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It’s not enough that the Colorado Avalanche have won four straight first-round series. They’ve been so strong in the first round that they swept their past two first-round series and only had two first-round losses in four years, with their last one coming after the 2019-20 season.

Then came the upstart Seattle Kraken. Beating the defending Stanley Cup champions in Game 1 was just the start. On Monday, the Kraken jumped out to a two-goal lead and held on for a 3-2 overtime win against the Avalanche in a series-tying victory that saw them lose leading scorer Jared McCann for at least Game 5 after what Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said was “a late hit” from Avs defenseman Cale Makar.

On Tuesday, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced that Makar would be suspended for Game 5. In its ruling, the department stated, “The result of this play is a body check to a vulnerable player who is not eligible to be hit that causes an injury.”

As it stands, the Avs are two wins away from extending their title defense into at least the second round. The Kraken are two wins from their first playoff-series victory less than a year after they were a lottery team. Here are the keys for Game 5 on Thursday night in Denver (9:30 ET, ESPN):

What Makar’s suspension means for the Avs

Makar’s suspension leaves the Avalanche without a top-pairing defenseman who serves in a number of critical roles. Even though injuries limited him to 66 points in 60 games, this season saw Makar become the type of complete defensemen the Avalanche used in every sequence ranging from 5-on-5 to facilitating the first-team power play to being trusted as a penalty killer.

The reigning Conn Smythe and Norris Trophy winner led the NHL with 26:22 in average ice time and is 11th in the playoffs with 25:14. His ice time is nearly two minutes more than the next Avs defenseman Devon Toews, who is averaging 23:17 during the postseason.

During the regular season, Makar was partnered with Toews. In the playoffs, the decision was made to play him alongside Bowen Byram. Together, they provide the Avalanche with a top defensive pairing that’s designed to control possession, facilitate play and provide two-way stability.

Who replaces Makar for Game 5? Avalanche coach Jared Bednar could go in a number of directions. He could opt to use either Samuel Girard or Toews alongside Byram on the first pairing.

Byram and Toews have played nearly 85 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time together this season, according to Natural Stat Trick. It’s a contrast to the time Byram and Girard have spent together, which amounts to nearly 300 minutes in 5-on-5 ice time this season.

In terms of the power play, it’s also possible Bednar could either use Byram or Toews to replace Makar on the first unit. If so, it would leave Bednar seeking a fill-in for Byram or Toews on the second unit, which would then see the Avs go from having three defensemen on their second unit to possibly having two defensemen with three forwards.

Then there’s what it means for the penalty kill. Makar has worked in tandem with Toews to lead the Avalanche in short-handed minutes entering Game 5. Erik Johnson is third, followed by Girard, Byram and Josh Manson.

Regardless of the configuration, it leaves Bednar with Byram, Girard, Johnson, Manson and Toews with the need to find a sixth defenseman. It’s possible the Avs could turn to veteran defenseman Jack Johnson, who played 83 games this season between the Avs and the Chicago Blackhawks. Jack Johnson has been listed as day-to-day and hasn’t yet featured in these playoffs.

A life and depth situation

Let’s start with the Avalanche. Take a glance at who has been scoring their goals: their top two lines. Ten of Colorado’s 12 goals scored through Game 4 have come from its top two lines, with the remaining goals coming from Toews and Makar.

What happened during the two games in Seattle was a microcosm of the Avalanche’s current dilemma. J.T. Compher, Mikko Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon and Makar scored all six goals in a 6-4 win in Game 3, with Rantanen scoring both goals in the Game 4 loss.

So what’s been the discussion within the Avalanche about trying to receive more contributions from different portions of the lineup?

“We got to find ways to score dirty goals,” veteran Avs forward Andrew Cogliano said. “Our depth guys have got to get going in terms of providing some offense and providing some goals in front of their net and creating opportunities. At the end of the day, that’s probably the difference right now.”

Cogliano may have a point when comparing the Avalanche’s situation to the Kraken.

Depth has been among the many items the Kraken have used throughout the regular season and into the playoffs. Of the Kraken’s 12 goals, only two of them can be attributed to their top line, while their second defensive pairing of Will Borgen and Jamie Oleksiak have combined to score two goals.

Borgen opened Game 4 with a goal, followed by Daniel Sprong, who also scored his first to give the Kraken a two-goal lead after the first period. And in overtime, it was Eberle who scored the game-winner.

So the Kraken received goals from Borgen and a fourth-line winger in Sprong before top-line winger Eberle scored the series-tying goal in sudden death. That kind of depth is one reason the Kraken have scored the first goal in each game of the series.

“At the end of the day, we have to stick to our identity, which is depth,” Eberle said. “We play quick and we win by committee.”

Managing without McCann

Hakstol said McCann would miss Game 5 and possibly even more games because of the injury he suffered from the Makar hit. His absence means the Kraken will have to find a way to win in Denver without a 40-goal scorer whose 67 goals over the last two years are more than what Sidney Crosby, Zach Hyman and Brady Tkachuk, among others, have scored in the same span.

McCann, who had yet to score in the playoffs, was replaced by Ryan Donato on the Kraken’s top line alongside Matty Beniers and Eberle. Natural Stat Trick’s data shows that Donato logged more than nine minutes in 5-on-5 ice time with Beniers and Eberle, which made them the second-most used combination in those sequences.

Donato, who had been averaging less than seven minutes in the first three games, received more than 16 minutes in ice time while finishing with five shots, which was the second most on the Kraken behind Jaden Schwartz‘s 11 shots.

“We need more out of everybody in our lineup,” Hakstol said. “You don’t expect it to be in that scenario, but we always know that Donny is ready to play. … He stepped in and I thought he did a nice job.”

Finding ways to beat the Kraken’s forecheck

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Kraken top the Avs in OT for first home playoff win

Jordan Eberle nets the game-winning goal in overtime to even the series and give the Kraken their first postseason win at home.

There was a moment in the second period when the Avalanche won a faceoff, the puck made its way to Makar and he was instantly pressured by Donato into a pass before the Kraken forced a turnover.

And then, less than two minutes later, Rantanen had possession but was bumped and pushed off the puck by Borgen.

The Kraken’s forecheck was unforgivingly effective in Game 4. It was the sort of scripted defensive performance that saw them remain aggressive, pressuring the puck in a way that saw two, if not three, skaters attack at once while also forcing turnovers.

It amounted to the Kraken blocking 26 shots, recording 52 hits and limiting the Avs to just 16 shots in 5-on-5 play, which was both the fewest in the series and tied for the third fewest in a game this season.

“They have a forecheck, they hit the red [line], they dump it in almost every time,” Avs forward Evan Rodrigues said of the Kraken’s forecheck. “There’s things to do to get around that and to beat that aggression. I think we have to get to doing those things.”

Bednar was asked after Game 3 about the type of tactical challenges the Kraken’s forecheck provides. He said going back and working hard to get pucks first is a priority — an item he said the Avs struggled with at times in their first two games.

“That next play can’t be a soft play. Not against these guys,” Bednar said. “They’re going to get on top of you quickly and you got to find a way to make sure you’re getting pucks above their forecheck and to be able to create any sort of rush attack, you got to be able to get out of your zone clean.”

In Game 3, that forecheck allowed the Kraken to score two goals within a minute to tie the game at 3-3 in the second period.

In Game 4, the Kraken’s structure limited the Avs’ puck movement and scoring chances, such that they finished with just six high-danger scoring chances in 5-on-5 play, according to Natural Stat Trick.

“Arguably, they have one of the best D corps as far as mobility back there in the league,” Eberle said. “They’re not an easy group to forecheck. They can move, they can shimmy shake you, they’re jumping in everywhere. I think we did a pretty good job of containing them.

“Obviously, they’re going to get chances. They’re the defending Cup champions for a reason. But if we can limit their time and space as much as we can and get there before they can move and stay above them when they are trying to jump up? I think for the most part, we did a good job with that.”

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What are torpedo bats? Are they legal? What to know about MLB’s hottest trend

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What are torpedo bats? Are they legal? What to know about MLB's hottest trend

The opening weekend of the 2025 MLB season was taken over by a surprise star — torpedo bats.

The bowling pin-shaped bats became the talk of the sport after the Yankees’ home run onslaught on the first Saturday of the season put it in the spotlight and the buzz hasn’t slowed since.

What exactly is a torpedo bat? How does it help hitters? And how is it legal? Let’s dig in.

Read: An MIT-educated professor, the Yankees and the bat that could be changing baseball


What is a torpedo bat and why is it different from a traditional MLB bat?

The idea of the torpedo bat is to take a size format — say, 34 inches and 32 ounces — and distribute the wood in a different geometric shape than the traditional form to ensure the fattest part of the bat is located where the player makes the most contact. Standard bats taper toward an end cap that is as thick diametrically as the sweet spot of the barrel. The torpedo bat moves some of the mass on the end of the bat about 6 to 7 inches lower, giving it a bowling-pin shape, with a much thinner end.


How does it help hitters?

The benefits for those who like swinging with it — and not everyone who has swung it likes it — are two-fold. Both are rooted in logic and physics. The first is that distributing more mass to the area of most frequent contact aligns with players’ swing patterns and provides greater impact when bat strikes ball. Players are perpetually seeking ways to barrel more balls, and while swings that connect on the end of the bat and toward the handle probably will have worse performance than with a traditional bat, that’s a tradeoff they’re willing to make for the additional slug. And as hitters know, slug is what pays.

The second benefit, in theory, is increased bat speed. Imagine a sledgehammer and a broomstick that both weigh 32 ounces. The sledgehammer’s weight is almost all at the end, whereas the broomstick’s is distributed evenly. Which is easier to swing fast? The broomstick, of course, because shape of the sledgehammer takes more strength and effort to move. By shedding some of the weight off the end of the torpedo bat and moving it toward the middle, hitters have found it swings very similarly to a traditional model but with slightly faster bat velocity.


Why did it become such a big story so early in the 2025 MLB season?

Because the New York Yankees hit nine home runs in a game Saturday and Michael Kay, their play-by-play announcer, pointed out that some of them came from hitters using a new bat shape. The fascination was immediate. While baseball, as an industry, has implemented forward-thinking rules in recent seasons, the modification to something so fundamental and known as the shape of a bat registered as bizarre. The initial response from many who saw it: How is this legal?


OK. How is this legal?

Major League Baseball’s bat regulations are relatively permissive. Currently, the rules allow for a maximum barrel diameter of 2.61 inches, a maximum length of 42 inches and a smooth and round shape. The lack of restrictions allows MLB’s authorized bat manufacturers to toy with bat geometry and for the results to still fall within the regulations.


Who came up with the idea of using them?

The notion of a bowling-pin-style bat has kicked around baseball for years. Some bat manufacturers made smaller versions as training tools. But the version that’s now infiltrating baseball goes back two years when a then-Yankees coach named Aaron Leanhardt started asking hitters how they should counteract the giant leaps in recent years made by pitchers.

When Yankees players responded that bigger barrels would help, Leanhardt — an MIT-educated former Michigan physics professor who left academia to work in the sports industry — recognized that as long as bats stayed within MLB parameters, he could change their geometry to make them a reality. Leanhardt, who left the Yankees to serve as major league field coordinator for the Miami Marlins over the winter, worked with bat manufacturers throughout the 2023 and 2024 seasons to make that a reality.


When did it first appear in MLB games?

It’s unclear specifically when. But Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton used a torpedo bat last year and went on a home run-hitting rampage in October that helped send the Yankees to the World Series. New York Mets star Francisco Lindor also used a torpedo-style bat last year and went on to finish second in National League MVP voting.


Who are some of the other notable early users of torpedo bats?

In addition to Stanton and Lindor, Yankees hitters Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt have used torpedoes to great success. Others who have used them in games include Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero, Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers and Toronto’s Davis Schneider. And that’s just the beginning. Hundreds more players are expected to test out torpedoes — and perhaps use them in games — in the coming weeks.


How is this different from a corked bat?

Corking bats involves drilling a hole at the end of the bat, filling it in and capping it. The use of altered bats allows players to swing faster because the material with which they replace the wood — whether it’s cork, superballs or another material — is lighter. Any sort of bat adulteration is illegal and, if found, results in suspension.


Could a rule be changed to ban them?

Could it happen? Sure. Leagues and governing bodies have put restrictions on equipment they believe fundamentally altered fairness. Stick curvature is limited in hockey. Full-body swimsuits made of polyurethane and neoprene are banned by World Aquatics. But officials at MLB have acknowledged that the game’s pendulum has swung significantly toward pitching in recent years, and if an offensive revolution comes about because of torpedo bats — and that is far from a guarantee — it could bring about more balance to the game. If that pendulum swings too far, MLB could alter its bat regulations, something it has done multiple times already this century.


So the torpedo bat is here to stay?

Absolutely. Bat manufacturers are cranking them out and shipping them to interested players with great urgency. Just how widely the torpedo bat is adopted is the question that will play out over the rest of the season. But it has piqued the curiosity of nearly every hitter in the big leagues, and just as pitchers toy with new pitches to see if they can marginally improve themselves, hitters will do the same with bats.

Comfort is paramount with a bat, so hitters will test them during batting practice and in cage sessions before unleashing them during the game. As time goes on, players will find specific shapes that are most comfortable to them and best suit their swing during bat-fitting sessions — similar to how golfers seek custom clubs. But make no mistake: This is an almost-overnight alteration of the game, and “traditional or torpedo” is a question every big leaguer going forward will ask himself.

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St. Pete to spend $22.5M to fix Tropicana Field

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St. Pete to spend .5M to fix Tropicana Field

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The once and possibly future home of the Tampa Bay Rays will get a new roof to replace the one shredded by Hurricane Milton with the goal of having the ballpark ready for the 2026 season, city officials decided in a vote Thursday.

The St. Petersburg City Council voted 7-1 to approve $22.5 million to begin the repairs at Tropicana Field, which will start with a membrane roof that must be in place before other work can continue. Although the Rays pulled out of a planned $1.3 billion new stadium deal, the city is still contractually obligated to fix the Trop.

“We are legally bound by an agreement. The agreement requires us to fix the stadium,” said council member Lissett Hanewicz, who is an attorney. “We need to go forward with the roof repair so we can do the other repairs.”

The hurricane damage forced the Rays to play home games this season at Steinbrenner Field across the bay in Tampa, the spring training home of the New York Yankees. The Rays went 4-2 on their first homestand ever at an open-air ballpark, which seats around 11,000 fans.

Under the current agreement with the city, the Rays owe three more seasons at the Trop once it’s ready again for baseball, through 2028. It’s unclear if the Rays will maintain a long-term commitment to the city or look to Tampa or someplace else for a new stadium. Major League Baseball has said keeping the team in the Tampa Bay region is a priority. The Rays have played at the Trop since their inception in 1998.

The team said it would have a statement on the vote later Thursday.

The overall cost of Tropicana Field repairs is estimated at $56 million, said city architect Raul Quintana. After the roof, the work includes fixing the playing surface, ensuring audio and visual electronics are working, installing flooring and drywall, getting concession stands running and other issues.

“This is a very complex project. We feel like we’re in a good place,” Quintana said at the council meeting Thursday.

Under the proposed timeline, the roof installation will take about 10 months. The unique membrane system is fabricated in Germany and assembled in China, Quintana said, adding that officials are examining how President Donald Trump’s new tariffs might affect the cost.

The new roof, he added, will be able to withstand hurricane winds as high as 165 mph. Hurricane Milton, one of the strongest hurricanes ever in the Atlantic basin at one point, blasted ashore Oct. 9 south of Tampa Bay with Category 3 winds of about 125 mph.

Citing mounting costs, the Rays last month pulled out of a deal with the city and Pinellas County for a new $1.3 billion ballpark to be built near the Trop site. That was part of a broader $6.5 billion project known as the Historic Gas Plant district to bring housing, retail and restaurants, arts and a Black history museum to a once-thriving Black neighborhood razed for the original stadium.

The city council plans to vote on additional Trop repair costs over the next few months.

“This is our contractual obligation. I don’t like it more than anybody else. I’d much rather be spending that money on hurricane recovery and helping residents in the most affected neighborhoods,” council member Brandi Gabbard said. “These are the cards that we’re dealt.”

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Tulane suspends Finley after transfer QB’s arrest

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Tulane suspends Finley after transfer QB's arrest

Tulane quarterback TJ Finley has been suspended following his arrest Wednesday in New Orleans on a charge of illegal possession of stolen things worth more than $25,000.

Finley, 23, whose name is Tyler Jamal, was booked and released. Tulane said in a statement that the length of the suspension will depend on the outcome of his case. The school cited privacy laws in declining to comment further.

University police responded Wednesday to an address where a truck was blocking a driveway. After looking up the license plate, police saw it registered to a vehicle stolen in Atlanta. Finley arrived to move the car and informed the officer that he had bought the truck recently. He’s scheduled to appear in court June 1.

Finley transferred to Tulane in December after spending the 2024 season with Western Kentucky. He had been competing for the team’s starting quarterback job in spring practice alongside fellow transfers Kadin Semonza and Donovan Leary.

Finley, a native of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, started his college career at LSU before transferring to Auburn for two seasons and then Texas State in 2023. He started five games for both LSU and Auburn but had his most success with Texas State, passing for 3,439 yards and 24 touchdowns.

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