Utah QB Rising not making 2023 debut vs. UCLA
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Pete Thamel, ESPN
Utah star quarterback Cam Rising will not play against No. 22 UCLA on Saturday as he continues his recovery from an ACL tear he sustained in the Rose Bowl.
Rising took part in warmups but was in street clothes for the start of the game. Rising, who has yet to play this season, was given clearance to practice without limitation in early September and was given positive reports by coach Kyle Whittingham this week about how he looked in practice.
Nate Johnson, the dynamic backup who leapfrogged Bryson Barnes on the depth chart, is making his second straight start for the No. 11 Utes.
Johnson led Utah’s comeback win at Baylor two weeks ago, scoring the tying touchdown on a 7-yard fourth-quarter run. That performance led to Whittingham making the switch between the backups, and Johnson started and played well in a 31-7 victory over Weber State last week.
A 6-foot-1, 195-pound dual-threat quarterback with unusual speed for the position, Johnson threw for 193 yards against Weber State. On the season, he has three rushing touchdowns and is averaging 4.5 yards per carry.
Johnson has completed 68.8% of his passes, as he had a significant role as a change-of-pace quarterback in Utah’s first two games before becoming the starter.
Rising has led Utah to back-to-back Pac-12 titles, and his status has been one of the biggest questions hanging over the sport this month. Whittingham has told reporters that the medical clearance on Rising’s return isn’t up to the Utah medical staff.
Rising’s ACL was repaired by noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache, and earlier in the month, Whittingham told the Deseret News of ElAttrache: “The ultimate guy that says thumbs-up, thumbs-down for playing, and right now we don’t have that thumbs-up.”
Rising is one of the most accomplished players in the sport, as he threw for 3,034 yards with 26 touchdown passes last season before the injury in the Rose Bowl. With Rising under center, Utah has registered back-to-back 10-win seasons. Utah is 3-0 without him this year and plays UCLA in a battle of undefeated teams.
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Kristen Shilton
Neck guards will be mandatory for all hockey players at the upcoming Olympic Games in Milano-Cortana.
An NHL source confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday that the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) will require the protective gear be worn throughout the upcoming tournament. BBC Sports was first to report the news.
The decision comes in the wake of Adam Johnson’s death in October 2023 after he took a skate blade to the neck from Matt Petgrave during a game in Sheffield, England. The IIHF had previously announced in December 2023 that neck guards would be required at all levels of the sport but never set a date when that would be instated at the most senior level amid issues with supplying teams with the garments. They’ve finally set a timeline now with three months to go until the Olympics open in Italy.
The upcoming Games will feature NHL players in competition for the first time since 2014. There is no mandate that neck guards be worn by all skaters in the NHL, although some have opted to use them following Johnson’s accident. Incoming NHL players will be required to wear them starting in the 2026-27 season, however, per the league’s new collective bargaining agreement. Players who dressed in at least one NHL game before next season will continue having the option.
Hockey action begins at the Games on Feb. 5.
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Greg Wyshynski
The NHL Department of Player Safety has decided Dallas Stars forward Mikko Rantanen will not receive any supplemental discipline for his boarding major against the New York Islanders on Tuesday, a source told ESPN on Wednesday.
Rantanen was ejected from the Stars’ loss to the Islanders after an injurious hit on defenseman Alexander Romanov. With less than a minute to go in regulation, Rantanen skated through a check by Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield and shoved Romanov in the back, sending him violently into the end boards. He was eventually helped from the ice.
The Islanders didn’t offer any update on Romanov’s health after the game, other than to say he didn’t have to leave the arena for the hospital.
“When one of your friends gets hurt on the ice, it’s way more important than hockey. We get the two points. We’re happy about that. But our first concern was Romy,” Islanders forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau said.
Rantanen, the Stars’ leading scorer with 27 points in 20 games, was given a five-minute major for boarding, which carries an automatic game misconduct. Dallas played the last 27.3 seconds without him, nearly tying the game on a goal with 0.1 seconds remaining that was overturned by the NHL Situation Room for goalie interference. New York won an emotional game 3-2.
Islanders coach Patrick Roy, who unleashed a profane tirade at Rantanen as he left the ice, said the hit was “disrespectful” to his team.
“I’m going to say is [that] when you see the number, you have to lay off. Everybody knows that. You don’t go through the guy,” Roy said. “I was in Colorado when [Rantanen] was drafted there. It’s not his style. But at the same time, that should not be part of our game.”
Ultimately, the NHL saw the play as Stars coach Glen Gulutzan did, with Gulutzan arguing that Rantanen was simply off-balance and didn’t intend to deliver a hit on Romanov near the end boards.
“If you watch the play, I think Mayfield holds up Rants and they actually clip skates. So Rants is going off-balance going in there too. If you played the game and you’re off-balance, you usually put your hands out,” Gulutzan said. “I’ve seen Rants play enough in the last 10 years. It’s just one of those hockey plays that happened. I’m hoping Romanov is OK. It’s a dangerous play for everybody.”
Rantanen will be available when the Stars face the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.
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