NHL selects Hart Trophy finalists
NEW YORK, May 1 (UPI) -- New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur, who had an NHL record 48 wins this season, is a finalist for the Hart Trophy, which is voted to the league's top player.
The NHL Tuesday said Brodeur, Pittsburgh Center Sidney Crosby and Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo are the finalists for the NHL's most valuable player award. The winner will be announced on June 14.
Brodeur, five days shy of his 35th birthday, allowed 2.18 goals a game while amassing his 48 victories and breaking a 33-year-old National Hockey League record. It is the third time he has been nominated for the Hart Trophy.
Crosby, 19, has already won the Art Ross Trophy, given to the league's top scorer. He is the youngest player to lead the league in scoring. He scored 36 goals and assisted on 84 others for a total of 120 points.
Luongo was 47-22-6 this season -- one win shy of Brodeur's victory total. He allowed 2.29 goals a game and had a .921 save percentage.
Brodeur, Luongo, Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff and the New York Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist are also up for the Vezina Trophy for the top NHL goaltender.
Mathieu continues hot play in Portugal
ESTORIL, Portugal, May 1 (UPI) -- Paul-Henri Mathieu upset No. 4 seeded Fernando Gonzalez on Tuesday in first-round play at the $625,000 Estoril Open clay-court tennis tournament in Portugal.
Mathieu, who won last week's tournament in Morocco, entered this week's play unseeded but routed Gonzalez 6-2, 6-4 and extended his personal match winning streak to six.
Rain on Tuesday pushed back first-round matches involving top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko and Tommy Robredo to Wednesday.
However, several matches were completed. In addition to the Mathieu victory, No. 5 Richard Gasquet swept by Max Mirnyi, 6-3, 6-4, sixth-seeded Dmitry Tursunov beat Florent Serra, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1; and No. 7 Agustin Calleri topped Danai Udomchoke, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.
Also, Vincent Spadea advanced over Teimuraz Gabashvili, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez won over Michael Russell, 6-1, 6-2.
Top-seeded Haas ousted at Munich
MUNICH, Germany, May 1 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Tommy Haas was ousted in straight sets Tuesday in the first round of the $416,000 BMW Open clay-court tennis tournament in Munich, Germany.
Haas was shoved out by Sebastien Grosjean, who posted a solid 6-4, 6-4 victory over the world's No. 11-rated player.
Also ousted Tuesday was seventh-seeded Guillermo Canas, the only player to beat world No. 1 Roger Federer twice this year and last week's runner-up in Barcelona. Canas was forced to retire leading 6-4, 1-2 Tuesday because of an abdominal strain, allowing Nicolas Devilder to advance.
No. 6-seeded Radek Stepanek was also upset in straight sets, losing 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 to Alexander Waske.
Playing more to form, No. 2 Tomas Berdych ran over Florian Mayer, 6-2, 6-1, and fifth-seeded Jarkko Nieminen beat Rainer Schuettler, 6-4, 6-4.
Other winners in Tuesday's first-round play were: Matthias Bachinger, Benjamin Becker, Tobias Summerer, Raemon Sluiter and Nicolas Massu.
Hancock in car crash two days before death
ST. LOUIS, May 1 (UPI) -- St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock was nearly killed in a car crash two days before he died in a rented SUV after rear-ending a tow truck on Sunday.
Hancock, 29, was declared dead at the scene early Sunday in the crash. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch Tuesday said he survived a close call late Thursday when the front of his own vehicle was torn off by a tractor-trailer as he was attempting to make a left turn.
Hancock was not injured in that accident and was not charged but showed up late for that night's baseball game, which reportedly infuriated manager Tony La Russa.
La Russa declined to say whether he was aware of Thursday's crash.
"That's not a baseball-related question so I don't think I'll answer it," he said.
The Post-Dispatch quoted witnesses after Saturday night's 8-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs as saying Hancock appeared impaired at a steak house and declined to take a taxi to a nearby hotel.
He was killed after leaving the restaurant. Toxicology reports aren't expected for two to six weeks, the report said.
