ICE HOCKEY

Paul MacLean, head coach of former Stanley Cup winners Ottawa Senators, believes that more National Hockey League players follow Braehead Clan's Drew Miller and come to Britain if the current lockout continues, writes Nigel Duncan. MacLean, the father of AJ MacLean, the Dundee CCS Stars captain, presented his son with the man of the match award on Sunday before flying home to Canada. "A lot of guys have tried to [come to Britain to play]," said the 54-year-old who played in the world's top league for 11 seasons with St Louis Blues, Detroit Red Wings and Winnipeg Jets. "It comes down to opportunity and a place to play. How much do they want to get paid.

"It's getting harder to play in Europe for some of these guys as the leagues get stronger. However, if there is not a quick solution to the NHL lock-out I believe more will to come over." On the NHL lock out, he said: "The situation hasn't changed to my knowledge and the big issues are still there. Some of the minor things are getting cleaned up. However, as far as the big division of the hockey-related revenues is concerned, they haven't been discussed yet."

basketball

Sterling Davis, the Glasgow Rocks coach, has given credit to his captain EJ Harrison for guiding his young side through an awkward start to the BBL season, writes Mark Woods. The American veteran, who is likely to retire next summer, has rolled back the years with a series of impressive displays in the opening month of the campaign, but Davis believes his compatriot is merely benefitting from being injury-free for the first time in 18 months. "That's a healthy EJ," he said. "He's consistently done that when he's fully fit, but he's also been a bit more vocal, not just on the floor but elsewhere. He's the veteran on the team and I appreciate the way he's stepping up."

n Sky Sports have confirmed they will broadcast at least four live BBL games this season, including all three major finals. The station is also likely to add extra ties later in the season.

Cycling

Bradley Wiggins, the Team Sky rider who had wins in the Paris-Nice, Tour de Romandie, Criterium du Dauphine and Tour de France, is second in the UCI WorldTour rankings at the end of the season, writes Colin Renton. He was edged out of top spot by Spain's Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), who overtook Wiggins after finishing third at the Vuelta a Espana. Sky was the leading team and Great Britain was the second nation behind Spain. Of the Scots involved in top-flight racing, David Millar is in 131st place and Andy Fenn 200th.

n Rab Wardell, the 27-year-old, who represented Scotland at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, produced another solid effort in tough conditions on day two of the six-stage Langkawi International Mountain Bike Challenge in Malaysia. He was 21st, more than 30 minutes down on the Swiss rider Fabian Giger as the 65km route took its toll on the field. Wardell, the Alpine Bikes rider, suffered from a lack of fluid.

equestrianism

Graffique, a yearling owned by Lesley Brodie from Moffat, took the runner-up spot in her age group at the Baileys Horse Feeds/BEF Futurity Eventing Championship Finals at the Lycetts British Eventing Young Horse Championships in Osberton, Nottinghamshire, recently. Brodie was invited to bring Graffique to the finals after she achieved an Elite premium, which indicates that the horse has the potential to perform at international-level competition, at the BEF Futurity Evaluations in August.

hockey

Derek Forsyth, Scotland's new men's coach, faces a testing next 12 months, writes Craig Madden. Early next year his squad will contest the second round of the World League, a qualifier for the World Cup, then the European Nations Championships in Baku are staged in the summer.

The Scots have had a poor record in the European event in recent years; they were relegated from the top eight in Leipzig in 2005 and have failed to return in three subsequent attempts. Playing in Europe's second division in Baku, they will face Azerbaijan, Italy, Ukraine, Wales, Austria, France and Russia. The latter three are the main threats to Scotland's promotion aspirations; all are above the Scots in the world rankings, while France and Russia were relegated from the top flight last year.

Formerly a successful coach of the Scotland under-21 squad and eight-times champions Glynhill Kelburne, Forsyth made an impressive start at the first round of the World League in Portugal last month; the Scots scored 30 goals as they won all five games and did not concede any. Round two will be a much more significant test, though, as nations ranked 9-16 in the world rankings enter the fray.

Four venues, in India, Brazil, France and Russia, will each host six teams and the top two from each will progress to the World Cup Qualifier semi-finals, with the top eight nations. Forsyth is unlikely to know opposition or venue until the final first round matches are staged in mid-December in Fiji.