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The Adirondack Thunder surpassed their win total from January, and it would take them just two days to do so. This season, slow starts have been the Thunder’s kryptonite, but on Sunday, Adirondack would get on the board first as Jackson van de Leest threw a puck towards the net that Dylan Wendt would deflect in for his sixth of the season at the 4:27 mark of the opening frame. The Thunder would have plenty of golden opportunities to double their lead as they got back-to-back 5 on 3 powerplays but couldn’t convert. Reading would get a golden chance of their own shorthanded at the 15:11 mark as Ryan Leibold got a shorthanded breakaway but would be stopped by Tyler Brennan. Adirondack would commit two penalties in the first, but it would be the second one that came back to bite them as Gianfranco Cassaro found the back of the net on the man advantage to tie the game with 1:13 left in the period as we were tied at one after one.
BRENNER BREAKAWAY SAVE @ECHL pic.twitter.com/pB2BicRBDy
— Adirondack Thunder (@ECHLThunder) February 2, 2025
As the second period began, the Thunder got a lucky bounce as Josh Fimon would hit a wide-open net just 23 seconds into the middle frame to give the Thunder a 2-1 lead. Each team would take three minor penalties in the middle frame. However, neither team could convert on the powerplays, and they’d be rewarded within the second, despite Reading appearing to have tied the game with a PP goal before the refs would call it back after further review.
In the third, it would be a scoring frenzy as the Reading Royals tied the game just 2:03 on a goal in front by Matt Miller for his third goal in as many games. It would be Deja Vu for Adirondack, as just 53 seconds after the Reading goal, T.J. Friedmann would put home a rebound to retake the lead for the Thunder. Grant Loven would score his fourth of the year at the 11:20 mark, and then it would be empty net goals from Kevin O’Neil and Andre Ghantous to secure the 6-2 win for the Thunder. Darian Skeoch would finish the night with two assists for his first points since May 27th, 2024, and first multi-point game since January 26th, 2024. Tyler Brennan would make 30 saves for his sixth win of the season in a big bounce-back game. However, the story of the night would be the special teams, as Adirondack went 0/8 on the PP while Reading went 1/8.
Adirondack will now head out West to face the Tahoe Knight Monsters for three games beginning Thursday Night in Stateline, Nevada.
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Chicago Blackhawks reportedly set to trade 25-year-old goaltender to Stars rival, Edmonton Oilers
Could this young forward answer multiple questions for the Rangers?
Through much of his time with the New York Rangers, Mika Zibanejad has been too good to be a second-line center, yet not quite a top liner for a contender. Now aging out of his prime, his play has dropped off the past two seasons, only rebounding when moved to the wing next to midseason acquisition J.T. Miller. That presents a problem for New York. The Rangers are not deep down the middle. Moving Zibanejad back to center provides that depth, putting Vincent Trochek back in his appropriate 3C role. But does Zibanejad again suffer without Miller? It also leaves the Blueshirts thin on the right side. Zibanejad can’t play two positions at once and the Rangers cannot rob Peter to pay Paul. There is a solution, however: Anaheim Ducks forward Mason McTavish. Anaheim and New York already have strong front office ties, with a pair of trades in the past eight months. The cross-continental line should be open. McTavish is precisely the player archetype that Rangers general manager Chris Drury has sought in this past year. The 22-year-old possesses good size (6-foot-1, 219 pounds) and plays with a grit that Drury adores. An old-fashioned power forward in the making, McTavish hunts bodies, making life miserable for defenders on the forecheck and finds pockets of space when off the puck, where he unloads a cannon of a shot. An all-situations player, McTavish digs in the corners and is developing nicely as an offensive driver. McTavish is a hard worker who shows leadership traits. New Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan loves to play with speed and relentless pressure, a mantra that suits McTavish down to the ground. For a second-line center, McTavish’s numbers don’t exactly pop off the page, but 52 points (22 goals) in 76 games for a bad Ducks team is nothing to sneeze at. In New York, he would also presumably get to play with Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere. Given the playmaking ability of those wingers and McTavish’s heavy shot, 30-plus goals could be on the cards. Bleacher Report has stated that the Ducks are unlikely to extend McTavish an offer sheet, instead willing to match whatever offer comes his way. Does that mean he is on the trade block? At the very least it means that Anaheim will likely be willing to listen to offers. That said, it would take an almighty package to pry the former No. 3 pick out of Orange County. The Ducks would rightly command a first-round pick — if not two — and a highly-rated prospect. New York has its own first-rounders in store, as well as a, likely, late first-rounder next year, with second-round picks each year except 2027. Would New York part with a first, a second and a pair of its top prospects? The Rangers are loaded with left wing prospects. Whilst Gabe Perrault is likely off the table, Brennan Othmann, Adam Sykora and Brett Berard should be discussed, as should defenseman E.J. Emery. Would picks and a pair of prospects be enough for Anaheim, though? Here’s a thought experiment: a deal centered around Will Cuylle. As mentioned, the Rangers have a raft of left wingers coming through and Lafreniere is also a natural left winger. Would trading Cuylle for McTavish solve the Rangers' issues at the pivot, allowing Zibanejad to help fix the right-hand side and give the team room to develop more youngsters on the left? Could this solve three issues in one swoop? It would be a, potentially, seismic move, but it might just make sense for both teams, especially if the Ducks are not looking to keep McTavish around long-term. It would complete a remarkable offseason for Drury.
WNBA All-Star Game ratings paint a troubling picture
WNBA players sent a message to the league with T-shirts they wore ahead of the All-Star Game on Saturday night, but the ratings for the game did not exactly strengthen their stance. Prior to the All-Star Game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind., Caitlin Clark and other players warmed up in shirts that said “Pay us what you owe us” across the front. The message had to do with the current state of collective bargaining agreement negotiations between the WNBA and WNBA Player’s Association. Unfortunately for the players, the television ratings for the game were not very good. Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports reported on Tuesday that the WNBA All-Star Game drew 2.19 million viewers on ABC, which was down roughly 36% from a year ago. Last year’s game featured the WNBA All-Stars against the Team USA squad that was preparing to compete in the Summer Olympics in Paris. The dip in ratings is likely another example of the type of impact Clark has had on the WNBA. Although she was a team captain for this year’s All-Star Game, Clark did not play due to a groin injury. Clark played in last year’s game for the All-Star side, as she did not make the Team USA Olympic roster. Many fans were outraged that she was snubbed from the Olympic team, which added an element of intrigue to the All-Star Game. There is no way of knowing for certain whether more fans would have watched the All-Star Game on Saturday night had Clark played. It is a safe guess, however, especially when you look at some recent trends for the league.
Is Giants' Joe Schoen already having second thoughts about Jaxson Dart, Shedeur Sanders decision?
The New York Giants were routinely linked with quarterback Shedeur Sanders leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft, but the Giants ultimately traded back into the first round to select Ole Miss signal-caller Jaxson Dart at pick No. 25. For a piece published on Monday, Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News revisited how Giants general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll ended up with Dart instead of Sanders earlier this year. "Members of the Giants’ staff had fawned over Shedeur Sanders," Leonard wrote. "Giants brass had spent a lot more time with Sanders during the fall. Then, Daboll’s increased participation after the NFL season steered the process in a different direction." Sanders allegedly had a rough visit with Daboll ahead of the draft, and a report from early May revealed that "Sanders openly acknowledged during the predraft process that he didn't hit it off with Giants coaches." A different story claimed that Schoen "shifted his preference to Dart this spring as head coach Brian Daboll warmed to Dart as a player and person and Schoen rounded out his own evaluation" before the draft got underway. That said, Schoen raised some eyebrows when he said during a May interview that he knew the club would select Dart over Sanders as of "the week of the draft." Schoen also said the decision was the result of a "collaborative process." According to Leonard, those comments were seen by some as "not exactly a firm endorsement of a player standing out above the rest" as it pertains to the quarterbacks. "...Schoen’s lukewarm rhetoric and reluctance to stick his neck out about Dart caught the attention of some people around the league," Leonard added. "And it has put the rookie in a strange position: trying to validate support that almost sounds conditional." Meanwhile, Sanders fell to the draft's fifth round before the Cleveland Browns traded up to grab him at selection No. 144. As of Monday afternoon, FanDuel Sportsbook had Sanders (+870 odds) and Dart (+1060 odds) as significant betting underdogs to serve as Week 1 starters in September. Cleveland is expected to go with Joe Flacco or Kenny Pickett for its regular-season opener, while Russell Wilson is on track to start for the Giants against the Washington Commanders on Sept. 7. In short, fans may have to wait a long time to learn if Schoen has any buyer's remorse about possibly being talked into drafting Dart when Sanders was on the board.
National ranking of top offensive triples shows the Packers might have the firepower to reach a new level in 2025
CBS Sports had a fun and valid exercise, evaluating the top QB-RB-WR triplets in the NFL. And it ended up becoming a perfect representation of what the Green Bay Packers offense is and what it can be in 2025—and beyond. The combination of Jordan Love, Josh Jacobs, and Jayden Reed was 14th in the league. You can disagree here and there, but overall it's a fair projection based on what these three players and his counterparts have shown in the NFL. But there's more intriguing elements. The highest vote for the Packers was fifth, and the lowest was 19th. That shows a high level of variance—and it can become even bigger depending on how first-round wide receiver Matthew Golden plays as a rookie. "Green Bay was actually the team with the most variance and widest disparity in rankings, which feels fitting. This team is kind of a Rorschach test. You can ascribe any belief to what happened with Jordan Love and Co. last season and have it seem right. Love struggled with injuries. Jacobs went nuts. The receivers ... were all just kind of there and vaguely productive some weeks and very much not in others. It's really hard to know what to do with this group, given how 2024 went. Still, there's a lot of belief in Love's talent and Jacobs' production, so they crack the top half of the league." — Jared Dubin. Arguments for it to be better (or not) It's curious how the Packers have been perceived this offseason. Quarterback Jordan Love wasn't in the top 10 on ESPN's rankings, the offensive line was 14th in PFF's model, and now the skill position triplet is also 14th. Somehow, Matt LaFleur didn't make the list of top 10 returning head coaches according to PFF. Something's gotta give. Last year, Green Bay was fourth in offensive DVOA and third in passing DVOA. It's hard to understand how a non-top 10 QB, non-top 10 HC, the 14th offensive line, and the 14th skill position triplet would join forces to make it one of the best offenses in football. That being said, this is the part of the rankings where there's a better argument for the Packers to not be that good. LaFleur is clearly a top 10 coach, Love has had top 10 production as a quarterback despite handling injuries in 2024, and the offensive line was top 5 in pass blocking last year. While Love is a borderline top 10 QB and Josh Jacobs is certainly a top 10 running back, the lack of a premier wide receiver affects the overall perception. The power of a top wide receiver The teams ahead of Green Bay have Ja'Marr Chase, AJ Brown, Zay Flowers, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Rashee Rice, Khalil Shakir, Puka Nacua, George Kittle, Mike Evans, CeeDee Lamb, Nico Collins, Terry McLaurin, and Ladd McConkey. You could make a case that Jayden Reed may be better than Flowers, Rice, and Shakir. But do you see the common theme here? Their quarterbacks are Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, and Josh Allen. Nevertheless, the situation could be much different a year from now. If Jordan Love has a healthy season and can play like he did down the stretch in 2023, and if Matthew Golden establishes himself as a promising receiving weapon as a rookie, the Packers could jump several spots—and consolidate themselves as a top offense in the NFL.
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