Sports
Avalanche look to build momentum vs. Sharks before Olympic break
Jan 25, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon (29) reacts after missing a scoring chance against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the second period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images A month ago, the Colorado Avalanche were chasing NHL history as one of the best regular-season teams, but with one game left before the Olympic break, they are struggling and feeling pressure in the standings.
Colorado is 3-5-2 in its last 10 games and is coming off its first scoreless game of the season but can enter the hiatus with some momentum when it hosts the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night.
The Avalanche still lead the league with 81 points, but the teams in second and third place are in their division — Minnesota and Dallas, which have won four and five games in a row, respectively. The Wild have 76 points and the Stars 75, narrowing the gap on Colorado in recent weeks.
Injuries have played a part, but the Avalanche did get defenseman Devon Toews back from a 12-game absence in Monday night’s 2-0 loss to Detroit, and forward Martin Necas is expected to return Wednesday night. He has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury.
Necas is second on the team with 62 points (22 goals, 40 assists), well behind Nathan MacKinnon, who has 91 points (40 goals, 51 assists). MacKinnon leads the NHL in goals and is second in points.
One bright spot for Colorado is goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood’s performance. He has allowed only one goal, making 51 saves on 52 shots in two games against the Red Wings.
“He’s stringing together some nice games here,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “He’s getting back in the swing of things. … He’s given us a chance to win every night.”
Blackwood’s former team visits on Wednesday night, led by 19-year-old Macklin Celebrini. The young center ranks fourth in the NHL with 81 points (28 goals, 53 assists) and has registered four goals and five assists in his last five games.
San Jose has struggled lately as well, having lost its last three games and four of its last six. Wednesday night will wrap up a five-game road trip and is the final of three matchups against the Avalanche this season.
The Sharks beat Colorado in overtime on Nov. 1 but were routed 6-0 in the second game on Nov. 26.
San Jose won’t have enforcer Ryan Reaves in the lineup Wednesday night after he was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. That opens a roster spot, which will likely be filled by forward Kiefer Sherwood, who would make his Sharks debut.
Sherwood (upper body) was acquired from Vancouver two weeks ago but hasn’t played since Jan. 10. Sherwood, who played 27 games for the Avalanche between 2020 and 2022, has 17 goals and six assists and is two goals away from matching his career high set last season.
San Jose is currently outside the playoff picture in the competitive Western Conference, so every point matters.
“We’ve got one game left until the (Olympics) break,” head coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “We’ve got to really zero in on the things we need to do that have made us have success up to this point.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Baylor aims to halt home woes, meets Colorado
Jan 31, 2026; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers guard Jasper Floyd (1) dribbles against Baylor Bears guard Cameron Carr (43) during the second half at Hope Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images By winning 63-53 Saturday at West Virginia, Baylor snapped a four-game losing streak.
Now comes the hard part for the Bears – winning at home.
Entering Wednesday night’s Big 12 matchup in Waco, Texas against Colorado, Baylor (12-9, 2-7 Big 12) is 0-4 in league play at Foster Pavilion. Three of those came against top-15 teams in Iowa State, Houston and Texas Tech, while the other occurred on Jan. 24 to TCU, 97-90.
“Our Big 12 schedule at home hasn’t been easy,” said Bears coach Scott Drew. “We’re not a top-10, top-15 team. At the end of the day, we’d like to get there but we’re not there.”
Baylor took serious steps in the right direction at West Virginia, particularly on defense. It limited the Mountaineers to 36% shooting from the field, including 5-of-19 from the 3-point line, and snapped their 16-game home winning streak.
Cameron Carr led the Bears with 16 points and 12 rebounds, more than offsetting his seven turnovers.
“As a coach, you want guys playing as hard as they can and leaving it all out there,” Drew said of Carr. “And he did that today.”
Carr paces Baylor with 19.4 points per game, while freshman Tounde Yessoufou scores 17.3.
Meanwhile, Colorado (13-9, 3-6) is coming off perhaps its best win of the season, an 87-61 rout of TCU on Sunday in Boulder. Sebastian Rancik came off the bench to score 17 points and lead five Buffaloes in double figures.
Colorado connected on 35 of 63 attempts from the field, including 11 of 23 3-pointers, and collected 24 assists. It was the result coach Tad Boyle desired after changing three-fifths of his starting lineup in an attempt to stop a six-game losing streak.
“We hadn’t seen that Colorado team in November, December or January but we finally saw it on February 1,” Boyle said. “I told our team better late than never on that. It just shows how good this team can be.”
Isaiah Johnson leads Colorado in scoring at 16.5 ppg.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Fanatics apologizes for Super Bowl jersey backlash
Jan 29, 2026; Santa Clara, California, USA; The Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots and the Super Bowl 60 logos on the video board at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Fanatics issued a public apology Monday night after fans complained about the rollout of Super Bowl LX merchandise for the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, with frustrations centered on jerseys selling out quickly and patched alternatives drawing scrutiny online.
In its statement, Fanatics said the matchup created “unprecedented challenges for us because of the massive surge in demand we saw from Patriots and Seahawks fans,” adding “we’ve let Patriots and Seahawks fans down with product availability — we own that and we are sorry.”
The company cited the unusual nature of the moment as the root of its supply problem, noting that both teams missed the playoffs a year ago and entered this season with long odds before making a sudden leap to the Super Bowl.
That, Fanatics said, is “an incredibly rare occurrence that led to these two fan bases buying nearly 400 percent more jerseys since Thanksgiving vs. last year.”
Even with increased orders, the company said it has struggled to keep team color jerseys in stock due to overwhelming demand, while promising that more inventory is arriving daily and that it is offering other options.
Some of those alternatives have raised quality concerns, particularly non-team-color jerseys with a Super Bowl LX patch priced at $160.
Fanatics responded, saying it “can assure you that, despite some unflattering photos, these jerseys are identical to the standard Nike replica ‘Game’ jersey — one of the highest consumer-rated items we carry built on the core template that has been unchanged since Nike took over NFL jerseys in 2012.”
Fanatics also addressed price criticism of the $130 “Game” jersey and reiterated that any dissatisfied customer can return purchases for free through its app, including orders made in stores operated by the team and the league.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Northwestern will open $862M Ryan Field Oct. 2 vs. Penn State
Nov 22, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Northwestern Wildcats head coach David Braun is seen against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the first half at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images Northwestern will host its first game at Ryan Field, its revamped football stadium that cost $862 million, in primetime on Friday, Oct. 2, when the Wildcats open Big Ten play against Penn State.
The date is notable because it will mark exactly 100 years since Northwestern played its first game at Northwestern Stadium, which was located on the same site, on Oct. 2, 1926.
Northwestern will play its first two home games of the 2026 season (vs. South Dakota State on Sept. 5 and vs. Colorado on Sept. 19) at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium, a temporary stadium where the school has hosted most of its football games over the last two seasons.
Ryan Field, which will have a capacity of 35,000 and has been billed as the largest stadium project in college football history, will host each of the Wildcats’ final five home games. That also includes games against Ball State (Oct. 10), Rutgers (Oct. 24), Iowa (Nov. 7) and the season finale vs. Illinois (Nov. 28).
Northwestern finished the 2025 season with a 7-6 record, making a bowl for the second time in three seasons under David Braun.
–Field Level Media
