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Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis on Monday confirmed he is out for the season after suffering a lower left leg injury against North Alabama on Saturday.

In a social media post Monday, Travis thanked everyone for their thoughts and prayers since the injury. He was tackled at the end of a run and his left leg bent awkwardly underneath him. Trainers rushed to the field immediately, and he was carted off with an air cast on his left leg and taken to the hospital.

Travis remained hospitalized over the weekend, according to his Instagram stories. In one video clip, he showed his room filled with teammates who came to visit.

“I have been overwhelmed by the support from my teammates, coaches, the Florida State community and those all around the world,” Travis wrote in his statement. “Although the injury … marks the end of my Seminole playing career, the great memories created here at FSU will never fade.

“Being the quarterback here at Florida State University has been a dream come true. I am humbled, honored and forever grateful. The journey this team set out on is not over yet as all of our goals still lie just ahead. I am excited to be by my brothers’ sides every day as we continue our attack. We’re all we got, we’re all we need. Job’s not finished. Go Noles!”

Travis, who grew up in West Palm Beach as a Seminoles fan, transferred to Florida State in 2019 after beginning his career at Louisville. He emerged as the starting quarterback midway through the 2021 season after nearly walking away from the game.

He has helped bring Florida State back to the top echelon of college football, throwing for 8,715 yards, which ranks second in school history, while amassing a school-record 10,676 yards of total offense.

Florida State has won 16 straight games and clinched a spot in the ACC championship game against Louisville on Dec. 2.

Travis is the only player in school history ranked in top 10 on FSU’s career passing touchdowns and rushing touchdowns lists.

“Jordan will be talked about forever in this program,” coach Mike Norvell said during his weekly news conference Monday. “It’s not necessarily going to be just about his playing ability. It’s going to be about who he is.

“There’s an expectation and responsibility we have for him because he’s been such a huge part of this journey. We’ve got work to do. We gotta put it in. Our guys came in with great purpose yesterday. I was pleased with the work that I saw. Guys know what needs to be done.”

The Seminoles (11-0, 8-0 ACC), who were No. 4 in last week’s CFP rankings but fell to No. 5 in the latest AP Top 25, visit rival Florida on Saturday and will start Tate Rodemaker, who has spent his four seasons with the Seminoles as a backup.

Rodemaker has had his opportunity to help the Seminoles win games. Last season, when Travis went down with an injury against Louisville, Rodemaker came into the game and led the Seminoles to a comeback victory.

He went 13-of-23 for 217 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions against North Alabama on Saturday.

Norvell said nobody on the team was shocked to see what Rodemaker did last week, and the coach has the “utmost confidence” in the quarterback.

“We’ve seen him do that before,” Norvell said. “We’ve seen him on the road. We’ve seen him lead us back. We’ve seen him be ready when his number’s called, and he’s always answered that. We’ve got a football team that’s going to rally around and behind him. It’s his time.”

As for how the College Football Playoff selection committee will view Florida State when the next rankings come out Tuesday, Norvell said that is not something he needs to address with his team.

“I’m sure they hear it,” Norvell said. But thank God the opinions of others don’t dictate what our actions are going to be. This team, a year ago, nobody thought we were worth a crap. They proved them wrong. Big expectations coming into this season, and people waiting for us to slip and fall. They’re continuing to get better.

“Quarterback goes down. Oh, that must be it. That’s why we get to play the game. It’s why we get to go to work. It’s why we get to continue to push and build and go be all that I know that this team can be. I believe in them. And I believe if we can put that on display, then maybe a few more will believe in what they can do.”

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Injury-plagued Blues lose Walker into February

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Injury-plagued Blues lose Walker into February

St. Louis Blues winger Nathan Walker is expected to miss at least eight weeks because of an undisclosed upper-body injury, putting the struggling team short another forward for an extended period of time.

Rookie Jimmy Snuggerud is out six weeks to recover from surgery on his left wrist, which coach Jim Montgomery said Monday was scheduled to take place Tuesday. Alexey Toropchenko is considered week to week after sustaining burns to his legs in a home accident.

St. Louis on Tuesday also made a trade of 25-year-old minor-league forwards, sending Nikita Alexandrov to Los Angeles for Akil Thomas. The Blues said Thomas would report to Springfield of the American Hockey League.

Walker, 31, was the first player from Australia to make the NHL when he debuted with Washington in 2017. He won the Stanley Cup with the Capitals later that season.

In 25 games this season, Walker has three goals and six assists.

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Ex-NHL player Dineen reveals cancer diagnosis

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Ex-NHL player Dineen reveals cancer diagnosis

Longtime NHL player-turned-coach Kevin Dineen said he has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Dineen, who is 62, posted a message on social media over the weekend revealing the diagnosis.

“This Thanksgiving feels a bit different,” Dineen wrote on social media. “It has put a lot into perspective, most of all how lucky I am to be surrounded by so many supportive family and friends.”

A feisty winger during his playing days, Dineen skated in more than 1,200 regular-season and playoff games with the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes, Philadelphia Flyers, Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets during an eras-spanning career from 1984 to 2002.

After a short stint scouting and working in management, he spent the next two decades behind hockey benches, including two-plus seasons as head coach of the Florida Panthers from 2011 to ’13. He coached Canada’s women’s team to an Olympic gold medal in Sochi in 2014 after being a late replacement pick for the job.

Dineen has his name on the Stanley Cup as an assistant with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015. He had most recently coached the San Diego Gulls and the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League.

“I wanted to share my news because hockey has taught me that no fight is faced alone,” Dineen wrote. “For anyone out there battling something heavy — whether it’s cancer or another fight entirely — I want you to know you are not alone.”

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NHL to teams: Helmets mandatory in warmups

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NHL to teams: Helmets mandatory in warmups

Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the NHL is warning teams against taking warmups without helmets, a growing trend this season that violates NHL rules.

Daly told ESPN that the league is sending out a memo to remind teams that helmets are mandatory in warmups for “all players who entered the NHL beginning with the 2019-2020 season or later,” per Rule 9.6.

The Ottawa Senators skated out for warmups without helmets in a game at the Vegas Golden Knights last Wednesday, having lost in their past six trips to T-Mobile Arena. Forward Shane Pinto told TSN that the players decided at a team dinner to change their Vegas luck by doffing their helmets. “It was pretty cool to do,” he said.

The Senators won the game 4-3 in a shootout.

The San Jose Sharks also went without helmets in warmups in Vegas, having lost five straight road games to the Knights. Alas, their luck didn’t change, losing 4-3 to their division rival. Forward Will Smith said there was no particular motivation for it.

“It was a team decision. It was Saturday night in Vegas, so I think all the guys were pretty easy to [do] it,” he said.

On Tuesday night, the New Jersey Devils skated out wearing hats instead of helmets, in honor of defenseman Brenden Dillon‘s 1,000th NHL game.

Rule 9.6 reads:

“It is mandatory for all players who entered the NHL beginning with the 2019-2020 season or later to wear their helmet during pre-game warm-up. To be clear, all players who entered the League prior to the 2019-2020 season and who are currently playing are exempt from this mandate.”

The NHL amended its rules in 2022 to mandate helmet usage in warmups out of player safety concerns, in particular with rookies who took the ice without helmets before their debut games as part of a longstanding NHL tradition. Much like the league’s visor rule, some veteran players were “grandfathered” in and exempt.

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