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The second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs is underway after a memorable — and frankly, wild — first two weeks. I’ve spent that time traversing the East Coast, spending hours at the rinks having conversations with players, coaches, front office executives and people around the game. Here’s some info I’ve gleaned:

• The Toronto Maple LeafsFlorida Panthers series will pit the two most electric American players against each other: Auston Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk. And they’re seemingly at full strength, which wasn’t the case all season. Matthews’ production dipped following his 2021-22 MVP campaign, but a large part of that was because of a hand injury he nursed and played through earlier in the season.

When I asked Sheldon Keefe about it last round, the Leafs coach admitted his star center had some discomfort in his wrist and hand, but said he also thought it put a mental block on Matthews. Once it healed, the coaching staff noticed Matthews’ skating became freer and faster. Entering the playoffs, Keefe said Matthews “looks like a guy who is ramping up, and perhaps knows that it was worth saving himself for now, which is the most important time for our team.”

There’s no doubt Tkachuk was getting under the skin of Bruins players in the first round — heck, goalie Linus Ullmark, who was on my ballot for the Lady Byng, almost got into a fight with him. But Tkachuk proved this season he is most effective when he dials it back. In his first 34 games with the Panthers, Tkachuk had 17 minor penalties (59 penalty minutes). As the team made its big push after the All-Star break, especially from March on, Tkachuk was dialed in. Over the past five weeks of the season, Tkachuk had just six penalties while scoring 28 points in 18 games.

Tkachuk has been everything the Panthers anticipated in terms of skill and physicality, and he’s provided an emotional boost to the room. Coach Paul Maurice and general manager Bill Zito both made a point to say how good of a teammate Tkachuk is. It’s the little things: If he’s walking across the room for a Gatorade, he’ll ask if he can get anyone else one. He holds doors open. He thanks the flight attendants. Tkachuk was the perfect player at the perfect time for Florida, as the team reshaped its identity from playground hockey to a new commitment to competitiveness and structure.

• The playoffs so far have been all about the upsets. From a TV ratings perspective the big markets — New York, Boston, Los Angeles — plus the defending champion Colorado Avalanche being eliminated isn’t ideal. However, it’s also a celebration of the smaller markets that have been quietly building up their fan bases.

The Canes’ organic growth has been noted for a few years, and this season they set a record with 33 regular-season sellouts. GM Don Waddell told me ahead of Game 5 he spent all morning on the phone apologizing to people because he didn’t have access to tickets. Meanwhile, Devils fans are celebrating their team’s rebuild being over. New Jersey set revenue records in ticketing, sponsorship, groups, entertainment and food and beverage. The Devils have a 99% retention rate on season tickets and have already sold 1,500-plus season tickets for next year, which is more than they sold all of last season. For context, 1,500 new season tickets would have been good for the seventh most in the NHL last season.

• It’s been a devastating season on the injury front for Carolina, which has continued to find a way to win despite its depth slowly being depleted. Max Pacioretty (Achilles) and Andrei Svechnikov (ACL) are not options this postseason. But Teuvo Teravainen might be. The veteran forward underwent surgery on a broken left hand suffered in Game 2 of the first round. Doctors told the team it requires a minimum four-week recovery. The team doesn’t want to put pressure on Teravainen, knowing all athletes heal differently and a variety of factors impact recovery. But by that timeline, he could return as soon as the conference finals, should the Canes advance.

• Will we see Luke Hughes in these playoffs? The No. 4 pick of the 2021 draft, who joined New Jersey late last month after his collegiate season in Michigan ended, has been putting in work with the Devils coaches and development staff. Hughes played only two games at the end of the regular season. The organization viewed the first game as just OK. The second was much better, but it was a different intensity level, against a team (Washington) that already had packed it in for the season. Jack Hughes‘ little brother is viewed as a depth option this postseason, with New Jersey keeping an eye on the bigger picture and the impact he’ll make for the organization in the coming years.

At this point, the Devils believe the younger Hughes could get into a playoff game and fare well enough defensively and make a positive impact offensively. However, it would be unfair to thrust him into certain situations. He wasn’t going to start on the road at Madison Square Garden. He wasn’t going to be put into a Game 5 or Game 7. The biggest roadblock for Hughes is that someone would have to sit to make a spot available for him. The organization feels deference to the players who have been there all season.

• The Boston Bruins‘ first-round exit is still unexplainable. Fans have scrutinized Jim Montgomery’s line changes — and lineup changes — during the Panthers series. Even the coach himself admitted he would have done some things differently, such as starting Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand together for Game 5. However, earlier in the series, he revealed why he shuffled his lines so often. “The reason I do it is because if we get to a third period of a Game 6 or a Game 7, the players are not thinking I’m panicking,” Montgomery said. “It’s just, I think it might give us an edge.”

• The New York Rangers‘ moves this season backfired, and there will be fallout this summer. Coach Gerard Gallant is expected to be the fall guy, but a roster reshape is likely as well. It was especially hard to watch Patrick Kane, who so desperately wanted to make an impact after willing the trade out of Chicago once he found out the Blackhawks didn’t have interest in re-signing him.

Kane was available to members of the media nearly every day, sitting at his stall, fielding questions from a scrum of reporters, no matter how uncomfortable. Even though Kane downplayed his hip injury, people in Chicago told me how much treatment and prep he required just to get on the ice. I texted with a few of his former teammates during the playoffs, and one said it best: “That’s not Showtime out there. Don’t recognize him.” An offseason of rest — and potentially surgery — should help Kane regain his form, and he’ll be one of the more interesting free agency cases this summer.

• One of the coolest things I’ve noticed being at rinks is how supportive goalies have been to their partners, even after losing the starting job. When Alex Lyon started the series in Boston, Sergei Bobrovsky was the most animated player on Florida’s bench anytime Lyon had a big stop, standing up and banging on the boards. New Jersey’s Vitek Vanecek is often waiting for Akira Schmid when he gets off the ice, with the hugest smile before he gives him a hug. And we all saw how Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman supported each other in Boston throughout the season.

• The future of Patric Hornqvist in the NHL is unknown after the 36-year-old Florida winger was shut down in December due to concussions. However, he’s still making an impact on the Panthers. Hornqvist is on the ice early before practices, warming up the goalies — I hear he has been especially helpful with Lyon since his call-up. He then assists running the skaters for the extras. It would be easy for Hornqvist, at this point in his career to just take it easy. But when he’s on the ice, he’s really pushing the players, yelling, trying to light a fire under them — the exact same way he played.

• The Taylor Hall trade to Arizona in 2019 became extremely fruitful for the Devils. It landed them a draft pick they used on Dawson Mercer, a draft pick they used to acquire Jonas Siegenthaler, and Kevin Bahl. Coach Lindy Ruff said when he first inherited Bahl, he would have been on the lower end of a scale from 1 to 10. Bahl is 6-foot-6 and has offensive touch, handles and moves the puck well, and has quick feet. But the Devils believe he’s scratching the surface because now is he playing to his size. The physicality he has added to his game is a result of extra sessions with assistant coach Ryan McGill. As someone in the organization said to me: “Nobody wants to fight a 6-foot-8 guy.” If the Devils move on from Ryan Graves this summer, Bahl is set as their in-house replacement.

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Baffert’s Rodriguez wins Wood, enters Derby field

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Baffert's Rodriguez wins Wood, enters Derby field

Rodriguez led all the way to win the $750,000 Wood Memorial on Saturday, earning enough points to move into the 20-horse field for next month’s Kentucky Derby.

Breaking from the rail, the Bob Baffert-trained colt ran 1 1/8 miles on a fast track in 1:48.15 under Hall of Famer Mike Smith in light rain and 45-degree temperatures at Aqueduct in New York. Rodriguez won by 3 1/2 lengths.

The victory was worth 100 qualifying points for the May 3 Derby, potentially giving Baffert three entrants as he seeks a record-setting seventh victory in his return to the race from which he was banned for three years.

Later Saturday, Baffert was to saddle Citizen Bull, last year’s 2-year-old champion, and Barnes in the $500,000 Santa Anita Derby in California, where it was sunny and 82 degrees.

He sent Rodriguez to New York to split up his Derby contenders. The colt was sent off at 7-2 odds in the 10-horse field and paid $9.30 to win the 100th edition of the Wood. He is a son of 2020 Kentucky Derby winner Authentic.

“Bob told me this horse is probably quicker than you think,” Smith said. “He can get uptight pretty easy, and the whole key was just letting him alone out there. I don’t think he necessarily has to have the lead. He just wants to be left alone.”

Smith has twice won the Kentucky Derby. Rodriguez would be his first mount since 2022. At 59, he would be the oldest jockey to win.

“That’s up to all the owners and Bob,” Smith said. “I was glad they pulled me off the bench and I hit a 3-shot for them.”

Grande, trained by Todd Pletcher, was second. He went from having zero qualifying points to 50, which should get him into the Derby starting gate for owner Mike Repole, who is 0 for 7 in the Derby.

Passion Rules was third. Captain Cook, the 9-5 favorite, finished fourth for trainer Rick Dutrow, who hasn’t had a Derby runner since 2010 after winning the 2008 race with Big Brown.

The $1.25 million Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland was postponed from Saturday to Tuesday due to heavy rain and potential flooding in the region. That race and the Lexington Stakes on April 12 are the final Derby preps of the season.

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Nebraska transfer WR Gilmore dismissed from team

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Nebraska transfer WR Gilmore dismissed from team

LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska receiver Hardley Gilmore IV, who transferred from Kentucky in January, has been dismissed from the team, coach Matt Rhule announced Saturday.

The second-year player from Belle Glade, Florida, had come to Nebraska along with former Kentucky teammate Dane Key and receivers coach Daikiel Shorts Jr. and had received praise from teammates and coaches for his performance in spring practice.

Rhule did not disclose a reason for removing Gilmore.

“Nothing outside the program, nothing criminal or anything like that,” Rhule said. “Just won’t be with us anymore.”

Gilmore was charged with misdemeanor assault in December for allegedly punching someone in the face at a storage facility in Lexington, Kentucky, the Lexington Herald Leader reported on Jan. 2.

Gilmore played in seven games as a freshman for the Wildcats and caught six passes for 153 yards. He started against Murray State and caught a 52-yard touchdown pass on Kentucky’s opening possession. He was a consensus four-star recruit who originally chose Kentucky over Penn State and UCF.

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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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