first time since 1968 as Gianluigi Donnarumma saved two England penalties en route to a 3-2 shootout win after the teams had fought out a 1-1 extra-time draw at Wembley Stadium in London on Sunday. Italy claimed the European Championship for the first time since 1968 as penalties came back to haunt England at Wembley on Sunday,
Donnarumma saved from Jadon Sancho and, decisively, Bukayo Saka after Marcus Rashford hit the post, as Federico Bernardeschi, Leonardo Bonucci and Domenico Berardi all scored for the Italians in the shootout.
It was the first final decided on penalties since Czechoslovakia beat West Germany in 1976. Italy have now won five and lost six of their 10 major tournament shootouts, including one win and one loss in World Cup finals, while England’s record now reads seven losses from nine.
Novak Djokovic wins Wimbledon men’s final earning his 20th Grand Slam title
No. 1 seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia rallied for a 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 win over Matteo Berrettini of Italy in the Wimbledon men’s tennis final Sunday, earning him a record-tying 20th Grand Slam singles title. The 34-year-old Djokovic, who won the tournament in 2018 and 2019 before last year’s event was canceled, earned his third straight championship at Wimbledon, and sixth overall. Djokovic also holds nine titles at the Australian Open, three at the U.S. Open and two at the French Open to tie Swiss star Roger Federer and Spaniard Rafael Nadal for the most majors won by a man in the history of the sport.
Djokovic, who also won the French Open and the Australian Open earlier this year, becomes the first male since Rod Laver in 1969 to win the first three major tournaments in one season. He is aiming for a calendar-year Grand Slam — something not achieved by a male player since Laver more than five decades ago — at the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 30. Sunday’s final at Wimbledon marked Djokovic’s 30th major final — one shy of Federer’s record 31 among men.
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Dierks Bentley’s 2021 ‘Seven Peaks Music Festival’ has been canceled
Dierks Bentley’s 2021 ‘Seven Peaks Music Festival’ has been canceled. Per an Instagram post on the festival’s official account, “current capacity restrictions put in place by local health officials” are to blame. “We are already planning for 2022, and a new location will be announced in the coming months,” read a statement. Fans are asked to “stay tuned for details.”
Bentley said in an Instagram post of his own:“I really could not be more bummed out about it,” noting that Chaffee County officials have opted not to lift capacity restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic just yet. “Really appreciate you guys hanging in there with us through the ups and downs of COVID,” Bentley adds. “Together we built something very special, and it’s going to be a big celebration when our 7P family is together again.”
Passes already purchased for the 2021 festival, which was set for Labor Day weekend (Sept. 3-5), will be fully refunded within 30 days.
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