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CHICAGO — Pat Maroon played his first and his last NHL game at the United Center.

In between, it was quite a ride.

Maroon closed his 14th and final season when the Chicago Blackhawks lost 5-4 to the Winnipeg Jets in a shootout Saturday night. He was joined by defenseman Alec Martinez, who also made Chicago’s home finale his last game.

While the Blackhawks have two road dates left on their schedule, Maroon and Martinez are going off to retirement.

“It sucks, because this is all we knew,” Maroon said. “And I’m so happy that I got to share it with Marty tonight. A guy that’s a big-time player, scored big-time goals. Hell of a hockey player, competitor.”

Maroon and Martinez each got the start in their last games. The Blackhawks saluted Maroon with a highlight video during a first-period timeout, and they did the same for Martinez in the third.

The crowd responded with a standing ovation after each tribute. An emotional Maroon waved and patted his heart in appreciation, and Martinez also waved and held his stick in the air.

After the game, the Jets stuck around for a handshake line with the three-time Stanley Cup winners. Maroon and Martinez then hugged, waved to their families in the cheering crowd and had one more embrace before leaving the ice.

“I’m not really one for the limelight,” Martinez said, “so it’s nice that it was sort of deflected on him, too.”

Maroon, a St. Louis native who turns 37 on April 23, signed a $1.3 million, one-year contract with Chicago in free agency last summer. The rugged forward announced last month that he planned to retire after this season, but he waited until Saturday to reveal that the home finale would be his last game.

“He’s been awesome. Such an enjoyable person to be around,” Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard said. “Obviously, his experience in the league … he can teach us a lot of things. But I think just the laughs he brings and energy he brings to the room, he’s just a guy that everyone wants to be around.”

Maroon was selected by Philadelphia in the sixth round of the 2007 draft. He was traded to Anaheim in 2010 and made his NHL debut in the Ducks’ shootout loss at Chicago on Oct. 25, 2011.

Maroon helped his hometown Blues win the Stanley Cup for the first time in 2019. He also won back-to-back championships with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021.

He became the fourth player in NHL history and first since 1964 to win the Cup three years in a row with two teams. He finishes his career with 126 goals and 197 assists in 848 regular-season games, also playing for Edmonton, New Jersey, Minnesota and Boston.

“I’ve been fortunate to do what I love for a living for a long time,” Maroon said. “As I look back on my career when this is all done, I’m going to look back on the bad times that I went through in Philly to where it got me to where I’m at today.”

Maroon left open the possibility of working in hockey down the road, but he wasn’t ready to think about that just yet.

“As of right now, my focus is family,” he said. “My wife’s due any day now. So we’re going to focus on that, focus on getting back to Tampa, getting settled in and kind of digesting everything and what our next step is.”

The 37-year-old Martinez, who won it all with Los Angeles twice and Vegas once, also joined Chicago in free agency on July 1. He had 88 goals and 201 assists in 862 regular-season contests.

Martinez had one of the biggest moments of his career playing against the Blackhawks. He scored in overtime when Los Angeles eliminated Chicago with a 5-4 victory in Game 7 of the epic 2014 Western Conference final.

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College football spring transfer portal: Live news, rumors and analysis

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College football spring transfer portal: Live news, rumors and analysis

College football‘s spring transfer portal period opens Wednesday and runs through Friday, April 25.

More than 2,200 players have elected to transfer this offseason. This period is the last chance for underclassmen to switch teams before the start of the 2025 season and for schools to bolster their roster.

The biggest news of the spring period happened this past weekend when Tennessee parted ways with quarterback Nico Iamaleava. The former four-star recruit, who threw 19 touchdown passes in 2024, was seeking an increase in his NIL package. He is now looking for a new home.

With players officially able to enter their names in the portal, we’re tracking all the latest news and developments.

Transfer portal coverage:
Best available player rankings
What to expect

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Kent State fired Burns for violations of contract

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Kent State fired Burns for violations of contract

Kenni Burns was fired as Kent State‘s football head coach for multiple violations of his contract, including how he used a personal credit card.

Kent State did not provide details on why Burns was fired last Friday, but a copy of Burns’ dismissal letter was obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request.

University president Todd A. Diacon outlined five reasons for cause for Burns’ firing, with the first being “significant, repetitive, and intentional violation (or a pattern of conduct which may constitute or lead to a major violation), as determined by Kent State University after appropriate investigation, of the University’s policies and procedures regarding your P-card (personal card) expenditures.”

Burns was sued last September by Hometown Bank in Kent, Ohio, for $23,852.09 plus interest in unpaid credit card purchases, which exceeded the credit limit of $20,000. Burns did not make minimum monthly payments on the card and was 60 days past due in August, according to a Portage County Court of Common Pleas document.

The case was dismissed a couple months later when Burns made payment.

Burns was put on administrative leave with pay on March 27, a couple of days before the Golden Flashes began spring practices. Athletic director Randale Richmond said in the letter to Burns that he was being investigated for committing deliberate or serious violations of policies outlined by the university.

“My family and I are saddened by the news today,” Burns posted on social media after he was fired. “We are thankful for the relationships and connections we have made with the players, coaches, and staff over the past few years. The team bond we have is not transactional but that of a family. Kent G.R.I.T. will bind us forever, and for that I am thankful. I am proud of you all, and we will be rooting for you this season and beyond.”

Calls and emails by The Associated Press to Lee Hutton III, Burns’ attorney, have not been returned.

Burns was 1-23 in two seasons at Kent State. The team went 0-12 last season, the fifth winless season in school history. Before arriving at Kent State, Burns was the running backs coach at Minnesota.

Offensive coordinator Mark Carney will serve as the interim coach for the upcoming season with a national search taking place at the end of the year.

Kent State opens its season on Aug. 30 against Merrimack, a Football Championship Subdivision foe.

The Golden Flashes schedule gets more difficult after that, including road games against Texas Tech (Sept. 6), Florida State (Sept. 20) and Oklahoma (Oct. 4).

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Badgers lose starting LT Heywood to ACL tear

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Badgers lose starting LT Heywood to ACL tear

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin offensive tackle Kevin Heywood is expected to miss all of the upcoming season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in spring practice.

Heywood, the Badgers’ projected starter at left tackle, hurt his knee in practice Thursday. Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell revealed the severity of the injury on Tuesday.

“That was one that’s going to be really difficult and tough, but it’s also part of the game,” Fickell said. “We’ve been fortunate up front in the last two seasons to have those guys prepared and be able to last through the season. Now we’re going to have to figure out how we’re going to manage some of that and move some other guys around and expect some other guys to step up, whether it’s Leyton Nelson, an Emerson Mandell, guys like that have got to step in.”

Wisconsin had benefited from remarkable stability on its offensive line during the first two years of Fickell’s tenure.

The Badgers had the same starting offensive line for each of its 12 games last year, with Jack Nelson at left tackle, Joe Brunner at left guard, Jake Renfro at center, Joe Huber at right guard and Riley Mahlman at right tackle. Brunner, Renfro and Mahlman are back this year.

Wisconsin also had the same starting offensive line for all 12 of its regular-season games in 2023, with Nelson at left tackle, Huber at left guard, Tanor Bortolini at center, Michael Furtney at right guard and Mahlman at right tackle. The only change that season came in the ReliaQuest Bowl loss to LSU, with Renfro getting to start after missing the entire regular season with an injury to his lower left leg.

Heywood was expected to take over this season for Nelson, who had started at left tackle each of the last three years. Heywood had participated in all 12 games for Wisconsin last year while playing special teams and making occasional appearances on offense.

His injury represents a setback for a Wisconsin team seeking to bounce back after its streak of 22 consecutive winning seasons and bowl appearances ended last year. The Badgers finished 5-7 last season and lost their final five games.

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