Saints hope to ride the Rizzi factor back to relevance after their bye weekTeam Canada Rosters for the upcoming Four Nations Tournament are set to be released tomorrow, and Insiders Chris Johnston and Pierre LeBrun now has a full read on the roster - that has left off Zach Hyman, Evan Bouchard, and Stuart Skinner. Johnston and LeBrun evaluated every position with what they've heard from Canadian executives about fringe pieces on the roster. The only Oiler is Connor McDavid, playing first line center. The fourth line spots are expected to go to Anthony Cirelli, Sam Bennett, and Travis Konecny as Team Canada targets grit and penalty killing in their bottom six. There was significantly lobby from the Edmonton Oilers to get Zach Hyman on the Canada roster playing next to McDavid, but it seems he's been passed over. Hyman recently opened up about potentially missing out on the Canada roster . On defence, the locks for Canada are reported to be: Cale Makar, Alex Pietrangelo, Shea Theodore, Devon Toews, and Travis Sanheim. Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard was in the conversation to make the roster, but instead, the last two spots are going to Josh Morrissey and Colton Parayko. In goal, Team Canada is expected to be going with Jordan Binnington, Adin Hill, and Samuel Montembault. After Stuart Skinner took the Edmonton Oilers to the Stanley Cup Final last year, he was surely in conversation for Team Canada. However, Skinner's inconsistent start to this season has taken him off this roster . The full roster for Team Canada is expected to look as follows: Specifically leaving out Zach Hyman and Evan Bouchard are some controversial choices. Hyman plays a hard checking game that would be great for the top line or the fourth line, and Evan Bouchard is an elite puck mover which could capitalize on Canada's talent up front. It'll be very unfortunate for the Oilers to be cut from Team Canada and only send Connor McDavid after they had so many candidates, but still, Oilers fans and the players cut will still be cheering their hearts out for Canada. This article first appeared on Oilers Daily and was syndicated with permission.HOUSTON (AP) — An elaborate parody appears to be behind an effort to resurrect Enron, the Houston-based energy company that exemplified the worst in American corporate fraud and greed after it went bankrupt in 2001. If its return is comedic, some former employees who lost everything in Enron’s collapse aren’t laughing. “It’s a pretty sick joke and it disparages the people that did work there. And why would you want to even bring it back up again?” said former Enron employee Diana Peters, who represented workers in the company’s bankruptcy proceedings. Here’s what to know about the history of Enron and the purported effort to bring it back. Once the nation’s seventh-largest company, Enron filed for bankruptcy protection on Dec. 2, 2001, after years of accounting tricks could no longer hide billions of dollars in debt or make failing ventures appear profitable. The energy company's collapse put more than 5,000 people out of work, wiped out more than $2 billion in employee pensions and rendered $60 billion in Enron stock worthless. Its aftershocks were felt throughout the energy sector. Twenty-four Enron executives , including former CEO Jeffrey Skilling , were eventually convicted for their roles in the fraud. Enron founder Ken Lay’s convictions were vacated after he died of heart disease following his 2006 trial. On Monday — the 23rd anniversary of the bankruptcy filing — a company representing itself as Enron announced in a news release that it was relaunching as a “company dedicated to solving the global energy crisis.” It also posted a video on social media, advertised on at least one Houston billboard and a took out a full-page ad in the Houston Chronicle In the minute-long video that was full of generic corporate jargon, the company talks about “growth” and “rebirth.” It ends with the words, “We’re back. Can we talk?” Enron's new website features a company store, where various items featuring the brand's tilted “E” logo are for sale, including a $118 hoodie. In an email, company spokesperson Will Chabot said the new Enron was not doing any interviews yet, but that "We’ll have more to share soon.” Signs point to the comeback being a joke. In the “terms of use and conditions of sale” on the company's website, it says “the information on the website about Enron is First Amendment protected parody, represents performance art, and is for entertainment purposes only.” Documents filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office show that College Company, an Arkansas-based LLC, owns the Enron trademark. The co-founder of College Company is Connor Gaydos, who helped create a joke conspiracy theory that claims all birds are actually surveillance drones for the government. Peters said that since learning about the “relaunch” of Enron, she has spoken with several other former employees and they are also upset by it. She said the apparent stunt was “in poor taste.” “If it’s a joke, it’s rude, extremely rude. And I hope that they realize it and apologize to all of the Enron employees,” Peters said. Peters, who is 74 years old, said she is still working in information technology because “I lost everything in Enron, and so my Social Security doesn’t always take care of things I need done.” “Enron’s downfall taught us critical lessons about corporate ethics, accountability, and the consequences of unchecked ambition. Enron’s legacy was the employees in the trenches. Leave Enron buried,” she said. This story was corrected to fix the spelling of Ken Lay’s first name, which had been misspelled “Key.” Follow Juan A. Lozano on X at https://x.com/juanlozano70 Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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NEW YORK (AP) — After acquiring Juan Soto for a one-year rental and failing to keep him as a free agent, the New York Yankees are taking the same chance with Devin Williams. New York acquired the All-Star closer from the Milwaukee Brewers for left-hander Nestor Cortes and infield prospect Caleb Durbin on Friday. The Yankees will send $2 million to the Brewers as part of the trade. “He's a year away from free agency but someone that we’ve tried to acquire for a number of years,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “I’m sure we weren’t the only bidders here in the end.” A 30-year-old right-hander, Williams is eligible for free agency after the 2025 season. He was diagnosed during spring training with two stress fractures in his back and didn’t make his season debut until July 28 . “Certainly not trying to downplay the impact the Devin had, but we feel like we still have a good amount of strength there with our bullpen,” Brewers general manager Matt Arnold said. Williams was 14 for 15 in save chances with a 1.25 ERA, striking out 38 and walking 11 among 88 batters over 21 2/3 innings. His fastball averaged 94.7 mph and he threw it on 53.5% of his pitches, mixing in 45% changeups — known as the “Airbender” — and around 1.5% cutters. William's 43.2% strikeout percentage was the highest in the major leagues among pitchers with at least 20 innings. “Certainly doesn’t seem to be afraid,” Cashman said. “You can’t do that job if you’re afraid of the big stage.” An All-Star in 2022 and 2023, Williams was a second-round pick in the 2013 amateur draft. He is 27-10 with a 1.83 ERA and 68 saves in 78 chances over six seasons, striking out 375 and walking 112 in 235 2/3 innings over 241 games. Milwaukee declined a $10.5 million club option in favor of a $250,000 buyout last month, making Williams eligible for arbitration. Williams joins a bullpen that includes Luke Weaver, who took over as closer from Clay Holmes in September, Jake Cousins and Ian Hamilton. The Yankees don’t have a left-handed reliever on their 40-man roster. “If you have right handers that can neutralize lefties, that’s a benefit. It limits your desperation for immediately a left on left,” Cashman said. Cortes, who turned 30 on Tuesday, was an All-Star in 2022 when he went 12-4 with a career-best 2.44 ERA in 28 starts. He made just one start after May 30 in 2023 because of a strained left rotator cuff and was sidelined late in the 2024 season by a flexor strain in his left elbow. He returned for the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers and entered in the 10th inning of the opener, retiring Shohei Ohtani on a foulout with his first pitch and giving up a game-ending grand slam to Freddie Freeman on his second. "He’s had a fully healthy offseason," Arnold said. “We expect him to come into camp ready to go as normal.” Known for his many deliveries, Cortes is 33-21 with a 3.80 ERA in 86 starts and 49 relief appearances over seven seasons. He is eligible for arbitration and also can become a free agent after next season. “He brings a real stability, I think, to our rotation,” Arnold said. “Somebody that's been a major piece of a really good championship-caliber team in the New York Yankees, I think will fit us very well, especially after the loss of Willy Adames .” New York had an excess of starters after reaching a $218 million, eight-year agreement with left-hander Max Fried that is pending. The rotation also is projected to include ace Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt, with Marcus Stroman also available. Durbin, who turns 25 in February, hit .287 with 10 homers, 60 RBIs and 29 stolen bases this year at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. “We just felt it was harder to acquire someone at the level of Devin Williams than it would be to try to figure out the infield circumstances,” Cashman said. Durbin was with the big league team last spring training “I think he’s a stud,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said last month. “Great bat-to-ball, elite ability on the bases as a base stealer, good defender in the middle of the diamond, second base. He’s really started over the last year-plus to create some position flexibility, too. He’s played some short, he’s played some third. We introduced him to some outfield this year.” Durbin hit .312 with five homers, 21 RBIs and 29 steals in 24 games at the Arizona Fall League. “We love the style of game that he brings to our team,” Arnold said. “I think that’s going to be a really nice fit with Pat Murphy's style of baseball.” Cashman said he's spoken with Scott Boras about the agent's remaining free agent clients, who include third baseman Alex Bregman and first baseman Pete Alonso. “Certainly respect the player and his ability and how much winning he’s been a part of,” Cashman said of Bregman, “but that’s about as far as I will say at this point.” This story has been corrected to note New York is sending cash to Milwaukee, not the other way around. AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb