Canadiens: The Grade Are In
Veteran alternate captain Brendan Gallagher had quite an eventful season for the Montreal Canadiens. On the ice, he seemed to finally find the right chair for himself in the later stages of his career, and off the ice, he became a dad and lost his mother Della to cancer. One thing remained constant through the highs and lows: his effort and dedication for the team that drafted him 147th overall at the 2010 draft.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Every incident: How Max Verstappen ended up on the brink of an F1 race ban
In 11 months, reigning Formula One world champion Max Verstappen accrued as many penalty points across six different infringements. Some of the incidents from last season weren't egregious per se, such as driving unnecessarily slowly in qualifying, while others were a direct result of battling with another driver, including several incidents with Lando Norris. Verstappen's most recent altercation with a rival, though, carried the most penalty points and played out during the recent 2025 Spanish Grand Prix. Advertisement The stewards found Verstappen at fault for causing a collision with George Russell — which Russell at the time said 'felt deliberate' — and handed him a 10-second time penalty and three penalty points to take Verstappen to the perilous point on 11. But questions were raised by many commentators and fans about whether Verstappen had intentionally crashed into the Mercedes driver and if he should therefore have been disqualified (and here's more on why he wasn't). Verstappen admitted a day later in a social media post that the move 'was not right and shouldn't have happened.' Penalty points last for 12 months in F1, and so Verstappen's slate won't start clearing until June 30, the day after the Austrian Grand Prix. And even that is just two points falling off, if he navigates clean weekends in Canada and Austria in the coming weeks. Here's how the Red Bull driver ended up on the brink of a Formula One race ban — and what the stewards had to say about each infringement. Infringement: Causing a collision Penalty points: 2 This was the first race weekend Norris and Verstappen truly raced for real — and hard — in F1. Norris made multiple attempts to pass Verstappen for the lead of the Austrian GP but couldn't stick the overtake. Heading into Turn 3 at the Red Bull Ring late on, Norris was on the left of Verstappen, and the Dutchman drifted towards the McLaren, leading to the two colliding. Both suffered damage and headed to the pits, but only Verstappen continued racing, finishing fifth while Norris retired. The stewards determined that the Red Bull driver was at fault and said the penalty (a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points) was ' in line with precedents.' The incident raised the question of whether such hard racing was over the limit or within accepted bounds, a topic that continued to surface throughout different parts of the 2024 season. Advertisement 'It was such a silly little touch that had great consequences for both of us, and a bit more for Lando with how (his) puncture then evolved,' Verstappen later said, a few days removed from the incident. The two had cleared the air by this point. Infringement: Forcing another driver off track Penalty points: 2 Norris and Verstappen went head-to-head again in Mexico, a week after their battle in Austin had controversially ended with Norris being penalized. Again, the McLaren driver made a move on Verstappen's outside – first at Turn 4. According to the evidence reviewed by the stewards, the papaya car was ahead of the Red Bull 'at the entry, apex and towards the exit of the turn when he started being forced off the track.' The two drivers did not have any contact, but Norris had to cut the corner, gaining an advantage as he emerged briefly ahead of eventual race winner Carlos Sainz of Ferrari. 'The Stewards believe that the maneuver was done in a safe and controlled manner and that Norris would have been able to make the maneuver on the track had he not been forced off the track by Verstappen.' Verstappen received a 10-second penalty for this infringement, along with two penalty points. But a few corners later, he tried to retaliate against Norris, going up the inside of the McLaren at Turn 8 and forcing them both off the track. Had he completed the maneuver on the track, he 'would have been entitled to racing room.' However, the Dutchman 'left the track and kept the lasting advantage,' resulting in another 10-second penalty (but no penalty points for the second move). Infringement: Going too fast under the Virtual Safety Car Penalty points: 1 Late in the São Paulo Grand Prix's sprint race, a virtual safety car period unfolded after Nico Hülkenberg's car stopped off track. In these periods, Article 56.5 of F1's sporting regulations state, in part, 'All cars must also be above this minimum time when the FIA light panels change to green' as racing resumes. Verstappen, though, tried to challenge Oscar Piastri for second place and was below the minimum time, by 0.63 seconds, 'at VSC End when the FIA light panels changed to green.' Advertisement 'This indicates a sporting advantage gained under VSC,' the stewards said in their decision. 'The driver explained that as he was awaiting VSC to end, he got the notification that he was below the minimum time, he attempted to correct the error but failed to do so by the point that the panels turned green.' Verstappen was dealt a five-second time penalty and one penalty point as a result — something the stewards called the standard 'for the advantage gained at that time'. Infringement: Driving unnecessarily slow on a cool-down lap Penalty points: 1 This was one of the rare penalties for Verstappen that came during qualifying, and it was a case that the stewards described as 'complicated.' This was because he 'did not comply with the Race Director's Event Notes and clearly was driving, in our determination, unnecessarily slowly considering the circumstances' late in the main race qualifying in Qatar. Verstappen was nursing his tires — but remained on the racing line — as Russell was approaching fast behind. But that neither driver was on a push lap impacted the type of penalty Verstappen received. Rather than the standard three-place grid drop, the stewards levied just a one-place grid drop and one penalty point for Verstappen. While it seemed like a minor incident, this penalty sparked a spat between Russell and Verstappen that stretched into the Abu Dhabi GP weekend and has simmered even since. Infringement: Causing a collision Penalty points: 2 Verstappen tangled with the McLaren driver this time. He made an aggressive move down the inside of Piastri at Turn 1 on Lap 1 of 2024's dead rubber season finale, and they collided before spinning. Ultimately, the stewards found Verstappen at fault, resulting in a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points – to make it eight points in just over five months. 'I tried to grab the inside and I quickly realized once I committed to it that the gap was closing and I wanted to try to get out of it because I didn't want to actually crash with Oscar, but unfortunately we still clipped each other,' Verstappen said after the race. 'I already apologized to Oscar. It's not what you want to happen and especially not with him. He's a great guy. Advertisement Infringement: Causing a collision Penalty points: 3 The big question that came from the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix incident is whether Verstappen intentionally collided with Russell. It all began shortly after the late safety car period was ending, as Ferrari's Charles Leclerc first overtook Verstappen at the start. They banged wheels and Verstappen was then under attack from Russell, who was on fresher soft tires while the Red Bull driver was fitted with slower hards. They clashed at Turn 1, with Verstappen going wide but staying ahead. Red Bull told Verstappen to give the position back, in an effort to avoid a potential penalty — one that the stewards later determined 'we would take no further action in relation to that incident.' Verstappen didn't hide how he felt about the team's request, and approaching Turn 5 on a subsequent lap, he slowed down and appeared to be letting Russell by. The Mercedes driver got ahead and was braking at the entry of Turn 5 when Verstappen accelerated before the two collided at the apex. Found at fault, Verstappen received a 10-second time penalty and three penalty points, making it 11 in 12 months. The thing about F1 penalties is that precedents are set and held over the years. The regulations provide a guideline to help the stewards – appointed to be independent by the FIA – determine how to judge an incident and what penalties are available. But it's up to their discretion on exactly what to choose, which is where precedent comes into play. 'When I saw it, it was like, 'Yeah, 10 seconds it's all right because it wasn't right but it wasn't too bad,'' former Haas team boss turned F1 TV pundit Guenther Steiner recently told The Athletic. Steiner has plenty of experience with drivers under his watch in F1 getting involved in controversial incidents. Advertisement 'But then afterwards I thought about it, 'What have we done? We have set a precedent.' And that is my comment now. Would it not have been better to disqualify him so it doesn't happen again? In the end, Max would not have lost a lot more, one point, exactly. If you get disqualified, you wouldn't get the three penalty points. He got his penalty not for being disqualified. And in the future now, basically it is all right to do what he did.' There are also questions of whether the stewards are punishing the consequences of incidents, which will vary depending on the scenario, and if they are taking mitigating factors into consideration. Sometimes the penalties don't match, and it's not clear why to fans. During the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, both Verstappen and Liam Lawson left the track and gained an advantage at different points of the race. But Verstappen did so on lap one and received only a five-second penalty, while Lawson was hit with a 10-second penalty when he committed the offense later in the race. The standard penalty for that type of infringement is a 10-second penalty, but the mitigating factor for Verstappen was that it was a Lap 1, Turn 1 offense, which the stewards acknowledged in their decision documents provided a mitigating factor in this instance. 'I think a penalty needs to be black or white. Not like, 'Oh, we know because it was,'' Steiner said. 'Either it is or it isn't. And if you're not sure that it is, it's zero, it's nothing. That's my opinion about it because you cannot start to say, 'I'm not really sure.' If you're not sure, don't give any penalty.' In Verstappen's Jeddah incident – where again he was racing Piastri – the Red Bull driver did not have any penalty points added to his super license. This could be worth remembering if Verstappen gets involved in any contentious moves without contact at the upcoming races in Canada and Austria. He won't automatically be banned if he does. (Top image: Jure Makovec / AFP / Getty Images)
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
As NHL's ‘old guys' dominate Stanley Cup Final, will it affect how teams are constructed?
EDMONTON — A Stanley Cup Final for the ages is being served up with a distinct touch of gray. It features the NHL's second-oldest starting goaltender in 36-year-old Sergei Bobrovsky of the Florida Panthers, who has been scored on twice already by 40-year-old forward Corey Perry. The Edmonton Oilers are now riding with a 33-year-old journeyman backup in their crease, Calvin Pickard, and the coaching staff turned to 33-year-old Jeff Skinner when searching for a lineup spark entering Game 4. Advertisement Meanwhile, at age 37, Panthers forward Brad Marchand has put himself in the Conn Smythe Trophy conversation, while helping elevate a line centered by Anton Lundell, who at 23 is Florida's youngest regular skater. As the NHL's championship series enters Game 5 tied 2-2 on Saturday night, perhaps we can chalk up the Panthers' and Oilers' ability to keep exchanging momentum-swinging haymakers in this series to their tenured rosters. 'I've heard this a million times this year: I think we're the oldest team in the NHL,' said Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm, a 35-year-old appearing in his third Stanley Cup Final. 'Having all of that experience on our side is huge in situations like this, where you've got to go game by game, you've got to go day by day and just make sure that you don't let that flow into each other too much.' Among the 32 goals scored through the opening four games of this final — the most since the 1981 series between the New York Islanders and Minnesota North Stars — just two came off the stick of a player below the age of 25. In fact, the average cumulative age attached to each of those goals is 31 years, 83 days — well above the league average from the regular season. What does that tell us? Well, the NHL is starting to skew a little older, which can be seen in the average age of players jumping from 27.1 years during the 2017-18 season to 28.3 years in 2024-25. And when the games matter most, some of the NHL's most successful franchises seem to be growing increasingly reliant on the stability offered by a player much closer to the end of his career than the start of it. The lesson was internalized a long time ago by veteran Panthers coach Paul Maurice, who remembers scratching a 37-year-old Paul Coffey with the Carolina Hurricanes for Game 1 of a series against Boston Bruins in April 1999, only to see the Hockey Hall of Famer rejoin the lineup and play more than 30 minutes in Game 2. Advertisement 'The older guys have a perspective that young players don't,' said Maurice. 'Young players can be great, but I think you can almost be assured that you're going to get the very best out of your older players in (the) playoffs.' That's certainly been the case in a Stanley Cup Final where we've seen Perry score a tying goal with 18 seconds left in Game 2, only to have Marchand reply with the double-overtime winner. They're among a number of intriguing veterans who are set to become unrestricted free agents on July 1 — a list that also includes Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Matt Duchene and John Tavares, among others — which begs the question: Will the success of the Panthers and Oilers affect the team-building strategies of other rivals? There was a mixed response among the player agents and team executives contacted on Friday. One GM indicated that age doesn't tend to be a major factor in decisions except when it comes to a player he already has other reservations about, while a second GM said that he's always valued experience when trying to build a contending team and has only had that idea reinforced by seeing how the in-season additions paid off for Edmonton and Florida. A third team executive noted that it's important what kind of team is adding the graybeards, noting that the Nashville Predators, Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings are among the teams who have seen minimal return from adding veteran free agents in recent years to cores that weren't strong enough to maximize them. One veteran player agent said he thinks the Stanley Cup Final will influence how other top teams approach roster construction. 'You need some youthful exuberance and speed and all of that, and yet you need to mix that with maturity and calmness,' he said. 'The blend and having clear roles is the key.' Advertisement Ultimately, the unique era preceding this one may have skewed expectations for rebuilding teams. The Pittsburgh Penguins reached the Stanley Cup Final with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on entry-level contracts immediately before the Blackhawks accomplished the same feat with Kane and Toews driving the team. Stepping back, those situations look more like outliers than the rule — with the majority of franchise-level players reaching age 25 before their team wins a Cup. All of Florida's top players were north of that age when they captured last year's championship, while Connor McDavid (28) and Leon Draisaitl (29) are in a similar window while trying to wrestle this one away from them. If the Oilers manage to win it, the 40-year-old Perry will have played an important role, too. He spoke up during the first intermission on Thursday night with his team trailing 3-0 and Edmonton managed to pull off an epic comeback afterward. Perry did something similar while playing for the Montreal Canadiens in 2021, when they recovered from a 3-1 series deficit against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Round 1 before going on a run to the Cup Final. 'It wasn't wisdom,' said Perry, when asked about his speech. 'It was just honesty.' 'I mean he's been in the league for over 20 years so he's been through everything,' added teammate Jake Walman. 'Nothing can faze him and he's just kind of rubbing that off on us.' At the risk of ignoring some of the other contributors to an unforgettable Game 4 that included a three-goal comeback, multiple lead changes, a last-minute tying goal and an overtime finish, the two youngest scorers in this series both had big moments. Lundell struck in the final minute of the first period to make it 3-0 for Florida before Vasily Podkolzin, a fellow 23-year-old, tied it up for Edmonton at 15:05 of the second period. Podkolzin also sent the pass to Draisaitl on the play where he won the game in overtime. 'You know what? We're like an old team,' he said. 'We have so many old guys, we are pretty calm usually. I am calm with them.' (Top photos of Brad Marchand and Corey Perry: Perry Nelson / Imagn Images and Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Florida Panthers vs. Edmonton Oilers: How to watch Game 4 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final tonight
If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission. Pricing and availability are subject to change. Brett Kulak and the Edmonton Oilers will play the Florida Panthers in the 2025 Stanley Cup Final, here's how to watch. () The Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers are no strangers; the two NHL teams met in last year's Stanley Cup Final (the Panthers took the trophy home, winning in seven thrilling games). Florida currently leads this year's Stanley Cup Final series 2-1, with the teams playing at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida for Game 4 tonight (June 12) at 8 p.m. ET. You can catch the entire Stanley Cup series on TNT and Max, here's everything you need to know about how to watch the Panthers vs. Oilers series, and get live updates on Game 4 here. How to watch the Florida Panthers vs. Edmonton Oilers: Dates: June 12, 2025 Advertisement Time: 8 p.m. (Game 4) TV channel: TNT, TruTV Streaming: Max, Sling, DirecTV and more Where to watch the Panthers vs. Oilers: You can tune in to every game of the Florida Panthers vs. Edmonton Oilers Stanley Cup Final on TNT and truTV. These channels are available on platforms like DirecTV, Sling and Fubo. Games will also be streaming on Max. Stanley Cup Final channel: All games in the Stanley Cup finals series between the Oilers and the Panthers will air on TNT and truTV. How to watch the Stanley Cup Finals without cable: Watch TNT and more DirecTV MySports Pack DIRECTV's MySports pack is a curated live TV package geared toward sports fans, with access to ESPN's suite of channels, TBS, TNT, USA, FS1 and an included subscription to ESPN+ for $69.99/month. The MySports pack guarantees access to thousands of live televised events, plus all the live-streaming and library content on ESPN+, all on one interface and one bill. You can try it for free for five days before committing. Try free at DirecTV Disney Best Max bundle Max, Disney+ and Hulu bundle (ad-free) The Disney+, Hulu, Max bundle gets you exactly what it sounds like: access to Disney+, Hulu and Max. If you go ad-free ($29.99/month) you'll save up to 38% off compared to individually paying for all three services — and gain access to the Stanley Cup Final, French Open and more. If you don't already have access to these platforms, this is a great option that really covers your bases, streaming-wise. You'll get access to three vast libraries, fully stocked with everything MCU, all those Disney princesses (new and old), Hulu's robust catalog of shows on-demand the day after they air, including the latest episodes of Abbott Elementary, Grey's Anatomy and more, and the most recent seasons of The Last of Us, The Pitt and White Lotus. $29.99/month at Disney Who is playing in the Stanley Cup Finals? This year, the Florida Panthers will play the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup finals. 2025 Stanley Cup Finals TV schedule: All times Eastern. Advertisement Game 1 : Wednesday, June 4 Florida Panthers at Edmonton Oilers Game 2 : Friday, June 6 Florida Panthers at Edmonton Oilers Game 3 : Monday, June 9 Edmonton Oilers at Florida Panthers (Florida leads 2-1) Game 4 : Thursday, June 12 Edmonton Oilers at Florida Panthers- 8 p.m. (TNT, truTV, Max) Game 5* : Saturday, June 14 Florida Panthers at Edmonton Oilers - 8 p.m. (TNT, truTV, Max) Game 6* : Tuesday, June 17 Edmonton Oilers at Florida Panthers - 8 p.m. (TNT, truTV, Max) Game 7*: Friday, June 20 Florida Panthers at Edmonton Oilers - 8 p.m. (TNT, truTV, Max) *if necessary More ways to watch the Stanley Cup Finals:
