Sports
Jackets, Wings ready to bring state rivalry to Ohio Stadium
The Ohio State Buckeyes and the Indiana Hoosiers play during the fourth quarter of a NCAA Division I football game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. The second-largest crowd in NHL history is expected Saturday night when the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry moves to the ice for an NHL Stadium Series matchup between the Detroit Red Wings and the host Columbus Blue Jackets at Ohio Stadium.
More than 90,000 fans are projected for the contest that features two teams in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race. The NHL attendance record is 105,491 for the 2014 Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium that featured a 3-2 shootout victory by the Toronto Maple Leafs over the Red Wings.
The Michigan-Ohio State rivalry is considered one of the most bitter in college football and has produced the eventual national champion each of the last two seasons. The most recent matchup on Nov. 30 at Ohio Stadium, which was won 13-10 by the Wolverines, featured a postgame brawl when Michigan players attempted to plant their flag at midfield and were confronted by Ohio State players. Police had to deploy pepper spray in an attempt to stop the melee.
So expect there to be a high-charged atmosphere for Saturday’s contest.
“These are hallowed grounds in Columbus, so to be out here and playing hockey is going to be neat,” Blue Jackets center Sean Kuraly, who grew up in the Columbus suburb of Dublin attending Buckeyes football games at “The Shoe,” told NHL.com after surveying the rink layout earlier this week.
It will be the second half of a home-and-home between the Blue Jackets and Red Wings. Columbus, behind two goals by James van Riemsdyk and a goal by Kuraly, won the first one 5-2 on Thursday in Detroit.
The game has significant ramifications for the Eastern Conference playoff race. Detroit, fourth in the Atlantic Division, holds the first wild-card spot with 66 points while Columbus, fourth in the Metropolitan Conference, also moved up to 66 points with the win Thursday and holds the second wild-card spot.
“The games are very meaningful,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said prior to Thursday’s loss. “Outdoor just adds a lot more drama to it, but on Sunday when we all wake up, the actual hockey part of it — the points and what comes out of it — will be the most important.”
Detroit took a 1-0 lead on Alex DeBrincat’s 27th goal of the season 27 seconds into the second period on Thursday but Columbus answered with four consecutive goals, including two by van Riemsdyk, later in the period. J.T. Compher cut the Columbus lead to 4-2 with a power-play goal but Kirill Marchenko sealed the win with an empty-netter with 57 seconds to go.
“We had a lot of chances in the first period and didn’t get anything,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. “Instead of getting frustrated, we used that for momentum.”
Boone Jenner, who missed the first 56 games of the season with a shoulder injury, had three assists for the Blue Jackets and now has five assists in his first three games back.
Compher, who had his sixth multi-point game of the season with a goal and an assist, starred for the University of Michigan before being drafted by Buffalo in the 2013 NHL Draft. He said he was looking forward to the rematch in Ohio Stadium.
“(Friday) is the day for fun — skating with the family, seeing the rink for the first time and enjoying it,” Compher said. “When we get to Saturday, it’s normal routine. We know what’s at stake and how important every point is, so when Saturday comes around it’ll be about executing our game plan to the best of our ability.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Riyadh storms back, improves to 3-0 at Call of Duty Stage 4 qualifying
Tyler Hawkins, a member of the Tallahassee Community College esports team, plays Call of Duty Vanguard to kick start the season Monday, Oct. 3, 2022.
Tcc Esports061
A day after the Los Angeles Thieves improved to 3-0 at Call of Duty League Stage 4 Major qualifying, the Riyadh Falcons appeared doomed in their bid to match on Sunday.
But down 2-1, the Falcons rallied to win the final two maps and win 3-2 in the final of three Week 2 matches played on the day. The three remaining winless teams entering the day played in the day’s other two matches, with the Toronto KOI beating Cloud9 New York 3-2 in a battle of teams looking for their first win and the Paris Gentle Mates downing Vancouver 3-0 to knock the Surge to 0-3.
The 12 Call of Duty League teams are playing five qualifying matches apiece to determine seeding for the fourth major of the season to be held June 25-28 at Nanterre, France. Each team receives 10 CDL points for each win. Qualifying resumed Friday after last week’s Stage 4 Minor won by the Thieves.
In the first match of the day, Toronto opened with a 250-223 win on Den Hardpoint but Cloud9 answered with back-to-back narrow wins — 6-5 on Den Search and Destroy and 3-2 on Den Overload. The KOI won 250-158 on Gridlock Hardpoint to even the match and then took the deciding map 6-5 on Gridlock Search and Destroy. Tobias “CleanX” Juul Jønsson led the KOI with a match-high 92 kills.
Next, Paris jumped all over Vancouver and never let up, winning 250-149 on Sake Hardpoint, 6-3 on Hacienda Search and Destroy, and 7-0 on Exposure Overload. Joseph “JoeDeceives” Romero dominated the short match, posting 67 kills in the win.
When Riyadh opened with a 250-200 win on Sake Hardpoint, it looked like a second 3-0 team would be a lock. But the Royal Ravens answered with a 6-2 win on Hacienda Search and Destroy and 5-2 victory on Gridlock Overload to put the Falcons on the ropes. They got off the ropes with a 250-112 win on Colossus Hardpoint then delivered the knockout blow on Den Search and Destroy, winning 6-3. Three of the four Riyadh players reached the 80-kill mark (with the fourth finishing with 79).
McArthur “Cellium” Jovel led all players with 87 kills in the win.
Play resumes next Friday with the third and final week of qualifying.
–Riyadh Falcons vs. FaZe Vegas
–Los Angeles Thieves vs. Cloud9 New York
–Paris Gentle Mates vs. Boston Breach
Call of Duty League Stage 4 Major qualifying standings, with match record and map differential:
1. Riyadh Falcons, 3-0, +5
2. Los Angeles Thieves, 3-0, +3
3. Boston Breach, 3-1, +4
4. G2 Minnesota, 2-1, +2
5. Paris Gentle Mates, 2-2, +2
6. Carolina Royal Ravens, 2-2, 0
7. OpTic Texas, 2-2, +4
8. Miami Heretics, 1-2, -2
9. FaZe Vegas, 1-2, -2
10. Toronto KOI, 1-2, -4
11. Cloud9 New York, 0-3, -5
12. Vancouver Surge, 0-3, -7
–Field Level Media
Sports
Hurricanes’ Jordan Staal wins 2026 Conn Smythe Trophy
Jun 14, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Carolina Hurricanes center Jordan Staal (11) raises the the Stanley Cup after the win against the Vegas Golden Knights in game six of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images Carolina captain Jordan Staal was voted the 2026 Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the most valuable player in the playoffs following the Hurricanes’ Stanley Cup-clinching 3-0 Game 6 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights Sunday evening in Las Vegas.
Staal, 37, had scored goals in five straight games coming into the deciding contest, tying a Stanley Cup Final record which had stood for 70 years.
He had six goals in the finals overall and two goals in previous rounds, which coupled with his four assists gave him 12 points during his team’s championship run.
Staal became the oldest player to ever win the award.
“I learned a lot about perseverance and trusting God,” Staal said in a postgame interview. “It’s been such a grind.
“I just wanted to win so bad.”
In his 14th season with the Hurricanes after six seasons with Pittsburgh, Staal totaled 36 points (20 goals) during the 2025-26 regular season.
The center won his second Stanley Cup, 17 years after his first. That gap marked the largest in NHL history.
“This is something I’ve been going after ever since we got the first one,” Staal said in the postgame broadcast. “You want to win it again and again and again.”
Selected by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, the Smythe award is named for former Toronto Maple Leafs coach, manager, president and owner-governor Conn Smythe.
The Florida Panthers’ Sam Bennett was the 2025 winner of the award. Prior to that in 2024, the Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid became just the sixth player to ever win the award playing for the finals loser.
Previous notable winners include Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby — each of whom won the award twice) — Patrick Roy (the only three-time winner), Steve Yzerman and Alex Ovechkin.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Forget 2026 … Hurricanes favored to win it all in 2027
Jun 14, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour celebrates holding the Stanley Cup after the win against the Vegas Golden Knights in game six of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images After completing one of the most dominant runs in Stanley Cup playoff history in Las Vegas on Sunday, the Carolina Hurricanes found themselves atop another list synonymous with Sin City.
The betting odds.
Shortly after the Hurricanes defeated the host Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 to win the Stanley Cup Final in six games, the oddsmakers placed Carolina as the early favorite to win the Cup next season.
DraftKings put the Hurricanes at +700 (a winning bet would return $7 for every $1 wagered), slightly ahead of the Colorado Avalanche (+800) and then the Golden Knights (+850). They are the only teams with odds better than +1000.
If the Hurricanes were to repeat, they would do so on the heels of the Florida Panthers, who won the Cup in each of the previous two seasons. Another team in the Southeast — the Tampa Bay Lightning — won back-to-back Cups in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.
A repeat would also make the Hurricanes the fourth team in the last 12 years to go back-to-back, as the Pittsburgh Penguins lifted the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017.
The Hurricanes need just 19 games to run through the playoffs, sweeping the Ottawa Senators in the first round and the Philadelphia Flyers in the second before dropping the first game of the Eastern Conference finals to the Montreal Canadiens. They responded with four straight wins, then split the first four games with Vegas before winning the final two.
The Edmonton Oilers hold the record for fewest playoff games needed to win the Cup, going 16-2 in the 1988 postseason.
DraftKings places the Panthers and Oilers at +1100 to win it all next season, followed by Tampa Bay at +1200.
DraftKings odds to win the Stanley Cup in 2027
Carolina Hurricanes (+700)
Colorado Avalanche (+800)
Vegas Golden Knights (+850)
Florida Panthers (+1100)
Edmonton Oilers (+1100)
Tampa Bay Lightning (+1200)
Minnesota Wild (+1400)
Dallas Stars (+1500)
Ottawa Senators (+1600)
Montreal Canadiens (+2200)
Buffalo Sabres (+2500)
Anaheim Ducks (+2500)
Utah Mammoth (+3000)
New Jersey Devils (+3000)
Los Angeles Kings (+3000)
Columbus Blue Jackets (+3500)
Toronto Maple Leafs (+4000)
Washington Capitals (+5000)
Philadelphia Flyers (+5000)
Pittsburgh Penguins (+5500)
Boston Bruins (+6000)
San Jose Sharks (+6500)
New York Islanders (+6500)
Winnipeg Jets (+7000)
St. Louis Blues (+7500)
New York Rangers (+8000)
Detroit Red Wings (+8000)
Nashville Predators (+10000)
Seattle Kraken (+20000)
Chicago Blackhawks (+25000)
Vancouver Canucks (+50000)
Calgary Flames (+50000)
–Field Level Media
Riyadh storms back, improves to 3-0 at Call of Duty Stage 4 qualifying
Hurricanes’ Jordan Staal wins 2026 Conn Smythe Trophy
