Pittsburgh is twin city after Penguins draft Markus Ruck in 2nd round after Liam in 1st

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Born eight minutes earlier than his twin brother Liam, Marcus Ruck is fine with ceding NHL draft bragging rights.

All that mattered to Ruck on Saturday was being selected with the 39th pick in the second round by Pittsburgh in following his brother, who was drafted 22nd overall by the Penguins a day earlier.

“He can brag to me all he wants. I’m just so happy to be with him. I know he won’t brag, but if he wanted to, he could,” Ruck said. “To be with him, it’s so special.”

The twins are from Osoyoos, British Columbia, and spent the past two-plus seasons as one of the Western Hockey League’s most productive tandems in Medicine Hat. Marcus led the WHL with 108 points last season, while Liam, a right wing, finished second with 104 points.

Liam was projected to go first, and when the Penguins chose him, Markus began looking ahead to No. 39, Pittsburgh’s next turn to pick.

“I didn’t have a preference of when, I just knew where I wanted to go and who I wanted be with,” he said, noting his brother kept his spirits up overnight. “He kept me calm and told me it was going to happen. So for it to happen it’s awesome.”

The Ruck’s reunion was part of a family theme in a draft that had Caleb Malhotra going third to Vancouver, where his dad was just hired as the Canucks head coach.

The Calgary Flames opened the third round by selecting WHL Vancouver forward Joe Iginla. He’s the youngest son of Hall of Famer and longtime Flames star Jarome Iginla, and his selection came after older brother Tij went No. 6 to Utah in the 2024 draft.

Whatever doubts Brooks Rogowski had in choosing hockey over baseball quickly evaporated following the first pick in the second round of the NHL draft.

The 18-year-old from Livonia, Michigan, had taken his seat with his family on the draft floor, when NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly announced Rogowski had been selected at No. 33 by the Vancouver Canucks.

“You sit down for five minutes and you’re standing back up. So that was nice not having to sit a while,” Rogowski said. “But the relief was immediate. You hear your name called and all the stresses just kind of fall off you. It’s great, it’s been awesome.”

And the selection validates the choice the 6-foot-7, 235-pound Rogowski made two years ago. In picking hockey, after being drafted by the OHL Oshawa Generals, he put baseball behind him — and to the regret of his father and uncle, who both enjoyed minor-league baseball careers.

His father, Casey, was drafted by the Chicago White Sox and his uncle, Ryan, drafted by the Dodgers.

“Obviously they’re still sad about baseball, but I think this was the right decision,” Rogowski said. “You know, get to wear a nice jersey, so I think that they’re more than happy with that.”

Rogowski has made a commitment to play at Michigan State in two years, and appreciates he still has plenty of room to develop after focusing more on baseball than hockey growing up.

“I have a lot more to improve,” he said. “You have a lot of these guys who have been doing this for a long time. I’m still relatively new to it, and I think there’s a lot more to me that needs to come out.”

His trajectory is pointing up. As a rookie, Rogowski had 11 goals and 23 points in 66 games with Oshawa, and built on that with 42 points (15 goals) in 46 games last season.

Not bad for the former first baseman.

“Exactly. It’s very different,” Rogowski said comparing the two sports. “I have always been a decent hockey player, but I think the rapid growth, I can attribute to athletic ability.”

A day after pop icon Justin Bieber took the stage to announce the Toronto Maple Leafs taking Penn State forward Gavin McKenna with the No. 1 pick, there were several notable highlights over the final six rounds on Saturday.

The second round featured just 31 selections with the Vegas Golden Knights forfeiting their 63rd pick after being sanctioned by the league for violating media regulations. Former Vegas coach John Tortorella was also fined $100,000 for refusing to speak to reporters following a second-round-series-clinching Game 6 victory at Anaheim.

Another notable selection came at No. 40, when the Florida Panthers used their first pick of the draft on right winger Simas Ignatavicius. Though born in Memphis, he relocated with his family to their native Lithuania, a nation that by his count has four hockey rinks.

Though his father played basketball, Ignatavicius was drawn to hockey at age 3 while watching a practice at a rink inside a shopping mall. Six years ago, the 18-year-old moved to Switzerland to develop his skills.

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

Gavin McKenna arrives on the red carpet before the NHL hockey draft Friday, June 26, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

Eleven-year-old Pierce Switzer, center, shoots pucks outside Key Bank Center before the NHL hockey draft Friday, June 26, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

Brooks Rogowski addresses reporters after being selected by the Vancouver Canucks with the first pick in the second round of the NHL draft at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y., on Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/John Wawrow)

Medicine Hat center Markus Ruck addresses reporters after being selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins with the 39th pick at the NHL draft at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y., on Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/John Wawrow)

Liam Ruck, right, stands with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman after being drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins during the NHL hockey draft Friday, June 26, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

LONDON (AP) — Iga Swiatek is the defending champion. Aryna Sabalenka is the No. 1 women’s singles player.

Serena Williams is the star, though, at Wimbledon.

The 44-year-old Williams' presence has been emanating throughout SW19 — the famous post code of Wimbledon — as she prepares to play her first singles match at the event in four years Tuesday when she faces No. 53 Maya Joint in the first round.

Mirra Andreeva, who just won the French Open, was basically crossing her fingers when the Wimbledon draw was announced.

“I was watching like this because I don’t think anyone in the draw would have wanted to play against Serena," the smiling Russian teenager said Saturday. “I’m going to speak for myself. I wouldn’t want to play against Serena. I would be just very nervous.”

Williams had been away from the sport since her farewell at the 2022 U.S. Open but she accepted a wild-card entry to play women’s doubles with her sister Venus, who is 46. And then she accepted another to play singles.

Williams’ most-recent appearance at Wimbledon was in 2022 when she lost in the opening round to Harmony Tan, who was then-ranked 115th. The American great walked away from tennis — she described it as “evolving” away — after losing in the third round to Ajla Tomljanovic at Flushing Meadows. Her second daughter was born in 2023.

Williams, a seven-time Wimbledon singles title winner, could meet Swiatek in the third round.

Serena Williams officially returned to tennis earlier this month in a doubles match with 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko at the Queen’s Club grass-court tournament.

“Unexpectedly, before her first match she asked me did I have any motivational quotes I use for myself,” Venus Williams said Saturday. “I told her what I was using at the time. I don’t know if that helped or not. She did win the match.”

The Williams sisters will play their first-round doubles match against Colombia’s Camila Osorio and Solana Sierra of Argentina.

Serena and Venus have won 14 Grand Slam titles together in doubles, including six at Wimbledon. Their first two doubles titles at the All England Club, in 2000 and 2002, came as wild cards.

“For us it was about the titles, we wanted the Grand Slam titles. We just wanted to bring them home,” Venus said. “We did pretty good.”

Novak Djokovic calls Serena Williams' tennis comeback “inspirational” and “epic.”

“That’s what I told her,” Djokovic said Saturday.

“I see her in the gym more than I have, I think, seen her when she was at her prime,” Djokovic, a 24-time major champion, said of Williams, a 23-time major winner in singles. “It tells me that she really wants this to work out the best way possible.”

Djokovic added: “I always admired her career, her journey, her story. Of course, Venus’, as well.”

Coco Gauff, the No. 7 seed at Wimbledon, said Serena and Venus were the “biggest” inspiration on her.

“I played the sport because of them, believed that I could do things because of them. I look up to them a lot,” she said.

Sabalenka added: “It’s amazing what she’s doing. Also it’s Serena Williams, everyone was talking about that. She’s bringing more eyes on tennis. It’s a good thing for tennis. I’m really excited to see her play.”

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

United States' Venus Williams returns the ball to Romania's Irina Camelia Begu during their round of 32 match at the Bad Homburg Open WTA tennis tournament in Bad Homburg, Germany, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Novak Djokovic or Serbia attends a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, in London, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Serena Williams of the U.S. speaks with Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, ahead of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, in London, Saturday June 27, 2026. (John Walton/PA via AP)

Serena Williams of the U.S. reacts during a practice session, ahead of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, in London, Saturday June 27, 2026. (John Walton/PA via AP)

Serena Williams of the U.S. reacts during a practice session, ahead of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, in London, Saturday June 27, 2026. (John Walton/PA via AP)