Connect with us

Published

on

SUNRISE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers will be without Aaron Ekblad until at least mid-November, and quite possibly longer, after placing the star defenseman on the long-term injured reserve list with a groin injury.

Players on the long-term IR list must miss at least 10 games and 24 days; the Panthers have 11 games in that 24-day window, so Ekblad is out for at least that many. He got hurt in Florida’s loss Monday at Boston.

“We’re not happy about it, and obviously we’re concerned for him as a person first,” Panthers general manager Bill Zito said Wednesday. “But he’ll be back. It’s not a season-ending thing. There’s no reason to believe he won’t be back at anything other than 100%.”

Ekblad missed Florida’s final 21 regular-season games last season with a knee issue and 21 games in the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season with a lower-leg fracture.

And even without their best defenseman, the Panthers have found ways to win consistently over the past two seasons when he’s not in the lineup. Florida has gone 31-10-1 in the 42 games Ekblad missed over that span.

“It’s not an ideal situation to lose some of the key players from our team,” captain Aleksander Barkov said. “But at the same time, of course, you have to battle, not just for yourself but for the guy who’s missing. You have to battle for him as well, got to play for him.”

Zito said that Ekblad already is working out in anticipation of his return.

Defenseman Brandon Montour also will miss Wednesday’s game against Philadelphia, the second consecutive contest he’ll sit out because of an upper-body injury. The Panthers believe he can return to practice in the coming days.

The Panthers recalled Matt Kiersted and Lucas Carlsson from their AHL affiliate in Charlotte, North Carolina, and they have veteran forward Eric Staal — who was in camp with Florida on a tryout contract — still skating with the team as a non-roster player. Zito said the cap-crunched team will try to find a way to add Staal to the roster; his younger brother Marc Staal, a defenseman, is in his first year with the Panthers.

“Every single team in the NHL usually faces significant adversity,” coach Paul Maurice said. “It helps define them. We’re not shying away from this.”

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