'A UFC fight': Tensions rise in Stanley Cup Final as the Panthers get the upper hand on the Oilers
Brawls ensued, Darnell Nurse and Jonah Gadjovich dropped the gloves, and eight guys got sent to the showers early with misconduct penalties.
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Associated Press
a minute ago
- Associated Press
No. 12 Illinois and star QB Luke Altmyer are ready to enter uncharted territory
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — The ingredients are there for No. 12 Illinois to emerge from years of mediocrity and make a run into the 12-team College Football Playoff. The Illini flew under the radar on their way to a 10-win season last year — their first since 2001 — and they return 18 starters including star quarterback Luke Altmyer. The Illini haven't had two straight winning seasons since they were 7-6 in 2010 and 2011. They haven't been ranked in the AP preseason poll since 2008, when they were No. 20. How they handle high expectations for the first time in years could determine their success in 2025. Coach Bret Bielema, starting his fifth season with the Illini with a new six-year contract, and his players say they welcome the challenge. 'I love the resilience of our team,' Bielema said. 'These guys are better when they've been punched in the face. That doesn't mean I need to punch them. You know what I mean.' Altmyer said the team isn't afraid of entering new waters. 'We're tough and resilient,' he said. Linebacker Malachi Hood said the Illini were happy, but not satisfied after last season. 'Ten wins was great, but why settle for 10 when you can get 11 or 12?' he said. 'The postseason is right there on the table for us.' Defensive back Miles Scott believes a saying he's heard often during preseason workouts describes the team's outlook. 'The saying is, 'Success is like cologne,' he said. 'You can smell it, but don't drink it because it could kill you.' We need to keep our focus narrow, not look at outside things.' Altmyer's passing targets Altmyer was one of the nation's most efficient passers last season with 22 TD passes and just six interceptions. Who will be his main targets through the air with the departures of Pat Bryant, now with the Denver Broncos, and Zakhari Franklin? The leading candidates are West Virginia transfer Hudson Clement and Hank Beatty. Clement had 51 catches for 741 yards last year for the Mountaineers. Beatty caught 20 passes and 294 yards while also ranking fourth in the nation in punt returns with an average of 14.1 yards. A balanced attack Illinois is counting on the running back tandem of Kaden Feagin and Aidan Laughery to establish a ground game that complements Altmyer's passing attack. Feagin played in just five games last year before being injured. He was averaging nearly 70 yards a game rushing at the time. Laughery led the Illini with 6.1 yards per carry last season. Last line of defense Defensive back Xavier Scott and strong safety Matthew Bailey anchor a solid Illini secondary. Scott had four interceptions and six pass breakups in addition to 49 tackles and one forced fumble last year. Bailey returned with a vengeance last fall after missing the 2023 season with a shoulder injury, making 94 tackles and forcing three fumbles. Snap to it Illinois has a solid kicking game, anchored by the reliable long snapper Lane Hansen, who has started 35 consecutive games. During that time, the Illini have converted 86 of 90 PATs, 49 of 59 field goals and had just one punt blocked in 97 attempts. Punter Keelan Crimmins, a Purdue transfer, averaged 44.9 yards on 64 punts last season for the Boilermakers including 17 punts inside the 20-yard line. Placekicker David Olano was 17 of 20 on field goals in 2024, including making 16 of 18 from inside the 50. The schedule The Illini will open the season Aug. 29 at home against Western Illinois and play just two games against preseason ranked teams: No. 20 Indiana on the road Sept. 20 and No. 3 Ohio State at home Oct. 11. Three other tough matchups are USC at home Sept. 27, Washington on the road Oct. 25 and Wisconsin on the road Nov. 22. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: and
NBC Sports
2 minutes ago
- NBC Sports
Milan Lucic, 37, who last played in 2023, gets a tryout with the Blues
ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Blues are bringing in 37-year-old forward Milan Lucic, who last played in 2023, for a tryout. Lucic was a member of the Boston Bruins' 2011 Stanley Cup championship team who also played for the Kings, Oilers and Flames before returning to the Bruins in 2023. He had two assists in four games that year before he took a puck off his ankle and went on long-term injured reserve. Three weeks later, police were called to Lucic's home by his wife, who told them he pulled her hair and tried to choke her. He was arrested on suspicion of assault and battery on a family member, but the charges were dropped when his wife declined to testify in court. Lucic entered the league's Player Assistance Program. The Blues say he has completed the program and has been reinstated by the NHL. Lucic has 233 goals, 353 assists and 1,301 penalty minutes in 17 NHL seasons. He had a career-high 32 goals with 30 assists in 2010-11 and assisted on the overtime winner in Game 7 of the first-round series against the Montreal Canadiens to help the Bruins win their most recent Stanley Cup title.
Washington Post
2 minutes ago
- Washington Post
With police trailing him, Texas lawmaker spends a long day into night
AUSTIN — No matter where state Rep. Suleman Lalani went, the black-suited man followed him. When he headed to lunch at the eatery inside the Capitol — downing a chili dog and bowl of tortilla soup — the man sat a couple tables away. When he went to fetch dirty laundry from his nearby hotel room, the man followed in a gray pickup. And when the lawmaker-physician headed back toward Houston on Tuesday afternoon, to see elderly patients in his suburban district, the plainclothes officer was close behind. The constant surveillance came after Lalani and two dozen fellow House Democrats returned to the state following nearly two weeks evading Texas authorities in Illinois, where they had traveled to break quorum and block Republican redistricting legislation that could tip the balance of power in Congress. 'It's a pure form of bullying' by the GOP, Lalani said as his chief of staff drove and he rode shotgun in a blue plaid blazer and jeans, gazing back at the Department of Public Safety officer tailing them. 'They want to say 'We have the might.'' All but one of those House Democrats —Rep. Nicole Collier, a Fort Worth lawyer — had signed 'permission slips' agreeing to remain in the custody of a DPS officer until they returned for the chamber's next session on Wednesday. A half-dozen later tore up the slips and returned Tuesday to the Capitol in solidarity with Collier, who was spending a second night, with a sleep mask and blanket, at her desk on the House floor. Lalani was not among them. He regretted consenting to the police detail, he said as he left town. The 58-year-old legislator, who in his other life is a doctor of internal medicine and geriatrics, hadn't realized it would become a shadow hanging over him. 'It was just thrown in our face,' he recalled. What he now thought: He'd fallen into the trap. He worried that if fellow lawmakers could impose a police escort on him, they could do it to anybody. 'This is not freedom,' Lalani said as he rode east past fields full of cotton and grazing cattle. But he felt a duty to check on his patients, some in their 80s and infirm. He kept an eye on the truck behind them. The rules of engagement were unclear. 'Should I speed?' joked chief of staff Tony Flores. Lalani scanned his colleagues' social media. Officers had followed some to the bathroom, others to pick up their children. Lalani worried his guy might scare the patients he planned to visit at a nursing home. What if the officer ventured inside? Stopping for gas en route to Houston at 4 p.m., Lalani stared at the DPS officer's tinted car windows across the parking lot. 'They have real jobs, and yet they are babysitting all of us,' he said. By 5 p.m., Lalani had arrived at his district office in an oak-shaded brick complex in the suburb of Sugar Land. His wife, three sons — ages 15, 26 and 27 — and a dozen supporters waited with flowers and handmade signs, including 'Police escort of Texas Reps = police state.' 'They will not stop my life,' Lalani told the group. He is in his second term, one of the state's first Muslim and Southeast Asian representatives, a native of Pakistan. His wife, who is a registered nurse, said the police escort reminded her of their homeland. She has been feeling so stressed, she's had dizzy spells. 'Even in that country you have freedom of speech,' Zakia Lalani said. 'I don't feel comfortable. I mean, you're living in America.' About 6:30 p.m., the officer ducked inside. He was trying to stay out of the way, he said, but needed to 'coordinate logistics.' When would the lawmaker be leaving to drive back to Austin? About 9 p.m., Lalani replied. He was terse but polite. 'The poor guy is doing his job,' he'd say later. At the nursing home, the officer remained in the parking lot. Inside, nurses loaned Lalani a stethoscope because he'd forgotten to bring his. So went the next few hours. After making his rounds at the nursing home — reassured that several patients were doing well — he and his family managed dinner at a local restaurant serving Indian and Pakistani cuisine. Zakia Lalani invited the officer to join them. He declined, waiting in the parking lot until a new shift arrived. The meal was interrupted repeatedly by constituents, supporters who thanked Lalani in both English and Urdu. 'We admire what you are doing,' local businessman Qaisar Imam said. 'We are afraid to say a lot of things. So when you do, it gives us a voice.' Even as he fumed at the expense of so many officers trailing him — three in one day so far, all at taxpayers' expense — Lalani wondered whether the police escort was a blessing in disguise. The redistricting battle in Austin, in large part at President Donald Trump's urging; the issues that could hang in the balance in both Texas and the country; and, of course, the way the drama had played out at the Capitol between the Republicans and Democrats. 'People are being motivated. They see [GOP leaders] doing this to their representatives,' he said. It was much later than Lalani had expected when everything finally wrapped up. Dinner had taken longer, and then he'd paused to pray. He had been following reports through the evening that a threat had been posted online against officers at the Capitol and the building shut down, but information still was sketchy. Shortly before 10:30 p.m., as Lalani prepared to depart, a new officer in a gray SUV explained that he would follow them halfway, then trade off with yet another officer. Lalani nodded. About an hour later, the gray SUV peeled off, replaced by yet another SUV waiting on the highway shoulder on the way back to Austin. 'You think that's the guy?' Lalani's chief of staff asked. He shrugged. The escorts' novelty had worn off. Along with the other House Democrats who fled out of state, Lalani faces fines of up to $500 a day for those days away. He and a dozen others also face legal action brought by state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who sued to vacate their seats because of their moves to prevent a House quorum. Lalani returned to his hotel after midnight. By Wednesday morning, he had yet another officer to accompany him back to the Capitol. The man trailed him down the hall, upstairs to the House chamber door. And there, just before 10 a.m., Lalani's shadow finally vanished.
