Connect with us

Published

on

San Diego State football coach Brady Hoke will retire at the end of the season, he announced Monday.

Hoke, who is in his second stint as the Aztecs’ coach, took over before the 2020 season after previously having led the program from 2009-10. He has a combined 39-31 record over those two stints and has twice been named Mountain West coach of the year.

He was also the head coach at Michigan (2011-14), Ball State (2003-08) and served as the interim coach at Tennessee for two games in 2017. Overall, he is 104-91 as a head coach. He also has been named coach of the year in the Big Ten (2011) and Mid-American (2008).

“I am proud of what we accomplished at San Diego State,” Hoke, who turned 65 on Nov. 3, said in a statement. “I am grateful to all the great student-athletes I’ve had the chance to work with, molding them into men, husbands, fathers and pillars in the community. I will always cherish my time leading this program. I’d also like to thank the wonderful staff I’ve worked with and wish them the best in the future.”

SDSU is 3-7 this season and will finish with its first losing record — both overall and in Mountain West play — since 2009. Hoke has a 39-31 record across six seasons at the school.

In 2021, Hoke led the Aztecs to a school-record 12 wins. He took over for Rocky Long, who coached the team for the nine seasons between Hoke’s separate times in charge. In 2019, Hoke returned to SDSU as an assistant under Long.

“I am very appreciative for the work Brady Hoke has done with our football program at San Diego State both on and off the field,” SDSU athletic director John David Wicker said in a statement. “Brady set the standard in 2009 when he first arrived on The Mesa that we now hold ourselves too. However, it’s more than wins and losses. Brady created a culture, led our program thru COVID, played two entire seasons in Carson, including a 12-win campaign, and takes seriously the development of young men off the field as well as on.”

SDSU opened 35,000-seat Snapdragon Stadium in 2022 and had been a potential target for conference expansion prior to the implosion of the Pac-12. The Aztecs finish the season with games against San Jose State and Fresno State.

Continue Reading

Sports

Bruins show love to emotional Marchand in return

Published

on

By

Bruins show love to emotional Marchand in return

BOSTON — The Little Ball of Hate still has a lot of love back in Boston.

Brad Marchand appeared to be holding back tears on the ice when the TD Garden crowd gave him a standing ovation Tuesday night during his first game as a Bruins opponent. The 37-year-old forward tapped his heart, wiped his face and waved to the crowd as both teams banged their sticks against the ice and even the referee and each linesperson clapped along.

The last remaining member of Boston’s 2011 Stanley Cup-winning team, Marchand was traded to the Panthers last season for another chance at a title. He helped Florida complete its pursuit of back-to-back championships, while the Bruins plummeted to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

In his first game back as a Panther, the Boston crowd cheered him off the ice after the pregame warmups, as the TD Garden DJ played a mashup of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” Marchand responded with a stick salute as he headed off via the visitors bench.

Fans wearing Marchand’s Boston and Florida No. 63 jerseys cheered again during introductions for the former Bruins captain. (They booed when he drew a tripping penalty just 33 seconds into the game, then gave a mixed reaction when the Panthers scored on the power play — a goal that first appeared to be Marchand’s but was credited to Mackie Samoskevich; Marchand picked up an assist.)

But things got really emotional during a commercial break midway through the first period, when the scoreboard showed a highlight reel from Marchand’s time in Boston — including shots of him raising the Stanley Cup, and ending with him posing with the captain’s “C” that he wore for just one full season.

Florida ended up winning the game, 4-3, on a last-minute goal.

A four-time All-Star who had 422 goals and 554 assists in 16 seasons in Boston, Marchand remains in the Bruins’ top 10 for goals, assists, short-handed and overtime goals, playoff goals and points. His 1,090 games played is fourth in team history, one spot ahead of Don Sweeney, the general manager who dealt him to Florida at the trade deadline.

Marchand did play in the TD Garden as a visitor in February when he suited up for Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off. Although he was still a member of the Bruins, the Boston fans booed him.

He was traded to Florida a few weeks later as Boston sold off its roster and began a rebuild. But when the Panthers visited for the Bruins’ first home game after the trade deadline, Marchand was injured and skated on the Garden ice only in practice.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Back from IR, Oilers D Walman nets winner in OT

Published

on

By

Back from IR, Oilers D Walman nets winner in OT

OTTAWA — Defenseman Jake Walman, activated from injured reserve on Monday after missing the season’s first six games with an injury, scored in overtime on Tuesday night, lifting the Edmonton Oilers to a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators.

Walman, a late-season acquisition last year who helped Edmonton back to the Stanley Cup Finals, was injured in a preseason game on Sept. 21, but the 28-year-old veteran picked up where he left off on Tuesday. He finished with 25 shifts across 18:51 of ice time, and registered four blocks.

The Oilers wrapped up their five-game road trip and handed the Senators their second consecutive loss on home ice.

The Senators scored twice in a span of 1:25 to tie the game 2-2 early in the third. Ottawa got on the board after winning a puck battle along the boards. Drake Batherson dished a pass to Dylan Cozens who scored on the power play past Stuart Skinner, who made 19 saves. Just over a minute later Thomas Chabot beat a screened Skinner to tie the game.

The Oilers opened the scoring late in the first with a power-play goal when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins fed Connor McDavid, who snapped a shot from the top of the faceoff circle for his first of the season.

Edmonton extended its lead to 2-0 just 49 seconds into the second period after a turnover by the Senators. Leon Draisaitl skated in before sliding a pass back to rookie Isaac Howard, who beat Linus Ullmark, who finished with 22 saves, for his first career NHL goal.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Hughes’ 3rd career hat trick lifts surging Devils

Published

on

By

Hughes' 3rd career hat trick lifts surging Devils

TORONTO — Jack Hughes registered the third hat trick of his NHL career, and the New Jersey Devils defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 on Tuesday night.

Cody Glass and Brenden Dillon also scored for New Jersey, and Jake Allen had 23 saves. Jesper Bratt added three assists for the Devils, who have won five in a row since opening the season with a loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

John Tavares and Matias Maccelli scored for Toronto. Anthony Stolarz stopped 30 shots. William Nylander had two assists for the Maple Leafs, who have lost two in a row and four of six after a season-opening win.

Toronto led 1-0 after the first period before giving up three goals in the first five minutes of the second much to the dismay of the home crowd at Scotiabank Arena.

Maple Leafs defenseman Chris Tanev left with an upper-body injury during a second-period penalty kill after he collided with Devils center Dawson Mercer.

Toronto challenged New Jersey’s first goal for goaltender interference only to see the call on the ice stand. The Devils went on the power play with the ensuing delay-of-game penalty, and Glass made it 2-1 moments after Tanev skated off to the locker room.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Trending