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The NHL is sending four teams to Sweden next season, with the Minnesota Wild, Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators taking part in Global Series games there in November.

The league on Wednesday announced its second and final venture outside North America in 2023: a game each day in Stockholm Nov. 16-19. The Los Angeles Kings and Arizona Coyotes are set to play two exhibition games in Melbourne, Australia, in September.

The NHL is trying to significantly expand hockey interest Down Under while also cultivating and growing an already fervent fanbase in Scandinavia and across Europe. David Proper, the league’s senior executive VP of media and international strategy, knows they present different dynamics.

“A lot of the people that may go to this for the first time in Australia are going because it’s an event — a North American professional sport is playing in Australia — and what we need to do is convince them that this is a sport worth following, that it’s fun, it’s interesting, it’s the kind of sport they can get involved in,” Proper said. “In a place like Sweden, you’re really dealing at a different level. You’re not trying to explain the sport. You’re trying to polish the sport and the brand to the fan base there and get casual fans to become avid fans.”

The NHL is returning to Sweden for the first time since before the pandemic, when Buffalo and Tampa Bay played games at what is now known as Avicii Arena. The Red Wings will face the Senators on Nov. 16 and the Leafs on Nov. 17, and the Wild will face the Senators on Nov. 18 and the Leafs on Nov. 19.

Minnesota’s Jonas Brodin, Joel Eriksson Ek and Filip Gustavsson and Toronto’s William Nylander get the chance to play an NHL game in their home country for the first time. The league chose the Wild, Maple Leafs, Red Wings and Senators not only for their current volume of Swedes but also for the organizations’ history of them, including Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg and Ottawa’s Daniel Alfredsson.

Having four teams in one building in Sweden could also provide a blueprint for staging the World Cup of Hockey, which the league and NHLPA still hope to do in 2025 after scrapping plans to hold it next year.

Each international trip presents its own challenges, including a new one last year when San Jose and Nashville went to Prague several months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Prominent Czech Hall of Fame goaltender Dominik Hasek voiced opposition to the teams bringing Russian players, which they ultimately did. Proper said similar concerns have not been raised by Swedish officials regarding next season. Minnesota winger Kirill Kaprizov and Ottawa defenseman Artem Zub are the Russian players under contract for next season among the teams going to Sweden, and Toronto could bring back goaltender Ilya Samsonov.

Going to Australia is a tougher sell than Europe, given the travel and time commitment required. After initial rumors indicated Los Angeles would be facing the Boston Bruins, its foe is instead the Coyotes.

“Being on the West Coast certainly helps in terms of shortening the trip, but I also think they saw them as a good team bonding experience,” Proper said. “The idea of taking people abroad early on in the preseason, particularly to someplace that can be a once-in-a-lifetime-experience trip, is a really good way to get the team to bond, spend time together and really come out of the gates in a good place.”

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Auburn’s Freeze diagnosed with prostate cancer

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Auburn's Freeze diagnosed with prostate cancer

Auburn football coach Hugh Freeze was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer and is expected to make a full recovery after doctors detected the disease in its early stages, the school announced Friday.

Freeze, 55, will continue coaching the Tigers while receiving treatment, Auburn officials said in a statement.

“Recently, Coach Freeze was diagnosed with an early form of prostate cancer,” the statement said. “Thankfully, it was detected early and his doctors have advised that it is very treatable and curable. He will continue his normal coaching duties and responsibilities, and with forthcoming proper treatment, is expected to make a full recovery.

“Coach Freeze is incredibly appreciative of our medical professionals and has asked that we use his experience as a reminder of the importance of prioritizing and scheduling annual health screenings.”

The Tigers are scheduled to start spring practice March 25.

Freeze’s teams went 11-14 (5-11 SEC) in his first two seasons, including a 5-7 campaign in 2024. With the additions of transfer quarterback Jackson Arnold (Oklahoma), wide receivers Eric Singleton Jr. (Georgia Tech) and Horatio Fields (Wake Forest), offensive tackle Xavier Chaplin (Virginia Tech), and others, the Tigers are expected to be much improved this coming season.

At Liberty, Freeze coached from a hospital bed set up in the coaches’ box during the Flames’ 24-0 loss to Syracuse in his debut on Aug. 31, 2019. Freeze was recovering from surgery for a herniated disk in his back and a staph infection.

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Iowa State gives AD Pollard 5-year extension

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Iowa State gives AD Pollard 5-year extension

AMES, Iowa — Jamie Pollard, the Iowa State athletic director since 2005, has received a five-year contract extension through 2030, the university announced Friday.

The Cyclones have had unprecedented success in the major sports in 2024-25. The football team had its first 11-win season and the ninth-ranked men’s basketball team has been in the top 10 all season and achieved its highest ranking since 1956-57 when it reached No. 3 in December.

Terms of Pollard’s contract will be announced later, the school said.

“I am humbled to have had the opportunity to lead our athletics program for the past 20 years,” said Pollard, who thanked the administration for its support. “We have an amazing culture in our athletics program, led by our talented and dedicated coaches and staff. Although our industry is undergoing transformational change, I am confident our department will successfully embrace these challenges with the same energy and urgency that has proven to be successful in the past.”

Pollard, the nation’s third-longest serving Power 4 athletic director, has overseen $340 million in new construction and facility renovations. Since 2011-12, and excluding the 2020-21 pandemic year, ISU is the only school in the nation to have average attendances over 50,000 in football, 12,000 in men’s basketball and 9,000 in women’s basketball.

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Bowling Green’s Loeffler takes QB job with Eagles

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Bowling Green's Loeffler takes QB job with Eagles

Bowling Green coach Scot Loeffler is leaving the school after six seasons to become quarterbacks coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Loeffler, 50, went 27-41 at Bowling Green but led the Falcons to bowl appearances in each of the past three seasons, posting a 16-10 record in MAC play during the span.

He will replace Doug Nussmeier, who left the Eagles with Kellen Moore to become the New Orleans Saints‘ offensive coordinator. Loeffler will work under new Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, who had been the team’s passing game coordinator and associate head coach.

“Scot has been dedicated to not only BGSU Football, but to all our student-athletes and BGSU Athletics, as well as our Falcon Marching Band and spirit programs,” university president Rodney Rogers said in a statement. “He cares deeply about player development and student success, and we wish him all the best as he continues his coaching career in the NFL with the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles.”

Loeffler returns to the NFL for the first time since 2008, when he coached quarterbacks for the Detroit Lions. A former Michigan quarterback, Loeffler coached QBs at his alma mater from 2002 to 2007 and also with Central Michigan and Florida. He first became an offensive coordinator with Temple in 2011 and made coordinator stops with Auburn, Virginia Tech and Boston College before landing his first head-coaching opportunity at Bowling Green.

The coaching change means Bowling Green players now have a 30-day window to enter the NCAA transfer portal. The Falcons had already lost three All-MAC performers to the portal in December in running back Terion Stewart (Virginia Tech), offensive tackle Alex Wollschlaeger (Kentucky) and linebacker Joseph Sipp Jr. (Kansas). Bowling Green also is losing record-setting tight end Harold Fannin Jr. to the NFL draft.

Athletic director Derek van der Merwe will lead the search for Loeffler’s replacement. In a statement, Van der Merwe praised Loeffler for building “a very successful program in a challenging climate in collegiate sports.

“I am looking forward to this process of finding the next great leader for our program who embraces what it means to be a Falcon,” Van der Merwe added.

ESPN’s Max Olson contributed to this report.

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