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After a long offseason, hockey is back!

The NHL regular season kicked off Tuesday night with some exciting games from some of the the league’s best — and newest — franchises. The Tampa Bay Lightning raised their second banner in as many years, but the Pittsburgh Penguins spoiled their special night. Later on, two of the league’s newest teams — the Vegas Golden Knights and the Seattle Kraken — took the ice and started their respective seasons.

Both games were featured on ESPN, bringing hockey back to the network after quite some time — 2003 to be exact. Some NHL teams had some fun with this, remembering where their franchises were the last time hockey was last broadcasted on ESPN.

The return of the puck to the ice was a celebration for many fans and enthusiasts. Social media also reacted the beginning of the 2021 NHL regular season. Grammy award-winning artist Justin Bieber helped set the stage for what was a huge night on the ice for the NHL.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Tampa Bay Lighting

The regular season of the NHL kicked off with the Pittsburgh Penguins traveling to Florida to take on the defending champions in the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Penguins were without star Sidney Crosby who is still rehabbing from wrist surgery. Nevertheless, Pittsburgh saw Tuesday as a great day for hockey and hoped to start their 2021 campaign with a win. Despite them being without their impact player in Crosby, the Penguins received a shout-out from their fellow Pittsburgh team — the Steelers.

The Lightning are coming into 2021 looking for a three-peat, which would cement this team’s status as a hockey dynasty. The team knew that their journey started Tuesday, and this video narrated by Steven Stamkos from the squad’s Twitter account set the tone for their 2021 campaign. They also had a little fun courtesy of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare during their morning skate.

Tampa Bay also brought the tunes to begin their season with a performance by multi-platinum recording band All Time Low. The concert was held on a stage above the waters where the Hillsborough River meets the Garrison Channel, where fans watched from land at the Tampa Convention Center’s Sail Plaza or by boat in Garrison Channel before Tuesday’s contest. They had the Lightning’s Stanely Cup nearby during their performance, as they got the 2021 NHL season off to a rocking start.

Before the new season of hockey began, the Lightning relived last season’s championship year one more time with their banner raising ceremony. The moment was in front of a packed Amalie Arena — a much different atmosphere compared to last year when the arena wasn’t as full due to COVID-19 protocols. The fans showered their team with praise for a great 2020 season and cheered them on in what hopes to be a successful 2021-2022 campaign.

The first goal of the 2021 NHL season came from Danton Heinen. After a scoreless first period, a deflected shot came Heinen’s way in the second, and he put the puck in the net to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. This was Heinen’s first game as a Penguin, signing with the team this offseason. He wasn’t the only one to score in the second period as Brian Boyle, who was just signed on Monday by the Penguins, also scored to raise Pittsburgh’s lead to two.

What a way to make your team debuts, huh?

Both offenses got things going in the third period, with a combined five goals being scored in that frame. The Penguins took advantage of an empty net by the Lightning and ran away in the contest late. They pulled off the upset, and ruined Tampa Bay’s banner night with a 6-2 win. It’s only one game, but it was an impressive outing by a Crosby-less Penguins and an underwhelming one by the defending champion Lightning.

Seattle Kraken vs. Vegas Golden Knights

The second game of ESPN’s doubleheader of opening night NHL action featured the league’s two newest franchises. The Seattle Kraken began its inaugural season against the Vegas Golden Knights, who are in their fifth season of existence. Both teams are expected to make some noise during the 2021 season despite being two of the NHL’s youngest franchises. Prior to the game, other Seattle professional sports teams reached out to the Kraken via social media and wished them luck on their first season on the ice.

The Kraken players had some fun before things got serious Tuesday night, kicking the soccer ball around amongst themselves pregame. If Brandon Tanev plays this season as hard as he was going after the soccer ball, the Kraken could have an impressive opening year.

The Golden Knights need to make their mark on this season early, as they have championship or bust aspirations. Maybe they took the term “leave their mark” in a literal sense, as their logo was seen all around Vegas before the game.

The Knights brought out fire footwear to begin their 2021 season. Before putting on skates, Vegas players William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault donned some exceptional shoes pregame. Karlsson wore spiked shoes that were as shiny as they were dangerous, and Marchessault sported black shoes with a red geometric design. Both men got an A+ for their ensembles with some of the best fits from opening night.

Even though they are foes on the ice tonight, the Golden Knights made sure they welcomed the Kraken to the NHL brotherhood. Even though it looked like a half-baked welcome, Seattle still appreciated Vegas’ kind pregame gesture.

It’s an exciting time for hockey fans in Washington — and a full-circle experience for two people. John Barr and Paul Buxton had a sign four years ago at a hockey game that read “We [Seattle] want the NHL next,” inferring that their city wanted be next to receive an expansion team. Four years later, the statement came to fruition, and Barr and Buxton were in attendance for the Kraken’s first franchise game on Tuesday night — with an important change to their sign.

Unlike last season, arenas will be packed, and fans in Vegas were pretty pumped to see their team take the ice in person. The atmosphere in the T-Mobile Arena was electric as the Golden Knights took the ice for warmups.

Right before the puck dropped, Vegas showed an incredible clip on its ice. The video showed a Kraken (Seattle’s mascot) wreaking havoc in the sea before the Golden Knight vanquishes the beast. Maybe Vegas was doing a little foreshadowing, but it was an impressive video nonetheless.

It didn’t take long for the first goal to be scored — courtesy of the Golden Knights. Max Pacioretty put the puck in the net for Vegas to get the first goal of the season. Marchessault joined in on the fun a few minutes later, notching his first goal of the new season and pushing Vegas’ lead to two.

During the first intermission, the Golden Knights Twitter account started a new game to pass the time. It has a food tournament, pitting two cuisine items head-to-head — with the winner moving on to the next bracket during the team’s next contest. What was the first matchup of the year? Mozzarella sticks vs. jalapeno poppers.

Vegas also had a special guest at their first game of the season. UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno stopped by for the festivities, even getting the crowd hyped during the first intermission. It’s safe to say he succeeded in getting the audience pumped up for the remainder of the game after he cranked the manual siren machine.

In the second frame, Vegas extended their lead thanks to a goal by Nicolas Hague. His goal gave the Golden Knights a 3-0 lead over the Kraken. The T-Mobile Arena was loving what they were seeing from their squad in the first game of the 2021-22 season.

Ryan Donato was the one who scored the first-ever goal in Seattle Kraken franchise history. He scored just as the power play ended in the second period, cutting the Golden Knights lead to two. Seattle was excited about their first goal — and they weren’t done. Shortly after, Jaden Schwartz added another score to bring the Kraken within one.

The Kraken didn’t go away quietly, as they tied the game in the middle of the third period. Morgan Geekie scored for Seattle with an accurate wrist shot from a good distance — but it didn’t give the Kraken the lead for long. Nearly a minute after Geekie’s score, the Knights scored a goal of their own by Chandler Stephenson off of his skate. After another look by the referees, the goal was confirmed, but the Knights’ social media team had their own reasons for why the play needed an extra review.

The Knights’ defense came up big late, getting numerous saves against a furious comeback effort from the Kraken. Vegas was able to hold on at home and get the victory 4-3. The final minutes of this game gave fans high-quality hockey and was a great end to a phenomenal opening night of the 2021 NHL season.

The Golden Knights’ social team had one more trolling tweet to cap off the evening.

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Purdue RB Mockobee has season-ending surgery

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Purdue RB Mockobee has season-ending surgery

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue running back Devin Mockobee will miss the rest of his final college season after undergoing ankle surgery late last week, coach Barry Odom announced Monday.

Mockobee finishes his career as the fourth-leading rusher in Boilermakers history with 2,987 yards, trailing Mike Alstott, Kory Sheets and Otis Armstrong, a College Football Hall of Famer. Mockobee also ranks in the school’s top 10 in carries with 630 and career 100-yard games with nine.

Odom said Mockobee injured his ankle late in an Oct. 25 loss to Rutgers. He was ruled out of last weekend’s 21-16 loss at No. 21 Michigan following Friday’s surgery.

“We were hoping we would get a little bit better news after they did that procedure on his ankle, but unfortunately, the injury he sustained, he’s played his last game here,” Odom said. “I sure hate that because he is such a wonderful young man, a great leader of this program and a great representative of Purdue University. The things he poured into this program and university since I’ve been here, he will go down as one of the really enjoyable, great guys I’ve had a chance to coach. We’ll be connected forever, and I know this place means a lot to him.”

Losing this season’s leading rusher couldn’t come at a worse time for the Boilermakers (2-7, 0-6 Big Ten). They are mired in a six-game losing streak and remain one of four winless teams in league play. Purdue’s next chance to snap a school-record 15-game losing streak in conference games comes Saturday when it hosts No. 1 Ohio State (8-0, 5-0).

Antonio Harris started against Michigan then rotated with Malachi Thomas. Harris finished with 11 carries for 54 yards and one touchdown while Thomas had 15 carries for 68 yards. Malachi Singleton, a quarterback, also finished with six carries for 24 yards.

Odom did not say whether he would follow a similar game plan against the Buckeyes.

Mockobee joined the Boilermakers as a walk-on from Boonville, Indiana, but quickly emerged as their top rusher in 2022.

He set school freshman records by rushing for 968 yards and posting four 100-yard games while scoring nine times for the Big Ten West Division champions. After losing the Big Ten championship game to the Wolverines, first-time head coach Ryan Walters gave the 6-foot, 202-pound rusher a scholarship.

But Mockobee struggled with fumbles in 2023, starting just four games and finishing with 811 yards and six TD runs. He rebounded by starting all 12 games in 2024 and producing 687 yards rushing and four scores. He had a team-high 521 yards rushing and 4 TD runs in 8 games this season before getting injured.

Mockobee finished his career with 86 receptions for 839 yards and 3 touchdowns and the only completed pass of his career was a TD pass earlier this season.

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NCAA sends concerns to prediction market Kalshi

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NCAA sends concerns to prediction market Kalshi

The NCAA sent a letter to Kalshi, a company that offers prediction markets on college basketball and football, expressing its concern about the company’s “commitment to contest integrity and the protection of contest participants,” according to a copy of the letter obtained by ESPN.

In the letter, dated Oct. 30, NCAA chief legal officer Scott Bearby asked Kalshi how it monitors collegiate sports markets for integrity concerns and activity by prohibited customers, who it considers a prohibited customer, whether it will report integrity concerns to the NCAA and whether the company will cooperate with NCAA investigations.

“We welcome Kalshi’s stance on its efforts to protect the integrity of NCAA competitions and to reduce instances of abuse and harassment directed at student-athletes and other participants,” Bearby wrote.

The NCAA also asked if Kalshi would ban prediction markets similar to prop bets, which the company began offering this fall.

Prop betting markets, Bearby noted in the letter, heighten “the risk of integrity and harassment concerns.” In March last year, NCAA president Charlie Baker called for a ban on prop bets on college athletes in states with legal sports wagering.

The NCAA also asked Kalshi in the letter to review language on its website that the NCAA says implies a relationship between them.

“Kalshi has robust market integrity provisions required by our status as a federally licensed financial exchange,” a Kalshi spokesperson said in a statement to ESPN. “We value the NCAA’s feedback and are working on adjusting the language on our site. We are currently reviewing and addressing their additional requests.”

Prediction markets like Kalshi have emerged over the past year and are competing with traditional sportsbooks in the betting market. Kalshi is battling multiple lawsuits by state gambling regulators, who allege that the company is violating state laws by offering event contracts that mimic sports bets. Kalshi argues that it does not fall under state jurisdiction and is instead regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a federal agency.

In March, Kalshi announced a partnership with IC360, an integrity monitor used by many collegiate and professional leagues.

The NCAA has faced an increasing number of alleged betting violations by players in recent years. In September, the NCAA announced that a Fresno State men’s basketball player had manipulated his performance for gambling purposes and conspired with two other players in a prop betting scheme. In total, the association has opened investigations into potential betting violations by approximately 30 current or former men’s basketball players.

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Canes query ACC on late roughing call in SMU loss

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Canes query ACC on late roughing call in SMU loss

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Miami has asked the Atlantic Coast Conference for clarity on a number of officiating decisions made in its loss this past weekend to SMU, including a critical 15-yard penalty in the final moments of regulation.

Miami lost the game, 26-20. The Hurricanes, who were as high as No. 2 in the AP Top 25 last month, have dropped two of their last three games and are now ranked No. 18.

Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said Miami has not gotten an answer from the ACC. It’s unclear if any explanations will be coming.

“Certainly, we’re waiting what the response is, as well as on the roughing the passer one which we certainly don’t agree with,” Cristobal said Monday. “But at this point in time, the best we can do is turn it in and hope for a better result next time.”

The Hurricanes’ Marquise Lightfoot was called for unnecessary roughness against SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings with about a minute left in the fourth quarter, giving the Mustangs 15 yards and a first down. Miami had called time out just before the fourth-and-9 play was snapped, and the Hurricanes argued to no avail that Lightfoot did not hear the whistle.

Replays showed that Lightfoot, who did make contact with Jennings, tried to hold the SMU quarterback up after apparently realizing the play was dead.

That penalty gave SMU the ball on the Miami 37, and the Mustangs went on to kick an overtime-forcing field goal.

Miami also was incensed about how a pass interference flag that would have aided the Hurricanes was picked up, and how officials missed a Hurricanes receiver getting tackled in the end zone on a play that wound up as a Miami interception in overtime.

Miami was called for 12 penalties in the game for 96 yards, compared with four by SMU for 40 yards. The eight-penalty differential tied Miami’s biggest of the season; it had 13 penalties compared with five by Florida State when those teams played in Tallahassee last month.

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