The Hockey News Playoff Frenzy Live: Share Your Thoughts As Panthers Eliminate Maple Leafs
Welcome to The Hockey News Playoff Frenzy Live, streaming nightly during the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs.
After the big game of the night, our experts go live to react to the match that was, break down the key moments and storylines and read your opinions.
On tonight's show, Katie Gaus, Ryan Kennedy and Michael Traikos react to the Florida Panthers blowing out the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-1 in Game 7 of their second-round series.
What went right for the Panthers and horribly wrong for the Maple Leafs? What comes next for Toronto's pending UFAs? All that and more.
Panters VS Leafs Game 7 Panters VS Leafs Game 7
Share your thoughts in the comments, and the hosts may discuss your message during the stream.
Check out the show right now.
Promo image credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

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Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
Maurice's message to Nosek after game-deciding penalty in Florida's Game 1 Cup Final loss
All Tomas Nosek could do is watch from the penalty box as the Florida Panthers' hopes to win Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final slipped away. He was an observer for the casualty he committed, flipping a puck over the boards with just less than two minutes left in overtime to give the Edmonton Oilers a power play. Edmonton struck on that chance, with Leon Draisaitl beating Sergei Bobrovsky to seal the Oilers' 4-3 come-from-behind victory on Wednesday to open the best-of-7 series. It's a tough moment to take for Nosek, Florida's fourth-line center whose play typically slips under the radar. But the Panthers are doing what they can to make sure Nosek doesn't hang his head too much. 'That stuff happens in the game of hockey,' veteran forward Brad Marchand said. 'You know, it's a bad break. He's been a great player for us all year, all playoffs. So, yeah, we have his back on that one.' While the blunder is the moment fresh in fans' minds, a reminder of what Nosek has done for the Panthers this postseason. He was a healthy scratch through the first seven games of the playoffs — all five games in the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning and the first two of the second round against the Toronto Maple Leafs. After Florida dropped the first two games to Toronto, Maurice made a wholesale change to his fourth line, dropping Mackie Samoskevich, Nico Sturm and Jesper Boqvist and inserting Nosek, A.J. Greer and Jonah Gadjovich in their place. The trio was integral in the Panthers winning Game 3 against the Maple Leafs and turning the tide of that series, which Florida ultimately won in seven games. Nosek has been in the lineup every game since, is integral on the penalty kill and on multiple occasions has had to move up in the lineup midgame to fill in for injured teammates. Through 11 playoff games, the Panthers have not allowed a goal at 5-on-5 in the 98:12 Nosek has been on the ice despite opponents having an expected goals for mark of 4.73. 'We're not here without Tomas Nosek,' Maurice said. 'It's a tough break. We make sure he doesn't eat alone tonight, he has lots of people sitting at his table reminding him of how good he has been for us. It's going to be tough. He's going to eat that one for a day. But from his penalty kill to that line changing the flow of that Toronto series, we'll remind him of that a whole bunch of times.''


New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Donald Trump's travel ban undermines Gianni Infantino's World Cup vision
Gianni Infantino could scarcely have been more emphatic when taking to the stage at the FIFA Congress in Asuncion, Paraguay, last month. A meeting had been held with the White House Task Force in the preceding days, and assurances had seemingly been given that hardening immigration policies would not carry a price for the looming Club World Cup and the 2026 World Cup. Advertisement 'The world is welcome in America,' said Infantino, FIFA's long-serving president. 'Of course, the players, of course, everyone involved, all of us, but definitely also all the fans.' Infantino might well have delivered that promise in good faith, but it has not taken long for that cheerfully optimistic assessment to appear misguided. Any notion of the world being welcome must now carry an awkward asterisk. A travel ban against 12 countries was signed by U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday, halting movement into the United States for those deemed to be from high-risk territories. Citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma), Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen will be banned from entering the U.S. starting on Monday. 'Nothing will stop us from keeping America safe,' Trump said in a video announcing the executive order. And least of all, it seems, a World Cup that the U.S. will share with neighbours Canada and Mexico next summer. Although the new ruling will continue to permit entry to athletes, coaches and support staff who attend major sporting events — initially, only the World Cup and Olympics were specifically cited, but the White House clarified to The Athletic on Thursday that the Club World Cup and Concacaf's Gold Cup also fall into this category — fans will not be granted entry. Only 'immediate relatives' of those involved can hope to be exempt. Trump has outlined his reasons, rooted in national security, but the policy shift has given FIFA and Infantino a headache. Iran are already assured of a place at the 2026 finals, extending a run that has seen them travel to Brazil (2014), Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022). A fourth consecutive qualification was secured in March with a 2-2 draw against Uzbekistan. Head coach Amir Ghalenoei and his players, including Inter Milan forward Mehdi Taremi, will be allowed entry into the United States, but the first indications are that their supporters will not. Fans of Haiti, whose only previous World Cup experience came at the 1974 tournament in Germany, would also be subject to travel bans if their team was to continue its promising qualification campaign in Concacaf, as would Libya should they upset the odds and qualify as one of Africa's nine teams when that process is concluded in the autumn. Advertisement Infantino now finds himself in a diplomatic pickle. A close relationship with Trump and his administration was supposed to have its benefits, smoothing the path towards the first of 104 games to be played in the U.S., Canada and Mexico a year and a week from now. The bond was projected on multiple occasions, with Infantino even a guest at Trump's inauguration. He delayed his arrival at the aforementioned FIFA Congress as he wanted to be with Trump on his visits to Qatar and Saudi Arabia – a decision that caused members of the European delegation to leave the event early in protest. But now Infantino is left confronting a policy that threatens to undermine the values of a World Cup he has so often championed. 'It's obvious when it comes to FIFA competitions, any team, including the supporters and officials of that team, who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup,' Infantino told reporters in 2017, a year that had seen Trump ban travel from a number of predominantly Muslim countries during his first term in office. The inference was that any country unwilling to open its doors to all supporters could be prevented from hosting a World Cup. Fans of all competing nations were welcome in Russia and then in Qatar, two countries without America's reputation for freedom and openness. Iran were among those backed by thousands of their supporters at both tournaments. Infantino had been confident that the U.S. would be no different, but the guarantees he told the world that FIFA had last month have since disappeared. Trump indicated there is time for this to change ahead of next summer with the list of banned nations 'subject to revision based on whether material improvements are made.' That the Club World Cup and Gold Cup, both starting this month, have now been included in the list of 'major' sporting events might also indicate a willingness to add flexibility to a hardline stance. Advertisement It is nevertheless a problem that will take some spinning. Either Infantino knew the travel ban and its implications were in the post, but just did not want to let on in his public comments last month, or Trump's capricious nature has caught another supposed ally off guard. The latter feels more probable but still does not reflect well on Infantino after all the meetings, the gifts and photo opportunities of the last six months. Infantino remains that most voraciously political animal who maintains politics have no place in football's harmonious little world. Yet Trump's gear shift on immigration is a reminder about how that vision remains as fanciful as ever.


USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Florida football a candidate for first College Football Playoff berth in 2025
Florida football a candidate for first College Football Playoff berth in 2025 Florida football is earning national attention as one of the top programs poised to make their first College Football Playoff appearance in 2025, according to CBS Sports' Carter Bahns. Following the CFP's expansion to a 12-team format in 2024, the door has opened wider than ever for rising programs to break through. The Gators' late-season surge–powered by DJ Lagway's rapid development, a veteran offensive line and improved defense–helped shift the narrative surrounding Billy Napier's tenure as Florida's skipper. Entering his fourth season with the Orange and Blue, Napier now leads one of the SEC's most intriguing rosters heading into the fall. With the CFP now allowing multiple teams from power conferences like the SEC, Florida doesn't need to win the league to earn a postseason spot. Instead, a top-three finish in the conference could be enough to secure a long-awaited playoff berth. Here is everything Bahns wrote about the Florida Gators and why they could have a real shot at the playoffs next season. Everything CBS Sports said about the Gators "Florida sure looked like it turned a corner last November. Consecutive wins over ranked opponents, a four-game winning streak to close the year and a freshman-year breakout from DJ Lagway could not have come at a more opportune time for Billy Napier," Bahns notes. "If the last month of 2024 was a harbinger of success to come, the Gators coach could go from the hot seat to the playoff in just over a calendar year. It does not take much imagination to envision a breakthrough season, especially since Lagway has a talented receiving corps and one of college football's strongest offensive lines at his side." CBS Sports' teams poised to make 2025 playoff debut appearance Miami Hurricanes Illinois Fighting Illini South Carolina Gamecocks Florida Gators Louisville Cardinals Texas A&M Aggies Ole Miss Rebels Auburn Tigers Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.