It seems unlikely that Minnesota Wild assistant coach Jack Capuano has ever spent time restoring old cars. But on Tuesday at TRIA Rink, he spent some time removing rust.

After a nine-day break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, now down to just Thursday’s title game between Canada and the USA, the members of the Wild who aren’t skating for their countries were on the ice in downtown St. Paul for an hour on Tuesday afternoon, stretching their legs and getting the feel of the ice after some savored down time.

“I think the guys really enjoyed the break,” said Capuano, the former New York Islanders head coach in is first season with the Wild as an assistant under John Hynes. “We’re coming off two home wins versus Carolina and the Islanders, but it’s good just to get away for a little bit and spend some time with your family because there’s so much hockey in the second half.”

Capuano spent some time in Florida during the break. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury got away to Turks & Caicos. Forward Marcus Johansson caught some sun in the Dominican Republic, while fellow forward Freddie Gaudreau stayed in Minnesota and relaxed at home.

The three members of Team Sweden from the Wild — goalie Filip Gustavsson, defenseman Jonas Brodin and forward Joel Eriksson Ek — are not expected to re-join the team until Friday, the day before the Wild return to playing games on Saturday.

That would also be the earliest that defenseman Brock Faber and forward Matt Boldy could return after they try to win gold for Team USA on Thursday. Hynes, who is a Team USA assistant coach, and Wild general manager Bill Guerin, who has served the same role with Team USA, could re-join the team on Saturday in Detroit where they face the Red Wings in an afternoon game.

Until then, it falls on Capuano to get the team back into shape and into their systems.

“That’s basically how we set the practices up. Today there was a theme, tomorrow’s a theme, Thursday will be treat and train, give the guys some time off and maybe some video,” Capuano said. “Friday we get back to some special teams and then get ready for Saturday.”

The 4 Nations games have been a fun distraction, with Wild players sometimes torn between their loyalty to teammates and their country. Fleury admitted as much, saying that as a proud Canadian, he still wants the best for Faber and Boldy in Thursday’s title game.

Team Sweden concluded the tournament with a win over Team USA on Monday after overtime losses to Canada and Finland. Johansson, who played development hockey in Malmo and Farjestad, said it was a good way for his country to close out the tournament.

“It’s always fun to see Sweden win. It wouldn’t have been good to go home without winning for them,” he said.

After the visit to Detroit, and a visit by the Red Wings to Minnesota on Tuesday, the Wild dive back into Central Division play with back-to-back road games at Utah and Colorado on the final two days of February. Then the real fun begins, as the Wild will play 15 games in the 31 days of March, 11 of them at Xcel Energy Center.

Hence, the need for knocking the rust off their skate blades as soon as possible.

“The guys were really good today. I thought the execution and the pace was good,” Capuano said. “Going out there as coaches, we thought it could maybe get a little sloppy, but I thought the guys did a really good job, dialed in.”

 

By PAUL WISEMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate confirmed wealthy financier Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary Tuesday, putting in place a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump’s hardline trade polices.

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At the Commerce Department, Lutnick, who was CEO at the investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald, will oversee 50,000 employees who do everything from collecting economic statistics to running the census to issuing weather reports. But he’s likely to spend a lot of time — along with Jamieson Greer, Trump’s nominee to be the top U.S. trade negotiator — managing the president’s aggressive plans to impose import taxes on U.S. trading partners, including allies and adversaries alike.

The Senate vote to confirm Lutnick was 51-45.

Trump views the tariffs as a versatile economic tool. They can raise money to finance his tax cuts elsewhere, protect U.S. industries and pressure other countries into making concessions on such issues as their own trade barriers, immigration and drug trafficking. Mainstream economists mostly view tariffs as counterproductive: They are paid by import companies in the United States, which try to pass along the higher costs to consumers and can thereby add to inflationary pressures throughout the economy.

At his confirmation hearing last month, Lutnick dismissed as “nonsense” the idea that tariffs contribute to inflation. He expressed support for deploying across-the-board tariffs ”country by country” to strong-arm other countries into lowering barriers to American exports.

Trump last week announced plans for “reciprocal” tariffs — raising U.S. import tax rates to match the higher taxes that other countries impose on goods from the U.S. The move would shatter the rules that have governed world trade for decades. Since the 1960s, tariff rates have mostly emerged from negotiations between dozens of countries. Trump is commandeering the process.

The president has also imposed 10% tariffs on Chinese imports and effectively raised U.S. taxes on foreign steel and aluminum. He has threatened — and delayed until March 4 — 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico.

Lutnick was CEO at Cantor Fitzgerald when its offices were hit in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center. The firm lost two-thirds of its employees — 658 people — that day, including Lutnick’s brother. Howard Lutnick led the firm’s recovery and is a member of the Board of Directors of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

Lutnick has promised to sell off his business holdings. They’re complicated. His financial disclosure statement showed that he had positions in more than 800 businesses and other private organizations.

By PETER SMITH

Catholic bishops sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over its abrupt halt to funding of refugee resettlement, calling the action unlawful and harmful to newly arrived refugees and to the nation’s largest private resettlement program.

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The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops says the administration, by withholding millions even for reimbursements of costs incurred before the sudden cut-off of funding, violates various laws as well as the constitutional provision giving the power of the purse to Congress, which already approved the funding.

The conference’s Migration and Refugee Services has sent layoff notices to 50 workers, more than half its staff, with additional cuts expected in local Catholic Charities offices that partner with the national office, the lawsuit said.

“The Catholic Church always works to uphold the common good of all and promote the dignity of the human person, especially the most vulnerable among us,” said Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the USCCB. “That includes the unborn, the poor, the stranger, the elderly and infirm, and migrants.” The funding suspension prevents the church from doing so, he said.

“The conference suddenly finds itself unable to sustain its work to care for the thousands of refugees who were welcomed into our country and assigned to the care of the USCCB by the government after being granted legal status,” Broglio said.

The conference is trying to keep the program going, but it’s “financially unsustainable,” he said, adding that it’s trying to hold the U.S. government to its “moral and legal commitments.”

The conference is one of 10 national agencies, most of them faith-based, that serve refugees and that have been sent scrambling since receiving a Jan. 24 State Department letter informing them of an immediate suspension of funding pending a review of foreign-aid programs.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, notes that the resettlement program isn’t even foreign aid. It’s a domestic program to help newly arrived refugees — who arrive legally after being vetted overseas — meet initial needs such as housing and job placement.

“USCCB spends more on refugee resettlement each year than it receives in funding from the federal government, but it cannot sustain its programs without the millions in federal funding that provide the foundation of this private-public partnership,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit said the government is attempting to “pull the rug out” from under the program, causing it longstanding damage.

The lawsuit names the departments of State and Health and Human Services as well as their respective secretaries, Marco Rubio and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Both departments have roles in delegating resettlement work to the bishops conference.

There was no immediate reply in court from those departments.

The USCCB said it is still awaiting about $13 million in reimbursements for expenses prior to Jan. 24.

As of Jan. 25, it said, there were 6,758 refugees assigned by the government to USCCB’s care that had been in the country less than 90 days, the period of time for which they’re eligible for resettlement aid.

The conference said suspending the resettlement effort will only prolong the time it takes for refugees to find employment and become self-sufficient.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

BY MELISSA GOLDIN

Footage of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement van on fire in Philadelphia on Tuesday morning led many on social media to blame the blaze on left-wing extremists.

Here’s a closer look at the facts.

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CLAIM: An ICE van in Philadelphia seen ablaze in a video spreading online was intentionally set on fire by left-wing extremists.

THE FACTS: That’s false. Although the cause of the fire is unknown, foul play is not suspected, according to the Philadelphia Fire Department and ICE.

“After our fire marshal spoke to the driver of the vehicle, who escaped unharmed, thankfully, it was determined that it was an accidental fire,” said Rachel Cunningham, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Fire Department. “I don’t have information on what caused it or what the accident was, but there’s no suspicion of foul play.”

The department responded to a call about a vehicle ablaze in front of a residence in Philadelphia’s Center City neighborhood at 8:38 a.m. Tuesday morning, Cunningham said. One fire engine was sent to the scene and extinguished the flames. The fire marshal was called as a precaution, given that the van is a government vehicle.

ICE spokesperson Tanya Roman said that the van “experienced mechanical issues” before it caught fire.

“The Philadelphia Fire Department extinguished the flames after arriving on scene,” she confirmed. “There were no injuries due to the fast response from the fire department and the vehicle’s occupants. The cause of the fire is unknown, but no foul play is suspected at this time.”

Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.