Battle of the Hudson 101: Rangers-Devils rivalry explained
Madison Square Garden, home of the New York Rangers, is 11 miles away from Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center, home of the New Jersey Devils. They are separated by a river. They are bonded by an intense, decades-long enmity.
The Battle of the Hudson is one of the NHL’s most storied rivalries. For the first time since 2012, the Rangers and Devils will face each other in a playoff series, beginning tonight in Newark. It marks the seventh time these franchises will have met in the Stanley Cup playoffs, with New York holding a 4-2 lead in series victories.
The animosity between these unfriendly neighbors extends from the fans to the players to even their front offices — consider that the Rangers and Devils made their first trade together in 2018.
“The hatred? I couldn’t even put a number on it. The hatred was off the charts,” said Ken Daneyko, who played 20 seasons with the Devils before becoming a broadcaster for the team. “It was an unwritten rule that you wouldn’t even say their name. I imagine it was the same thing for them. It was that kind of rivalry.”
Case in point: Daneyko has been friends since childhood with Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Messier, who would send him notes while winning Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980s. After Messier was acquired by the Rangers in 1991, he and Daneyko didn’t speak for years.
“We laugh about it now. But it was too much at the time,” Daneyko said. “You wanted to beat your tunnel rival, your train rival, your local rival. You wanted to be kings of the area. A lot of it was driven by the fans. You wanted to win for them, give them the bragging rights.”
Home-ice advantage hits differently in a New York vs. New Jersey series.
Since the Devils moved from Colorado to New Jersey in 1982, there have been Rangers fans in the building when New York visits: a sea of red jerseys with large swaths of vibrant blue shirts often shouting down the Jersey faithful. In recent years, more and more red has been seen in the stands at Madison Square Garden. In a Devils win at MSG this season, one could hear a robust chant mocking Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin emanating from the Jersey fans in the building.
The rivalry has taken several turns through the years. From 1982 to ’94, the Devils were a second-class citizen to the Rangers, an Original Six team. The Devils were the younger sibling, playing in the shadow of an iconic NHL franchise that would monopolize media attention. The Rangers had rivalries that were just as intense with the New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers, among others. But the Battle of the Hudson was cemented for the Devils and Rangers in 1994, when New York won a classic conference finals series en route to the Stanley Cup.
From 1995 to 2003, the Devils became dynastic in winning three Stanley Cups while the Rangers missed the playoffs for several seasons. The teams were competitive through 2012, with the Devils eventually slipping into a prolonged rebuild.
Now, the Devils are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2018, having completed the most successful regular season in team history. The play an up-tempo style led by a star center in Jack Hughes. They face a Rangers team that made the Eastern Conference finals last season and added more bold-type names to a star-studded roster, with deadline acquisitions Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko joining the likes of Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox.
It will be another edition of a classic hockey rivalry. But as we look back at the Battle of the Hudson, this playoff series has quite a legacy to live up to.
1992: Messier, Stevens and a memorable brawl
The first playoff meeting between the Devils and Rangers took place in the 1992 Patrick Division semifinals. Both teams experienced franchise-redefining moments before the season, thanks to the arrival of two Hall of Fame players.
In September 1991, an arbitrator awarded star defenseman Scott Stevens to New Jersey as compensation for the St. Louis Blues signing restricted free agent Brendan Shanahan. Stevens would play 13 seasons for the Devils and captain them to three Stanley Cup championships.
In October 1991, the Rangers would make an even bigger splash by acquiring Oilers star Mark Messier in a blockbuster trade. Messier would tally 107 points in 1992-93, winning the Hart Trophy as league MVP and leading to the Rangers to the Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL’s best regular-season team.
Of course, he’d lead them to even greater heights two years later.
The underdog Devils gave the Rangers all they could handle in the series, taking a 2-1 lead and eventually pushing New York all the way to Game 7. But the Rangers jumped on the Devils in the first period of the series finale with three goals en route to an 8-4 victory to eliminate New Jersey. Messier would finish with 11 points in the series — a pinprick before the agony he’d deliver Devils fans two years later.
The most memorable moment from this series: a benches-clearing brawl at the end of the Devils’ Game 6 victory that included Stevens and Claude Lemieux of the Devils as well as Adam Graves, Tie Domi and Joey Kocur of the Rangers, among others.
Daneyko remembered mulling around on the ice wondering what to do if the brawl escalated, as he had “two crushed fingers” in a rubber cast.
“It was a different mentality. A different era,” he said. “You were sending a message. It was nasty as hell.”
The series also featured a notable playoff debut for the Devils: 19-year-old goalie Martin Brodeur played 32 minutes in relief of starting goalie Chris Terreri in their Game 5 loss. He would finish his career having played 12,717 minutes in the postseason.
1994: Messier’s guarantee
In the two years since their first playoff meeting, the Rangers were still trying to break an epic Stanley Cup drought, having last raised the chalice in 1940. After missing the playoffs in the previous season, the Rangers hired notorious taskmaster Mike Keenan as head coach and added more of Messier’s ex-Oilers teammates at the trade deadline in Craig MacTavish and Glenn Anderson.
The Devils entered the playoffs after their first 100-point regular season in franchise history. They defeated the Buffalo Sabres in seven games and the Boston Bruins in six to reach the conference finals for just the second time in franchise history … and found their local rivals waiting for them, having won eight of nine playoff games in swiftly dispatching the Islanders and Washington Capitals.
A dozen years of growing animosity forged one of the most thrilling playoff series in either team’s history. It started with a double-overtime win for the Devils at MSG on a goal by Stephane Richer. It continued with a second double-overtime contest, as Stephane Matteau — remember the name — scored to give the Rangers Game 3. But the Devils roared back with two straight wins, with Brodeur stopping 46 of 48 shots.
They were up 3-1 in the series. They had a chance to deliver their archrivals a humbling defeat. But Messier guaranteed they wouldn’t. The Rangers captain told reporters before Game 6 that “we will win tonight.” The boast made New York tabloid headlines ahead of the game.
He didn’t seem like much of a prophet after the first period, as the Devils held a 2-0 lead on goals by Scott Niedermayer and Lemieux. But Messier would have a hand in four straight Rangers goals — including a third-period natural hat trick. The Rangers would force Game 7, and Messier’s guarantee would enter a pantheon of New York sports lore that was previously occupied only by Joe Namath’s Super Bowl guarantee for the Jets in 1969.
1994: Matteau, Matteau, Matteau
The Stanley Cup playoffs are at their apex for intensity in a Game 7. To have two bitter rivals facing off in a Game 7 brings unparalleled tension.
The Rangers led the Devils 1-0 deep into the third period, with goalie Mike Richter looking like he was going to pitch an elimination game shutout. But with Brodeur pulled, New Jersey winger Valeri Zelepukin tied the game with eight seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime.
It remained 1-1 through the first overtime, with both teams having chances to end the series. It wouldn’t end until yet another double overtime, when Matteau scored his second extra-time game-winning goal of the series, leading to Rangers announcer Howie Rose’s instantly iconic call:
It’s the seemingly ordinary plays that often produce legendary moments in playoff overtimes. Here it was Matteau, stealing the puck and attempting a quick wraparound on Brodeur, who sent the Rangers to the Stanley Cup Final. They’d beat the Vancouver Canucks in seven games and lift the 54-year curse as Messier lifted the Cup.
“For us, it was devastating. It was heartbreaking. The emptiest feeling I ever had in my life,” Daneyko said. “But it was as good a playoff series as ever played.”
One year later, the Devils were the ones drinking from the Cup, as New Jersey shocked the hockey world by sweeping the mighty Detroit Red Wings in the 1995 finals after a lockout-shortened 48-game regular season.
And if you don’t think Rangers fans were quick to accuse the Devils of winning “half a Cup,” then you don’t know this rivalry.
1995: ‘I painted my face’
The classic sitcom “Seinfeld” had its share of memorable sports inspirations, from baseball Hall of Famer Keith Hernandez being accused of hocking a “magic loogie” at Kramer and Newman, to Larry David providing the voice of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner as a recurring character. In 1995, the Devils-Rangers rivalry provided another.
The 23rd episode of the show’s sixth season was titled “The Face Painter.” Jerry gets tickets to a playoff game between the local rivals and has an extra. Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) asks if she can bring her boyfriend David Puddy (Patrick Warburton), who is a Devils fan. As they prepare to head to the game, Elaine discovers that Puddy has painted his face like a devil’s in the franchise’s colors, justifying it by saying “gotta support the team.”
After acting rambunctiously during the Devils’ victory at MSG, Puddy is still fired up on the walk home when a car nearly hits him. Puddy slams on the car’s hood and begins yelling at an elderly priest in the passenger seat:
“Don’t mess with the Devils, buddy. We’re No. 1, we beat anybody! We’re the Devils! The Devilsssss!” he shouts, before hissing.
We later find out the priest won’t leave his room in the church basement because he believes he saw “El Diablo” himself.
Later, Puddy vows not to paint his face any longer, to Elaine’s delight. Much to her dismay, she discovers he instead has painted a “D” in his chest because “I said no more face painting, and as you can see this is not my face.”
The clips from the episode are still shown at Devils home games, and Warburton himself has appeared at the arena in face paint, getting his own “David Puddy” bobblehead as a giveaway.
“I still get ‘Puddy!’ a lot, or ‘the Devils!’ — I get that from people who aren’t Devils fans. It has crossed state lines, actually,” he told the Star-Ledger.
1997: Messier knocks out Jersey (again)
The next playoff series for the Rangers and Devils occurred in 1997, when the two teams met in the Eastern Conference semifinals. In an effort to win another Cup with Messier, the Rangers added another one of his old Edmonton teammates: someone named Wayne Gretzky, whom they signed in the summer of 1996. The Great One would play three seasons with the Rangers before retiring with the team in 1999.
The Devils missed the playoffs after winning the Cup in 1995. They too added a future Hall of Famer to their lineup, trading for Toronto Maple Leafs star Doug Gilmour at the 1997 deadline.
After the Devils won Game 1, the series arguably turned on an incident between Messier and Gilmour in Game 2. Late in the first period, Messier cross-checked Gilmour in the face. No penalty was called, but the Devils’ Bill Guerin took a charging penalty that led to the Rangers’ first goal on the power play. They’d win Game 2 and not lose again in the series, as Adam Graves scored in overtime of Game 5 to eliminate the Devils.
It was a frustrating series for New Jersey. The Devils had multiple goals taken off the board under the NHL’s then-draconian “skaters in the crease” rules. They also watched Richter continue to own them, at one point making a save with his bare hand.
2002: Holik leaves for the Rangers
After 1997, when the Rangers lost in the conference finals, the fortunes of the teams started to shift. New York would miss the playoffs for seven straight seasons; New Jersey would make the playoffs in each of those seasons, winning three conference titles and the Stanley Cup in 2000 and 2003.
Center Bobby Holik was an integral part of the Devils’ first two Stanley Cup wins. But after a contentious arbitration process in 2001 and the team’s refusal to meet his price, the free agent left New Jersey for the Rangers and a massive five-year, $45 million contract. Said Holik, “The only ones I gave any serious thought to were from the Rangers.”
The Devils would have the last laugh on this one: Holik never lived up to his contract, and the Rangers bought out the final two years of the deal in 2005, right as the NHL instituted a salary cap.
2006: The Devils sweep
The Rangers finally returned to the playoffs in 2006.
“When you have playoff hockey at the world’s most famous arena, you can’t put a price on that,” said Kevin Weekes, who played for both the Rangers and the Devils. Weekes was the backup to rookie Henrik Lundqvist that season.
New York returned to the postseason with a new marquee name leading the way: Jaromir Jagr, who finished second in the MVP voting after a 123-point season. The Devils were in their first season without the Scotts: Stevens retired and Niedermayer left to sign with his brother Rob’s team, the Anaheim Ducks, with whom he’d win a fourth Stanley Cup in 2007.
This was the most lopsided series the teams have played to date. Devils star Patrik Elias had a six-point performance in New Jersey’s 6-1 Game 1 victory, a game that saw Jagr injure himself trying to hit Devils center Scott Gomez, and miss Game 2. The nadir of the series might have been in the second game, when Rangers defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh accidentally knocked the puck behind Weekes, who was starting in place of Lundqvist.
The Devils completed the sweep with a 4-2 win at MSG.
2007: Scott Gomez defects
Once again, the Rangers’ riches enticed a two-time Stanley Cup winner for the Devils to cross the Hudson. Alaska-born center Scott Gomez won rookie of the year honors in 2000 and established himself as the Devils’ best homegrown center until the arrival of Jack Hughes. But in 2007, he hit unrestricted free agency and admitted that business trumped organizational loyalty.
On July 1, the Rangers announced the signings of Gomez and former Sabres center Chris Drury to massive free-agent deals. Gomez was given a seven-year contract with $51.5 million that included $10 million in the first season.
“To a hockey fan, signing a contract with the Rangers after spending several years with New Jersey probably sounds like treason,” Gomez would tell The Players Tribune in 2015. “But the truth is that most of my teammates were happy for me.”
While not nearly the disaster that the Holik signing was, Gomez spent only two seasons with the Rangers before they traded him to Montreal for a package that included defensive prospect Ryan McDonagh — considered one of the greatest steals in team history.
2008: The Avery rule
Sean Avery contained multitudes. He’s the only person in NHL history to be voted the most hated player in the league by The Hockey News and land on People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” list. One of those honors motivated the Rangers to acquire the tenacious winger in 2007, after which he immediately inserted himself in their rivalry with the Devils by becoming Brodeur’s personal tormentor.
Avery’s first game as a Ranger was against the Devils, and he crashed into Brodeur. The mask-less goalie retaliated with a shove and then flopped to the ice when Avery pushed back. Their war of words spilled over into the media during subsequent battles, with Brodeur admitting his disdain for Avery, and Avery claiming he couldn’t understand any of Brodeur’s trash talk because of his Quebecois accent.
The Devils and Rangers met again in the 2008 Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Brodeur had established himself as the NHL’s top goaltender and would win his fourth Vezina Trophy in five seasons. Avery had established himself as the NHL’s preeminent pest and had won the hearts of Rangers fans.
Despite finishing behind the Devils in the standings, the Rangers won the first two games of the series, with Lundqvist outdueling Brodeur. The Devils would get their only win in the series in Game 3, eventually bowing out in five games. But that’s not the reason anyone remembers Game 3.
They remember it for “The Avery Rule.”
In the second period with the Rangers on a 5-on-3 power play, Avery skated to the front of Brodeur’s crease. With his back to the rest of the skaters, Avery raised his stick in the air and waved it in front of Brodeur’s mask. The Devils goalie attempted to swat it away with his stick. Avery then added a raised glove to his routine. Eventually, the Rangers would score on the power play on a goal by — who else? — Sean Avery.
“I don’t think that kind of behavior should be done in front of the net, but there is no rule for it,” Brodeur said.
The next day, there was: The NHL claimed its unsportsmanlike conduct penalty covered Avery’s actions.
“An unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty will be interpreted and applied, effective immediately, to a situation when an offensive player positions himself facing the opposition goaltender and engages in actions such as waving his arms or stick in front of the goaltender’s face, for the purpose of improperly interfering with and/or distracting the goaltender as opposed to positioning himself to try to make a play,” Colin Campbell, the NHL director of hockey operations, said in a statement.
After the series, the Devils and Rangers met in the traditional handshake line. Brodeur passed by without acknowledging Avery.
“Everyone talks about how unclassy I am, and ‘Fatso’ there just forgot to shake my hand I guess,” Avery said.
2012: The Henrique goal
The last playoff meeting between the Devils and Rangers before this season’s Battle of the Hudson took place in 2012.
“You could see the hatred between the teams still existed,” Daneyko said.
New York was the top seed in the Eastern Conference under coach John Tortorella, winning two tough seven-game series against Ottawa and Washington to reach the conference finals. While defensively sound in front of Lundqvist, the Rangers had some offensive firepower in 41-goal scorer Marian Gaborik and center Brad Richards, the previous summer’s free agent prize whom they signed to a massive nine-year, $60 million free agent deal.
But lest the Rangers have all the free-spending fun, Devils GM Lou Lamoriello handed winger Ilya Kovalchuk a 15-year, $100 million contract extension in 2010 after his 17-year, $102 million contract was rejected by the NHL for cap circumvention. Kovalchuk helped the No. 6-seeded Devils to wins over the Florida Panthers (seven games) and Philadelphia Flyers (five games) to set up another meeting with the Rangers.
The teams split the first four games of the series, making Game 5 a pivotal one. It became an instant classic between the rivals: the Devils putting three goals behind Lundqvist in the first 9:49 of the game; the Rangers rallying to tie the contest just 17 seconds into the third period; and unsung New Jersey depth forward Ryan Carter breaking that tie with less than five minutes left in regulation for what would be a 5-3 Devils win.
The next game had some eerie historic symmetry. Game 6 was held on May 25, 2012, in Newark. That was 18 years to the day since Messier guaranteed victory in Game 6. Just like in 1994, the Devils took a 2-0 lead only to have the Rangers rally with two goals to tie it. Unlike in 1994, this game went to overtime … where the Devils ended the déjà vu on Adam Henrique‘s goal at 1:03 to send New Jersey to its fifth Stanley Cup Final in franchise history.
The Devils would lose to the Los Angeles Kings, who also beat the Rangers in the Cup finals in 2014.
After beating Lundqvist, Henrique skated over and jumped into the glass as his teammates mobbed him. Fans in red jerseys stood and cheered. Fans in blue jerseys streamed to the exits. All of them knowing them more skirmishes in the Battle of Hudson were ahead.
The names change. The fortunes reverse. But the rivalry remains, ready for its next chapter to be written.
What a week it was in college football: Five AP Top 25 teams lost to unranked opponents, and after No. 6 BYU’s defeat to Kansas, the Big 12 appears to be up for grabs after victories by Colorado and Arizona State.
The Buffaloes and Sun Devils have proved football fans wrong this season as Colorado is tied for the top spot in the Big 12 and Arizona State is a game behind. With both teams on a winning streak, what can they credit for their success?
After a rough start to the season, Billy Napier and Florida have turned things around and the Gators are one win from bowl eligibility. With an upset win over No. 22 LSU, is it time to stop questioning Napier?
Our college football experts break down key storylines and takeaways from Week 12.
Losses might be as important as wins in the CFP committee meeting room
With six new committee members, a new committee chair and a new College Football Playoff executive director, there are a lot of new faces at selection central. Each group is different. Ranking the top 25 teams is a subjective system, and this year’s committee appears to be putting an emphasis on losses — maybe more than in years past.
Who teams lose to and how has always mattered, but it might be more of a factor this year with multiple two-loss teams to sort through. It’s also a big reason why Ohio State is No. 2 and Penn State is No. 4 — close losses to highly-ranked teams. It’s never a good time for a bad loss, but it could mean the difference this year between a first-round bye, a first-round home game — or a seat on the couch. — Heather Dinich
Rivalries matter more than ever
Texas has never viewed Arkansas on par with rival Oklahoma, but Arkansas lives to torment Texas. Three years ago, the No. 15 Longhorns came to Fayetteville and were stomped 40-21. Jubilant Arkansas fans stormed the field.
But returning as conference rivals for the first time since the Razorbacks left the Southwest Conference in 1991 seemed to mean something to No. 3 Texas, too, after a tough 20-10 win over the 5-5 Razorbacks. “It was personal for sure,” senior edge rusher Barryn Sorrell said.
Quinn Ewers sealed the win by running for three yards on fourth-and-2 with 2:14 left. Rather than trying to evade linebacker Larry Worth III, Ewers decided to bull his way over him. “I just tried to put a little statement into it, that’s all,” Ewers said with a smile. “Just the history that these two programs have together, it’s going to be tough.”
Texas joining the SEC reconnected old grudge matches with Texas A&M and Arkansas. The 74,929 who showed up Saturday — the 10th-largest crowd in Arkansas history — threw their Horns Down at every opportunity. With an eight-game SEC schedule, there’s only one permanent rivalry guaranteed per school, and for the Longhorns, that will always be Oklahoma. Texas-Arkansas and Texas-Texas A&M could come and go. When college football is becoming more unrecognizable by the day, regional rivalries should be a priority. — Dave Wilson
Congrats to Colorado and Arizona State for proving us all wrong
It’s probably time to admit we were wrong about Deion Sanders’ Colorado and Kenny Dillingham’s Arizona State in 2024.
OK, maybe not all of us. But as both schools improved to 8-2 on Saturday, a preseason poll from CBS Sports resurfaced that ranked Sanders and Dillingham, respectively, as the 15th- and 16th-best coaches among the Big 12’s 16 football programs. And whether you had either coach/program that low in August, there can’t be many of us who expected either school to be here in Week 12: level alongside Iowa State for second in the Big 12 standings and in line to play at least some kind of role in the College Football Playoff picture over the final weeks of the regular season.
Colorado earned its fourth win in a row and Travis Hunter logged another entry to his Heisman Trophy résumé in a 49-24 win over Utah on Saturday, yet Sanders says the Buffaloes still “haven’t even played our best game.” Meanwhile, Arizona State reached its highest win total since 2021 on Saturday night after storming to a 21-0 first-half lead and holding off No. 16 Kansas State after halftime in a 24-14 road win, fueled by the aerial connection between Sam Leavitt (275 passing yards, three touchdowns) and Jordyn Tyson (12 catches, 176 yards, two touchdowns).
The successes at Colorado and Arizona State are a credit to the respective coaching jobs Sanders and Dillingham are executing. They’re also a credit to the concept that there remain many different paths to winning in a seemingly homogenized era of college football dominated by NIL, the transfer portal and the rest. Through 12 weeks, Colorado and Arizona State represent two of the sport’s great surprises this fall, and there are perhaps no two people more acutely aware of the doubters than the coaches leading this pair of impressive turnarounds in 2024.
“We were a three-win team twice,” Dillingham said Saturday night. “We were under NCAA sanctions. Most head coaches, to be brutally honest, you get fired if you take a job under sanctions. You don’t survive. You’re hired to be fired. That’s the nature of the beast. And right now we’re sitting here at 8-2 and couldn’t be prouder.” — Eli Lederman
South Carolina is clearly the nation’s best three-loss team
Shane Beamer’s team is not part of the logjam atop the SEC. The Gamecocks are not in the College Football Playoff mix, essentially eliminated Oct. 12 when they couldn’t hold a fourth-quarter lead at Alabama or tie the score in the closing minute. But since falling to 3-3 in Tuscaloosa, South Carolina has won four straight and continued to be one of the most consistently compelling squads on Saturdays.
After riding Kyle Kennard and the defense to wins over Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt, South Carolina needed the offense to outlast Missouri, going 70 yards in 47 seconds to score the winning touchdown with 15 seconds left. Redshirt freshman LaNorris Sellers is blossoming into one of the nation’s best young quarterbacks, as he set career highs for passing yards (353) and passing touchdowns (five) against Missouri. South Carolina has defeated three straight AP-ranked opponents for the first time in team history.
“We’re on the right track,” Beamer said. “The young players we have in this program right now, the quarterback, Dylan [Stewart]. You talk about the recruits that are here tonight, the ones that are committed to us. The best days of South Carolina football are right in front of us.”
There will be some what-ifs for the Gamecocks, especially in their losses to LSU and Alabama. But after a 5-7 season last fall, Beamer has recaptured his big-game magic and built a program that no opponent should want to face right now. — Adam Rittenberg
A resolute Billy Napier and his Florida team just keep getting back up
When it starts to go bad for a coach in the SEC, especially one who’s in his third season and has yet to manage a winning record, it’s usually like a two-ton truck cresting over an icy slope.
There’s no stopping the slide.
Even with the recent and dreaded vote of confidence for Florida’s Billy Napier, there are no guarantees about his future. But nobody would have predicted he had any future at Florida two months ago after an ugly home loss to Texas A&M, two weeks removed from a 41-17 beatdown by Miami at home. The speculation late that night was that Napier might be out as early as the next morning.
But he had just enough support in key areas to hang on, and most importantly, the players in his locker room still believed in him. And here we are, with two weeks left in the regular season, and the Gators are one win away from bowl eligibility after taking down LSU 27-16 at home Saturday. Another huge opportunity awaits this weekend when No. 11 Ole Miss visits the Swamp.
The Gators (5-5) have been resilient, just like their coach, and responded from a 49-17 blowout loss at Texas to play one of their most complete games of the season at home against LSU. Simply making a bowl game is hardly the standard at Florida, but the way Napier has kept his team together, continued to develop young quarterback DJ Lagway and gone about his business with accountability, humility and a quiet confidence is proof he deserves a fourth season to show he can get this program to that standard.
It’s time to get behind Napier and quit questioning him. It’s clear the Gators have a talented nucleus of younger players and that those players have their coach’s back. — Chris Low
Louisville … what are you doing?
Stanford vs. Louisville was an inconsequential game that should have flown under the radar, regardless of the result. And while the outcome — a Stanford win that ended a six-game losing streak — was a significant upset, it’s the way it happened that deserves some added attention. It might be the most improbable way a team has lost a game all season. Let’s dive in.
After trailing 35-21 in the fourth quarter, Stanford scored touchdowns with 6:37 left and 45 seconds left to cut the deficit to 35-34. At this point, I thought Stanford coach Troy Taylor, a coach who once went an entire high school season without punting, would go for the win with a 2-point conversion try. He did not. Tie score.
On the ensuing kickoff, Louisville opted against taking the ball at the 25-yard line and returned it to the 19. After a spike, a deep shot, a short pass and another deep shot all fail, Stanford took possession at its 45 with 4 seconds left. Overtime felt inevitable. Wrong.
Stanford completed a 1-yard pass only to be gifted 15 yards by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by Louisville, giving the Cardinal a chance to win the game on a 57-yard field goal attempt. Improbable, still. So, what does Louisville do: jumps offside to make the kick easier. And Stanford’s Emmet Kenney took advantage, making a 52-yard field goal as time expired.
An all-time collapse. — Kyle Bonagura
Kennesaw State’s Bohannon shows class on way out
Last weekend, Kennesaw State fired coach Brian Bohannon, who helped build the program from scratch nine years ago, then ushered it from the FCS into the FBS this season. That firing didn’t stop the former FCS Coach of the Year from supporting his players before its game Saturday against Sam Houston.
In a video posted by a Kennesaw State football alum, Bohannon showed up to the team’s pregame walk to the stadium and gave the players hugs and high-fives as they walked by.
The Owls ultimately lost in overtime to fall to 1-9 but showed fight against the Bearkats, who remain in contention for the Conference USA title.
Despite being fired, Bohannon should be revered in Kennesaw for taking the Owls to the FCS playoffs four times, for elevating the program to the FBS — and for the way he graciously exited. — Jake Trotter
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Emily Kaplan, ESPN
As the New York Rangers and Igor Shesterkin‘s camp negotiate for a new contract, the goalie doesn’t want to talk about what’s at stake — though everyone else around the league does. According to sources, Shesterkin declined an eight-year, $88 million offer at the start of the season, which would have made him the highest paid goalie in NHL history.
“He’s special,” Detroit Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said on Oct. 14, when Shesterkin stopped 31 shots in a 4-1 win. “I can see why he turned down the 88 [million dollars]. Good agent.”
Five nights later, Shesterkin was even better, turning away 34 of 35 shots against the high-powered Toronto Maple Leafs.
“You can see why he’s going to be the highest-paid goalie in the league,” Toronto’s veteran goalie, Anthony Stolarz, said after the game. “Hats off to him.”
Even after Shesterkin allowed four goals through two periods against the rival Washington Capitals on Oct. 29, his opponents were feeling stymied. Said Capitals assistant Scott Allen ahead of the third period: “You see why he’s asking for $13 million, or whatever it is by now.”
The entire league seems to agree that Shesterkin, 28, is among its top goalies and deserves to be paid as such. But how much should a goalie make in today’s NHL? That might be one of the toughest questions to answer in the league.
JEREMY SWAYMAN AND the Boston Bruins ended a summerlong standoff when he signed an eight-year, $66 million contract ($8.25 million in average annual value) ahead of the season opener. Shortly after, the Dallas Stars’ Jake Oettinger signed an identical deal. They both match what the New York Islanders and Ilya Sorokin agreed to in 2023, and are roughly around what the NHL’s current save percentage leader Connor Hellebuyck ($8.5 million AAV) signed for in 2023 on a seven-year deal.
Starting next season, eight goalies will make at least $7 million. By contrast, 107 skaters will be at or above that mark — with 11 making at least $11 million.
“I think we’re in a decent place, [goalies] are now making great money, but it’s also not superstar money,” one starting goaltender said. “It just shows you how the league views our position. GMs don’t want to make goalies the highest-paid players, but I think lots of guys could make a good argument.”
Star forwards play roughly a third of the game. Star defensemen, at best, skate for half. Their performance can vary based on linemates, matchups and a variety of other nuances. A goaltender is in net (practically) the entire 60 minutes, alone in the crease. But even as it is the most isolated position, front office executives say goaltending is the hardest to evaluate — and therefore compensate.
“Agents want to do apples to oranges comparisons when it comes to goaltenders,” one front office executive said. “We have comps for top centers. Comps for top-four defensemen. Comps for goaltenders are way more complicated.”
Carolina GM Eric Tulsky, who comes from an analytics background, explained how slim the margins are.
“A lot of what makes goaltending hard is that a guy who stops 92% of shots is one of the best goalies in the world,” Tulsky said. “A guy who stops 91% is kind of average. And the difference between those is not very big. You watch a guy face 500 or 1,000 shots, and he might stop 91 or 92% by chance. It takes a lot of time to know for sure that this is a guy that is going to stop 91 or 92% day after day.”
The core argument for not giving goalie superstar contracts tend to center around this uncertainty, posed by one front office executive: “How many mega goalie contracts age well?”
Plus, there’s proof of concept that it’s not always necessary to have one goalie on a big contract.
The Florida Panthers just won a Stanley Cup with the league’s highest-paid active goaltender, Sergei Bobrovsky ($10 million cap hit). Florida spends more on goaltending than any other team. Backup Spencer Knight makes $4.5 million while Florida boasts the league’s only “Goaltending Excellence Department” — which includes four coaches/executives dedicated to the position.
But over the past 10 years, there have also been two Stanley Cup winners with starting goaltenders making the league minimum (Jordan Binnington in 2018, Matt Murray in 2016) while the Golden Knights won in 2023 with Adin Hill earning just $2.175 million, which represented less than 3% of their salary cap.
The theme? “There’s not one right way to do it,” Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson said. “I don’t think there’s a hard and fast way anyone thinks about spending on goaltending. It probably just depends on what you have on your team.”
IN SURVEYING 12 high-ranking team executives about philosophies in paying goaltending, a common theme emerged, summed up by one GM: “The value of a goaltender is based on how your team is built, rather than his talent.”
One front office executive believed that “if you put Andrei Vasilevskiy on 10 different teams, you’d have 10 different save percentages.”
Most executives deferred to team construction. One GM cited Vegas as a team that was strong down the middle and had an excellent defensive core. “They can get away with average goaltending,” he said.
But poor goaltending can derail a team quickly. “Your 5-on-5 game might be good,” Predators GM Barry Trotz said. “But if you have weak goaltending, that doesn’t allow you to go on any streaks.”
The biggest issue for most front offices is projection on goalie development. It’s why a team like Philadelphia, looking for its goaltender of the future, is hedging its bets. The Flyers are carrying three goalies aged 22-27, and drafted another two in 2023.
“I think people have the idea that goalies peak really late,” one GM said. “I’m not sure I believe that. I don’t think it takes time for the goalie to develop; I think it takes time for teams to say, ‘Wait, this goalie is really good.'”
By then, the goalie might be past his physical prime, hence the risks of a long-term deal. One front office executive who just signed a goalie to a max term said he’s confident, based on that goalie’s pedigree and work ethic, that years 1-5 will go great. After that, the team might need security to cover for potential decline.
Those in the goaltending union often claim their position is both misunderstood and scapegoated. Some agents said in conversation with front office executives, they’ve heard phrases such as “goaltending is a crapshoot,” or “I don’t understand goaltending.”
“Confidence in a goalie from management can be fleeting,” one high-profile goalie agent said. “There’s not a ton of patience. If the season isn’t going well, pressure is on the goalie right away.”
Ray Petkau, who represents Hellebuyck and several other goalies, said he believes goaltending can be misunderstood by some in the analytics community. For example, several front office executives cited Goals Saved Above Expected as a go-to stat for evaluation. Petkau said that one doesn’t tell the whole story.
“If a goal is deflected by an opposing player 2 feet in front of the net, it’s assigned X amount of value. But if a shot is deflected off the goalie’s defenseman, that’s not considered the same way by some of the groups providing public analytics information. Some say it averages out over time, but they don’t take into account that some teams have more defensemen who have a habit of blocking off their stick.”
Petkau prefers performance when facing high-danger chances as a stronger stat for evaluation, but that too has variables that can’t be controlled by the goalie. He also said goalies’ strengths should mesh with a team’s needs. For example, if a goalie isn’t great with rush chances, he shouldn’t go to a team that allows a lot.
THE CLIMATE ISN’T going to get any easier for goalies. League average save percentage has dipped in each of the past nine seasons, and we’re trending for the lowest number (.901) since 2005-06. Tulsky sees a trend of offensive creativity, specifically with more East-West movement and an increase in backdoor plays.
“The game’s getting faster, people are getting stronger, and so it all happens that much quicker,” Tulsky said. “When you’re in a position where your job is to react, that makes it much harder.”
Another leaguewide trend: there are now fewer Shesterkins — obvious No. 1 workhorses — and more incidents of goaltending by committee.
From 2010-2019, the league averaged 20.4 goalies per season who started at least 50 games. Over the past three seasons, that number is now 14.3.
Consider the New Jersey Devils, who needed an upgrade in net for this season. GM Tom Fitzgerald determined it was best to get a combination of goaltenders making less than $8 million versus having one make $8 million and another at the league minimum. The Devils’ new tandem is Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen, both acquired via trade, with their former teams retaining salary.
“Other goalies we looked at, some were going to be free agents,” Fitzgerald said. “You just don’t know what they were going to be priced at with the cap going up.”
Cost certainty is huge in today’s NHL, where everyone knows the salary cap is going up after several stagnant years — but nobody knows exactly by how much and how quickly.
That’s what makes contracts in general difficult right now. Many agents are focused on percentage of the cap. The three highest players this season, Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid, are in the 15-16% range. According to sources, the argument by Shesterkin’s camp is that he is the team’s most important player, so he should be the top-paid player on the team. Currently, that’s winger Artemi Panarin at $11.64 million.
The Rangers, in contrast, need to account for future contracts (winger Alexis Lafreniere just resigned at a $7.45 million annual cap hit, and defenseman K’Andre Miller is due). New York can also offer something no other team can: an eighth year. That means if Shesterkin hit the open market, other teams would have to ante up the AAV to match New York’s total value.
Only Vasilevskiy and Bobrovsky have come close to the record $10.5 million AAV Carey Price earned on an eight-year deal, which kicked in during the 2018-19 season, when Price was 31. Price played only two full seasons on the deal. He has been on long-term injured reserve for most of the past three seasons.
Since there are only so many goalie jobs, there are fewer opportunities to reset the market. Hellebuyck could have in 2024, but instead took less to stay in Winnipeg, a place where he felt comfortable and a team he believed could win with.
That’s why the entire league — and specifically the goaltending union — is waiting for resolution on Shesterkin. He could help shape the future of the position — resetting the market for the next generation.
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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
Wisconsin fired offensive coordinator Phil Longo on Sunday, a day after the Badgers’ 16-13 home loss to No. 1 Oregon.
In a statement, Badgers coach Luke Fickell thanked Longo for his two seasons with the program, while adding, “We are not where we need to be and believe this decision is in the best interest of the team.”
Wisconsin ranks 97th nationally in scoring and 102nd in passing while operating an Air Raid-style offense that Longo brought with him from North Carolina and other stops.
The Badgers, who lost starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke to a season-ending injury Sept. 14, had only three points and 88 yards in the second half against Oregon, which rallied from a 13-6 deficit entering the fourth quarter.
Wisconsin ranked 101st nationally in scoring in Longo’s 23 games as coordinator and failed to eclipse 13 points on its current three-game losing streak. Quarterback Braedyn Locke had only 96 passing yards against the Ducks.
Fickell did not immediately announce an interim coordinator for Wisconsin’s final regular-season games against Nebraska and Minnesota.
Fickell had long targeted Longo for a coordinator role, going back to his time as Cincinnati’s coach. Longo, 56, oversaw productive offenses at Ole Miss, North Carolina, Sam Houston State and other spots but never consistently got traction at a Wisconsin program that had operated dramatically differently on offense before his arrival.
“This team still has a lot in front of us and I am committed to doing everything we can to close out this season with success,” Fickell said in his statement.
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