Ljutic, Colturi and Macuga headline a new generation of skiers who emerged while Shiffrin was out

SAALBACH-HINTERGLEMM, Austria (AP) — Zrinka Ljutic has won three of the past four World Cup slaloms and turned 21 just last month.

Lara Colturi is only 18 and has been on the podium twice this season. American talent Lauren Macuga, 22, upstaged Lindsey Vonn when she won a super-G in January.

Malorie Blanc, a 21-year-old Swiss racer, came out of nowhere to finish second in her first World Cup downhill. Camille Rast, 25, won two slaloms and sits third in the overall standings. And Alice Robinson of New Zealand, 23, won a giant slalom for her first victory in nearly four years.

With Mikaela Shiffrin injured for much of the last two seasons and Petra Vlhova still out, too, because of crashes, a bunch of other athletes have made breakthroughs on the women’s circuit recently.

And they’re all eager to back up their performances at the world championships starting this week.

“It speaks to the investment and development systems in the countries where those athletes are coming from, but it also speaks to the natural cycles of ski racing,” said U.S. head coach Paul Kristofic.

“Mikaela and Petra for sure are dominant athletes. So from a podium perspective, it opens the door a little bit more for some young racers."

Here’s a look at some of the top young skiers:

When Ljutic claimed her maiden victory in a slalom in Semmering last month, she became the first Croatian woman to win a race since Janica Kostelic triumphed in 2006.

Ljutic went on to win two more slaloms in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, and Courchevel, France; having earned her first podium this season with a second-place result in the giant slalom in Killington, Vermont, when Shiffrin crashed and suffered a deep puncture wound to her side.

Expect Ljutic to branch out soon into super-G, too, said Patrick Riml, the head of athletes special projects with her sponsor, Red Bull.

“I am 100% sure about that,” Riml said, noting that Ljutic also recently changed her ski supplier: “It takes a little time to get this all dialed in.”

Born and raised in Italy, Colturi made a nationality switch and decided to represent Albania so she could continue to be coached by her parents and decide on her own which races to enter.

Daniela Ceccarelli, Colturi’s mother, won gold in super-G at the 2002 Olympics and now coaches her daughter. Colturi’s father is a ski coach.

While warming up for the last worlds in France two years ago, Colturi tore the ACL in her right knee and never got to race.

But she came back strong and qualified for last season’s finals in Saalbach in both slalom and giant slalom and has had two second-place finishes this season: in a slalom in Gurgl, Austria, in November; and in a giant slalom in Kranjska Gora in January.

“The potential is crazy and when you see the support infrastructure they have vs. an Austrian team or a U.S. team or a Swiss team, it’s crazy: Mom and dad taking the lead, we’ve got a staff member there for support and then she’s got a service guy and that’s it,” Riml said. “It’s unbelievable with very limited resources what they’re able to do.”

Rast claimed her first victory in the slalom in Killington the day after Shiffrin crashed in the Vermont resort. Then she followed it up by winning again in the night slalom in Flachau.

The daughter of a motorcycle racer, Rast grew up as an enduro mountain bike competitor before she turned to skiing full time. She still likes to get on her bike during the summer.

Rast has also been on the podium in giant slalom this season, with a third-place result in Killington.

Earlier in her career, Rast missed nearly three years due to injury and illness.

Macuga is one of three sisters on the U.S. Ski Team. She’s a downhill skier, Alli is a moguls standout, and Sam is a ski jumper.

When Macuga claimed her first World Cup victory in St. Anton last month, Vonn finished fourth for her best result since coming out retirement.

Macuga has also impressed in downhill, finishing fourth on home snow in Beaver Creek, Colorado, in December.

While she won a bronze in downhill at the junior worlds three years ago, Macuga has never competed at a major championship at the senior level. Saalbach will mark her debut in that category.

“It’s a bigger world stage,” Macuga said. “I just got to (do) the same thing, try to push that pressure away."

Blanc had on low-ranked bib No. 46 in just the second race of her World Cup career — and her first downhill — when she surged all the way up to second place in St. Anton.

The Swiss racer claimed three medals at last season’s junior worlds.

“I've already achieved more than I initially aimed for,” Blanc said. “But I want to take everything I can from this experience.”

AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing

FILE - Second placed Albania's Lara Colturi celebrates after an alpine ski, women's World Cup giant slalom race in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta, File)

Albania's Lara Colturi speeds down the course during a women's World Cup slalom, in Courchevel, France, Thursday Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

United States' Lauren Macuga reacts after completing an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in Garmisch, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Piermarco Tacca)

Albania's Lara Colturi speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom in Flachau, Austria, Tuesday, Jan.14, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic celebrates in the finish area after winning a women's World Cup slalom, in Courchevel, France, Thursday Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

Glenn Hall, a Hockey Hall of Famer whose ironman streak of 502 starts as a goaltender remains an NHL record, has died. He was 94.

Nicknamed “Mr. Goalie,” Hall worked to stop pucks at a time when players at his position were bare-faced, before masks of any kind became commonplace. He did it as well as just about anyone of his generation, which stretched from the days of the Original Six into the expansion era.

A spokesperson for the Chicago Blackhawks confirmed the team received word of Hall’s death from his family. A league historian in touch with Hall’s son, Pat, said Hall died at a hospital in Stony Plain, Alberta, on Wednesday.

A pioneer of the butterfly style of goaltending of dropping to his knees, Hall backstopped Chicago to the Stanley Cup in 1961. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs in 1968 with St. Louis when the Blues reached the final before losing to Montreal. He was the second of just six Conn Smythe winners from a team that did not hoist the Cup.

His run of more than 500 games in net is one of the most untouchable records in sports, given how the position has changed in the decades since. Second in history is Alec Connell with 257 from 1924-30.

“Glenn was sturdy, dependable and a spectacular talent in net,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “That record, set from 1955-56 to 1962-63, still stands, probably always will, and is almost unfathomable — especially when you consider he did it all without a mask.”

Counting the postseason, Hall started 552 games in a row.

Hall won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1956 when playing for the Detroit Red Wings. After two seasons, he was sent to the Black Hawks along with legendary forward Ted Lindsay.

Hall earned two of his three Vezina Trophy honors as the league's top goalie with Chicago, in 1963 and '67. The Blues took him in the expansion draft when the NHL doubled from six teams to 12, and he helped them reach the final in each of their first three years of existence, while winning the Vezina again at age 37.

Hall was in net when Boston's Bobby Orr scored in overtime to win the Cup for the Bruins in 1970, a goal that's among the most famous in hockey history because of the flying through the air celebration that followed. He played one more season with St. Louis before retiring in 1971.

“His influence extended far beyond the crease," Blues chairman Tom Stillman said. “From the very beginning, he brought credibility, excellence, and heart to a new team and a new NHL market.”

A native of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Hall was a seven-time first-team NHL All-Star who had 407 wins and 84 shutouts in 906 regular-season games. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975, and his No. 1 was retired by Chicago in 1988.

Hall was chosen as one of the top 100 players in the league's first 100 years.

Blackhawks chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz called Hall an innovator and “one of the greatest and most influential goaltenders in the history of our sport and a cornerstone of our franchise.”

“We are grateful for his extraordinary contributions to hockey and to our club, and we will honor his memory today and always,” Wirtz said.

The Blackhawks paid tribute to Hall and former coach and general manager Bob Pulford with a moment of silence before Wednesday night’s game against St. Louis. Pulford died Monday.

A Hall highlight video was shown on the center-ice videoboard. The lights were turned off for the moment of silence, except for a spotlight on the No. 1 banner for Hall that hangs in the rafters at the United Center.

Fellow Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur, the league's leader in wins with 691 and games played with 1,266, posted a photo of the last time he saw Hall along with a remembrance of him.

“Glenn Hall was a legend, and I was a big fan of his,” Brodeur said on social media. “He set the standard for every goaltender who followed. His toughness and consistency defined what it meant to play.”

AP Sports Writer Jay Cohen in Chicago contributed to this report.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

FILE - Glenn Hall, second from left, stands with fellow former Chicago Blackhawks players Stan Mikita, former general manager Tommy Ivan, Bobby Hull, Bill Wirtz and Tony Esposito during a pre-game ceremony at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Ill., April 14, 1994. (AP Photo/Fred Jewell, File)

FILE - St. Louis Blues goalie Glenn Hall, top right, is pinned to his net waiting to make a save on a Montreal Canadians shot as Blues' Noel Picard (4) tries to block the puck while Canadiens' John Ferguson (22) and Ralph Backstorm wait for a rebound in the third period of their NHL hockey Stanley Cup game, May 5, 1968. (AP Photo/Fred Waters, File)