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  • The Gaudreau family’s journey to Milan for Team USA’s men’s hockey gold medal started in Philly

    The Gaudreau family’s journey to Milan for Team USA’s men’s hockey gold medal started in Philly

    As the U.S. men’s hockey team skated around with Johnny Gaudreau’s Team USA jersey after its 2-1 overtime win over Canada in the gold-medal game of the Milan Cortina Olympics, Meredith Gaudreau looked on from the stands.

    Meredith knew her late husband’s jersey had a place in the USA Hockey locker room in Milan, Italy, just as it had at the 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025. But she didn’t expect the team to bring the jersey to the ice as it celebrated USA Hockey’s first men’s Olympic gold since 1980.

    As the team celebrated on the ice, Meredith’s phone rang. It was Matthew Tkachuk, asking if the team could get Meredith and Johnny’s two oldest children, Noa and Johnny Jr., onto the ice for a picture.

    Johnny Gaudreau’s former Calgary Flames teammate, Matthew Tkachuk, skates with Gaudreau’s daughter, Noa, after the United States won Olympic gold on Sunday in Milan.

    “I just was blown away that they wanted to do all that,” Meredith said. “They were really thinking of John. I was just very blown away by John’s impact, the way they want to honor him and have a lot of respect for him as a hockey player, a friend, an American hockey player. I was very, very proud of him for that.”

    Johnny Gaudreau, who spent 11 seasons in the NHL and likely would have been on the team’s Olympic roster, and his younger brother, Matthew, died after being hit by an alleged drunk driver while riding bicycles near their South Jersey hometown on the eve of their sister Katie’s scheduled wedding in August 2024. Johnny was 31, and Matthew was 29.

    Johnny Gaudreau’s dream was to be an Olympian. His family lived it for him, in a moment fit for a ‘movie.’

    From Philly to Milan

    Team USA honoring Johnny Gaudreau and his family was one of the most impactful moments of the Winter Olympics.

    But the Gaudreau family might not have made it to Milan without the efforts of Brian Roberts, the chairman and CEO of Comcast.

    Before the Olympics, Roberts read that the U.S. hockey team was planning to honor Gaudreau at the Games the same way it had during the 4 Nations Face-Off, by including a No. 13 Gaudreau jersey in the team’s locker room. Once the U.S. won its group, Roberts thought the Gaudreau family should have the opportunity to be at the Games in Milan.

    Roberts first called Keith Jones, the president of hockey operations for the Flyers, to see if he knew how to get in contact with the Gaudreau family. Jones recommended that Roberts call Gary Zenkel, the president of NBC Olympics, and coordinate the Gaudreau family’s travel with USA Hockey.

    After some hesitation, Jane and Guy Gaudreau made the trip to Italy to honor their son and root on his former U.S. teammates.

    ”In the wake of an unthinkable loss, witnessing the Gaudreau family find a moment of pure joy at the men’s hockey final was a profound honor — that’s the magic of the Olympics,” Roberts said in a statement to The Inquirer.

    Meredith said she got a call from her in-laws, Jane and Guy Gaudreau, on Feb. 17. They told her that USA Hockey had offered to take them to Milan. Johnny’s parents were hesitant, but Meredith knew immediately that she had to go.

    “I have, kind of, two roles right now I want to focus on,” Meredith said. “That’s giving my kids a special life and honoring my husband. When those two things can overlap, it’s more than I can ask for right now. It just means everything to me.”

    Team USA honors the late Johnny Gaudreau after winning Olympic gold in Milan

    Meredith’s in-laws changed their minds, canceled a trip to Las Vegas with friends, and boarded a plane to Milan on Feb. 19. The family arrived in time to see the U.S. beat Slovakia, 6-2, in the semifinals the following day.

    As the gold-medal game against Canada approached, Meredith couldn’t help but feel the U.S. was destined to win gold. The game was on Feb. 22, which happened to be Johnny Jr.’s second birthday.

    “I just was like, ‘This is going to happen,’” Meredith said. “I just was reflecting on everything, and it was just the ultimate gift from John, the ultimate birthday present he gave to us for Johnny.”

    ‘We were really hoping for this together’

    Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau grew up in Carneys Point Township in Salem County and played youth hockey for the Little Flyers and Team Comcast.

    Meredith also is a Philly-area native and grew up with five siblings in Malvern. She and her sisters went to the Academy of Notre Dame de Namur in Villanova, while her brothers went to St. Joseph’s Prep in North Philly.

    Meredith was a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia when she met Johnny in 2018 at her sister’s birthday party in Avalon, N.J. The pair got married in September 2021.

    Johnny, a forward, played nine seasons with the Calgary Flames and two with the Columbus Blue Jackets and was hoping for a spot on Team USA’s Olympic roster.

    “We weren’t getting too ahead of ourselves, but we were talking about planning our pregnancies around it,” Meredith said. “I was like, ‘It’d be hard to be out there with a newborn; it would be kind of hard to be out there pregnant, at the end of a pregnancy.’ … All those memories flushed into my mind thinking, ‘We were really hoping for this together.’”

    Photographic memories

    While the trip to Milan was a bittersweet moment for the Gaudreaus, Meredith said she’s glad that her children have the photos on the ice with Team USA to look back on.

    Meredith’s 11-month-old, Carter, did not make the trip to Milan, but 3-year-old Noa and Johnny Jr. got a chance to celebrate with “the team that is all of Daddy’s friends,” which is how Meredith described Team USA to her children.

    South Jersey reacts as Johnny Gaudreau’s jersey is displayed in Team USA’s golden victory

    “I said, ‘They want to take a picture with you. It’s for Daddy,” Meredith said. “[Noa] was smiling really hard, and I was really proud of her for that because I think she’s at a stage right now where she’s starting to piece things together, and she’s very, very proud of her father.

    “We look at pictures every single day, and she’s still super young and wasn’t even 2 when he passed. I try to tell her stories with the photos that she sees. I think she remembers pictures more than the actual memories.”

    Dylan Larkin (21) holds Johnny, the son of the late Johnny Gaudreau after Team USA beat Canada in the gold-medal game in Milan.

    Meredith hopes the pictures that came after the team’s win will be something Noa, Johnny Jr., and Carter can look back on as they grow up to help them remember and connect with their father.

    “I was thinking into the future, too,” Meredith said. “That they’re going to look back on this and hopefully be blown away.”

  • Villanova suffers worst loss in 29 years in drubbing to St. John’s: ‘We’re going to move on’

    Villanova suffers worst loss in 29 years in drubbing to St. John’s: ‘We’re going to move on’

    NEW YORK — Kevin Willard spent his formative years in coaching working under Rick Pitino, first with the Boston Celtics and then later in the college ranks at the University of Louisville.

    So the Villanova coach didn’t have to imagine what practice was like for Pitino’s No. 15 St. John’s team this week after it was blown out and embarrassed by No. 6 UConn Wednesday night.

    He lived it.

    “I don’t have hair because of him,” Willard said after Villanova was throttled in an 89-57 loss — the worst defeat for the program in 29 years — that was all but over before halftime. “I had a full set of hair when I started working for him. It’s the most miserable experience in life. You fear for your life every day. Everyone laughs when I say that, but no, you think you’re going to get fired, and it’s miserable.”

    The game was already going to be hard to begin with. Villanova (22-7, 13-5) is on its way to the NCAA Tournament, but it has failed to show it can compete with the two teams at the top of a Big East conference that will send just three teams to the dance, barring a miracle run at Madison Square Garden in two weeks. Add to the equation that St. John’s was coming off a 32-point drubbing, the Garden was sold out, and those rough and rowdy Red Storm practices this week, and you get a recipe for disaster.

    St. John’s coach Rick Pitino walks by the bench against Villanova on Saturday.

    Pitino told reporters ahead of Saturday that the game against UConn was the biggest since he arrived on campus in 2023. It is the hyperbole you resort to after you lose a game by 32. St. John’s held a White Out and gave out white t-shirts for lower-level ticket holders, and Pitino emerged from the tunnel onto the floor before the game wearing a white suit. The crowd loved it, and Pitino’s players made sure they continued having things to cheer about.

    It was 11-2 after three quick Villanova turnovers. Later, two more consecutive turnovers led to easy dunks and a 28-14 deficit. Willard used multiple timeouts during the first half, but Villanova had no answers for the defensive pressure and intensity from St. John’s. It was 48-23 by the time the first-half buzzer mercifully sounded, and the first-half stats told the story.

    St. John’s held an 18-0 advantage in points off turnovers. Villanova had more turnovers (eight) than it did made baskets (seven). The Wildcats shot 25.9%. Tyler Perkins, Villanova’s leading scorer, was minus-32 in 17 first-half minutes.

    Penn is playing for Ivy weekend thanks to a game against Harvard that showed its heart

    “I think the biggest difference is that they’re a veteran team,” Willard said. “You knew Zuby [Ejiofor] wasn’t going to come out and lay an egg, and he didn’t.”

    The St. John’s center became the fourth known Red Storm player to record a triple-double. He had 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists. The superlatives didn’t stop with him. The 32-point victory was the largest St. John’s has ever recorded vs. Villanova in what was the 135th matchup between the two teams.

    Further, it was the worst Villanova loss since the Wildcats lost by 37 in a February 1997 game vs. Kentucky.

    Who coached that Kentucky team? Pitino.

    Villanova guard Tyler Perkins defends St. John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor on Saturday.

    Back to the present day, Willard’s Wildcats on consecutive Saturdays received a dose of reality vs. the conference’s elite, but they also survived a rough stretch during Wednesday’s win over Butler.

    “We still won seven out of nine games,” Willard said when asked if he was concerned about the timing of it all. “We lost to UConn and St. John’s. Unfortunately, I caught UConn after they played their worst game of the year and it seems like God is punishing me for my sins.

    “We’re going to move on. We have two more games left. Life happens, man. You get your [butt] kicked every once in a while.”

    Villanova’s Bryce Lindsay is breaking out of his slump at the right time for the Wildcats

    Willard had a similar thing to say last week after a 10-point loss to UConn that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. Villanova bused home late Saturday night and is back on the road for a Wednesday night game at DePaul. The regular season finishes Saturday with a home game vs. Xavier before the Big East tournament begins.

    How will Villanova respond to its worst loss of the season?

    Perhaps Willard can channel Pitino at Monday’s practice.

    No update on Matt Hodge’s injury

    Villanova redshirt-freshman forward Matt Hodge went down with what appeared to be a right leg injury early in the second half. Hodge was on the floor in pain for a few moments and then struggled to put any weight on his right foot as he was helped off the floor and into the locker room.

    Willard did not have an update on Hodge’s status after the game.

    Villanova forward Matt Hodge goes to the floor with an apparent injury during the second half against St. John’s on Saturday.

    Wildcats locked into Big East seed

    The loss Saturday means Villanova can’t possibly climb higher than third in the Big East conference. For reference, the Wildcats were picked seventh in the preseason poll. But there appears to be a steep drop off from UConn and St. John’s at the top.

    The No. 3 seed means the Wildcats will open the Big East tournament with a 9:30 p.m. quarterfinal game vs. the winner of the game between No. 6 and No. 11.

  • Penn’s men are going back to the Ivy League tournament, but they took the long way to get there

    Penn’s men are going back to the Ivy League tournament, but they took the long way to get there

    March was six hours away when the ball was tipped at the Palestra on Saturday, and it had been a while since that mattered for Penn’s men.

    Fran McCaffery’s squad has clearly improved over the course of this season, but just how much has been hard to tell at times. A senior night showdown with tied-for-first Harvard offered a proper test, and a win would clinch the Quakers’ first Ivy League tournament berth in three years.

    Which Penn team would show up?

    The one that fell behind Dartmouth by 12 points a night before, or the one that rallied to win? The one that nearly threw away a late lead to Princeton at the start of the month, or the one that finally ended a 14-game, eight-year losing streak to its historic rival?

    All of them, it turned out. Penn trailed 31-21 at halftime, then charged back to lead 56-50 with 5 minutes, 37 seconds to play. But the Quakers almost gave it up before holding on to win, 64-61.

    There was plenty of noise from the 2,877 fans on hand at the buzzer, a reminder that even a paltry crowd can make a great atmosphere at the 99-year-old shrine. It might have been as much out of relief as anything else, but it was still a release.

    “I think that’s what makes it emotional, is we’ve been so close,” senior forward Ethan Roberts said after his Palestra finale. “So to see these wins and the season transpire the way it did, we’re in a great spot, and we just learned from it. We kept fighting, and it was ugly at times, but it just makes it all worth it.”

    Penn clinches an Ivy League men’s tournament bid with a win over Harvard that showed its heart

    The team’s ‘north star’

    It’s easy to say that this Penn team goes as far as TJ Power takes it. He took it to an extreme on Friday, scoring 38 of his team’s 80 points against the Big Green. But Roberts matters too, and this was his best game in weeks: 21 points, three assists, and four rebounds, including the game-sealer in the closing seconds.

    “I kind of blacked out after the buzzer hit,” Roberts said. “Our team, our entire year since last summer when we had the coaching change [and] we see coach McCaffery is coming here, it’s like, ‘All right, we’re winning.’ And to see we’re in this position today … this is literally all we’ve worked for. This has been our north star.”

    Penn’s AJ Levine (left) and forward Ethan Roberts celebrate after the final buzzer.

    AJ Levine, the sophomore starting point guard, is another big factor — and not always in a good way. He’s a tenacious defender, and is capable of great passes and shots. But he’s also capable of driving into any lane in front of him, even if it’s a trap.

    It’s not a coincidence that he played much more within himself in the second half of conference play, and that Penn went 6-1 in those seven games.

    Ronald Moore was once a March Madness sensation. Now he’s a Penn assistant coach.

    “He’s always going to have an aggressive mindset, and you don’t ever want to take that away from him,” McCaffery said, with a towel draped over his shoulders after a postgame water-dousing in the locker room. “He gets emotional, and you don’t want to take that away from him either, but you can’t let it get you to where you’re focused on, ‘I got a bad call,’ or ‘He [a teammate] should have cut backdoor.’ When he’s under control and he’s locked in like he was in the second half, he’s really good.”

    What to know about the Ivy League tournament

    Now, after the regular-season finale at Brown on Friday, it will be off to Cornell’s arena for a rematch with the Crimson in the Ivy tournament semifinals. All four seeds are set with a game to spare.

    AJ Levine drives for a layup during the second half.

    “It’s great feeling as a coach when you know you have a group of guys that have bought in from day one since I got here, and want to experience success,” McCaffery said. “And then to see them celebrate in the locker room — the thing we have to do now, and they both [Roberts and Levine] said it, which is good, is we have to stay locked in. We earned an opportunity. We have to play well next week, and then get ready to play well against two really good teams.”

    (If you’re wondering, there’s no word when the event will next be at the Palestra. All that’s known is the 2027 edition will be at Dartmouth, and Hanover, N.H., is as glamorous as central New York is in mid-March.)

    A senior who never transferred? Among Big 5 men’s basketball teams, Penn’s Cam Thrower is one of one.

    No. 1 Yale will be the favorite on paper, No. 66 in the NCAA’s NET rating while the other three teams are all in the 150s. But the top seed has only won the tournament twice in its seven editions, as the five-time finalist Bulldogs know well.

    This time, they’ll have to beat the hosts in the semis. Yale won its home game vs. Cornell in a 102-68 blowout, then the Big Red won the regular-season round in Ithaca on Friday on a last-second three.

    Penn and Harvard also split their games, with the Crimson winning by 64-63 in Boston on Jan. 19.

    “There’s the frustrating losses, there’s the hard-fought wins like today,” Levine said. “When that buzzer went off and I realized what we’ve done — and how it’s just the start, really, because we’re going to go compete there — I mean, it felt amazing to just see that hard work pay off a little bit. But it will really pay off when we go up there and we do what we do.”

    Those words might have been a little too accurate for their own good. Still, they have a chance, and that’s more than Penn could say the last two seasons.

  • Penn is playing in the Ivy tournament thanks to a game against Harvard that showed heart

    Penn is playing in the Ivy tournament thanks to a game against Harvard that showed heart

    Let the Madness begin.

    On Saturday, Penn men’s basketball took down Harvard, 64-61, securing a bid to the Ivy League Tournament. As the game came down to a back-and-forth, one-possession game, senior forward Ethan Roberts (21 points) took over for the Quakers — scoring eight straight in the final minutes to secure the victory.

    “It meant everything,” Roberts said. “I kind of blacked out when the buzzer hit. This is what we wanted our entire year. Since last summer, we had a coaching change. We see McCaffery coming here, and to see that we’re in this position today, it’s like, back me up, this is literally all we work for. Our North Star. It’s emotional, and I can’t really put it into words.”

    Roberts, along with Cam Thrower, Dylan Williams, and Johnnie Walter, were honored pregame as a part of Penn’s senior night celebrations.

    Playoff ready

    The Quakers took control of their own destiny by defeating Harvard, with the win securing Penn an Ivy League tournament bid in head coach Fran McCaffery’s first year as head coach.

    Penn last won the Ivy League tournament in 2018, and will look ahead to a rematch with Harvard, the two seed, in the semi-final round on March 14th at noon in Ithaca, New York.

    “It’s not like we don’t know each other,” McCaffery said in reference to Harvard. “We have a lot of respect for them. We played twice, we won by three and they lost by one. Expect a good fight; we expect to have our guys ready.”

    The Quakers can’t wait for Ivy Madness to start, with the team being proud of their “roller coaster” regular season nearing its end.

    “This ivy season has been a roller coaster,” AJ Levine said. “It’s been so hard fought. I mean, we know every single game we go into, we have an opportunity to win. We’ve had so many close games, some that we won, some that we lost, but you know, those all make us better, and they all prepare us for this postseason.”

    Comeback kids

    Harvard’s league-leading defense dismantled Penn in the first half, holding the Quakers to only 21 points on 24 percent shooting, forcing six turnovers en route to a 10 point halftime lead, 31-21.

    The Quakers’ three-headed attack of TJ Power, Michael Zanoni, and Ethan Roberts went a collective 2 of 19 from the field — with starting point guard AJ Levine only playing 10 minutes.

    In the second, in just the first four minutes of play, Penn turned the tide — forcing four turnovers and scoring an electric 15 points, with every point coming from one of Roberts, Power, or Levine.

    Penn forward Ethan Roberts lays up the basketball past Harvard forward Thomas Batties III (center) and guard Robert Hinton during the second half on Saturday.

    “I think the huge thing is defensive intensity,” Levine said in reference to what the team changed at half time. “ [We were} a little quiet on defense and not as energetic, and that was a huge point at halftime, that we’re gonna come out, and we’re gonna get stops, we’re gonna get on this glass and push the ball, that’s where our best offense is, and we want to really capitalize on that.”

    Quakers continued to pile on, with the trio scoring a collective 36 of the team’s 41 points in the second half. Power provided much-needed versatility — hitting three of four from behind the arc with four boards, while Levine was ferocious downhill, going four of five with two made free throws for 10 points.

    “But to his credit, he showed maturity today,” McCaffery said regarding Levine. “Figured it out. And I think you could know, with all due respect to the game Ethan had, I think you could really look at AJ and say, Okay, that was a difference. The way you played at the start of the second half changed everything.”

    Roberts, in his final regular-season home game donning the Red and Blue, controlled the pace, using his physicality and outside touch to uphold the offense, scoring 17 in the second half.

    In the end, the former transfer sealed the game for the Quakers and showed emotion after his final home game with Penn.

    “I love this place,” Roberts said regarding his performance. “And I just want to give everything back to Penn. How much it means to me to wear this jersey. So to do that means a lot, and I hope that caps off my legacy, but I still got more to go, because, you know, I want to win.”

    Like Mike

    Zanoni, a senior, was left out of the senior night celebrations. McCaffery, when questioned post-game, confirmed that Zanoni is expected to return to Penn next year.

    While Zanoni struggled tonight, his impact this season has been felt — as the Greensboro, North Carolina, native averages 12.1 point per game.

    His best performances came against Providence (30 points) and Ivy League leading Yale (20 points), with his outside shooting looking to boost McCaffery’s fast-paced offense for at least one more year.

  • Flyers top Bruins to remain in the hunt, win two straight for first time since early January

    Flyers top Bruins to remain in the hunt, win two straight for first time since early January

    Maybe the curtain hasn’t come down on the Flyers just yet.

    Entering Saturday’s matinee against the Boston Bruins, they saw themselves eight points back of Boston for the last wild card in the Eastern Conference, and the third spot in the Metropolitan Division, which the New York Islanders hold, and retained after an overtime win on Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

    And thanks to Sean Couturier sealing the 3-1 Flyers win over the Bruins with an empty-net goal, they took a step closer.

    The goal also ended his 31-game goal drought in the last minute. “I’ll take them any way right now, honestly,” he said. “… Overall, just happy we got the win. That’s all that matters.”

    It is the first time the Flyers have won two straight since they beat the Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 3 and Jan. 6.

    The boys were buzzing

    The line of Christian Dvorak, Trevor Zegras, and Travis Konecny was buzzing all night.

    According to Natural Stat Trick, when they were on the ice at five-on-five, the Flyers had 11 shot attempts, with six coming from a high-danger spot, seven scoring chances, and five shots on goal. They were on the ice for 10 shot attempts against and six scoring chances by Boston, but the only stat that mattered was the two goals for and zero against.

    “I think they did a good job of game management,” coach Rick Tocchet said. “And that’s really something that they got to work on to be a top line, like tonight, I thought they did a nice job for us.”

    “Nothing crazy, keep it simple,” Dvorak said when asked what their plan was going into the game. “Play a hard game, get in on the forecheck, and I think we just needed to get pucks and bodies to the net a little bit more than the previous couple of games. So that was kind of the goal tonight, and we did a pretty good job doing that.”

    They came close in the second period. Halfway through, after some pressure in the Bruins’ end, Dvorak got the Zegras ring-around and sent it back down the boards. Konecny picked it up behind the net and swooped it around in front on his forehand for a shot as he was falling.

    Zegras tried to score on the rebound, but the puckwent off the skate of defenseman Henri Jokiharju. Dvorak came barreling in but was robbed with the glove of Jeremy Swayman.

    But on the Flyers’ 11th shot of the game, Konecny finally cashed in.

    Gift Share Rasmus Ristolainen is again the subject of trade rumors. But this year could be different.

    Less than four minutes into the third period, Dvorak got the puck along the boards inside the Flyers’ blue line and patiently waited as the Bruins gave him space. He skated the puck up the left wing boards and dumped it in. The puck went off a stanchion and in front of the net, bouncing along the way.

    Swayman stuck his stick out, trying to play the puck, but it bounced away from him — are the Flyers finally getting a bounce their way? — and Dvorak was there to send an almost no-look backhand pass in front to Konecny. “I could see in the corner of my eye, him coming in behind me,” Dvorak said postgame of Konecny, who also had a breakaway chance late in the game.

    The alternate captain, who had made a beeline to the net, put it into the open space and sent a fist pump into the air after giving the Flyers a 1-0 lead. The Flyers’ leader in goals and points, Konecny now has 23 goals and 56 points in 58 games this season. Dvorak’s assist is his 23rd of the season, setting a new career high.

    Gettin’ Drysy with it

    Later in the period, that same line was on the ice when Jamie Drysdale made it 2-0.

    The Flyers got into the Bruins’ zone and set up before the puck ended up on the stick of Drysdale as he skated down the right wing boards. He carried it around and got the puck to Konecny before heading back to the point, but on the left side.

    Konecny and Dvorak, who went up to the point to cover, had a give-and-go before Konecny hit Drysdale as he skated into the middle of the ice. The defenseman skated down into the high slot and ripped the wrister past Swayman.

    Jamie Drysdale celebrates after scoring the Flyers’ second goal of the game in a 3-1 win against the Bruins on Saturday.

    “I think the opportunities kind of have been there. It’s nice to see a few of them go in, and it’s nice to see the team win,” said Drysdale, who was doing extra work with assistant coach Jaroslav “Yogi” Svejkovský in Voorhees the last week.

    “The guys have been making great plays. So tonight, TK made a [heck] of a play to me, and I had all the time in the world.”

    Drysdale now has six goals on the season, one shy of his career high set in 2024-25. The goal on Saturday was his third across the five games in February.

    “He’s working on his shot,” Tocchet said. “This summer’s a big summer for him. … I think Drysy can get that shot a little bit harder, which he’s been working on, and it’s paying off. That was a [heck] of a shot. I thought Swayman was good tonight, too, and to beat him, that was a great shot.”

    Czech mate

    Dan Vladař was moving exceptionally well in this one. He was dropping down with ease and popping back just as loosely. The Czech netminder, who was playing in his 35th game, was sliding well, checking his posts, and tracking the puck.

    “I came here to win, to be successful,” he said when asked about his workload this season, which has seen him blow past his previous career high of 30 games. “Unless we play past those 82 games, I’m not going to be happy and satisfied. So, I’m not happy yet.”

    The first shot he faced on Saturday was from the point by Hampus Lindholm at 15 minutes, 21 seconds, which Vladař snagged easily with the glove despite some traffic. Boston ended up with six shots on goal in the period, including a shot by Michael Eyssimont as he skated in two-on-none against Vladař.

    But it was in the second period where Vladař shone the brightest in front of a sold-out Xfinity Mobile Arena. He faced 16 shots and stopped them all.

    His best save of the period was a masterful right pad kick save on Morgan Geekie as he shot the puck off a pass by David Pastrňák from the slot. The forward had just pushed off Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen to create space.

    “He’s just so positive; being real, being honest, also,” Couturier said. “When it’s time to pick it up, he lets us know. And when it’s time to keep pushing, keep defending well, he’s a great support back there. He’s playing great, so he makes it easy for us when we have breakdowns.”

    Flyers goaltender Dan Vladař saved 16 shots in the second period against the Bruins on Saturday.

    Later in the period, he stopped a high-rising Viktor Arvidsson shot, which appeared to sting the 6-foot-5 goalie, and made a save on a Lindholm wrister less than a minute later that saw Pavel Zacha, who was injured just before the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics and was unable to play for Czechia, give him a stick tap.

    With over five minutes to go, he stopped Sean Kuraly as he got behind Bobby Brink, who couldn’t handle the puck along the neutral zone boards, and defenseman Emil Andrae.

    “He’s the loudest guy in the room, yeah, majorly,” Drysdale said of Vladař. “He does so much for us off the ice as well. In the locker room, in between periods, he’s always talking, just saying whatever’s on his mind, and usually it’s awesome stuff coming out of his mouth.

    “So, real positive guy, and he’s been real good for us.”

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    In the opening two minutes of the third period, the Bruins thought they had broken the ice when it looked like a point shot by Lindholm had beaten Vladař. But the referee, Francis Charron, immediately waived it off for goalie interference. Eyssimont had bumped Vladař right before the shot as he tried to set a screen.

    The Bruins did eventually break through. Zacha won a face-off against Couturier and sent it to Lindholm, who sent a zing of a pass through a seam to Charlie McAvoy, his defensive partner, who had rotated down along the inside of the right circle. It looked like the puck bounced off his leg and past Vladař.

    Breakaways

    Forward Denver Barkey was a healthy scratch for the first time since Jan. 14. In 24 games since being recalled in late December, he has two goals, nine points, and is minus-7 while skating on average 13:36. His last goal was Jan. 23, and in the eight games since, he had one assist — against the Bruins in Boston —and was minus-5. … With Barkey sitting, Nic Deslauriers slotted in on the fourth line. He appeared to have a long chat with Tanner Jeannot during warmups, and the duo dropped the gloves in the first period. … The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the power play, with the unit of Konecny, Drysdale, Zegras, Dvorak, and Brink getting the best looks. The penalty kill went 3-for-3; Boston had 10 shot attempts and seven shots on goal. … According to a team source, the Flyers have hired Daniel Bove to lead the athlete performance and wellness department. He will take over the role that was previously held by Ian McKeown until October, when he went back to Australia to work for the Adelaide Football Club. A Philly area native and graduate of Penn State, Bove was recently the New Orleans Pelicans director of performance and sports science.

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    Up next

    The Flyers head to Toronto to take on Scott Laughton and the Maple Leafs on Monday (7:30 p.m., NBCSP).

  • Bryce Harper homers for Phillies before heading to the World Baseball Classic

    Bryce Harper homers for Phillies before heading to the World Baseball Classic

    DUNEDIN, Fla. — Bryce Harper boarded his flight to Arizona on Saturday on a positive note.

    In his final at-bat in his final Grapefruit League game before heading to Team USA’s camp in preparation for the World Baseball Classic, Harper bashed a homer to right field. It came off Blue Jays pitcher Connor Seabold in the Phillies’ 7-5 loss to Toronto and marked his first spring training homer since 2022.

    Harper said he feels his swing is in a good spot ahead of the tournament. But it can be a big adjustment to go from playing in exhibition games to competition that some Phillies players have compared to playoff games.

    “It’s going to be tough,” Harper said. “Guys are going to come in and be ready to go, pitchers being ready to go, guys that played winter ball offseason and things like that, from other Latin American countries or Mexico and a lot of other places. So it’s going to be real, and it’s going to happen real quick.”

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    In four spring training games, Harper is 3-for-8 with two doubles to go with the homer. He has three walks and three strikeouts.

    “You don’t want to get so amped up and so excited that your swing goes to crap,” he said. “So just try to stay as calm as I can, and the game’s going to speed up no matter what. So I’ve tried to do that pretty much all camp, just trying to get pitches in the zone and swing at strikes and taking the walks when I can. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of that for the first four games that I played, but just trying to slow down.”

    Brad Keller and Kyle Schwarber joined Harper on the flight to Arizona. Team USA will play exhibition games against the Giants on Tuesday and the Rockies on Wednesday, while pool play will begin Friday in Houston with an opener against Brazil. Great Britain, Mexico, and Italy also are in the U.S. pool. Taijuan Walker is pitching for Mexico, and Aaron Nola is pitching for Italy.

    Aaron Nola is one of 10 Phillies on the 40-man roster who are set to participate in the World Baseball Classic. He will pitch for Team Italy.

    According to Phillies manager Rob Thomson, the players who are gearing up to participate in the tournament have seemed more prepared in camp. Ten members of the Phillies’ 40-man roster currently are set to play.

    “They put a lot of work in, not only in the offseason, but some extra work here in spring training,” Thomson said.

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    Harper said he’s excited about the potential of facing some of his teammates at the WBC. He could face Cristopher Sánchez in the semifinals or finals if the U.S. and the Dominican Republic advance out of their respective pools.

    Harper has never faced Sánchez — not even in a live batting practice session on a backfield — though of course he’s gotten an up-close look from standing in the field with him.

    “Really good stuff,” Harper said. “You better pick and choose what you want to swing at, stuff moving all over the place. One of the best in baseball right now from the left side. So it’d definitely be a tall task.”

    Harper has a strong international resumé from his youth. He represented the U.S. on the 16U team at the 2008 Pan Am “AA” Championships, and on the 18U team at the 2009 Pan Am “AAA” Championships. Both teams went undefeated en route to a gold medal.

    “Had some really good teams and some really good pitching and good groups,” Harper said. “If we can go out there and do what we need to do, then there’s a possibility to do the same thing. I know a lot of guys are looking forward to it. We got a really good group of guys, really good group of pitchers and position players, great staff. Just really looking forward to it.”

    Bryce Harper has never faced Phillies teammate Cristopher Sánchez. That could change during the World Baseball Classic.

    Extra bases

    Jesús Luzardo pitched a simulated game on Saturday at the Phillies complex. “He was really good,” Thomson said. “Velocity was good, throwing strikes. There’s no intensity level, not the same as in a game. So we’ll see what he’s like in a true game. But today was good.” Luzardo is scheduled to start on Thursday against the Boston Red Sox.

  • Aryss Macktoon breaks a La Salle record in win over Loyola Chicago

    Aryss Macktoon breaks a La Salle record in win over Loyola Chicago

    During La Salle’s last game against Loyola Chicago on Jan. 21, the Explorers led by nine entering the fourth quarter. It was all for naught, though, as the Ramblers stormed back for a four-point win.

    Just over a month later, the teams faced off again. And again, La Salle held a nine-point lead entering the fourth quarter. But this time, the Ramblers couldn’t rally, and the Explorers won, 70-57. La Salle’s victory in the regular-season finale broke a tie for sixth place in the A-10 standings.

    “I was really pleased that we turned the loss out there into a win here,” Explorers coach Mountain MacGillivray said. “Identical scores going into the fourth quarter. In this one, we found a way to extend the lead and come away with the win.”

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    Statistical leaders

    Redshirt junior guard Ashleigh Connor tied her career high with 26 points and added nine rebounds. Aryss Macktoon and Kiara Williams scored 11 points each, and Macktoon also had 11 rebounds and four steals. More on those steals later.

    The Explorers (17-12, 10-8 A-10) shot 46.3% from the floor, while limiting Loyola Chicago to 35%, including just 17.4% from deep.

    Alex-Anne Bessette and Alexus Mobley led the Ramblers (13-16, 9-9) with 13 points each. Mobley added 10 rebounds.

    Explorers guard Aryss Macktoon (0) shoots the during Saturday’s game. She finished with a double-double.

    What we saw

    Connor helped La Salle jump out to a 7-0 lead as part of her 12-point, two-assist first half.

    “We are fighting for the highest-place seed we can get, and so trying to just leave it all out there,” Connor said. “Giving everything I got for these girls just because they deserve it.”

    The Ramblers wouldn’t remain silent, though. Senior guard Kira Chivers (11 points) scored five points in 18 seconds to cut Loyola’s deficit to two, but Connor drilled a three-pointer to swing momentum back toward La Salle. Loyola got within three early in the second quarter, but despite a nearly two-minute drought from the field to close the first half, La Salle went into intermission up, 31-25.

    La Salle forward Kiara Williams (24) shoots the during Saturday’s game against Loyola Chicago.

    Despite not scoring in the first half, Macktoon was all over the court for La Salle. She had six rebounds, three assists, and two steals through 20 minutes. The scoring began to click in the second half, though, and Loyola had no answers for her. Macktoon hit a three to give La Salle a 39-29 lead at the 6-minute, 29-second mark of the third quarter then combined with Connor to score 15 of their team’s 21 fourth-quarter points.

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    Macktoon’s record

    Macktoon knew she was approaching the La Salle single-season steals record of 95, set by Ashley Gale in 2010-11. But it was business as usual after the opening tip.

    Macktoon entered Saturday’s game with 92 and tied the record early in the third quarter. Loyola Chicago trailed by nine with three minutes left and had a chance to keep the game close. Instead, Macktoon poked the ball away from Mobley for the record and derailed the chances of a Ramblers comeback.

    Up next

    La Salle locked up the No. 6 seed in the A-10 tournament and will play the winner of the No. 11 seed and No. 14 seed on Thursday (7:30 p.m., ESPN+).

  • St. Joseph’s women drop their regular-season finale to Richmond

    St. Joseph’s women drop their regular-season finale to Richmond

    Maggie Doogan left it all out on the floor in what may be the final college game in her hometown.

    Doogan, a graduate of Cardinal O’Hara, scored a game-high 35 points to lead Richmond past local Atlantic 10 rival St. Joseph’s, 72-61, at Hagan Arena in what was the final regular-season game for the Hawks.

    It was the third time Doogan, the reigning A-10 Player of the Year, has scored 30 or more points this season for Richmond (25-6, 15-3 A-10).

    Saturday was senior day for St. Joe’s (19-10, 10-8), which honored its two senior players, forward Faith Stinson and Emirson Devenie. Stinson scored eight points, while Devenie logged four minutes.

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    Gabby Casey, the Hawks’ leading scorer, did not play due to an injury.

    With Casey sidelined, Rhian Stokes led the Hawks with 15 points and went 6 of 6 from the free-throw line. Kaylinn Bethea and Emily Knouse, both freshman guards, added 12 apiece off the bench.

    Hawks guard Emily Knouse finished with 12 points off the bench on Saturday.

    Bethea was 4 of 5 from the field, while Knouse hit four three-pointers as St. Joseph’s tried to mount a fourth-quarter comeback.

    “Just to see both of them put up numbers today was really awesome,” said Hawks coach Cindy Griffin. “It’s just important. We need to have a punch off the bench.”

    Doogan led Richmond with her second-best scoring performance of the season, pouring in 35 points on 9-for-16 shooting. The senior forward made all 14 free throws.

    Spiders scuttle away

    After taking a six-point lead into halftime, Richmond began the third quarter on an 11-4 run to build its lead to 13. The Spiders had a 49-35 lead, their largest of the game, with 1 minute, 49 seconds to play in the third quarter.

    But St. Joe’s mounted a comeback in the fourth behind a three-point barrage from Knouse.

    Knouse knocked down 4 of 8 three-pointers in the fourth quarter, including a three from the left wing that cut Richmond’s lead to six with 4:38 remaining.

    Richmond forward Maggie Doogan finished with 35 points, her second-best scoring performance of the season.

    But Doogan kept the Hawks at bay with a 12-point quarter of her own. Doogan hit seven foul shots in the final quarter to seal a win for the Spiders.

    “I thought they all really stepped up today, and they needed to,” Griffin said. “We just needed a little bit more.”

    Tournament time

    St. Joe’s finished its season tied with La Salle for the fifth-best record in the A-10 at 10-8.

    Thanks to two regular-season wins over the Explorers, the Hawks hold the head-to-head tiebreaker and will enter the A-10 tournament as the No. 5 seed.

    Richmond guard Ally Sweeney (14) and St. Joe’s guard Kaylinn Bethea (22) reach for the ball on Saturday.

    “I like where we are, and it’s a new season,” Griffin said. “It doesn’t matter what your record is, who you beat, who you didn’t beat. It’s a new season, and I think it’s a good place to be.”

    St. Joe’s will have a bye in the tournament’s first round, which consists of two games between the bottom four teams.

    The Hawks will face the winner of a first-round game between Duquesne and Virginia Commonwealth in the second round on Thursday (1:30 p.m., ESPN+). The A-10 tournament will begin on Wednesday at the Henrico Sports & Events Center in Henrico, Va.

  • Joel Embiid out at least three games with right oblique strain

    Joel Embiid out at least three games with right oblique strain

    BOSTON — Joel Embiid will miss the 76ers’ next three games with a right oblique strain, the team announced Saturday evening.

    Embiid will be out for Sunday’s nationally televised game at the Boston Celtics, then a home back-to-back against the San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz on Tuesday and Wednesday. The 2022-23 NBA MVP will be reevaluated after that, the Sixers said.

    The update revealed by an MRI comes after Embiid did not participate in Saturday’s practice and reported increased soreness in his right side following Thursday’s home win over the Miami Heat, the team said. Embiid sustained the injury in the first half of that matchup but played through visible discomfort — and hit the game-clinching three-pointer in the game’s final minute.

    He finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists in 31 minutes, 12 seconds, but left the Sixers’ locker room before it opened to the media.

    “I think that shows a lot,” Sixers rookie VJ Edgecombe said of Embiid playing through that injury Thursday. “The media make it seem like he doesn’t want to play basketball. Like, come on. He’s out there in pain, and he made a big shot at the end of the game. He barely could raise his right hand up. But that shows his character, too. He cares about winning. It’s Joel. It’s Joel Embiid, bro. That’s who we’re talking about right now. …

    “I know they just try to paint this bad picture about him, but it’s not true.”

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    This latest ailment comes shortly after Embiid missed five games with a stress reaction in his right shin and to manage an injury in his right knee. He returned for Tuesday’s victory at the Indiana Pacers and scored 27 points in 26:15 and added six rebounds and five assists.

    Before that absence, Embiid was enjoying a resurgence that put him in consideration to be an All-Star reserve. He averaged 30 points on 52.7% shooting, eight rebounds, and 4.5 assists in 20 games from Dec. 23 through Feb. 7.

    Before this season, Embiid struggled to stay healthy following multiple surgeries on his left knee. He played in only 19 games last season and missed nearly two months of the 2023-24 season.

    The Sixers entered Saturday with a 33-26 record and in sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

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    Sixers rookie big man Johni Broome underwent meniscus surgery on his right knee Saturday, the team announced. He will be reevaluated in four weeks.

    Broome suffered the injury during the third quarter of the G League-affiliate Delaware Blue Coats’ loss to the Maine Celtics last Saturday. The procedure was a partial meniscectomy to repair a partial tear, the team said. Though the Sixers have not officially ruled Broome out for the rest of the season, coach Nick Nurse has acknowledged the recovery timeline will likely take him “pretty close” to its conclusion.

    Broome, the Sixers’ second-round pick in last summer’s draft, had appeared in 11 NBA games and averaged 0.9 points and 1.5 rebounds in five minutes. He had gotten more experience in the G League, where he scored a team-high 27 points in 23 minutes Saturday before the injury. He had a 50-point, 17-rebound game for the Blue Coats last month.

    A 6-foot-10, 235-pound frontcourt player, Broome was an All-American last season at Auburn and the winner of the Karl Malone Award given to men’s college basketball’s best power forward.

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  • Cristopher Sánchez’s changeup is ‘looking great,’ and it showed in his spring training debut

    Cristopher Sánchez’s changeup is ‘looking great,’ and it showed in his spring training debut

    DUNEDIN, Fla. — Cristopher Sánchez stood in front of his locker inside the visitor’s clubhouse at TD Ballpark following his first two Grapefruit League innings on Saturday.

    “Seemed like you had a great changeup today. Do you agree?” asked a reporter.

    “Do you find that weird?” Sánchez replied, laughing, through a team interpreter.

    Sánchez’s best pitch was as sharp as ever during his start against Toronto in a 7-5 Phillies loss. Of the 32 pitches he threw, seven were changeups, and Blue Jays hitters whiffed on every single one.

    That included a big swing-and-miss from Toronto star Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who soon will be on the same side as Sánchez when they join forces for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. The two of them shared a laugh afterwards.

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    “[My changeup has] been looking great since I reported to camp,” Sánchez said. “But I mean, if it’s like that early on, you just got to take it.”

    Guerrero ultimately won the battle with a line drive off a sinker that found a hole in the infield. It was one of two hits Sánchez allowed on Saturday, the other a 65.8 mph dribbler off the bat of George Springer that was hit too softly for third baseman Carson DeMartini to make a play.

    Sánchez also committed an error on another dribbler in the second inning, dropping the ball as he tried to grab it with his glove, but rebounded by striking out the next batter — with his changeup, of course.

    Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sánchez grabs the ball after an error against the Blue Jays on Saturday.

    He is set to start the Dominican Republic’s first WBC game on March 6 against Nicaragua in Miami, which will fulfill a childhood dream.

    “I feel like a kid [in] a candy store right now,” he said.

    Albert Pujols, manager of the Dominican Republic, who Sánchez grew up admiring, called him to let him know he would start Game 1, and they have also been communicating about game plans.

    “Never in my life would [I] have ever dreamed that something like this would happen,” Sánchez said. “I never thought that I was going to get to this level.”

    Who stood out

    Justin Crawford went 2-for-3 with a double and an infield single that he used his speed to beat out. He also drew a walk.

    Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper were both playing in their final game before departing for Team USA camp in Arizona. Schwarber singled, and Harper pulled a homer down the right field line.

    Bryan De La Cruz also homered for the Phillies, while Garrett Stubbs hit a triple into the right field corner.

    Phillies center fielder Justin Crawford went 2-for-3 with a double and an infield single on Saturday.

    On the mound

    Brad Keller, who also left Saturday to join Team USA, allowed two earned runs off four hits from Blue Jays regulars: singles from Springer, Alejandro Kirk, and Ernie Clement, and a double from Andrés Giménez.

    “I thought [the] slider was good,” said manager Rob Thomson. “It didn’t look like the fastball had — although the velocity was good — it didn’t have the same jump to it. He gave up a couple barrels, but he got some soft contact, and he got a punch out.”

    Zach McCambley, Génesis Cabrera, and Alex McFarlane each pitched a scoreless inning.

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    With Tim Mayza pitching the sixth inning, the Blue Jays scored four runs. Only two were charged to Mayza, who allowed three hits including a double and a homer, after first baseman Keaton Anthony committed a throwing error. Mayza was lifted after securing one out.

    Trevor Richards gave up a single, three walks, and one run when Blue Jays prospect RJ Schreck stole home.

    Quotable

    “They put a lot of work in,” Thomson said of the Phillies players departing for the WBC. “Not only in the offseason, but some extra work here [in] spring training.”

    On deck

    Andrew Painter is set to make his first start of the spring on Sunday at home against the Yankees (1:05 p.m., NBCSP).