Devil Of A Decision

This decision leaves me, and most hockey fans for that matter, scratching their heads. Thae big news around the hockey world a couple of weeks ago was Connor Hellebuyck getting traded from the Winnipeg Jets to the New Jersey Devils. Tonight, the Devils make the trip to Winnipeg to face the Jets. This would have been Connors first game in the city since the trade, and the suspension from the Jets before the trade happened. Now, that's not going to happen in the way people wanted. The Devils announced that Jake Allen will be making the start and not Connor.

New Jersey General Manager Sunny Mehta made a statement on Sunday Night on the decision not to have Connor start in Winnipeg tonight. It as follows.

"This has been an organizational decision for us that we've debated at length. Connor Hellebyuck was adamant that he felt a duty to play on Tuesday in Winnipeg. However, in our estimation, playing in this game would potentially give us a reduction in our expected win probability. Even though Connor isn't playing, at his request, we will coordinate a media availability after Tuesday's morning skate at Canada Life Center."

First off, that announcement didn't sit right and well with Scott Arniel, the Jets head coach. Per nhl.com, “To me, it goes back to the ownership, it goes back to the fans, it goes back to the core guys that have been with ‘Helly’ from the very beginning, that he kind of left on,” Arniel said Monday. “That’s the part for me that is hard. He just gave up on us, and it would be nice to be finally done with this and all it does is drags it out, and nine more game from now, we’re going start into it and talk about it again here. That’s the biggest disappointment for me.”

Jets fans, and I'm sure management as well, had this game circled on the calendar once the trade happened in late October. And I for one am right there with them. I really wanted to see how well everything would have played out in the building. Video tributes are usually a thing for a player that leaves a franchise, via trade or free agency or whatever, that left an impact on a team for a long time during their career. Connor did that in Winnipeg, despite how things ended with the trade. He left his mark in Winnipeg in a big way. The only thing Connor wasn't able to do was bring the Stanley Cup to Winnipeg. I, like most people, wanted to see the reaction he would have gotten, and I'm sure is going to get when he's acknowledged sitting on the bench tonight. It would have been better to see how well he actually played against his former team.

The statement made by the Devils was a cop out, flat out. They are trying, for some odd reason, to protect Connor for whatever reason for getting this start in his former city. They aren't playing a back to back. Connor is coming off shutting out Toronto on Sunday in Toronto. He's won all five of his starts since getting to Jersey, and has a 1.96 goals against with a .913 save percentage. So this decision is a little mind boggling. And this is not a knock by any means on Jake Allen, who is getting the start tonight. Allen's won six of his nine starts this year. The goals against is at 3.20 and he has an .881 save percentage. Not stellar numbers, but not horrible numbers either. Jake is a solid goalie and has proven as such at this level. But it still a surprise he is getting the start in Winnipeg.

Best & Worst NFL Week Eight

Week Eight has now come and gone around the NFL and things are getting more interesting around the league by the week. Since we are now at the halfway point of the season, so to speak, we are starting to see changes around the league. Lamar Jackson looks like he's done for the year with injury, which makes things more interesting with the trade deadline looming right around the corner. Carolina made the first major coaching change, letting go their defensive coordinator. The play on the field this week was a big week for the running game around the league. We also saw some performances that really made you scratch your head. With all that being said, here are some of the best, and worst, from week eight in the NFL.

Best: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Running Game
It was a very wet, sloppy game in Tampa on Sunday. The Buccaneers did what they had to do in a 16-0 win over the Falcons on Sunday. The defense was great, picking off Michael Peninx four times. But the real story of the day was the Bucs offense. Baker Mayfield went 0 for 3 on the day passing. Three passes and he missed all of them. But that's OK, because the Bucs running game more than made up for it. Bucky Irving and Kenneth Gainwell both had days on Sunday. Bucky had 27 carries for 170 yards and the lone touchdown in the game. Gainewell added another 25 carries for 40 yards. And that was more than enough given the conditions on the day Sunday in Tampa.

Worst: Christian Parker, Defensive Coordinator Dallas Cowboys
There are teams that are starting to slip al little, then there's whatever the hell this is in Dallas. The Cowboys were home against Arizona on Sunday and had a decent lead by the half. But then it all fell apart. Arizona walked away with a 33-30 overtime win, this coming after they benched Jacoby Brisette for Gardner Minshew. Gardner threw for three touchdowns in relief, and erased a 14 point deficit in the 4th quarter. Dallas can't let that happen. It's not just Dallas, any team in the NFL shouldn't let a lead like that slip away. Parker's defense gave up 467 yards, which is bad enough on its own. It looks even worse when you realize that this was done with the opposition switching QB's during the game. The big plays have been coming at a slightly alarming clip against Dallas. It's time that the Cowboys need to seriously look at making the changes for that side of things.

Best: Amani Hooker, Safety Tennessee Titans
There might be little signs of hope for the Titans in 2026, but this has been one of the big bright spots. Tennessee found a pro bowler from its defense in Hooker, who had himself a day Sunday. Sure, the game didn't end well, as the Bengals walked away with a 43-36 win in overtime. But Hooker was a big reason the game even got there in the first place. Sure, Burrow played hero for the Bengals by throwing five touchdowns, but he was picked off three times. Amani Hooker had all three of those picks. Those picks now give Hooker five for the season, which leads the NFL. Hooker is under contract in Tennessee through at least 2028, so it shows that the Titans have faith in the guy in the secondary. Now the Titans need to speed this up and get better talent around him on that side of the football.

Worst: Los Angeles Chargers Offense
The Chargers now sit at 0-7 on the season, following a 24-9 loss on the road to the Rams. It's bad enough that the Chargers are winless on the year. It's even worse when the offense has scored just 99 point total on the season through the first two months of the year. It's the lowest point total in the league. They've scored more than 20 points in a game just once this season (23 in the loss to Seattle week four). Justin Herbert isn't helping the cause, fumbling once and getting picked off twice. Sure 257 yards passing is decent, but the turnovers are killing whatever momentum that might bring. We keep sounding like a broken record here, but a lot of this fall on Mike McDaniel, the Chargers offensive coordinator. He's not getting the best out of the weapons he has and quite frankly, he shouldn't be much longer for this job.

Best: Kirk Cousins Quarterback Las Vegas Raiders
Kirk Cousins seems like he's playing for his job every week out in Vegas. This week he held onto it for another go around, leading the Raiders to a 38-33 win over the Jets on Sunday. Cousins threw 19 of 26 for 247 yards and more importantly three touchdowns. Oh he also added another score himself on a sneak late in the game. This all coming after the Jets scored on their first six possessions. But Cousins was able to lead the Raiders to overcome that and kept using his tight end Brock Bowers very well. He had two of the touchdowns that Cousins threw. As badly as the Raiders might want to go to Fernando Mendoza, with Cousins playing like this, they can't make the switch yet.

Worst: Kyler Murray, Quarterback Minnesota Vikings
There was a small hope in Minnesota that Kyler Murray could look like the hype that surrounded him when he was picked 1st overall in 2019. There was hope that Kevin O'Connell offense in Minnesota would be able to pull whatever untapped potential out of Murray. Instead, even though the Vikings are 6-1, following their 19-15 loss to Detroit on Sunday, Murray looked like he's now close to riding the bench. He seemed to sleepwalk through the first three quarters in the loss to Detroit. most of his 201 passing yards came in the 4th quarter. But it took forever for him to wake up and get the Vikings going. They have talent around him to make explosive plays, it just wasn't working. It maybe early to panic in Minnesota, but he might not be long for the job if he keeps getting off to sluggish starts.

Best & Worst NFL Week Seven

Another week has come and gone in the NFL! Week seven went by and the league is starting to take shape. There is a clear divide between the two New York Metro area teams. We saw plenty of teams like the Panthers, Raiders and Ravens get their doors blown off on Sunday. We also saw teams like the Packers and Texans go down by the slimmest of margins. There were great performances and ones that made you scratch your head. That being said, here's some of the best, and worst, from week seven in the NFL!

Best: J.J. McCarthy, Quarterback New York Giants
You could =make just as much for a claim for Cam Skattebo for the best here from the Giants 27-21 win over the Texans. Cam had a massive game with 124 yards on the ground, part of a massive running attack. Funny things is the running game didn't really come alive till late in the game. JJ deserves just as much credit for the performance he had in this win. The Giants gave McCarthy a shot under center over Jameis Winston. And he delivered. He went 20 for 28 for 252 yards. Sure he was sacked three times, but at the same time the passing game most of the day was able to open things up for that ground and pound attack late.

Worst: Aaron Glenn, Head Coach New York Jets
There's bad, and then there's whatever the hell the Jets are doing. You come into the game on Sunday for against a winless Miami team, one that should have been a cakewalk. And you haven't won a game in the division in almost two years. And you blew it. Miami got their first win of the year, a 28-25 win over the Jets. The seat for Aaron Glenn just got a hell of a lot hotter. New York got booed off the field at halftime Its not only the fact that they've lost two straight but the last one is one that you can't defend at all. Losing that game to Miami simply can't happen. And the next three games are against the Raiders, Chiefs and Bills. It's going to get even worse before it remotely gets better. How Aaron Glenn still has a job right now I'm not totallysure.

Best: Bo Nix, Quarterback Denver Broncos
He didn't set the world on fire on Sunday, but he did more than enough to the thing. Denvelr walked away with a big 30-16 win over Arizona. His consistency wasn't totally there Sunday, but it was one of his biggest games of the year in the win. Nix had 222 yards through the air, his second most passing yards this season, with a touchdown. He only completed 15 of his 29 passes, which is a tad alarming, but the yards were there. Oh and he also chalked up seven carries for 73 yards an another touchdown. Sure it was a win over the Cardinals, but a win is a win. And it appears something might be finally clicking right with Sean Peyton's playcalling to get Nix going again.

Worst: Baltimore Ravens Second Half
This was a total garbage second half of football, for a team that was supposed to be good this year. Baltimore had a 13-0 lead at halftime over Cincinnati and looked like they might be on cruise control. Then the second half started and the Ravens appeared to have left their game in the locker room. Here's how the second half went for the Ravens: Punt (only possession of 3rd quarter), downs, punt, interception, downs, end of game (ran out of time on final drive). All while that was going on, Cincinnati scored the 35 unanswered points. Tyler Huntley did everything he could under center but its clear to all that the Ravens badly need Lamar Jackson back under center here

Best: Blake Cashman, Linebacker Minnesota Vikings
It was a good day in Minnesota Sunday, as the Vikings walked away with a 16-10 win over the Colts. For as much as people talk about the offense the NFL, defense should be getting more credit than it does. Just look at the performance that Cashman had for the Minnesota defense. Cashman had 12 tackles, two sacks, three quarterback hits and four passes defended. Minnesota turned up the pressure on Daniel Jones all day long. It wasn't just Cashman getting pressure on Jones, it was the entire Vikings defense. But it was Cashman that was the most noticeable being around the ball all day long and diove the Colts crazy.

Worst: Trey Smack, Kicker Green Bay Packers
Green Bay had a chance to win the game on Sunday, Detroit basically gave them the game. And Green Bay blew it. Detroit somehow walked away with a 20-17 win over the Packers, no thanks to Dan Campbell. He went for it on fourth down late in the game, failed to get it. That boneheaded call gave the Packers a chance to either tie or win the game outright with good field position. They had the ball on the Detroit 22 with 4:53 left. They had the ball on the foot of Smack, who had already missed a kick earlier in the game. Then he had the chance with the game tied to win it, and he sailed it wide right. To be fair it was tipped at the line, but still. To make it worse, he started the year off great, but has now missed four kicks in the last two games.

New King In Tampa Bay

In the now thirty five year history of the Tampa Bay Lightning, there have been a lot of great skaters and scorers that have come through the organization. Guys like Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Victor Hedman, Brad Richards, Brayden Point, Steven Stamkos, the list goes on and on. When this season started, the name at the top of that list for scorers was Steven Stamkos, who sat at 1,137 career points. That is no more.

On the Lightning last road trip, Nikita Kucherov picked up four points, bringing his career total to 1,138 (and counting). Making him the Lightnings all time leading scorer. November 25th, 2013, in a home game against the New York Rangers, Nikita Kucherov scored his first NHL point, a goal in a 5-0 win. His first NHL assist (a pair of them actually) came a month later in a road game against the Panthers in Sunrise.

Since that time, Kucherov has gone on to record (at the time of this writing) 405 goals, 733 assists for 1,138 points in 890 games. In his thirteen years in the league, Kucherov has six 100-point seasons, four years of 40 or more goals and five years of 80 or more assists.

The numbers speak for themselves, he is that much of a superstar. Sure he takes some grief for not really talking much in the media, and if I'm being totally honest that's more than fine. His game really needs to do all of the talking for him. He's managed to keep his nose clean, so far as I can tell, away from the rink. His play on the ice is solid all around. Kucherov is no doubt one of the top five players on the planet at the moment and he's showing it off every night (or almost every night). Oh, and he's only 33 years old. He's still got plenty left in the tank.

Congratulations to Kucherov on becoming the Lightning all time leading scorer!

A Devil of A Deal

Man is that a different sight. We talked about it when we broke the news on the last show, but its still a big deal that's having a ripple effect on the league now. It took a little while, and the saga of it has been well documented, but it finally happened. The Winnipeg Jets have moved on from former league MVP goalie Conor Hellebuyck. HE's now tending the pipes as a New Jersey Devil.

The full trade is Winnipeg gets Nico Daws, Dawson Mercer, Alexander Command, Nick Bjugstad, a 2029 2nd round pick and a 2027 7th round pick. In exchange, the Devils got Hellebuyck.

Hellebuyck was taken in the 5th round, 130th overall in the 2012 entry draft. Up till the trade, he'd played his entire career in Winnipeg. 625 games in the Jets nets, with a 345-20855 record, a 2.58goals against average and a .916 save percentage. The biggest awards were the gold medal at the Olympics earlier this year, a four time all-star, three Vezina trophies and the league MVP in 2025. So the numbers were really good in Winnipeg. But something wasn't sitting right between him and the organization.

So, during the summer Hellebuyck came out and said that he had requested a trade from the Jets several months prior to making the announcement public. Winnipeg hadn't been able to find a suitable trade partner, as according to the team, the trades they had been offered were "terrible". So since Connor wasn't moved, he didn't show up for training camp and was promptly suspended by the team until a trade could be made, or he actually reported, whatever happened first.

The trade happened and Connor is now in New Jersey. The Jets finally get to move on from this, and hopefully it will help them maybe get better in the long run. Stuart Skinner has done an admirable job replacing Connor in the Winnipeg nets. Will he be the new answer to get them over the hump and back into playoff contention? Only time will tell.

As for Connor, this is a massive move for the Devils, who seemed to have found their guy to be the next in line of great goaltenders in New Jersey. It's kind of something they've been looking for since Marty Brodeur retired. Now having that kind of stable force in net, combined with some of the fire power that the Devils have, they have the potential to be very good.

2026 World Series Preview

And we are down to two! We started this journey of the 2026 Major League Baseball season back in late March, and the time has finally arrived. WE have one week to determine the best team in all of the baseball world. The 2026 World Series has arrived!

This year's matchup pits the best team in all of baseball, the Milwaukee Brewers, taking on the best team in the American League, the Tampa Bay Rays!

Milwaukee got here with the best record in all of baseball, finishing the regular season, going 103-59 and winning the NL Central. Then they dispatched the Padres in four games in the divisional round and swept the Dodgers in the league championship series. It's the second ever World Series appearance for the Brewers, having lost to the Cardinals in seven games in 1982.

Tampa Bay got here by winning the AL East with a 98-64 record. They swept the Yankees in three in the divisional round, before taking out the Guardians in six in the league championship series to reach their third World Series. The first two appearances were a five game loss to the Phillies in 2008 and a six game loss to the Dodgers in 2020.

This is going to be a battle of pitching, which as you know at this time of year always beets good hitting. Both teams have excellent starting rotations for the series, so it's going to come down to which bullpen can blink first. Both back ends of the pen are equally strong, so it's the middle guys that are going to have to step up to the challenge. That gives Milwaukee and ever so slight edge.

Hitting depth too is going to be big in this series. It's been well documented how top heavy the Rays lineup is with Yandy Diaz, Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero. But, to be fair, the depth guys at the bottom of the lineup have been contributing more as this years playoffs have worn on. The big boys of the Brewers lineup have been delivering a tad more than what we've seen from the Rays so far in this years playoffs.

Rays pitchers get the ball in the strike zone a lot more than what the Brewers are used to seeing and that's going to throw hitters off a little in this series. But the Rays had better that the depth hitting can continue in this series or its going to go south on them real quick. Milwaukee is coming off a big 103 win season and have shown everybody why they won that many games here in the playoffs. It's going to be a battle of a series. At the end of the day, Milwaukee's old friend in Freddy Peralta is going to be getting the last laugh and a ring on his finger.

Pick: Rays in six!

Best & Worst NFL Week Six

Week six is in the books in the NFL and an interesting week it was. There's a lot to take in from this past week. Philadelphia took a blow with Hurts now being out for the rest of the season. Them and the Cowboys are falling behind the New York Giants, and even they are struggling. Then the AFC North is all having winning records, including one of the biggest surprises being the Cleveland Browns. We also had a couple of players make history, and others still have bounce back performances. With all that being said, lets take a look at some of what was. Here's some of the best, and worst, of the week that was in the NFL.

Best: Patrick Mahomes, Quarterback Kansas City Chiefs
Move over Brady, you've got company in the record books. Kansas City rolled to a 22-6 win over the Chargers on Sunday, and with that win, Patrick Mahomes went into the record books. The performance itself was solid. Mahomes went 23 of 30 for 272 yards and a pick. The game was won mostly on the back of the running of Kenneth Walker. But for Mahomes, the win was his 100th as a starter in the NFL. It was his 131st career start. It tied him with Tom Brady for the fastest to 100 career wins as NFL starting QB. The only other QB in history to hit 100 wins in under 104 starts was Joe Montana, who's third on the list at 139 starts to 100 wins.

Worst: Backup Quarterbacks
This week, we saw four backup quarterbacks make starts in the league. Yes, you read that correctly. Four backups got starts in the NFL this week. The combined record of those four quarterbacks was 0-4 on the week. We had Jalon Daniels have a roller coaster of a day in just his third NFL start in the Bucs OT loss to the Steelers. Two other backup starters, Tyler Huntley in Baltimore and Jameis Winston of the Giants, have been around longer and had higher expectations. Baltimore was favored to beat Cleveland. But the Browns kept Dereck Henry in check and forced Huntly to create offense, which he wasn't able to do in the Browns win. Winston was so bad in the Giants loss to the Saints he got benched in favor of former Vikings QB JJ McCarthy. Last there was the bad luck to fall on Tanner McKee, who's now got to take over for Janel Hurts who's out for the year in Philly. McKee, who was making his third career start, had to drop back nearly 50 times because the Eagles had no run game.

Best; Travis Hunter, Wide Receiver/Defensive Back Jacksonville Jaguars
Since the NFL merger with the ALF in 1970, there's a very short list of players who have an interception on defense and a touchdown on offense in the same game. In fact, there's only three names on it. Roy Green did it with the Cardinals in 1981. Brian Dawkins did it with the Eagles in 2002. and Now Travis Hunter has done it with the Jaguars this past week. Yes, the Jaguars lost to Houston 34-31, but it wasn't for lack of effort on Hunter's part. Most of Hunter's time in the NFL prior to this year was on the defensive side of the football. Now the Jags are starting to use him more on offense as well. Sunday was a good day on both sides for Hunter, He had three tackles and the pick on defense. On offense, he finished with four catches for 59 yards and that touchdown. That was a day for the ages for the young receiver. If that was what he did this week, he could have a very bright future going forward on both sides in Jacksonville.

Worst: Zachariah Branch, Kick Returner Atlanta Falcons
Special Teams are just as critical in the game of football as offense and defense. When you are a kick returner, your job is to be able to get the ball and set your offense up in good field position. Your main role in during this is being able to hang onto the football. Somebody forgot to tell kick returner Zachariah branch that. His butter fingers moment lead to the Bears walking way with a 31-23 win over the Falcons. He not only muffed a punt on the day, but he also fumbled a ball during a kickoff return. Both of those muffes lead to Bears scores, allowing them to build on a 31-7 lead. Atlanta almost pulled off the comeback, which would have been a miracle in its own rights. But the end of the day, those two mishandles turned out to cost the Falcons the game.

Best: James Cook, Running Back Buffalo Bills
Last week seemed like an off week for Cook, who had two fumbles on the day. Normally he's a lot surer handed than that. So, this week, he needed to have a bounce back game. And he got it. This week, Buffalo walked away with a 33-30 win over the Raiders, and Cook was a solid part of hit. He finished with 22 carries for 95 yards and a touchdown. There was only two guys to hit the hindered or more rush yards this week (Kenneth Walker and Chuba Hubbard). Buu the performance by Cook got him back on his game. Oh, and that touchdown turned out to be the go ahead score in this game. Josh Allen is what makes the Buffalo offense really go, but he needs help for the Bills to go anywhere. Cook showed that he can be that guy to be able to take the pressure off Allen so he doesn't have to be Superman.

Worst: Jim Harbaugh, Head Coach Los Angeles Chargers
Jim Harbaugh has been a winning coach almost everywhere he went. In fact, during his coaching career, between the NFL and College, he's had two seasons in which he's finished at .500 or lower. He went 5-7 at Stanford in 2008 (as well as 2-4 at Michigan in 2020 but that was the Covid year) and 8-8 in his last year in San Francisco in 2014. Otherwise he's had winning records. This year, he's going to have a losing record. The Chargers are now 0-6 on the season, following the 22-6 loss to Kansas City we talked about earlier. It was a poor start to the season, along with injuries taking hold, and it's getting to the point where this is borderline unwatchable. Harbaugh has to take his share of the blame for it. Having Mike McDaniel run that poor offense is on him. It's going to be tough out in Califnoria to watch this team.

Party In Tampa Bay

The party is on in the city of Tampa, Florida! For the third time in their history, the Tampa Bay Rays are playing for a world championship! It took six games to knock off the Cleveland Guardians, but the Rays have won the pennant for the third time in their history. And this one of the three World Series appearances the team has had, could be the sweetest of all.

They haven't won the big one yet, we will know that by Halloween the latest, which is when game seven would be played if the series goes the distance. So we have a little over a week to figure out a champion, and we will have our series preview a little later in the week. But for this writing, just the fact that the Rays are playing in the series is sweet.

Just look at what the team has gone through the last couple of years. This time two years ago, the roof of Tropicana Field wasn't a thing. Hurricanes came through and destroyed the roof of the Trop, causing the Rays to play at Steinbrenner Field last year. And last season was a disappointing one, a year in which the Rays missed the playoffs, and finished seven games under .500.

Then things started to change. Stu Sternberg is finally out as owner. Patrick Zalupski came in and got the team started to straighten out. They got the plans in place for a new ballpark in Tampa. Then the season goes along on the field. it's the first year back at the Trop. They had winning months, or at least .500 months, every month all seasons long. They played good baseball at the right times.

Then the playoffs started. It was a sweep of the Yankees in the divisional round. Then they had to prove themselves in the league championship series. Hit a couple of speedbumps, but the best players had the big moments at the right time. Now here we sit, in the World Series, four possible wins away from a title!

Best & Worst NFL Week Five

Week five has come and gone in the NFL. It started off with the Bucs finally getting off the slide and upsetting the Cowboys for their first win of the season. Jacksonville and Philadelphia turned into a slugfest in London. We had a tie this week too between the Giants and Commanders, a game which looked like nobody wanted to win. There were a ton of good performances on the weekend, and at the same time that really made you scratch your head. So let's get into it. Here's the best, and worst, from week five in the NFL.

Best: Cam Little, Kicker Jacksonville Jaguars
This was a case of getting saved by the skin of your teeth. Jacksonville walked away somehow with a 19-17 win over the Eagles. Cam Little was a big reason for it, but could have also been the goat for it as well. He missed an extra point kick late in the 4th quarter that left the door open for the Eagles. But then, just seconds later, Little got a chance to redeem himself. And He did. The snap on the extra point was too high which is why it was missed. The one on the game winning kick was a little high but it was accurate enough to allow Little to hit the 57 yard kick to win the game for the Jags.

Worst: Nick Sirianni, Head Coach Philadelphia Eagles
Talk about a bad day at the office. This one ties into what we talked about just above. Cam Little left the door wide open for the Eagles, which Philly took advantage of. After the missed extra point, the Eagles came down the field and set up Jake Elliott to hit a 48 yard field goal to put the Eagles up 17-16. Then Sirianni made the baffling decision to give the Jags a returnable kick instead of kicking it away. Jacksonville took the kick back 53 yards, taking the ball all the way down to the Eagles 39 yard line. That lead to the Cam Little kick that we just talked about. Had Sirianni not kicked it right at Ameer Abdullah who returned it to set up the winning kick.

Best: Drake Maye, Quarterback New England Patriots
For a guy who finished second in MVP voting last year, Maye got off to an ice cold start this season. Yeah, Drake found his game again this week, in the Patriots 45-17 dominating win over the Raiders. The stats are impressive. He went 26 of 34 for 374 yards and four touchdowns through the air. He added seven carries for 25 yards and another touchdowns. Those five touchdowns was the second time in his career he's had five in a game. This kind of performance could be a sign that the Patriots found their form from last season. The last two wins over the Bills and this one over the Raiders are signs that they could be back. Maye performance was a big reason for this.

Worst: Tua Tagovailoa, Quarterback Atlanta Falcons
At one point in time, Tua was seen as to be the next face of the Miami Dolphins Quarterback. Now he's fallen so far down the charts he's behind Michael Penix in Atlanta. Falcons lost 30-23 to the Ravens on Sunday and Tua issues at the start of the day lead to some of these issues. Penix had done well at the start of this game, but ended up picking up a rib injury in this tilt, forcing Tua into the game. This would have been his chance to shine and get back into the good graces of the Falcons and show the entire football world that he was that guy again. instead, he telegraphed a pass that the Ravens Kyle Hamilton easily jumped and picked off to seal the win for the Ravens. Yeah, good luck for Tua trying to get back to being king fish in this league again.

Best: David Bailey, Linebacker New York Jets
There were signs that the New York Jets knew what they were doing when they took David Bailey with the 2nd overall pick in this years draft. He had his first big impact game this weekend in the Jets 17-12 win over the Browns. Sure, the over 100 yard games from garret Wilson in the pass game and Baelon Allen 116 yards on the ground were a big plus on offense, but it was Bailey day on the other side of the ball that was just as big a day. Bailey had three sacks and a forced fumble on the day. He had a total of five solo and seven tackles overall. It was a dominating performance and it makes you realize how scary good this kid could be, because he's only 23 years old. He can stay healthy he's going to be really, really good.

Worst: Chicago Bears Offense
On a weekend that was going to be an emotional one for the Bears, there offense went ice cold. Chicago went limp against Green Bay, with the Packers coming away with a 31-7 win. Going into the week, the Bears looked like they might set an NFL record for points scoring. But the Chicago offense scoring just seven points lead to Tyson Bagent getting benched for Case Keenum. It's also worth noting that not having Caleb Williams and Kyle Monangai (who had that big week last week). With everything not clicking, Chicago produced a season low of 246 yards of total offense, and both quarterbacks ended up throwing picks. Those were two of the five turnovers the team had. Yeah it was a bad weekend for Da Bears.

NFL Legend Passes

The Chicago Bears are one of the NFL's oldest franchises, having been around for 106 years. They have had many great names and faces come through that organization in their history. One of the names that comes to mind quickly when the Bears get mentioned is Mike Ditka. Ditka's name will forever be connected to the game, whether it's through his playing days as a tight end, or his coaching days in the Windy City. He had an impact on the game that won't ever be matched. The legend passed away yesterday at the age of 86.

First there was the playing career. He was drafted by the Bears 5th overall in the 1961 NFL draft. Ironically he was also taken 8th overall in the ALF draft the same year by the Houston Oilers, but decided to sign with the Bears. He played with the Bears from 1961 to 1966, then for Philadelphia in 1967 and 1968, and finally in Dallas from 1969-72. His first year in the NFL he had 1,076 receiving yards and 12 TD's, one of only five tight ends in league history to every have those kind of numbers in the same season, the others being Todd Christensen (Raiders 1983), Rob Gronkowski (Patriots 11 and 14), Jimmy Graham (Saints 2013) and Travis Kelce (Chiefs 2022). After his time in Chicago, his reputation for a blocking tight end had grown, as his pass catching days were more in Chicago. He won an NFL championship with the Bears in 1963 and a Super Bowl in Dallas in 1971.

When his playing career ended in Dallas in 1972, he was immediately hired as an Assistant Coach by Tom Landry to stay. He stayed in Dallas as an assistant head coach and special teams coordinator from 1973-81. During that time, Dallas won six division titles and made the playoffs eight total times. Then once Dallas was done, it was onto the head coaching job he became known for in Chicago. During that ten year stretch from 1982 to 1992 Ditka was 106-62 as the Bears coach. During that time, Chicago missed the playoffs three times. The rest of his tenure saw the Bears win one Superbowl and reach the NFC title game twice more. After his time in Chicago he had gone into retirement, before coming back to coach the Saints for three years from 1997 to 1999.

Both is playing and coaching careers were hall of fame worthy. He was officially inducted into the Hall in 1988 as a player, with 427 catches for 5,812 tards and 43 touchdowns, making him the first tight end ever to get induction in the Hall. Once his career on the field was totally done, coaching included, he went into broadcasting and became one of the most valuable talking heads to cover the sport ever. Having done and seen it all in the game, Ditka left a legacy that will forever be remembered. He left a mark on the game that will never be touched.

League Championship Preview

Now we are down to four. The League Championships have arrived in Major League Baseball! On one side we got a team that's looking for its 3rd pennant and first ever world title, playing a team that's looking for its 7th world series appearance. On the other side, one team is the two-time defending league champion, who is taking on a team that's looking to go to the series for the 2nd time in their history.

So lets get into it. here's how we see the League Championships going.

National League Championship
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Milwaukee Brewers
We start it off with the NL Central winning and best record in the National League Milwaukee Brewers taking on the National League West Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers come in as the two time defending NL pennant winners, taking on a Brewers team that hasn't been in the Series since their lone appearance in 1982 (When they were still in the American League).

Milwaukee won the Central with a 103-59 record, and they beat the Padres in the divisional round in four games to get here. They take on the Dodgers who won the West with a 100-62 record, and they beat the Braves in four to get here. This is a rematch of last year's NLCS, a series in which the Dodgers swept. This is the 4th meeting between the two teams in the playoffs, with the Dodgers having won the previous three meetings (2018 NLCS, 202 Wild card series and last years NLCS).

This is going to be a heavyweight fight for the NL Pennant. Both teams are evenly matched coming in, so this is a little harder to predict than first thought. The Dodgers hitters had been hot coming into this series, but so has Milwaukee pitching. It has been well know that good pitching always beats good hitting, and this time of year it amplifies that more than any other time of year.

Dodgers will get a couple of games, but the Brewers have been just a step above them all year and this is no different.

Pick: Brewers in 6!

American League Championship
Cleveland Guardians vs. Tampa Bay Rays
This one is a battle of the AL Central winning Cleveland Guardians taking on the best team in the AL the East winning Tampa Bay Rays.

Cleveland got here by winning the Central with an 85-77 record, then beat the White Sox in five games in the divisional round. As for the Rays, they won the East and finished with the best record in the AL with a 98-64 record and swept the Yankees in the divisional round. Tampa has been to the series twice, 2008 and 2020. Meanwhile Cleaveland hasn't been to the series since 2016 and have won the AL three times total. This marks the third playoff meeting between the teams, having split the two previous matchups (Rays won the 20134 wild card game, Cleveland won the 2022 wild card game).

This series might not be as hard to predict. Cleveland had to come back from down two games to none against the white sox. They've had to play a little more baseball. That may help them just a tad at the start of the series, given the fact the Rays had a few more off days. But the Ryas have had the better overall team as this season has gone on. The big guys at the top of the lineup haven't slowed down. The role guys have been having moments as the season grew late.

Pick: Rays in 6!

Best & Worst NFL Week Four

We are now a month into the NFL season, and it was a wild ride in week four! We have teams that have been overachieving to this point. Looking at you New York Giants. We also had big weeks from a Bear, a Panther and a Cowboy. At the same time, there were disappointments from Denver, Houston and Washington. All in all, week four provided a wide buffet to choose from. That being said, here's some of the best, and worst, of week four in the NFL.

Best: CeeDee Lamb, Wide Receiver Dallas Cowboys
There was having a day, then there was this performance. Dallas came away with a 34-30 win over Houston, and it was because of the fantastic day from CeeDee Lamb. He had a career high 17 catches for an awesome 189 yards and a touchdown. This turned out to be a big game for Lamb, who had two games in his entire career that were better than this one. One was 191 yards in Philadelphia (11.5.23) and 227 yards against Detroit (12.30.23). The 189 against Houston was a big emotional boost for Dallas as well. it helped power their record to 2-2. If they had fallen to 1-3 it would have been a rougher go for Dallas going forward. Oh and the only guy who had a better day than Lamb did was Tetairoa McMillan of Carolina who had 192 yards.

Worst: Klint Kubiak, Head Coach Las Vegas Raiders
Vegas came into this game with the same unbeaten record as Kansas City and a first-place spot atop the AFC West on the line. When it ended, they had a loss and fell to second place. Kansas City came away with a 30-27 win, and a lot of that was thanks to the 177 rush yards and two touchdowns from Kenneth Walker. It was coaching decisions that cost Vegas here. Thanks to Matt Gay hitting a field goal on a 4th and 7 to take a 16-10 lead to start the second half, Vegas took a gamble. Kansas City got called for illegal formation and led to a 4th and 2 for Vegas later in the game. Vegas decided to go for it instead of taking the chip shot kick and the points. Kansas City blew the paly up, forcing Cousins to a check down which went nowhere and gave Kansas City back. He also mishandled a 4th and 1 late in the game. Two fourth down mismanaged calls lead to KC coming away with the win. One play he took points off the board when he shouldn't have. Then he had a chance top a field goal when he had a shot to convert on 4th and 1. It was poor play calling.

Best: Kyle Monangai, Running Back Chicago Bears
Have yourself a day young man. Chicago was going in against a Jets defense that hadn't given up a ton of big plays this year. Sunday in a 23-12 loss to the Bears, they did. And a lot of it was thanks to the running of Kyle Monangai. He as the 2nd man on the Bears depth chart at running back, he went to have himself a day. D'Andre Swift fumbled at one point and was limited to just 5 carries because of it. Kyle got more touches and made the most of it. Monangai ended up getting 30 carries for 146 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Those 146 yards were the second-best running performance in the league this week, behind only the 177 yards from Kenneth Walker III of Kansas City. Those 146 yards for Kyle were his new career high mark. For a second round pick, it was the 2nd time this year he's ran for 100 or more yards. He's really making a name for himself and making it a pretty even balance with him and Swift getting touches.

Worst: Beno Smith, Quarterback New York Jets
We just touched on this above with the Jets loss to the Bears. Sure, Monangai had himself a day, but the Jets defense managed to be able keep the Jets in the game. it was the offense that failed the Jets here. Mostly Geno Smith. What the Jets had seen out of Geno the first three weeks kind of reminded the fans why the Jets took him in the 2nd round and showed flashes that he could be a solid QB. What we saw against the Bears was a different story. To be fair, not having Breece Hall and a solid running game didn't make this day any easier. But Geno didn't show those same flashes we saw the first couple of games. He went just 8 of 15 for 119 yards and a touchdown. That touchdown, which was a 58 yard strike to Isaih Willaims when the game was already out of hand, accounted for a big chunk of his passing yards on the day. Look the Jets weren't expected to be good this season, but if they don't want to look like total garbage, Geno needs to return to the first three weeks form.

Best: Will Reichard, Kicker Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota managed to stay undefeated this week, beating the hapless Dolphins 15-10. In a game that featured a solid performance from TJ Hockenson having 119 yards on 13 catches, he wasn't able to find the endzone. The big story of this day was Will Reichard, the Vikings kicker. He provided all the scoring for Minnesota on this day, going five for five kicking field goals. The longest one of the day was from 50 yards out. Oh yeah, Reichard has accounted for 35 of the Vikings 47 points since week two. And to make this better, he hasn't missed a kick since October of last year. That was having a day and helping keep the Vikings at an unbeaten record.

Worst: Cincinnati Bengals Running Game
It seemed like only one part of the Bengals offensive gameplan decided to show up on Sunday. Cincinnati fell to Jacksonville 22-17, dropping their record to 2-2 on the year. Joe Burrow did all that he could to keep the Bengals in the game. he threw for 428 yards. At the same time he had to throw 54 passes, completing 39 of them. Why is that? Because the Bengals running game did NOTHING. As a team, the had 15 carries for 23 yards. Burrow completed more passes than the Bengals had rush yards. There was barely using the run game, and then there was this. It was total abandoning the run game. There's a lot of potential in Cincinnati to do something this season, but if that is to be realized, they have to use the running game more.

Great Eight Makes His Mark

We all knew this kind of announcement would come. It's just a matter of when. That when is now. Capitals captain and the NHL's all time leading goal scorer, Alex Ovechkin, has announced this is it. Ovechkin said that he's retiring at the end of the season, this will be the final year of his career.

Ovechkin put it out on social media today, through the team and in a letter to the fans. The statement reads as follows:

That letter came via the Washington Capitals X account.

When Ovie is done at the end of this season, no matter if its after the regular season or a Capitals playoff run, it has been one hell of a career. Over 900 regular season goals and counting for the former #1 overall pick. He will go down as the greatest goal scorer of this or any generation, until somebody comes along and breaks his records. He's got a cup, his name is all over both the Capitals and NHL record books. His play speaks for itself.

We will have more of a career wrap up for the great eight by the time he finishes his last game. Until then, lets just enjoy this wild last ride.

Best & Worst NFL Week Three

Week three has come and gone in the NFL. It turned into an interesting one for sure. We still have five teams left that are unbeaten, while five more teams are still in search of their first wins of the season. Injuries continue to pile up for quarterbacks around the league. Four other quarterbacks also had monster days, but it was in losing efforts. Dallas can't seem to get out of its own way in the 4th quarter. So lets dive right into it. Here's some of the best, and worst, from week three in the NFL!

Best: Backup Quarterbacks
Being a backup QB in the NFL seems like its a thankless job. You're stuck on the sidelines most weeks hoping to get playing time. Whenever you do, for whatever the reason, you hope to make an impact. Week three, two of them made said impact. Jameis Winston of the Giants and Marcus Mariota of the Commanders are two prime examples of backup QBN's making the most of their time. With Dart out Winston stepped in for the Giants and lead them to a 12-7 win over the Titans. He was 14 of 22 for 1128 yards, no touchdowns and no picks. Sure he was sacked three times, but he held onto the ball and made the right plays when he needed to in order to set up all those field goals. Mariotta was filling in for Daniles in Washingtons 33-31 upset win over Seattle and he was good. 19 of 31 for 183 yards and three touchdowns. He wasn't totally on point but made the big throws when he needed to. Even Case Keenum in Chicago had a big day filling in for Caleb Williams in the Bears 27-7 win over the Eagles.

Worst: Christian Parker, Defensive Coordinator Dallas Cowboys
There had been some hope in Dallas this season that having Parker in as the new defensive coordinator would be able to get the Cowboys back on the right track. Sunday against Baltimore, that didn't happen. Tie game, seven seconds left and Parker called a scheme that somehow left the Ravens best receiver Zay Flowers wide open for a 27 yard completion. Baltimore was able to stop the clock with one second left, plenty of time to kick the game winning field goal in Baltimore 34-31 win. You'd like to think that in a tie game with that little time left you wouldn't give Baltimore a shot to hook up with its best receiver with a chance to win the game. Dallas needs to get its defense figured out going forward, if they want to be able to have a chance of doing anything in this division this season.

Best: Travis Hunter Defensive Back Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville hosted the defending AFC champions on Sunday and came away putting a whooping on them. Jacksonville walked away with a 3507 win at home over New England and had quite a few big performances on the day. One guy who had an impact was Travis Hunter, the two way star who now got more snaps on the defensive side of the ball. He had his first pick in the NFL while making a play in the end zone. He was barley used on defense the first two weeks. now that he got more reps this week, he made an impact. 

Worst: Los Angeles Chargers Offense
There had been some high expectations for the Chargers this season. But seeing them starting the year off going 0-3 is well below that expectation. Now they go into Buffalo on Sunday and face a Bills team that has allowed exactly 31 points in each of its first two games. Buffalo managed to keep the Chargers in check, with the Bills coming away with a 24-16 win. And Mike McDaniel is the one to point the finger at here. This team had every chance to put up big numbers against Buffalo and totally failed to do so. Los Angeles has scored 44 points all season long, third lowest in the NFL (only New England and Miami have scored less). The Chargers kept a Super Bowl hopeful in check but couldn't capitalize on it. This is going to be a bigger uphill climb for the Chargers, as they have to play Seattle, Denver, Kansas City and the Rams over the next month.

Best: Minnesota Vikings Defense
You going into a game on Sunday against a Tampa Bay offense that has been struggling the first couple of games. And the Vikings defense made it worse on Sunday in their 23-16 win in Tampa. They held the Buccaneers in check all day long. They shut down Tampa run game, holding them to 57 rush yards on 21 carries. Oh and they also knocked around Baker Mayfield pretty good, sacking him six times and, sadly, the last one caused him a dislocated thumb. This, according to the Vikings PR department, was the sixth straight week that Minnesota has recorded at least four sacks. They were showing flashes of the old Purple People Eaters that terrorized NFL fields during the late 60s and early 70s.Oh and Minnesota has allowed just 13.7 points a game this season, the second fewest in the NFL this year. That's kind of good.

Worst: Cam Ward Quarterback Tennessee Titans
Even Cam Ward kind of said it himself after the game. He's bad. Those aren't the exact words he's used but we are changing that for the purpose of this article. We touched on it a little earlier with the Giants getting the 12-7 win against the Titans, and Ward had a bad day in this one. Ward went 23 for 36 for just 181 yards, a touchdown and a pick. Ward averaged 5 yards a pass on the day, the second time he's done that this season. The other time was the opening week loss to the Jets. For whatever reason, he isn't very good against the New York teams this year. To be fair, Ward does need a lot of help from his supporting cast, and he isn't getting it. He has gotten good protection from his line. So the play is all on him, and he even said so in the post game. He for whatever reason seems to have taken major steps backwards this season in his progression.

2026 MLB Wild Card Predictions

Postseason baseball has arrived! The 2026 Major League Baseball postseason is getting underway with the wild card round. There's quite a few stories going into this wild card round. Tampa Bay, Cleveland Milwaukee and Los Angeles all got opening round bye, right to the divisional round. Everybody else has to play three game series, if it goes full three games.

It's a marquee matchup in one round with the Sox and Yankees, both Chicago ballclubs have made the playoffs this year, the fourth time ever that's happened (1906, 2008, 2020 and this year). We have another big divisional matchup in the wild card with Atlanta and Philadelphia facing off on the NL side of things.

So here's how we see the wild card series going down,

Philadelphia Phillies vs. Atlanta Braves (September 29th-October 1st 2PM start times)
NL East battle between the Braves and Phillies start things off, the 4th time ever both teams have squared off in the post season. Philly had won all three previous meetings. During the regular season, Atlanta won 9 of the 13 meetings. Have to give full credit where its due to the Phillies for being able to even make the playoffs after getting off to a ten game losing streak early in the season and changing managers. Sure they played good ball at the right time at the end of the year, but they are facing a Braves team that had been running the East from wire to wire this year. It will go the full three games but Atlanta has the more balanced lineup to take the series and move on.

Pick: Braves in three!

Chicago Cubs vs San Diego Padres (September 29th-Ostober 1st 10PM start times)
For the second time ever, the Cubs and Padres square off in the playoffs. San Diego won the first meeting in 1985 and the Cubs won the series last year. During the regular season this year, the Cubs won five of the six meetings, including two of the three games in San Diego. Yes, San Diego had the better record this year and had a great month of September. Chicago had stumbled a little bit going down the stretch which makes one nervous going into it. Even with PCA playing at the MVP level he played at this season, its going to come up short.

Pick: Padres in three!

Chicago White Sox vs. Houston Astros (September 29th-October 1st 5PM start time)
For the third time ever, Houston and Chicago are squaring off. Chicago won the 2005 world series, Houston won the 2021 ALDS. Chicago is one of the feel good stories in baseball. They made the playoffs for the first time since the 2021 series we talked about. This was the first time that the White Sox have had since 2022, and considering the losses they've racked up the last three years this is an awesome story. We all know the playoffs are a totally different animal than the regular season. Houston won the division with a .500 record, while Chicago got in six games over .500. Both teams stumbled a little down the stretch, but its the playoffs and its a different animal. Houston has the deeper playoff experience than this White Sox club, but Chicago is going to make it interesting.

Pick: Astros in three!

Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees (September 29th-October 1st 8PM start times)
One of the oldest rivalries in baseball square off again in the post season. This will be the 7th playoff meeting between the teams. New York won seven of the thirteen meetings between the two during the regular season. This is probably the most even matchup of the playoffs with both teams having no problem being able to drive in runs. What its going to come down to is the pitching staff, and the starters for the Yankees are just disgustingly good.

Pick: Yankees in three!

2026-27 NHL Season Preview

The time is here, it's now! The 2026-27 National Hockey League Season has arrived! Over the course of the next six months, 1,344 total games will be played. By the time all of that is said and done, there will be sixteen teams left standing. At the end of that time, one team will walk away holding hockey's holy grail: The Stanley Cup! 

There's been a couple of changes that have been made to the NHL this season under the new CBA. First is the number of games played. The preseason went from six games down to four. The regular season went up from 82 games to 84 on the year. Doing that was done to add a couple of more divisional games during the course of the regular season. Also, another change of note is that each team will now have a their own EBUG (Emergency Back-Up Goaltender). Prior to this, home teams provided the EBUG for games. Now every team will have an emergency goalie at all times and will have non player team duties.

There's a lot of new faces in new places, both as far as players go and the men behind the bench. Factoring all that in and based on what the teams did, here's how we see the 2026-27 National hockey League Season going down.

Western Conference:
Central Division
1. Colorado Avalanche 120 Points*
2. Dallas Stars 117 Points*
3. Minnesota Wild 100 Points*
4. Utah Mammoth 94 Points*
5. St Louis Blues 88 Points
6. Nashville Predators 86 Points
7. Winnipeg Jets 85 Points
8. Chicago Blackhawks 78 points

Another year, another division title for the best team in the West, the Avalanche. Colorado brought in some added depth down the middle by adding Vinnie Hinostroza to what is already a deep position. The Avs know that the window might be closing, but they have the core locked up for some time. What might keep the Avs back a little is in net. Scott Wedgwood has been good but has only got one year left on his deal. Enter Mackenzie Blackwood as the other netminder. If the two of them can keep pucks out of the net enough to allow the skaters to do their thing, this is going to be another good year in Colorado. Last season, the Stars were within striking distance of the division title. This year its going to be more of the same, but the window is closing in big D. After this season, Dallas is looking at quite a few of their big guns hit the market in free agency. Half of their starting defense and five of their top forwards are on the final year of deals, so I can see some big expectations in Dallas for being able to get the most out of the group that's here. They can put the puck in the net with Rantanen, Robertsn and Seguin, and the defense should hold up well. But they still aren't as deep as the team ahead of them in the standings. Another team that's in the same boat as Dallas are going to be the Wild. Minnesota is a good team that's got its tippy top players locked up long term, but their supporting guns are on the final year of deals, and they hope to get the most out of them for a deep run. Goaltending is going to be an interesting case in Minnesota. Both Jesper Wallstedt and Calivn Pickard are on the last year of deals, so both could expect to have solid seasons. At the same time, as good as both are, the two teams ahead of them have better depth in goal. Still with everything said, Minnesota has enough talent to gobble up points and get into the post season. After getting into the post season a year ago, the Mammoth are good enough to get back there or at least make another push to get to that level. Utah got deeper down the middle in the offseason, adding Vincent Trocheck and Andres Lee. Core group has been built and will be here in Uta for quite some time now. Theya re going to get better as time goes along.  Big question is can Karel Vejmelka build off the 39 win performance he had last season. If he can do that, then Utah will be making even bigger strides going forward as far as being a contending team is going to be concerned.

An interesting team to look at in this division are going to be the Blues.  St Louis has a good mix of young talent and veterans. What has me concerned is the depth as far as long term contracts are concerned. Goaltending is OK between Hofer and Binnington, but both guys are on the final year of deals. Half the defense is locked up long term, but outside some of the core forward group the same can't be said. They have a chance to be able to put the puck in the net, but the eye test says they are a middle of the road team. Following them up will be the Predators. Nashville is going to be set in goal for some time with Saros patrolling the crease. IF they can stay healthy the blue line looks like it could be decent, and they got half the core on the last year of deals. They lost Evanaglista in a trade, and the top two lines shouldn't have a problem putting the puck in the back of the net. it's the depth behind them that leave something to be desired. Relying on the same core group is fine, but with how top heavy this division is, its going to be tough to be a playoff team. A small part of me feels bad for the Jets, who are trying to find out what to do with Connor Hellybuck. You know bringing in a guy like Jeff Skinner to Winnipeg is making a statement that they're gearing up to move on in net. To be fair, Winnipeg has some pieces that can score, and they have them locked in for a long time. Its again a depth thing that's going to possibly be a thing for the Jets. Last but not least, we have the Blackhawks, who are still trying to rebuild around their new captain in Conor Bedard. But Bedard is going to miss the first four months of the season due to shoulder injury. This is why bringing Patrick Kane back to Chicago is going to be an even bigger move. It brings in drawing power and Kane still has a little gas left in the tank to fill up the opposing nets. But there are still too many other holes to fill in Chicago before they can be back to being a long term threat in this division.

Pacific Division:
1. Vegas Golden Knights 118 Points*
3. Edmonton Oilers 114 Points*
3. Los Angeles Kings 109 Points*
4. Anaheim Ducks 96 Points*
5. Seattle Kraken 89 Points
6. San Jose Sharks 86 Points
7. Calgary Flames 79 Points
8. Vancouver Canucks 60 Points

Whatever they are putting in the water bottles for the Golden Knights it has been working. Vegas will be back on top of the division again this year and why not. Its one more year in net for Carter Hart, and if that doesn';t work, they still have Aiden Hill long term. The defense is going to be together for a long time, as is most of the forward group. They have the same group that went all the way to the finals last year, so what's to say that they can't do it again in the West? They have the talent, now it just comes down to if new coach Ryan Craig can get the most out of this group in order to be able to run it back. When you have the best player in the world, there's always a chance for the Oilers to have a good run. Edmonton still has its core intact, as a whole, for the next two seasons at least. Darnell Nurse is no longer here, and Edmonton tried to address an issue in net getting Devon Levi. But what they have in goal could still be holding Edmonton back. They're good but not great. Same thing can apply to the blueline, its good but not great. They have the offensive firepower to fill the opposing net. They can keep pace with the top of the division but it's not enough to go on a really deep run until they can figure out their goaltending. The biggest change that was made with the Kings from last season was the retirement of Anze Kopitar. Los Angeles has added some depth pieces to surround Adrian Kempe, but with that being said, its not going to be enough to really make noise. And sure, I have them as a third place team, but looking at it on paper that maybe a little too high a placement. They have solid goaltending, but both Kuemper and Forsberg are only here for this season, so its not a long-term answer between the pipes. Could something be a surprise in Los Angeles sure. But don't get your hopes up too high,. We stay that far west and going with the Ducks to also be able to get into the playoffs this year. Anaheim has a sly deep team that's got a year or two window to make a title run. They locked up Carlsson and Gauthier long term, and the depth pieces could be there, but it won't be a long term solution. Anaheim has pieces that MIGHT be able to surprise some.

Next up we go with the Kraken who seem to be making steps in the right directions. Seattle has their best players like Matty Beniers and Joey Daccord locked up long term. They still trying to figure out getting a few more right pieces put in place to help Seattle get over the hump. Seattle has a few pieces that could make some noise in the West, but its not enough to really be a playoff team. Now we have a team that's going to be taking a big step forward in the Sharks. They got Macklin Celebrini locked up to a long term deal, along with Mason Marchment. You have good young talent in net in Yaroslav Askarov. There's plenty of talent in goal with him, but he's only on a one year deal which is going to make this run an interesting one. San Jose defense got a big boost adding in Darnell Nurse and Jacob Truba. There's pieces here, now can they build off it? Another team that's north of the boarder that's trying to figure things out are the Flames. They are hoping to have a successful year in the final year in the Saddledome in Calgary. They are going to be set in goal with Dustin Wolf for quite some time. They also got the blueline set for some time too with Bahl and Nemec locked up long term. The only thing that could be holding Calgary back is scoring depth. They have a good two year window left with Backlound signed, but the depth there long term isn't there just yet in Calgary. Last but not least is the Canucks. It's going to be another interesting year in Vancouver. Sure they got DeBrusk and Petterson around for the long haul, where are a couple of good pieces to be able to build around. They still trying to figure out what to do in net until Demko comes back if he ever does.

Eastern Conference:
Atlantic Division
1. Montreal Canadiens 111 Points*
2. Buffalo Sabres 108 Points*
3. Tampa Bay Lightning 104 Points*
4. Florida Panthers 103 Points*
5. Toronto Maple Leafs 100 Points*
6. Ottawa Senators 96 Points
7. Boston Bruins 90 Points
8. Detroit Red Wings 86 Points

For the first time in ten years, the Canadiens will lay claim to a division title. And why not, considering they went all the way to the conference finals a season ago. There were a few minor role players brought into the mix, but its the Montreal core that is going to carry them again. Caufield, Slafkovsky, Demidov, Hutsonm Dobson, Dobes all locked up for a long time in Montreal. The core is there for the Canadiens is going to be a tough one to deal with for a long time in this division. Right behind them are going to be the Sabres, who it feels like started to turn a corner last season. Buffalo has the young core up front to put the puck in the net, lead by Tage Thompson. The biggest hit buffalo took was the loss of Alex Tuch in the offseason. But the Sabres still have a good core up front and are lead on the back end by Dahlin, Samuelsson and Power. What worries me in Buffalo is in goal. Lukkonen and Lyon are both decent goalies, but neither one has really stepped up as the guy in Western New York. if one of them can do it this season, then there is a much higher ceiling for Buffalo. Then there is a perennial threat in this division in the Lightning. They still have one of the top three players on the planet right now in Nikita Kucherov, but he's on the final year of his contract and it could be a long offseason next year if he isn't brought back. Tampa took a step back this offseason, losing both Darrin Radysh and Nick Paul in trades, but did bring in John Carlson and Jeffrey Veil to fill those roles. Tampa has a mix of solid top six forwards and role players. It also helps they still have one of the best goalies in the world in their nets in Andrei Vasilevesky. Then we got a team that's going to make things more interesting this year, that being the Panthers. Difference between last years club and this years is the fact that the big boys are healthy all year. Barkov is back and healthy, so is Matthew Tkachuk. And it going to make things even tougher this year, with Matthew's brother Brady added into the lineup from a trade. Brad Marchand will be missing a little time at the start of the season due to injury. For as much talent as Florida has, what's going to hold them back this year is in net. Bobrovsky isn't there anymore, he's in Toronto. So to replace him in the nets they have Jacob Markstrom and Akira Schmid. Both solid goalies but a step down from the talent they had. Everything being combined, the Panthers will be back in the playoffs.

A team that seems to be in flux going into this season is going to be the Maple Leafs. Toronto got its improvement in goal getting Bobrovsky. They added to their defense with Darrin Raddysh and signed to a long term deal. They also got a new weapon up front in the form of top overall pick Gavin McKenna. The top scorers are in place, but the depth up front leaves one to wonder if they have the horses to get to the playoffs. Then we have an interesting case in the Senators. Ottawa traded their captain to south Florida. They still have a couple young guns in place to build around in Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson as well as Jake Sanderson on the back line. Ullmark is once again going to be counted on in net, and if he can keep it up in Ottawa, the Sens might be ok. Problem is the top of this division is just so heavy that the Sens don't have the depth to really be able to keep up here. Then we have the Bruins, who still rely on a healthy serving of Pasta. Pastrrnak and Lindoholm are going to be powering the offense and Boston is hoping that Morgan Geekie can repeat his performances from a season ago and even build on it. Boston has the same kind of problem that Ottawa does. They have talented pieces in place, but compared to the rest of the division, they aren't as deep to really be able to contend for a playoff spot. Finally, we have the Red Wings, who are going to be bringing up the rear here. Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond are going to be counted on to produce, but with what's been going on with Dylan Larkin is going to possibly cause headache in Detroit. They have quite a few guys in this lineup who are also on the final year of contracts, so its going to make for an interesting season. Because if things don't look like they are going to work out inn Detroit, expect quite a bit of player movement going into the deadline.

Metropolitan Division
1. Carolina Hurricanes 115 Points*
2. Philadelphia Flyers 100 Points*
3. Washington Capitals 98 Points*
4. New Jersey Devils 96 points
5. New York Islanders 95 Points
6. Pittsburgh Penguins 90 Points
7. New York Rangers 86 Points
8. Columbus Blue Jackers 79 Points\

Staying on top of this division are going to be the defending champions the Hurricanes. Carolina core from last years title team is back in tact and are going to be here for quite some time. One big piece that's not here is Freddy Andersen. He left over the summer, but with Brandon Busi playing the way he did, Carolina still feels confident in net. Losing Andersen is the biggest piece that has changed in Carolina. Everybody else is back in place. For that there's little to no reason to feel that the Carolina can't walk away with the division title again. One team that's going to be quite a surprise this season is a re-tooled Flyers club. It starts in net with the play of Dan Vladar who can, and will, build off what he was able to do a season ago and is going to be here for quite some time. He, Tyson Foerster and Trevor Zegras were all locked up to solid extensions, meaning they have solid pieces they can build around in Philly. There's plenty of talent in the city of brotherly love and its going to lead to a solid run this year.  Behind them, looking for one last run at a playoff spot with who's in the lineup, are going to be the Capitals. Washington just missed out on the playoffs a season ago, but they manage to sneak in this year. And why not give it one final shot for Alex Ovechkin to make a run at a title. They brought in Jordan Kyrou and Alex Tuch and added them to long term deals. They are trying a rebuild, or retooling, in Washington for when Alex finally calls it a career, and adding those two guys into the mix is a big move. Then we have an interesting case in the Devils. New Jersey added a big depth scoring piece with getting Luke Evangelista via trade. Bringing him in adds another weapon to go along with Bratt Huges and Hischier. There's the talent on this New Jersey team that can possibly surprise people and come close to making a big playoff push or at least come close to it.

A team that is on the fence of whether or not they have turned a corner are the Islanders. New York now has a fresh start with new coach Peter DeBore, and are coming off a strong rookie of the year season for Matthew Schafer. The rest of the blue line is locked up for a long time and if everybody stays healthy they could be good., What leaves me worried is can the offense pout the puck in the back of the net? A few key offensive pieces are on the final year of the deal this year and there's a few pieces who you really wonder if and when they are even going to show up and deliver for this team. Behind them are going to be the Penguins. Pittsburgh once again is going to have a problem in net. Arturs Silovs and Sergei Murashov are both on the final year of deals and neither one screams savior in the Pittsburgh nets. Also on the final year of deals are Crosby and Malkin. Doesn't look like they really have guys in place yet to fully replace that core to take over when they are done. It's finally catching up to the Penguins this season. Things won't be as cheery for the Rangers this season either. They just brought Pavel Dorofyev in on a trade and inked him to a long term deal. They have a couple pieces in place long term, including Lafrenier, Gavrikov, Fox and Shesterkin, but at the same time it feels like they are trying to rebuild too. As good as the Rangers seem to be, they still feel like they're a little way away from challenging again. Finally, bringing up the rear in this division are going to be the Blue Jackets. The biggest thing of note Columbus did was bringing in Valeri Nichushkin and they have him and Sean Monahan on long term deals, but the depth around them is lacking. And its obvious compared to the rest of this division. Defense could be solid for another year or two but there's not much there.

Best & Worst NFL Week Two

Week two has come and gone in the NFL. This week had a little bit of everything. We went from a high flying offense in Chicago in the opener to that same offense disappearing. There're still a few teams that can't for whatever reason, figure out how to hang onto the football. And there's still other teams who the more things change the more they stay the same, looking at you New York Jets. And at the same time, injuries might be starting to pile up around the league as well. So week two saw an interesting mix of good bad and everything in between. Here's some of the best, and worst, from week two.

Best: Brian Flores, Defensive Coordinator Minnesota Vikings
When we saw the Bears put up 59 yards in their week one, we thought this was turning a corner in Chicago. Then, in week two, they ran into Brian Flores in Minnesota. The Vikings held Chicago to just three points in a 9-3 Minnesota win. Sure, Minnesota offense wasn't great with Carson Wentz under center. But what Flores was able to do was sort of a master class at shut down defense. Chicgao's offense was held to 297 yards (compared to 552 against Carolina in week one). And they couldn't really find any solid mojo against wat the Vikings were doing. It made the day worse when Cicago saw Caleb Williams get carted off the field with an injury. By then the game had already kind of been decided. Still, it was a day for Flores to showcase what he could do as a coach, and it worked.

Worst: Aaron Rogers, Quarterback Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh suffered its first loss of the season, falling 20-3 to New England. Aaron Rogers got luck in the fat that they faced a bad Atlanta team week one. In week two he saw a angry Patriots team and it did not end well. He coughed up the ball after getting sacked and it was returned for a touchdown to put the nail in the coffin for the afternoon. His final passing numbers on the day looked pedestrian at best. 23 of 39 for 187 yards, was picked off once, sacked four times and lost the football that lead to the final score. Having a day like this is going to be a problem for the Steelers. They can't turn into a pass happy team with Rogers being what he is at his age, it just isn't going to work.

Best: Tyler Shough, Quarterback New Orleans Saints
Opening week, the Saints came up just short in a rally attempt against Detroit. Week two, same thing happened, except this time, they were able to finish the job. After being down 14-3 late in the first half, New Orlans managed to rally to a 24-17 win In Baltimore. A lot of that had to do with the play of Tyler Shough. Yes the defense played a factor, picking off Lamra Jackson late in the game, which lead to the final scoring play for the Saints. But it was also the arm, and legs of Shough that really propelled getting it done. He threw for 252 yards and a touchdown, as well as 23 yards rushing. The final yard of that was on the game winning score in the 4th. It was an all around performance in leading New Orlenas and showing that they could be a decent team to contend with here in the NFC South.

Worst: Aaron Glenn, Head Coach New York Jets. After be
Coming from a Jets fan I almost feel bad for Aaron Glenn, but what I saw on Sunday it seems like Same Old Jets. The Jets lost 20-17 in Overtime to Green Bay, and this was after having a ten point lead in the 4th quarter. Part of what makes you scratch your head with Glenn and his play calling was going for runs on both third and fourth down in the 4th quarter and the game tied at 17. It showed either little faith in the pass game, or overconfidence in the run game. The run game on Sunday was non existent as compared to what they did in week one. If things don't start turning around for the Jets for the season, things might not last for Glenn being a head coach.

Best: Ja'Marr Chase, Wide Receiver Cincinnati Bengals
In the Bengals opener, Chase was quiet by his standards. In Week two's 20-6 win over Houston, Chase seemed to wake up again. It wasn't a high flying record setting day for receivers on the day, that was Devante Adams. But Chase still had a good day in his own right. Seven catches for 75 yards and a pair of touchdowns to power the Bengals to the win in Houston. Sure Higgins had twenty more receiving yards, but Chase day was a big one for this reason. it was a massive improvement over his week one performance. It didn't set the world on fire yet, but it was a good sign that he can still be a big threat in this league.

Worst: DeMeco Ryans, Head Coach Houston Texans
There are a few coaches who are in the hot seat because they are bad coaches. Then there's DeMeco Ryans. His Houston Texans fall to 0-2 on the year thanks to that loss to the Bengals we just talked about. His offense, for the life of them, cannot get anything going. And he's on his second offensive coordinator in as many years. It's not just the OC's fault. The Texans are a bad team. No offensive line play, a nonexistent running game, CJ Stroud still keeps collapsing in big moments. It just seems like it keeps happening over and over again, blaming the same problems in Houston. As much of a defensive great Ryans was in Houston, it just isnt translating well to him being a head coach.

Milestone Blast in Queens

For the first seven years of his Major League career, Pete Alonso was the power hitting staple in the lineup for the New York Mets. He's the franchise all-time home run leader. Before the start of this season, Pete left the Mets and signed on to play with the Baltimore Orioles. When this season started, Pete needed 36 home runs to reach the 300 mark for his career. Last night, he reached that mark.

And he did it in the most almost ironic way possible. Game tying shot, in Queens no less.

With the O's down 3-2 in the 9th, Alonso smacked a pitch from Kodai Senga into the left field season for a no doubter 44 foot shot to tie the game at three. The crowd gave him such an ovation, Pete actually gave a curtain call. Baltimore went on to come away with a 7-5 win in 11 innings.

Alosno became the 171st member of the 300-home run club in Major League history with his game tying home run. It was a career highlight for one of the prolific home run hitters of his time and generation. And he's still got a lot more left in the tank. We could be talking soon about him joining the 400 club or more by the time all is said and done for Pete. It was a huge moment for one of the best hitters in the game of baseball. Alonso became the third player to hit his 300th home run against a team for whom he played in 1,000 or more games. Willie Horton hit No. 300 with the Seattle Mariners against the Detroit Tigers in 1979, and Torii Hunter did so for the Tigers against the Minnesota Twins in 2013.

Now, as for the fans reaction. The game was meaningless for the Mets last night, as they had been eliminated from playoff contention losing the night before. So the game meant absolutely nothing. Alonso was a beloved figure in New York. He was one of the most popular players in Mets history. He's the all time leader in home runs. Fans didn't want to see him leave over the winter, but he did. So the fact that Pete hit such a milestone home run was a huge moment and the fans showed their appreciation in kind. The reaction from people outside of the Mets fandom have been getting on Mets fans case for how they've reacted to Pete the last couple of days. I doubt that other fans wouldn't have done the same thing that Mets fans did the last few days.

Now as a Mets fan, I do think the reaction might have been different had the Mets been a playoff team instead of now twelve games under .500 with a week and a half to go in the regular season., If they were still fighting for either a playoff spot or the division title, I don't think Pete gets as many ovations as he has over the last couple of days, because the game would have been important. But it was a meaningless game for the Mets in late September and it was a huge moment for a guy who was loved when he played here. So the reaction was deserved from the fanbase.