Connect with us

Published

on

ST. JOHN’S, Newfoundland — Former NHL forward Terry Ryan celebrated his 47th birthday with a fist-flying return to professional hockey, dropping the gloves and fighting Sunday for the Newfoundland Growlers in the ECHL.

Playing professionally for the first time in some 20 years, Ryan traded punches with the Adirondack Thunder’s Zach Walker, a 25-year-old former Boston College player who got the upper hand at the end after Ryan lost his balance.

Ryan fought Walker midway through the third period in the Growlers’ 6-2 loss, also drawing an instigator penalty.

“I wasn’t planning on fighting … but I turn around and my teammate, my buddy’s got his helmet off,” Ryan said in a video posted by the Growlers. “What do I have to lose? I’m supposed to lose that fight like when I fought Tie Domi when I was 18.”

Ryan appears in the Canadian television comedy series “Shoresy” as Ted Hitchcock and has a popular hockey podcast. His book, “Tales of a First-Round Nothing: My Life as an NHL Footnote,” was published in 2014.

He was at a bar — “I was probably five or six pints in,” Ryan recounted — celebrating his birthday late Saturday night when he got the call from the Growlers to join the short-handed squad.

“I still skate four, five times a week and I play a lot of ball hockey,” Ryan said. “I just figured if I had the cardio, at least a fraction of it, that I wouldn’t embarrass.”

Drafted eighth overall by Montreal in 1995, Ryan got on the ice for only eight NHL games over three seasons with the Canadiens. He sustained a serious ankle injury in 2001 and last played professionally for the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones in 2002-03.

“I was joking with the guys, ‘You get sent down for two weeks, but two decades is a little much,'” Ryan said.

His 13-year-old daughter watched him play for the first time Sunday.

“I didn’t want to embarrass them,” Ryan said. “Before the game she gave me an extra-long hug.”

Continue Reading

Sports

QB Castellanos exits after losing BC starting job

Published

on

By

QB Castellanos exits after losing BC starting job

Boston College quarterback Thomas Castellanos, who lost his starting job earlier this week, will not be returning to the team, he announced Thursday night.

Castellanos, who started 12 games last season and retained the top job under new coach Bill O’Brien, wrote on X that “unfortunately, all good things come to an end, even though it’s sooner than I would like.” He did not mention the transfer portal in his departing message and has not officially entered it. The junior from Waycross, Georgia, started his career at UCF and appeared in five games in 2022.

O’Brien said Tuesday that Grayson James, who replaced Castellanos in last week’s win against Syracuse, will start Saturday when Boston College visits No. 14 SMU. Castellanos “wasn’t real thrilled” with the decision, O’Brien said, adding that the quarterback decided to step away from the team for several days.

Castellanos had 2,248 passing yards and 1,113 rushing yards last season under coach Jeff Hafley, passing for 15 touchdowns and adding 13 on the ground. He had 18 touchdown passes and only five interceptions this season, but his accuracy dipped in recent weeks, and he completed only 2 of 7 passes against Syracuse before being replaced.

In his statement, Castellanos thanked both coaching staffs he played for at Boston College and wrote that he had “some of the best experiences of my life in the Eagles Nest and I will truly cherish these memories forever.”

Continue Reading

Sports

Gators’ Lagway ‘ready to play,’ will start vs. LSU

Published

on

By

Gators' Lagway 'ready to play,' will start vs. LSU

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida quarterback DJ Lagway is “ready to play,” coach Billy Napier said Thursday on his weekly radio show.

Napier removed Lagway from the team’s injury report and penciled him in to start against No. 21 LSU in the Swamp on Saturday.

Lagway practiced every day this week while progressing from a strained left hamstring. The highly touted freshman was carted off the field against Georgia on Nov. 2. Tests revealed a “less significant” injury than initially feared, and now he’s back in time to face the Tigers.

The Gators (4-5, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) need him. They have to win two of their final three regular-season games to become bowl eligible.

LSU (6-3, 3-2) has struggled mightily against dual-threat QBs, including Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, who ran for 185 yards and four touchdowns last week.

Lagway returns after walk-on and Yale transfer Aidan Warner started in his place against Texas. Warner threw two interceptions and was 12-of-25 passing for 132 yards in a 49-17 loss.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Georgia leading rusher Etienne ruled out vs. Vols

Published

on

By

Georgia leading rusher Etienne ruled out vs. Vols

No. 12 Georgia will be without leading rusher Trevor Etienne for Saturday’s showdown against No. 7 Tennessee.

Etienne was downgraded from questionable to out on Thursday night’s SEC availability report.

Etienne left Georgia’s win over Florida with an upper-body injury on Nov. 2 and did not return. He played limited snaps in last week’s 28-10 loss at Ole Miss, carrying the ball six times for 24 yards.

Etienne leads the Bulldogs with 477 rushing yards and seven touchdowns this season.

The loss is another blow to Georgia’s banged-up backfield. Cash Jones is also listed as questionable while Branson Robinson remains out after missing the past three games with a knee injury.

That leaves true freshman Nate Frazier as the only healthy Bulldogs running back who has played meaningful snaps this year. Frazier is second on the team with 333 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

Continue Reading

Trending