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  • Juveniles rescued after falling through ice at South Jersey lake

    Juveniles rescued after falling through ice at South Jersey lake

    Three juveniles fell through ice at a Burlington County lake and two were rescued by responding officers Wednesday afternoon, police said.

    The incident occurred at Woolman Lake and involved juvenile students, said Mount Holly Township Police Chief Clifford Spencer in a post on Facebook.

    A male student was able to get himself out of the water and reach land before the police arrived, Spencer said.

    “Two female students were partially submerged in chest-deep, icy water when first responders arrived on scene. Officers quickly established a rescue plan, guiding the students closer to the shoreline where a rope was deployed and both were safely pulled from the water,” Spencer said.

    All three juveniles were transported to a hospital as a precaution due to their exposure to cold water, Spencer said.

    The Westampton Fire Department also responded and retrieved the juveniles’ personal belongings, Spencer said.

    “This incident serves as an important reminder to our community: no ice in our area should ever be considered safe, regardless of recent cold temperatures or appearances. Ice thickness can vary significantly and unpredictably, even within the same body of water,” Spencer said.

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  • Eagles’ shift to passing more in the red zone has led to more successful trips: ‘You can be creative’

    Eagles’ shift to passing more in the red zone has led to more successful trips: ‘You can be creative’

    For all the ups and downs the Eagles offense has experienced this season, they still reign at the top of the league in red zone percentage.

    The Eagles have scored on an NFL-best 69.4% of their red zone trips this season, which is a 12% improvement over their success rate in their Super Bowl LIX-winning season. Dallas Goedert has accounted for eight of the Eagles’ 25 red zone touchdowns this season.

    Two of Goedert’s touchdowns — nearly three, due to a drop — came in the low red zone in the Eagles’ win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. Both 4-yard touchdown shovel passes were behind the line of scrimmage. Goedert now has five touchdown passes from behind the line of scrimmage this season, which is the league high, according to Next Gen Stats.

    Jalen Hurts on blocking out the criticism: ‘This isn’t my first rodeo’

    While Kevin Patullo said that there isn’t necessarily a concerted effort to draw up plays for Goedert in the low red zone, good things tend to happen when the 30-year-old tight end gets the ball in his hands.

    “He’s such a physical guy,” the offensive coordinator said Wednesday. “His determination to just get yards and have an impact on anything, whether it’s in the pass game, whether it’s gadgets, whatever it may be, he’s really dynamic with the ball in his hands. So any time you can get the ball in his hands, that’s what we’re going to try to do.”

    But Goedert acknowledged that he’s the beneficiary of the Eagles’ shift in red zone philosophy this year. Last season, the Eagles ran the ball more frequently. Of the Eagles’ red zone touchdowns last season, 58% came on carries (34% of their red zone touchdowns were on the Tush Push).

    Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert has scored eight of the team’s 25 red zone touchdowns.

    This year, 48% of the Eagles’ red zone touchdowns have come on runs (20% on the Tush Push). Patullo said that there isn’t “anything specific” that has led to the shift from run to pass.

    “The red zone, obviously, is a unique area where you can be creative and do different things,” Patullo said. “And I think that’s something where we all kind of have our own input on that. Throughout the years, we’ve done different things and just try to see whatever we need to do best.”

    Smith soaring since return

    When asked about Nolan Smith’s progress on Wednesday afternoon, Vic Fangio admitted he wasn’t sure exactly how many games the third-year edge rusher had missed this season.

    When he was informed that Smith had missed five games on injured reserve to heal his triceps injury, Fangio was surprised.

    “Wow,” the defensive coordinator said. “Felt like more.”

    Perhaps his hiatus felt longer because of the pass rush’s inconsistency during that stretch. The Eagles defense registered three of its six lowest single-game sack percentages of the season in Smith’s absence.

    Eagles vs. Commanders in Week 16: Here are the numbers that matter

    But since Smith has returned and Jaelan Phillips was acquired from the Miami Dolphins, the Eagles’ pass rush has soared, even in the two-game absence of Jalen Carter. In their last three contests, the Eagles have combined for a league-best 13 sacks (which is tied with the Dolphins). Smith notched two of those sacks.

    Smith returned after the bye week in Week 10 against the Green Bay Packers. At the time, the 24-year-old outside linebacker was on a snap limit, as the Eagles sought to prevent reinjury.

    Since his first couple of games back, Smith has gradually seen his playing time increase, culminating last week when he played 61.9% of the defensive snaps. Fangio acknowledged Wednesday that he is no longer on a snap count. With more playing time has come more confidence for Smith, Fangio said.

    “He is getting better and more comfortable and I think he’s back to where he was,” Fangio said.

    Eagles offensive tackle Fred Johnson missed Wednesday’s practice with an ankle injury but expects to play Saturday at Washington.

    Injury report

    The Eagles held their first practice of the week on Wednesday at Lincoln Financial Field, with snow covering their practice field at the NovaCare Complex.

    Lane Johnson (foot), Landon Dickerson (calf/rest), Fred Johnson (ankle), and Jalen Carter (shoulders) did not participate. However, Fred Johnson told The Inquirer that he expects to be available to play Saturday against the Washington Commanders.

    Cam Latu (stinger) was a limited participant. Saquon Barkley (stinger), Zack Baun (hand), Tank Bigsby (illness), Jaelan Phillips (knee), and Cameron Williams (shoulder; injured reserve) were full participants.

    The Eagles will practice once more on Thursday before Saturday’s game in Landover, Md.

  • VJ Edgecombe and Snipes gift local kids with $500 shopping sprees: ‘Philly is home now and I always try to give back’

    VJ Edgecombe and Snipes gift local kids with $500 shopping sprees: ‘Philly is home now and I always try to give back’

    Children searched the aisles of SNIPES for clothing and picked out their favorite sneakers as 76ers rookie VJ Edgecombe provided tips, bagged items behind the cash register, and helped in any way he could.

    “If I’m being honest, I told them to grab whatever,” Edgecombe said. “If you have siblings at home who didn’t have the opportunity to do this then think of your siblings. That’s what I told them, just grab whatever.”

    On Wednesday evening, the Sixers partnered with SNIPES to provide 10 local kids from the Youth Mentoring Partnership with $500 holiday shopping sprees. Before the festivities started, they were surprised with a special appearance from Edgecombe.

    ‘That’s the PG we all know and love’: Paul George is finding a rhythm and changing the narrative of his Sixers tenure

    When he walked into the store, he was welcomed with cheers as kids waited to greet him.

    “I’m seeing the kids happy and smiling and it means the world to me regardless if they’re my little siblings or not,” Edgecombe said. “Philly is home now and I always try to give back. Give back to the community. Give back to kids, especially, in any way I can. So, it means a lot to me.”

    Although Edgecombe struggled to find kids through racks of clothing, the 20-year-old guard eventually spotted them and helped each child fill up their shopping bags with the latest gear and sneakers — from full Von Dutch outfits and fitted hats to new pairs of New Balances.

    Growing up in poverty in the Bahamas and relying on a generator for electricity fueled Edgecombe to make a name for himself and provide for his family. Although the Sixers picked him third overall in the 2025 NBA draft, the rookie will never forget his Bahamian roots.

    “Me as a kid, I would have been in here grabbing as much things as I can to be honest,” Edgecombe said. “I wouldn’t have cared if it could fit me or not. I guess I’m really blessed just to be in this position just to give back. It means the world to me seeing kids happy.”

    VJ Edgecombe with members of the Youth Mentoring Partnership at SNIPES.

    Wednesday’s event is just one way Edgecombe is using his platform to provide for others. Being surrounded by teammates who want to continue to help the Philadelphia community — including Tyrese Maxey, who hosted his annual turkey drive in November — has been a big inspiration to the young guard.

    “We’re really fortunate to be in certain situations, financially,” Edgecombe said. “It’s important to give back to the community just because you never know what people are going through, daily struggles, you know. Our struggles are different from theirs. And sometimes people wonder about where their next meal is going to come from.”

  • Temple announces voluntary retirement program for faculty amid budget crunch

    Temple announces voluntary retirement program for faculty amid budget crunch

    Temple University will offer a voluntary retirement program for faculty, the school announced Wednesday.

    The move comes as the university attempts to close a budget deficit that stood at $27 million earlier this year but that worsened when the school did not meet projected enrollment targets for its main campus — which president John Fry had said translated to $10 million less in revenue.

    “It is important for us to explore strategies that will allow the university to make meaningful changes, as this is key to optimizing the budget and improving our financial results moving forward,” Fry and interim provost David Boardman said in a message to the campus community.

    Temple misses enrollment projection; main campus student population slides again

    The university did not say how many faculty it hopes will take the offer, but those who are 62 years and older and have at least 10 continuous years of experience are eligible. They must be tenured, tenure-track, or appointed as non-tenure-track under a contract that expires after June 30.

    Temple did not immediately provide the number of eligible faculty.

    The move also will allow the university to hire new tenure-track faculty over time, Fry and Boardman said.

    Fry said the university would fund the program with federal COVID-19 stimulus funds that came in a onetime tax credit reimbursement to businesses that kept employees during that period. Temple last offered faculty a voluntary retirement program in 2023.

    Pennsylvania State University last year offered buyouts to its faculty and staff on its Commonwealth campuses as it made plans to close seven of those campuses. More than 380 employees — 21% of those eligible — took the buyout in June 2024.

    Temple’s former enrollment head gets job at Rutgers

    A new interim head of enrollment

    Also on Wednesday, Temple announced it had tapped Rob Reddy, formerly the vice president for enrollment management at St. Louis University, to serve as interim vice provost for enrollment management. He will begin Jan. 1

    Reddy replaces Jose Aviles, who left Temple last month for a new enrollment job at Rutgers University. He has three decades of experience in admissions, financial aid, and veterans’ relations, Boardman said in an announcement to the campus community.

    “Rob comes to us with deep experience in the field and a reputation for taking on challenging assignments,” Boardman said.

    He previously served as assistant vice chancellor of enrollment management and dean of student financial services at Northeastern University.

    The university intends to launch a search for a new enrollment leader in the spring, Boardman said.

  • Tyrese Maxey is back from illness, and pleased with how the Sixers played without him

    Tyrese Maxey is back from illness, and pleased with how the Sixers played without him

    Tyrese Maxey typically is “super animated” whenever a health issue has forced him to watch his team play on television.

    But when the 76ers’ star guard tried to express such outward enthusiasm while ill at home for Friday’s victory over the Indiana Pacers and Sunday’s three-point loss to Atlanta Hawks, he rapidly fatigued.

    “The more I yelled and screamed, the more I got tired,” Maxey said following Wednesday’s practice. “And it was, like, I can’t do that. I couldn’t stand up, really. So I’m basically just sitting there, watching the game, like, throwing my arms like this.”

    The good news for the 14-11 Sixers: Maxey was back on the court with his teammates Wednesday, following an individual session the previous day. Perhaps even more encouraging to him and coach Nick Nurse was how the Sixers played without Maxey, who entered Wednesday ranked third in the NBA in scoring (31.5 points per game) and leading the league in minutes (39.9 per game).

    ‘That’s the PG we all know and love’: Paul George is finding a rhythm and changing the narrative of his Sixers tenure

    “When I said [before the season that] I wanted stuff to look the same,” Maxey said, “I just wanted us to go out there and compete every single night. I don’t want it to look like, ‘Oh, this guy’s out. That guy’s out. So we’re just going to lay down, and the other team’s going to beat us.’

    “I think we’ve kind of created that standard and done a good job of it. It’s kind of coming to light, and now we’ve got to keep doing it.”

    Nurse acknowledged Wednesday that his “fears were really high” entering last weekend’s games without Maxey. But the coach was particularly pleased with how rookie VJ Edgecombe handled lead guard duties, with seven assists against two turnovers across those two games while surpassing 20 points in each contest. The coach also liked how his team broke defensive pressure, and that he was able to get a look at a variety of lineup combinations.

    Maxey, meanwhile, was thrilled that former MVP Joel Embiid “put on a clinic” in his 39-point outburst against the Pacers.

    Tyrese Maxey says teammate Joel Embiid “put on a clinic” during the star center’s 39-point outburst against Indiana last week.

    “When he was about to do the … you know,” said Maxey, referring to Embiid’s DX chop celebration. “I was about to say, ‘If I tweet that, will I get fined? If I tweeted a GIF?’ But I just stayed away from all that.”

    Though Maxey said he felt “way better” while back in the facility Wednesday, Nurse believed the star guard “looked like he’s been off for a little bit.” And some reacclimation was necessary after the Sixers added to their schematic package during last week’s four-day layoff between games while Maxey was away. The point guard said he noticed those changes while reviewing practice film and while watching the games live.

    “The biggest thing that I took from [those games] is that we can be really good,” he said. “I mean, we can. It’s possible. We have those opportunities. We have those chances.

    “We’ve just got to keep coming together, keep doing a good job of building every single day, and staying healthy.”

    Sixers mailbag: Does Tyrese Maxey have a legitimate case to be a top-10 NBA player?

    Another positive injury development: Kelly Oubre Jr. (left knee) and Trendon Watford (left thigh) have progressed to individual on-court work, the team said Wednesday. There is no timetable for either player to return for game action, though Watford said Wednesday he is “close” to that.

    “I feel like I had a pretty good groove going while I was playing,” said Watford, who averaged 8.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in 14 games after missing the start of the season with a hamstring issue. “[I was] starting to string it together a little bit. It’s unfortunate what happened, but it could always be worse.

    “Just sitting back and keeping that perspective, and just trying to attack the rehab the same every day.”

    To the G League

    A potential byproduct of the Sixers getting healthier is diminishing minutes for players further down the rotation. That includes Justin Edwards and Adem Bona, who, after playing more sporadically in recent games, were assigned to the G League’s Delaware Blue Coats for Tuesday’s win at the Capital City Go-Go.

    Edwards scored 37 points on 13-of-21 shooting and added four rebounds and six steals in 40 minutes. Bona totaled 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting, four rebounds, three assists, and three blocks in 32 minutes.

    Justin Edwards was assigned to the G League’s Delaware Blue Coats and scored 37 points in their win on Tuesday.

    “That was a great opportunity for both of them,” Nurse said. “Went down there and embraced it and played great. My thing was I told them both, ‘Do your thing. Play hard. Do the things that you can do. Play to your strengths.’”

    Edwards is 0-for-10 from the floor in his last three NBA games, and only logged 8 minutes, 51 seconds on Sunday in Atlanta. Bona, meanwhile, has not played in the Sixers’ past three games, with Embiid becoming more consistently available and Andre Drummond taking hold of the backup center spot. The Sixers also recently used a similar get-right strategy with second-year guard Jared McCain, who went 0-for-9 from the floor in his first four games upon returning from missing nearly a calendar year following knee and thumb surgeries.

    Nurse said Edwards and Bona likely will see the floor in the Sixers’ upcoming back-to-back on Friday at the New York Knicks and on Saturday against the Dallas Mavericks. But, as the season rolls on, the coach acknowledged that both second-year players will probably have “long moments where they don’t hit the floor much.”

    How is Tyrese Maxey handling his heavy minutes? The Sixers star is ‘lost in the competitiveness’

    “So balancing growing … at a young age, with learning how to play,” Nurse said. “Playing the right way, keeping your confidence up, keeping your conditioning up.”

    In the clutch

    End-of-game scenarios have been a focus during the Sixers’ two lighter weeks, per Nurse.

    That is understandable, given they entered Wednesday tied for second in the NBA with 18 “clutch” games played, which occurs when the score is five points or fewer with five minutes remaining in regulation. The Sixers were 1-1 in such situations last weekend, pulling away from the Pacers in the final minutes and then losing to the Hawks in a game that came down to the last possession.

    After reevaluating the end of that Atlanta game — which included a chaotic final-minute sequence with two missed three-pointers, an offensive rebound, taking too long to foul, and a controversial no-call by the officials — Nurse described Quentin Grimes’ missed three-point leaner at the buzzer as “really good.” A detail worth mentioning: veteran Kyle Lowry entered the game to inbound the ball with 1.5 seconds remaining, a role once held by Nico Batum during the 2023-24 season.

    Sixers head coach Nick Nurse talks to guard VJ Edgecombe during a game against the the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 12.

    Overall, Nurse has called his team’s crunch-time play so far this season “maybe better than I expected, and certainly better than in the past.” The Sixers were 18-18 in clutch games in 2023-24, which ranked 14th in the league in winning percentage, and 15-21 during the dreadful 2024-25 season.

    “We’ve made some clutch stops to get us in these positions,” Nurse said. “We’re doing OK. I want to keep building on that stuff. … Always want to get better. Always get greedy on that kind of stuff.”

  • Radnor school board is considering charter’s plan to open on Valley Forge Military Academy campus

    Radnor school board is considering charter’s plan to open on Valley Forge Military Academy campus

    Radnor school board officials are now considering a plan for a charter school seeking to open in the fall of 2026 on the Valley Forge Military Academy campus.

    A group seeking to open Valley Forge Public Service Academy Charter School on the site of the closing military school is already equipped with a leadership team and board, but it cannot open as a publicly funded charter school without approval from the local school board.

    The group began the formal charter approval process Tuesday at a Radnor school board meeting with a presentation pitching a nontraditional high school experience that could prepare students for public service jobs.

    Liz Duffy, the board president, said the board entered the hearing “with an open mind toward gathering information.”

    “And no decisions have been made or will be made on the application today,” she added.

    At least one more hearing will follow before the board votes on the proposal. Radnor has never approved a charter school, despite receiving earlier proposals.

    Why is there a charter proposal?

    Valley Forge Military Academy is slated to close for good in May. The once-elite private boarding school was plagued with myriad problems amid declining enrollment, rising costs, publicity over unaddressed abuse concerns, and, according to some parents, misplaced priorities. A two-year college on the campus will continue to operate.

    The Radnor school board has voted down two previous proposals to add a military-themed charter school to the campus, which the board had argued would serve as a way to subsidize the military academy. The current proposal, The Inquirer has reported, has been in the works since March — months before the private military academy announced it would shut down.

    Chris Massaro, a Radnor native who runs a firm that advises educational institutions, had begun working to help the military academy in January and thought a new charter school could be a way to preserve the institution’s legacy.

    Massaro said at the hearing Tuesday that he introduced charter school consultant Alan Wohlstetter to the Valley Forge Military Academy Foundation in April and “they got to work” on the plan. Massaro and Wohlstetter are both listed as founders of the potential new school.

    The applicants and the foundation are presenting themselves as separate entities that would simply have a landlord-tenant relationship.

    “This proposal is entirely new,” said Stephen Flavell, the prospective charter school’s founding CEO. “It has a new mission, new leadership, and a new board.”

    He said the school would provide a “uniquely different” experience for students who might not be a good fit for a regular public school.

    “This is an ‘and’ for Radnor, not an ‘or,’” he added.

    Charter schools are publicly funded but privately run, and receive per-pupil funding from school districts.

    What would the charter school offer?

    Organizers said the school would prepare students in grades six through 12 for public service jobs, such as law enforcement, emergency response services, and the military. The entity’s website says its mission is “to provide a rigorous, service-oriented education that emphasizes character, discipline, academic excellence and career readiness.” Applicant spokespeople emphasized providing students with career-path alternatives to four-year college degrees.

    The school would cap the number of Radnor School District attendees at 25%, and would also cater to students from nine other local school districts, according to the applicant team. “Every student graduates with a diploma plus,” said Deborah Stern, a board adviser for the prospective school. She said the school would give students opportunities to secure college credits or industry-recognized credentials in addition to their high school diploma, alongside connections in the field of their choice.

    Would there be any construction?

    Dave Barbalace of BSI Construction said the applicant team would pursue a $2.4 million renovation that would take six to seven months to “repair, refresh, and modernize” the building.

    The renovation would include making the restrooms on the first floor bigger, a new roof, walkway repairs, and an Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible ramp, he said.

    When would the charter school open?

    The applicant team said the school would be ready to open in September 2026 if it is approved by the Radnor School District.

    The school would have 50 students per grade, starting with just sixth through eighth grades in the fall and adding another grade each year through 12th grade..

    A few students have already pre-enrolled, according to the applicant team.

    What feedback has the proposal gotten?

    Jim Higgins, a lifelong Radnor resident who grew up across the street from the military academy, told the school board he did not support the prior two charter school proposals but is supportive of this one.

    “I care personally about what happens to the property, so I’ve been watching it,” said Higgins, who previously worked as a CEO and principal of a North Philadelphia charter school and has two kids in the Radnor school system.

    “I did not support the other charter applications. I thought they were the wrong people. There wasn’t a community investment. I’m excited by this one,” he added.

    Jibri Trawick, a member of the applicant team, said the team has done over 35 outreach events and collected 115 petition signatures, though not all are from Radnor residents since the school would serve the region. The applicants also have 18 letters of support from local businesses and organizations, Trawick said.

    One person at the hearing expressed concern about young students sharing a campus with college students, and another questioned what was different between the proposed school’s programming and the existing options for students at Radnor’s district schools and the Delaware County Technical School.

    Michael Kearney, a Wayne resident, expressed concern over whether the applicant team was planning for the unexpected expenses that come with using an aged building.

    “I caution you that we don’t get too excited about what is a great idea and ignore the uncertainty and risk that are inherent in the proposal,” he said.

    What comes next?

    This hearing was designed for the charter school team to present its project, and a second hearing set for Jan. 20 is designed for the board, the school district’s administration, and its solicitor to question the applicant team.

    The school board has to make a decision by March 1.

    If Radnor rejects the application, the group could reapply, and ultimately could appeal to the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

  • Rasmus Ristolainen’s return gives Flyers an edge: ‘He likes the physical part of the game’

    Rasmus Ristolainen’s return gives Flyers an edge: ‘He likes the physical part of the game’

    BUFFALO ― Of course, there was no rookie lap for Rasmus Ristolainen on Tuesday in Montreal.

    The hulking defenseman entered the night with 776 NHL games under his belt, but that doesn’t mean his season debut didn’t come with some nervousness.

    “Yeah, almost felt like the first NHL game in some ways,” said the 31-year-old Ristolainen, who made his debut on Oct. 2, 2013, with the Buffalo Sabres, whom the Flyers play on Thursday (7:30 p.m., ESPN+, Hulu).

    “Obviously, long time to be out of the game, and happy the first one is over. So now I can start building on and actually, like, focus on hockey.”

    Flyers’ Tyson Foerster likely to miss the rest of the season after arm surgery

    Ristolainen’s first game since March 11 — he missed the first 31 games of this season and the final 16 of last season — was eventful. Across 19 minutes, 18 seconds of ice time, Ristolainen had three shot attempts, two blocked shots, one takeaway, and three hits.

    One of those hits sent Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovský to the ice in the first period. Ristolainen took some cross-checks, including one or two to the arm, from Ivan Demidov, as the Canadiens forward took exception to the hit.

    “Before the game even started, I knew something like that would happen,” defenseman Cam York said with a grin. “He likes contact, I don’t know how else to put it. He likes the physical part of the game, and it’s not fun to play against as an opposing guy.”

    Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen ends up on the ice during a March 6 game against the Winnipeg Jets, one of his last games before Tuesday night.

    When you ask Ristolainen about the hit, he’ll say he wasn’t searching it out and that they “bumped” into each other. But that hit, and the others he threw, did help him get into the game after skating on his own for months, then practicing with the team for a little over a week.

    “I felt better, actually, in the game than I’ve been in the practices,” he said Wednesday after practice in the visitors’ locker room at KeyBank Center, “because some of the practices can be somewhat chaotic and obviously not gamelike.”

    It’s been a long, winding road back for the Finnish defenseman.

    “So basically, three surgeries in the same elbow,” he disclosed of the injuries that cut short his 2023-24 season. “Obviously started with a pretty bad infection, which I played with for multiple weeks until I couldn’t anymore. And then we found out there is some infection and a torn triceps tendon. So obviously, did those two things separately, and then tried to get back.” He played just 31 games that season, getting shut down in mid-February.

    Flyers end three-game losing streak with 4-1 rout of the Montreal Canadiens

    “Probably the schedule was pretty too quick, looking at it now, after doing two [procedures in 2024],” he said. “So came back pretty quick, played some decent hockey for 50, 60 games, and then it suddenly snapped, and not sure when or where it happened again.

    “Obviously, second time the same tendon [was] torn. So saw a different doctor this time, and his timeline and recovery were a lot longer, which I think was the key and helped. And, yeah, right now I’m here and feel pretty good.”

    Ristolainen got back onto the ice in June in Finland, where he was limited to skating. He didn’t start using pucks until September, when the Flyers were in training camp.

    “I mean, obviously it’s tough,” he said about dealing with another tear and a third procedure. “But I’m more like a person [who thinks] I can’t control that anymore. So it’s no point to be too down. And just then you look at the road ahead and just do everything and work hard, and try to make it better than it was before.”

    Canadiens goaltender Jacob Fowler makes a save on the Flyers’ Travis Konecny during the second period Tuesday.

    Well, his game definitely looked good on Tuesday night, and it impressed the new bench boss.

    “Guys got to keep their heads up, because he is a good hitter, open-ice hitter,” coach Rick Tocchet said Wednesday. “It’s always good to have guys like that. Just a long stick in the corners, squashing plays, squashing a cycle, cutting off a reset.

    “Those are big plays. They’re unnoticed plays, but they go a long way. Instead of defending 20 times a game, you’re only defending 14, because he’s squashing a player and gets his stick on a puck or something like that.”

    And having Ristolainen back helps solidify the defensive corps. According to Natural Stat Trick, he skated with Nick Seeler for more than 15 minutes at five-on-five. They may have been on the ice for more shot attempts against (13) than for (seven), but they weren’t on the ice for a goal against.

    They were also able to eat some of the minutes along with some of the stress on the other pairs.

    In the last six games, Jamie Drysdale averaged 23:17 of ice time, with his partner Emil Andrae at 20:14 — even after being moved down to the third pair for half of the game on Sunday in North Carolina. Nick Seeler was at 21:04 while skating primarily with Travis Sanheim, who played 25:59, with York missing four games.

    On Tuesday, the time was more evenly spread out, notably with Sanheim getting 22:20 of ice time. As York mentioned, having Ristolainen “balances out a lot of things for us” and will only help the defense maintain a high level of play across the remaining 50 games.

    “Yeah, just obviously a big piece of our D corps that we’ve been missing for a while,” Sanheim concurred. “And just the way he plays adds that physical presence and a really good defender. So it’s been nice having him back, and it means a lot to the team.”

  • Villanova promos for football semifinal include $2 concessions, a chance at basketball season tickets, and more

    Villanova promos for football semifinal include $2 concessions, a chance at basketball season tickets, and more

    Villanova is playing its biggest football home game in 16 years on Saturday, and the program is pulling out all the stops to pack Villanova Stadium.

    The Wildcats are hosting their first Football Championship Subdivision semifinal since 2009, the season they won their only FCS championship. The 12th-seeded Wildcats will take on unseeded Illinois State under the lights at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

    Villanova upsets Tarleton State and advances to FCS semifinals with comeback win

    With finals concluding the day before, many students are headed home for break, and the campus is emptying. That is why Villanova is offering students the ability to extend their housing until Sunday at noon in order to attend the game, rather than Saturday at noon. It is one of a long list of incentives set up by Villanova’s athletic program and the university to try and increase attendance.

    All fans with a ticket, not just students, will also be treated to $2 concessions. From when the gates open until the end of the first quarter, fans will be able to purchase select beers and hot dogs for $2 each.

    Students at the game will have the opportunity to be entered in various giveaways. The first 100 students to stop at the table for “The Nation,” Villanova’s official student fan group, will receive a free chicken sandwich from Federal Donuts.

    Villanova, despite being the No. 12 seed, has advanced to the FCS semifinals.

    The first 1,000 students will get free Villanova-themed Santa hats, and the first 4,000 will be provided free hand-warmers. If students scan in using their student QR codes, they will receive a ticket for the Villanova men’s basketball game against St. John’s at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Jan. 17.

    During the fourth quarter, 50 students will win tickets for all remaining home men’s basketball games this season. One student will also earn a pair of tickets to the Big East men’s basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden in March. Lastly, one student will receive a $500 shopping spree to Villanova’s team store.

    Inside, there will be a Christmas Village in the southwest corner of Villanova Stadium. There will be holiday inflatables to take pictures with, face painting, photos with mascot “Will D. Claws,” more commonly known as Will D. Cat, and ornaments to decorate. Children can participate by writing letters to Santa.

    Before the game, Villanova’s president, the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, will host a 4 p.m. Mass at St. Thomas of Villanova Church. The Mass will fulfill the Sunday Mass obligation for the fourth Sunday of Advent, according to Villanova’s website.

    Fans are encouraged to check out Villanova’s Christmas lights in the middle of campus on the Rowen Campus Green. On the Campus Green, there will be free food trucks for ticket holders.

    Throughout the day leading up to kickoff, all food and drink purchases at The Refectory, Villanova’s on-campus restaurant, will be 10% off with a ticket to the game.

    A win over Illinois State would earn Villanova an appearance in the FCS championship game on Jan. 5 in Nashville, where they would play the Montana-Montana State winner. It would be just the second appearance for the Wildcats football program in the championship game.

    Villanova is playing its best complementary football at the right time: ‘We have a good nucleus’
  • Phillies deserve big props for spending big on Brad Keller, the setup man they sorely needed

    Phillies deserve big props for spending big on Brad Keller, the setup man they sorely needed

    Sometimes, it’s the thought that counts.

    As recently as Tuesday, Dave Dombrowski sounded like a man who didn’t feel much of a sense of urgency with regard to his bullpen.

    “I guess we’d look for arms in the bullpen, but we’ve also got five solid guys out there that are of veteran status,” the Phillies president said.

    Source: Phillies agree to two-year, $22 million deal with reliever Brad Keller

    It was encouraging, then, when news leaked on Wednesday that the Phillies were closing in on a two-year, $22 million contract for former Cubs setup man Brad Keller. Set aside the question of who Keller is and whether or not Rob Thomson can count on a repeat of the veteran righty’s breakout 2025 campaign. The mere fact that the Phillies saw a pressing enough need to spend this sort of money on another reliever is commendable.

    And, let’s be clear. This is real money that the Phillies are spending. The relief market has exploded this offseason. That’s true at the top of the market, where former Mets closer Edwin Díaz accepted a whopping $21 million AAV on a three-year contract, all the way down to erratic former Phillies lefty Gregory Soto, who somehow landed $7.75 million from the Pirates on a one-year deal. Keller is the 11th reliever to sign a deal worth at least $9.5 million per year and the seventh to sign for at least $11 million.

    Brad Keller, right, revived his career with the Cubs in 2025 as one of manager Craig Counsell’s most trusted relievers.

    He is also the youngest of that group, which is a key fact to consider. Heading into his 30-year-old season, Keller doesn’t have the wear-and-tear that relievers tend to accumulate by the time they hit free agency. He spent the first six years of his career moving into and then out of the Royals rotation. In 2024, he bounced back and forth between the minors and the Red Sox big-league roster, later landing with the White Sox.

    Last offseason, the Cubs nabbed Keller on a minor league deal and gave him a job in their bullpen. His velocity jumped from the low-90s to a Statcast average of 97 in 2025, and he quickly worked his way to the back of the Cubs’ bullpen. He thrived in high-leverage situations, holding opponents to just four extra-base hits and a .582 OPS with 28 strikeouts and 10 walks in 101 plate appearances. His numbers after the All-Star break were as good as you’ll see: 35 strikeouts, eight walks, a 0.33 ERA in 99 plate appearances.

    In moving on from Harrison Bader, the Phillies are putting an awful lot of faith in Justin Crawford

    The addition of Keller gives the Phillies an assortment of high-leverage arms unlike any they’ve had in a long time. At 6-foot-5, 250 pounds, he is built like a closer. The Phillies will enter spring training with the thought that he will pair with Jhoan Duran as an elite setup/closer combo in the eighth and ninth innings. Between Keller, Duran and Matt Strahm, they have three of the 34 big-league relievers who finished last season with an ERA+ of 160 or better (minimum 40 innings). Lefty José Alvarado, back on a team option after a suspension-marred 2025, remains a quality high-leverage option. That gives Thomson four legitimate options for the late innings of close games, with lefty specialist Tanner Banks and young righty Orion Kerkering also bringing plenty of experience and potential upside.

    The Phillies easily could have convinced themselves that they could make due without making a significant investment in another arm. They tried to ham-and-egg their way through last offseason, signing Jordan Romano and Joe Ross for about the same amount they’ll pay Keller. Though the Phillies won 96 games, they arrived in the postseason without the back-end horsepower to complement their best-in-class rotation. It cost them against the Dodgers. As much as the offense struggled, a dominant bullpen would have given them a clear edge in the series.

    Who knows if it will work out? The relief market is little different from a roulette wheel. You ante up and then cross your fingers. But if the bullpen again emerges as a concern next season, it at least won’t be for a lack of trying.

  • Teddy Einstein, a West Philly mathematician, was about to hit his stride. Then he was killed while riding his bike.

    Teddy Einstein, a West Philly mathematician, was about to hit his stride. Then he was killed while riding his bike.

    Eduard “Teddy” Einstein, a beloved professor and mathematician, was biking home from a haircut when a driver killed him earlier this month.

    Einstein, 38, was struck and killed by the 18-year-old driver on Dec. 3 while riding his bicycle on Providence Road in Upper Darby. No charges have been filed in Einstein’s death, according to Upper Darby police, but an investigation is continuing, and police said the driver cooperated with police at the scene of the crash.

    The West Philadelphia husband and father of two young children, Charlie and Lorcan, was known for his sharp wit, encouraging students, and scouring cities for the most interesting, and spiciest, foods. Einstein was, above all else, dedicated to his family.

    “He didn’t need much more than me and the boys. It was like he was my home, and I was his,” Einstein’s wife, Ruth Fahey, 45, said. ”That’s kind of how we agreed that we would move around the country together as a family, and it was wonderfully freeing.”

    Teddy Einstein (left) reading a book to his son while the family cat plays with his arm. Einstein was a devoted husband and father who covered the lion’s share of storytelling and bedtime, but especially cooking, as he was an avid chef who liked trying new recipes, his wife Ruth Fahey said. Einstein was killed on Dec. 3, 2025, while riding his bike in a bike lane when he was hit by a driver on Providence Road in Upper Darby, Pa.

    Born in Santa Monica, Calif., Einstein graduated from Harvard-Westlake School before receiving a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Pomona College, a master’s in mathematics from University of California, Santa Barbara, and his Ph.D. from Cornell University. He would go on to hold postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Chicago and the University of Pittsburgh, where he taught, and most recently completed a three-year teaching term at Swarthmore College.

    “He loved mathematics and wrote a first-rate thesis,” said Einstein’s Ph.D. adviser, Jason Manning. “Many mathematicians, even those who write a good thesis, don’t do much after graduate school. But Teddy’s work really accelerated during his postdoc at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and he was doing even more exciting work when he passed.”

    His colleagues describe a mathematician working at, to put it simply, the intersection of algebra and geometry. Building on the work of mathematicians before him, including modern geometric breakthroughs in years past, Einstein studied abstract 3D shapes that cannot be visually represented in the real world. Work like that of Einstein and others contributes to a tool chest of solutions that scientists can use to study physics, neuroscience, and more.

    “It is a terrible loss, especially to his family,” Manning said. “But also to his part of the mathematics community.”

    Teddy Einstein (right) holds his second-born, Lorcan, soon after he was born.

    As his term at Swarthmore ended earlier this year, Einstein had been working on research that was seven years in the making, Fahey said. This would help springboard him into the next chapter of his career.

    Fahey said the day he was killed, Einstein was biking back from a fresh haircut to impress his potential new employers at Florida Gulf Coast University.

    Mr. Einstein’s work ethic matched his appetite for camaraderie. He fed grad students out of his tiny Cornell kitchen and hosted a weekly trivia night. That is where he met Fahey. “He just loved to entertain with food,” she said.

    Every week, he cooked for Fahey and the boys, from his prized favorites of Korean short ribs and fried chicken to testing out falafel recipes. A keg of home-brewed beer was always in the house so that Einstein could share his creations with friends. Fahey said his most recent yeast yield is still waiting to be processed.

    Maddie Adams-Miller, who took Einstein’s math classes in her freshman year at Swarthmore, said her funny and wise math teacher never wanted to see a student fail.

    “I loved talking to my friends from high school and telling them I had ‘Professor Einstein’ for math. Teddy always wore funny T-shirts to class and made a lot of jokes,” said Adams-Miller, now a senior. “When I was taking his course, I was struggling with my confidence and was not performing my best academically. Teddy reached out to me to offer support and genuinely wanted me to succeed in his class.”

    Teddy Einstein (left) holds his eldest son, Charlie, while he walks down a flight of steps wearing the usual safety gear that he wore while riding his bike. The precautions Einstein took to bike safely weren’t enough to stop a driver from crashing into him on Providence Road in Upper Darby earlier this month, leaving his wife, Ruth Fahey, and their two sons without a father.

    An avid cyclist who biked everywhere and advocated for safer streets, Einstein was killed doing one of the activities he loved most. Philly Bike Action, an advocacy organization that Einstein and his wife frequented and his friend Jacob Russell organizes for, shared that he was hit by the driver while riding in an unprotected bike lane and wearing a helmet and high-visibility clothing.

    “But there will never be a helmet strong enough or a clothing bright enough to make up for dangerous infrastructure. All Philadelphians deserve the freedom to travel without fear of tragedy,” the group said in a statement.

    Russell believes safety improvements will not come solely from attempting to change laws or behavior, but rather by changing the road infrastructure, so that even “when mistakes happen, there aren’t tragedies,” he said.

    A screenshot, dated July 2024, from Google Maps showing the intersection where Teddy Einstein was killed on Dec. 3, 2025, in Upper Darby, Pa.

    Providence Road, where Einstein was hit and where he biked weekly, is considered a dangerous road by local planning commissions, appearing on the Regional High Injury Network map as a thoroughfare where multiple people have died or been seriously injured in vehicle, pedestrian, or bicycle crashes. Delaware County is currently in the process of onboarding most of its townships onto a “Vision Zero” plan to end all traffic fatalities by 2050 — similar to Philadelphia’s own Vision Zero.

    The Delaware County Planning Commission said the county does not own the roads, which are overseen by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation or specific municipalities; however, officials are “actively working to obtain additional funding for further safety improvements, and are continuing to work with our partners in our 49 municipalities on either our Vision Zero plan or to help them develop their own,” said Delco spokesperson Michael Connolly.

    Fahey said she won’t rest until Providence Road’s lack of safety is addressed and will continue campaigning for safety improvements in Philadelphia.

    A GoFundMe has been set up for Fahey to help fund efforts to protect Einstein’s legacy as a teacher and advocate, as well as to invest in campaigns to make streets safer, with an emphasis on the road where Einstein was killed. It has already raised more than $60,000.

    In addition to his wife and children, Einstein is survived by his parents, K. Alice Chang and Thomas Einstein, and siblings, Michael Einstein and Lily Einstein. The family encouraged people to donate to Fahey’s GoFundMe to honor Einstein’s legacy.