The Arizona Coyotes parted ways with veteran center Antoine Vermette to give themselves some more flexibility for next season.The Coyotes bought out the final year of Vermettes contract on Monday, making the 34-year-old a free agent. Instead of counting $3.75 million against the salary cap, Vermette will count $1.25 million each of the next two seasons as Arizona looks to get younger.In order to give our team more flexibility, we needed to make this difficult decision, general manager John Chayka said. This move will provide an opportunity for some of our young, talented players to step up. Antoine is a class act and we thank him for all he did on and off the ice for the Arizona Coyotes organization.Vermette proved to be a valuable asset for the Coyotes at the 2015 trade deadline when they sent him to the Chicago Blackhawks for a first-round pick and defensive prospect Klas Dahlbeck. Vermette won the Stanley Cup with Chicago, and Arizona selected Nick Merkley to bulk up their prospect depth.The Coyotes re-signed Vermette in the summer of 2015 to a $7.5 million, two-year deal. He had 17 goals and 21 assists in 76 games last season and will likely draw interest around the NHL at a reduced salary.In 910 NHL games with Ottawa, Columbus, Chicago and Arizona, Vermette has 211 goals and 260 assists. Ken Holtzman Athletics Jersey .35 million, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration. Plouffe batted .254 with 14 home runs and 52 RBIs in 477 at-bats last season, his second as a regular in the lineup. Jharel Cotton Athletics Jersey . -- PGA TOUR Canada member Steve Saunders took a three-stroke lead Saturday in the Web. https://www.cheapathleticsonline.com/885m-daniel-mengden-jersey-athletics.html .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons. Stephen Piscotty Jersey . "I dont know that were close," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "I just think, right now, the acquisition cost just doesnt work for us right now. I dont know if I can quantify how far off or things like that that they might be but I would say we continue to have dialogue. Luis Barrera Athletics Jersey . Team physician Dr. Steve Traina performed the surgery Friday. Robinson was injured in a spill underneath the Nuggets basket during the first quarter of Wednesday nights loss to the Charlotte Bobcats. SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw learned something about her team Monday night. The top-ranked Irish can win ugly.The Irish struggled at times on offense, but Arike Ogunbowale scored 13 points to help them beat a pesky Fordham squad, 67-36 in a preseason WNIT quarterfinal game.Ogunbowale, who earned ACC player of the week honors earlier in the day, had a steal and layup to put the Irish up by 20 points early in the fourth quarter, just four minutes after Fordham had cut the lead to eight.Its a great thing to learn about this team, that we can win ugly, McGraw said. We missed a lot of shots and we were frustrated early, but we kept our composure.After shooting over 52 percent in a 60-point win over Central Michigan to open the season, Notre Dame shot 42 percent against Fordham, including making just one of eight 3-pointers.The offense the other night, we couldnt miss, McGraw said. Tonight, we couldnt make a shot, but we kept working on defense and never let it get to us.The Rams werent any better, shooting just 23 percent, including 2 of 19 from 3.Lindsay Allen finished with 13 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Irish (2-0).Gmrice Davis led Fordham (1-1) with nine points and 15 rebounds.PLAYER OF THE GAMEThe Irish hit just one of their first 12 shots to open the second half after ending the first half by going scoreless for nearly three minutes before Allens leaner in the paint gave them a 14-point halftime advantage.Anna Kellys jumper from the left corner with three minutes left in the third quarter cut Notre Dames lead to 36-28, but the Irish got a spark from an unlikely source. Reserve center Kristina Nelson scored the next six points while grabbing a pair of offensive rebounds.I thought Kristina Nelson was player of the game, she made some huge plays for us, McGraw said.dddddddddddd.Notre Dame loosened up from there and turned it into a rout in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Rams 20-4 in the final 10 minutes.When (Nelson) made that mini run and got those hustle plays, that revved us up a little bit, Allen said. It gave us that energy that we needed.SURPRISE VISITORFormer Notre Dame mens coach Digger Phelps stopped by the Fordham shoot around at Purcell Pavilion earlier in the day and stayed long enough to give the undersized Rams some inspiration.He just walked in out of nowhere and made a great speech to the kids, said Fordham coach Stephanie Gaitley. He talked to them about one of his teams that was small and had injuries, and they left it all out there. As you can see, we go four guards out, but I was really proud of our effort, I thought we gave a great defensive effort. Their size and talent just over-powered us at the end.BIG PICTUREFordham: Gaitley remains stuck at 99 wins in her sixth year at Fordham, which is making its first appearance in the preseason WNIT. This game also marked the first time Fordham has faced the nations top-ranked team.Notre Dame: Jackie Young, last years Naismith National High School Player of the Year, sat out a second game with a thumb injury, but could be back on Thursday as the Irish continue working toward their second ever preseason WNIT championship (2004).UP NEXTFordham: The Rams play a consolation game on either Friday or Saturday against an opponent yet to be determined.Notre Dame: The Irish host Green Bay in the WNIT semifinal round on Thursday ' ' '