division Page 22 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Blazers welcome back fans just in time to stick it to L.A.
I don’t think anyone will argue that the NBA playoff intensity was alive and well in the bubble last year. There were fantastic games that came down to clutch moments, and there were underdog teams like Miami making a run all the way to the Finals. It was everything on the court you could hope for. ...

Tennessee State University wants to create nation's first HBCU hockey program
HBCUs have always been at the forefront of Black advancement in all areas of life....

We can’t run from the Penguins and Capitals
This will be the third standings system or alignment the NHL has used in the past decade. But no matter how they shake out the teams or decide how they get into the playoffs, it’s a safe bet that the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals will be at the top. Part of that is the NHL basically we...

DeGrom has been plugged into the matrix, and batters everywhere are doomed
It doesn’t just feel like Jacob deGrom keeps getting better. He somehow really does. And that’s why on Friday night there were MVP chants… for a pitcher… in April....

I know better, but I’m falling for the Canes again
One of the ripple effects of Moneyball, at least one that isn’t primed to destroy a sport from the inside, is that a lot of fans have that one team — the team whose games you watch most outside your own team’s on whatever streaming service you have. The team you’re convinced is doing things in a mor...

Canucks won last night, but that’s not worth celebrating
The Canucks returned to the ice last night, beating the Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime, 4-3. Which resulted in a predictable reaction from the hockey press:...

Weigh-in leads to a lot of ‘Dad Bod’ jokes, but Ben Askren is coming to save the world from Jake Paul
On an actual boxing card with actual legitimate boxers, Jake Paul is once again boxing a non-boxer. ...

Once again, for those in the back: Cancel the Canucks season now, because this proposed schedule is doo-doo
The NHL came to its senses a tiny bit by pushing back the Vancouver Canucks’ return to the ice, but a team that already has a minuscule chance of making the playoffs still will be asked to play a grueling gauntlet of a schedule to close out the season....

Hope Trautwein pulls off whatever you call a game where every single at-bat is a strikeout, as if anyone ever imagined such a thing
Rarely does an incredible athletic feat happen in sports that we don’t have a name for, but here we are. In the world of baseball and softball, we have the “perfect game,” where a pitcher doesn’t allow a single base runner. Allow me to introduce to you a phrase that I believe should catch on — the i...

We should have had an Eastern conference battle last night with Nets-Sixers, but got ripped off instead
If ESPN were smart, it would demand a refund....

J.T. Miller and the Canucks think this is as stupid and unfair as we do
Last week, I laid out all the obstacles the Vancouver Canucks would face returning to action after nearly three weeks out thanks to a swath of positive COVID tests, with some players seriously ill with the virus, as well as some of their families being at risk. I argued that their season should just...

Joe West wins suit vs. Paul Lo Duca in a story with no heroes
They say justice is blind, which means that’s one thing justice has in common with Joe West....

The NHL trade deadline, and the Maple Leafs in particular, continue to be really weird
There’s nothing like the NHL trade deadline to warp what you thought you knew about teams’ priorities and how players are valued. GMs alternate between desperation to chase the Cup and desperation to get anything for players who can’t wait to high-tail it out of town at the season’s end. The process...

Canucks finally set to return after teamwide COVID nightmare, but why?
The Vancouver Canucks will return to practice on Sunday, and resume their season on Friday against the Oilers, the NHL announced. What’s more, the eight games the Canucks have missed, or will miss, have been rescheduled, extending their season to May 16....

Jazz and Suns give us a sensational late-night cookie in a season lacking real drama
I’ve used this space to try and quiet any meaning to NBA regular-season games. It’s been especially acute this season, when teams have rarely been at full-strength, and they seem more intent on just being intact for the playoffs, which they know are what counts and are more likely to have at least s...

With 25 COVID-19 cases, just cancel the Canucks' season already
The news out of Vancouver isn’t getting any better....

Jacob deGrom was excellent, again, before the Mets Mets’d it all up
“Ughhhhhhhhhh.”...

Carter Hart looks good in return, but the Flyers still suck
Carter Hart made his return to the net after an eight-game “reset” for the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, and no, let’s not go with any rising from the dead analogies, but he was looked to as the savior of the franchise....

'Bama fan’s COVID-19 related death following Men’s March Madness visit prompts Indiana health investigation
Luke Ratliff was an Alabama student and men’s basketball superfan known around campus as “Fluffopotamus.” Last week, he made the trip to Indianapolis to watch the Tide in the Sweet 16. Ratliff was in Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse on Sunday for the game. After UCLA pulled off the upset that night, he re...

Vancouver Canucks in full-blown COVID crisis with more than 20 players, coaches on protocol list (Updated)
UPDATE (4/4/21, 12:24 E.T.): Initial reports of 14 positive tests within the Canucks organization have swelled to more than 20 confirmed infections among the team’s roster and coaching staff, according to TSN’s Darren Dredger:...