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Connections: Sports Edition Coach: Hints, facts about puzzle No. 160

Connections: Sports Edition Coach: Hints, facts about puzzle No. 160

New York Times02-03-2025

Need help with today's Connections: Sports Edition puzzle? You've come to the right place.
Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.
A quick public service announcement before we continue: The bottom of this article includes one answer in each of the four categories. So if you want to solve the board hint-free, we recommend you play before continuing.
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You can access Sunday's game here.
Game No. 160's difficulty: 4 out of 5
Scroll below for one answer in each of the four categories.
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Yellow: THE BEAST
Green: TIN CUP
Blue: MILLION DOLLAR BABY
Purple: ROCKY
The next puzzle will be available at midnight in your time zone. Thanks for playing — and share your scores in the comments!
(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic)

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Sami Kapanen on son Kasperi's Oilers surge and the ‘opportunity of a lifetime' to grow a family legacy
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Sami Kapanen on son Kasperi's Oilers surge and the ‘opportunity of a lifetime' to grow a family legacy

EDMONTON — Watching Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final in the wee hours of the morning from his home in Finland, Sami Kapanen could hardly believe his eyes. He'd seen that stat line before. He'd seen that result before. It was exactly 23 years to the day, in fact, since the only other time someone carrying Finland's most famous hockey family's name had the chance to get it engraved in the rounded silver edges of the Cup. Advertisement 'Scary,' Sami told The Athletic on Thursday. 'It's scary how much is the same.' Consider that he was a 28-year-old forward playing for the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2002 Cup Final against the Detroit Red Wings. That series began on June 4. He had a big hand in the Hurricanes' victory at Joe Louis Arena to open the best-of-seven. 'Game 1, we won in overtime,' he recalled. 'I had two assists.' On Wednesday, he watched from afar as his son Kasperi, a 28-year-old forward with the Edmonton Oilers, picked up two assists in an uplifting overtime victory over the Florida Panthers. History sometimes rhymes. The respective stat lines from their Stanley Cup debuts are eerily similar: Sami Kapanen, June 4, 2002: Two assists, two shots, 23 shifts, 21:22 ice time Kasperi Kapanen, June 4, 2025: Two assists, two shots, 26 shifts, 20:28 ice time Of course, both father and son hope the similarities end there. Sami's Hurricanes dropped the next four games to Detroit in 2002, and he still carries regrets about the experience. He picked up a gruesome injury that season when two six-inch pieces of fiberglass from a broken stick embedded in his palm just before the Olympic break. He never got his game on track during the playoffs that followed, scoring just once in 23 games following a 27-goal regular season. 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