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  • USMNT will play Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, Belgium, and Germany before the World Cup

    USMNT will play Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, Belgium, and Germany before the World Cup

    NEW YORK — The U.S. men’s soccer team has played some strong opponents in its preparation for the World Cup so far. But for its last four games before the tournament, the team will face some of the biggest teams of all.

    After weeks of speculation, official word came Tuesday that the U.S. will play Belgium and Portugal in March in Atlanta, then Germany in Chicago in June for its World Cup send-off game.

    There also will be a game at the end of May in Charlotte, N.C., against a team to be announced. It might be revealed after the World Cup draw on Friday, since the U.S. won’t want to play against a team it will face again a few weeks later. The U.S. can’t be drawn against Belgium, Portugal, or Germany, as they’re in the same pot in the draw.

    “I think before starting the World Cup, it starts to [feel] like a World Cup, and I think it’s important for the team,” U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino said at a gathering of the governing body’s sponsors and donors. “What we need is to challenge teams that are in the top list, and I think that is going to be an important experience for us. Great experience, and then after [that] to attack the World Cup in a very good condition.”

    Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium will host eight games in next year’s World Cup, including a semifinal.

    All four games will be at the respective cities’ NFL stadiums, with Atlanta getting two since the area is the new home of U.S. Soccer’s headquarters. The governing body will open a $200-plus-million, 200-acre training center in the southern suburb of Fayetteville, Ga., this spring, in time for the men’s team to hold its pre-World Cup camp there.

    “That is a massive thing that is going to inspire, is going to give an unbelievable power to soccer here in the USA,” Pochettino said, knowing that some of the funders of the facility were in attendance Tuesday. “Maybe today, people don’t realize it because we are focused on the World Cup, [so] it’s about [how] to win the games. But that is the real impact that is going to be a massive change for soccer here in the USA.”

    FIFA’s World Cup draw is this week. Here’s what to know before, during, and after Friday’s event

    Portugal’s visit won’t just bring all-time superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who hasn’t played a game on American soil since 2014. The No. 6 team in FIFA’s global rankings has a fleet of the sport’s best players: Bruno Fernandes of England’s Manchester United, Rafael Leão of Italy’s AC Milan, and João Neves and Vitinha of reigning European champion Paris Saint-Germain.

    Belgium is led by midfield playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, a longtime player for England’s Manchester City and now with Italy’s Napoli, and winger Leandro Trossard of England’s Arsenal. The Red Devils are ranked No. 8, and, like Portugal won their group in European World Cup qualifying. Had they finished second, they’d have gone into the playoffs for the last World Cup spots that also are set for March.

    Kevin De Bruyne (right) is one of Belgium’s stars.

    Some famous histories

    Both nations stir memories for U.S. fans. The American men earned one of their most famous World Cup wins against Portugal in 2002, then nearly pulled off another upset win in 2014 before Ronaldo assisted a last-minute equalizer.

    When the teams last met in a friendly in 2017, the Americans earned a 1-1 tie in Portugal in the first senior national team appearance for Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, and Cameron Carter-Vickers. (McKennie scored the goal, assisted by then-Union striker C.J. Sapong, and Ronaldo was absent.)

    Projecting the USMNT’s World Cup roster after its last game of the year: Several locals in; surprises on the bubble

    Nine days later, the U.S. took Belgium to extra time with goalkeeper Tim Howard’s 16 saves, then fell, 2-1. Howard’s heroics set a World Cup record for saves in a game that still stands. The teams have not met since.

    Germany is a frequent and longtime U.S. opponent. This will be their 13th meeting, with the most recent a 3-1 Mannschaft win in Connecticut in October 2023. The first, in 1993, was a 4-3 U.S. loss that nonetheless announced the program on its way to hosting the 1994 World Cup. (Coincidentally, that game also was at Soldier Field.)

    Gio Reyna (left) on the ball in front of Florian Wirtz during the last U.S.-Germany game in 2023.

    The current German squad, ranked No. 9, is led by playmakers Florian Wirtz of England’s Liverpool and Jamal Musiala of Germany’s Bayern Munich. There also are some big-time rising stars aiming to make the World Cup squad, including striker Nick Woltemade of England’s Newcastle United and 17-year-old Lennart Karl of Bayern.

    The U.S. ends 2025 ranked No. 14, its highest standing since just before the Copa América flameout a year ago. Pochettino’s squad went 4-1-1 in its six games this autumn, with wins over Japan, Australia, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

    The USMNT’s players appreciate the team’s tough schedule leading up to the World Cup

    “It’s true that when we arrived here one year ago, it was a rushed time,” Pochettino said. “We need to go there, we need to perform, we need to get results, we need to push quickly the process, we need to go at a really fast speed. And I said, ‘No, calma [Spanish for calm down] … You cannot sometimes go faster [than] what the process demands.’ I think we are in a very good moment now, right on time.”

    Pochettino’s insight on why he took the U.S. job

    The manager’s remarks came in a wide-ranging conversation on stage with his top assistant Jesús Pérez and Fox Sports reporter Jenny Taft. Some of the topics were ones Pochettino has covered often, but one he hasn’t so much is why he took the U.S. job in the first place.

    Mauricio Pochettino (center) with Jenny Taft (left) and Jesús Pérez (right) on stage at Tuesday’s event.

    “I think one of the motivations was to go out of our comfort zone after more than 15 years coaching clubs,” he said. “We felt very special when the first call [came] from Matt [Crocker, U.S. Soccer’s sporting director]. I called Jesús and said, ‘Why not?’”

    That didn’t mean he thought it would be easy.

    “Was it going to be a massive challenge? Of course,” Pochettino said. “We didn’t know what we were going to find there. It was a country that we only traveled to, to come here for preseason with Tottenham or Chelsea or Paris Saint-Germain.”

    Mauricio Pochettino reflects on the USMNT’s progress during his tenure

    Those were the three big European clubs he managed before taking the U.S. job.

    “I said, ‘Oh, that is going to be a big test for us as a coaching staff,’” he said. “It was also a moment to reveal and to challenge ourselves … I think it was the right moment for us in our lifetimes, in a personal way but also in a professional way. Both sides were perfect timing.”

    Mauricio Pochettino (right) and Jesús Pérez (left) watching a U.S. practice in Octover.

    Pérez, who has been at Pochettino’s side throughout the manager’s career, went into more detail on that.

    “To manage the last two clubs we were working with, and the personalities there, it took a lot of energy from him [Pochettino], especially — and you pay for that,” Pérez said. “It was a challenge for us to come where people know the name, but we had to prove that we can coach here and we can perform.”

    Folarin Balogun is living up to the hype as a long-awaited top striker for the USMNT

    He also spoke about the differences between club management, where coaches can spend every day with players, and national teams, where time together is limited.

    “What we miss is training sessions,” Pérez said. “It’s where you can feel the player, you can improve the player, you can challenge the player. … It took us to a point that we have to change our way of work in order to have less training sessions, more precise, more clear, sometimes more simple. But with just basics, you can make people perform.”

  • Pete Hegseth, in a 2016 talk, cited the same military law as the lawmakers he’s now calling seditious

    Pete Hegseth, in a 2016 talk, cited the same military law as the lawmakers he’s now calling seditious

    Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously emphasized the same military law that the Trump administration has been calling Pennsylvania lawmakers seditious for citing.

    Hegseth noted the military rule not to obey unlawful orders during a forum in 2016, when he was a Fox News contributor, in recorded remarks CNN unearthed on Tuesday.

    Hegseth spoke at length about his views on the military — and criticism of former President Barack Obama — in a talk titled “The US Military: Winning Wars, Not Social Engineering.” The talk was shared online by the Liberty Forum of Silicon Valley and was marked as taking place on April 12, 2016. Hegseth, an Army veteran, had a book coming out that he promoted at the event.

    The moderator asked him a question from an attendee: “Can you comment on soldiers who are being held at Leavenworth Prison for being soldiers?”

    Fort Leavenworth in Kansas is home to the military’s only maximum-security correctional facility, which houses prisoners convicted of violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

    Hegseth argued that some prisoners at the facility did not deserve to be there but that others were facing the consequences for their unlawful actions.

    “There are some guys at Leavenworth who made really bad choices on the battlefield, and I do think there have to be consequences for abject war crimes,” he said. “If you’re doing something that is just completely unlawful and ruthless, then there is a consequence for that.”

    “That’s why the military said it won’t follow unlawful orders from their commander in chief,” he added. “There’s a standard, there’s an ethos, there’s a belief that we are above what so many things that our enemies or others would do.”

    It is the same policy that a group of six Democratic members of Congress cited in a video that enraged President Donald Trump.

    Democratic U.S. Reps. Chrissy Houlahan of Chester County and Chris Deluzio of Allegheny County, both veterans, joined a group of other veterans and former members of the intelligence community to urge members of the military and intelligence community to “refuse illegal orders” in a video they shared on social media last month.

    On his social media website, Truth Social, Trump said they were committing sedition “punishable by DEATH” and shared other posts attacking the lawmakers, including one calling for them to be hanged. Hegseth called them the “seditious six.”

    “Encouraging our warriors to ignore the orders of their Commanders undermines every aspect of ‘good order and discipline,’” Hegseth said in a social media post. “Their foolish screed sows doubt and confusion — which only puts our warriors in danger.”

    When asked for comment by CNN, spokespersons for the Pentagon and the White House further criticized the Democratic lawmakers who made the video.

    Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson also told CNN that the military “has clear procedures for handling unlawful orders” and defended Trump’s orders as legal.

    White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told CNN that Hegseth’s position has remained consistent and that his remarks were “uncontroversial.”

    Sean Timmons, a Houston-based attorney specializing in military law who served as an active-duty U.S. Army captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General (JAG) program, told The Inquirer that service members can get in trouble for refusing orders and that it is largely up to commanders to determine whether orders are lawful or not. While the military rules specify not to follow obviously illegal orders, such as war crimes, they also say to presume orders are lawful.

    Houlahan expressed disappointment in her Republican colleagues for largely not defending the Democratic lawmakers, though U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Bucks County Republican, said he stood by his Democratic colleagues when asked by The Inquirer.

    The fallout from the video has gone beyond rhetoric on X and Truth Social.

    The FBI wanted to question the lawmakers involved in the video, and the Department of Defense said it would investigate U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly (D., Ariz.), a former naval officer and the one veteran in the video who is still obligated to follow military laws because he served long enough to become a military retiree. The department threatened to call Kelly back to active duty for court-martial proceedings, which abide by stricter rules than civilian law.

    Hegseth also said in his 2016 talk that he believed U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), Trump’s top rival for the GOP nomination that year, would be the best president at fighting wars, but that he believed Cruz and Trump would both “unleash war fighters and get the lawyers out of the way, which is really a big impediment to how we fight wars.”

    The Democratic lawmakers did not cite specific orders in their video announcement, but Trump’s involvement of the National Guard in U.S. cities and the Pentagon’s strikes in the Caribbean have drawn legal debate.

  • Brett Gordon keeps his late father in mind as La Salle continues its run in the state playoffs

    Brett Gordon keeps his late father in mind as La Salle continues its run in the state playoffs

    There are days when Brett Gordon is driving down Route 309 toward La Salle College High School and he’ll think about his late father Drew, the Hall of Fame coach who died on Sept. 4, 2023, at the age of 73. Memories of his dad, Brett admits, have become more vivid, especially these last couple of weeks.

    The Explorers are on a special journey this season. So is their second-year coach Brett Gordon, who learned everything about football — and life — from his dad.

    The only time La Salle won a PIAA state football championship was 2009, when the Explorers won the Class 4A title with Drew as their head coach and Brett as their offensive coordinator.

    Drew and Brett are on the brink of doing something no father-son duo has ever done in the 36-year history of the PIAA football state playoffs — win state championships as head coaches. But first, one game stands in the way of accomplishing that. La Salle (12-1) will face Central Catholic High School (13-1) of Pittsburgh in the PIAA Class 6A final on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Cumberland Valley High School.

    “I know how much my father would have loved to be a part of this,” Brett said. “I think about him all the time. If my father was with us and he was in good health, he would have been around here coaching in some capacity. I wouldn’t have a choice. The thing I admired the most about my father was that it never was about him. He grew up in a generation of serving. He never cared about any recognition. He was direct. He was there to coach. He cared about the kids. That was all that mattered. That was how he operated.”

    Brett Gordon was an assistant coach on the staff of his late father, Drew Gordon, at La Salle in 2006.

    After La Salle beat St. Joseph’s Prep for the first time in 10 years for the Catholic League 6A crown on Nov. 1, Brett, 46, a 1998 La Salle and 2002 Villanova graduate, received a long, congratulatory text from former St. Joe’s Prep coach Gabe Infante, currently Duke’s assistant head coach, special teams coordinator, and defensive tackles coach. When Infante was first hired by The Prep in 2010, he was not exactly embraced by the area football community after taking over for the popular Gil Brooks.

    One of the first welcomes Infante received came from Drew in a letter sent to Paramus Catholic in North Jersey, where Infante was leaving to take the Prep job.

    “I know people will not want to hear this, but Drew and I were very close, even after he stopped coaching [in 2014],” Infante said. “Drew welcomed me, and that showed me who Drew was. He was a true competitor. He showed tremendous class. I was definitely an outsider who was not welcomed when I originally went down to Philadelphia. I would not be where I am today without Drew Gordon and what he built at La Salle. He raised my level, and I would like to think Prep’s success raised La Salle’s level again.

    “I was in Brett’s shoes. I could appreciate what Brett is doing there. I am a fan of people who are committed to sacrifice like Brett is. True competition brings out the best in people. When Drew got sick, I reached out to him. We had a really good relationship, and it all started with a very kind, simple letter welcoming me to the Philadelphia Catholic League and Philadelphia area.”

    How St. Joe’s Prep vs. La Salle became Philadelphia’s ultimate football rivalry

    Letters from Drew

    The notes fill a shoebox in a bedroom drawer. They came in the form of either a Hallmark card, yellow legal paper, or a simple scrap of printer paper or from a looseleaf notebook. They sometimes would be sitting in an envelope on the kitchen table, tucked under a door or stuffed in a mailbox. Brett still has most of them — letters from Drew.

    Father and son share a lot in common. They always took a cerebral approach to football. They always were focused and intense about the steps in the process of preparing. Brett, a two-time Catholic League champ and league MVP at La Salle, says he tends to wear his emotions on his sleeve, probably more than his father, who was far calmer on the sideline and emotionally indifferent.

    It’s why he communicated with his son and two daughters through letters.

    Drew was a baby boomer born in 1950, the oldest of six. He was 12 when his parents separated, moving with his mother, Dorothy, and five younger siblings from Ohio to Glenside, Montgomery County. He was “the man of the house” who worked a paper route in Abington to help his mother pay the bills.

    Brett Gordon and his late father, Drew, talking on the sideline.

    He was steeped in Midwestern stoicism and self-reliance.

    “That was my dad,” Brett said. “He came from that generation when men did not show emotion. Verbal communication was not my dad’s strong suit. He had a very regimented way he did things. He built Gordon Truck Leasing from the ground up. We are similar in certain ways, and we are also very different. My dad was always about the process. I still use a lot of his old-school principles. But he came up in a different, authoritative generation. I’ll ask the players for their feedback, like what uniforms they want to wear. He would never have done that.

    “The compliments he gave me came in letters. I still have a lot of them. He came from a different generation. He would put things down on paper.”

    La Salle takes down St. Joe’s Prep to win Catholic League 6A crown: ‘This is only the beginning’

    When Brett was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Villanova and La Salle, Drew left his son a letter stating how proud he was of him.

    Sometimes letters were better.

    After Brett threw for a Villanova single-game passing record of 460 yards (which still stands) and three touchdowns in guiding the Wildcats to a last-second 38-34 victory over rival Delaware in November 2002, he was greeted by Drew and his mother, Bernadette, outside the Villanova locker room. The first thing Drew said to Brett was, “Your footwork was horrendous today.”

    “In a weird way, that was his way of complimenting me,” Brett said, laughing. “It was very hard for him to hand out compliments. I’m sure he told his buddies about the game I had. I always knew he was proud of me. I wouldn’t be where I am without him. Yeah, you could say it was the good, tough love. It is that constant reminder that there is always room to be better. That is my coaching philosophy today.”

    This season is as much a homage to his dad as it is giving a group of dedicated seniors a year to remember.

    An ‘emotional’ run

    When John Steinmetz resigned after the 2023 season following nine years as Explorers’ head coach succeeding Drew, there was a groundswell of support from the La Salle community for Brett to take over. Brett, who was his father’s offensive coordinator from 2006 to 2014, dabbled in coaching after his father left La Salle in 2014. He joined Albie Crosby’s Imhotep Class 3A state championship staff in 2015 and helped occasionally at his alma mater.

    Numerous current players were looking to transfer out of La Salle after their sophomore year. The Explorers had been competitive, though not exactly in the class of Catholic League foe St. Joe’s Prep. The Hawks had turned what once was a rivalry into a lopsided series. There is a standard at La Salle, a touchstone of success the football program had not felt since Drew left.

    La Salle coach Brett Gordon talks to his team at practice on Nov. 10.

    “It was not 100% that we were all leaving, but a lot of guys were talking,” said Gavin Sidwar, the Missouri-bound quarterback who has broken all his coach’s passing records at La Salle. “When we found out Coach Brett would be the head coach, it’s something a lot of us were happy to hear. Personally, I can’t say enough about what Coach Brett has done for me. He’s brought out a growth in me, and I am willing to put in 100% for him.

    “He gave up his job for this. We know that. This run is going to be emotional for a lot of us. I know for me, being here for four years with some adversity, winning a state championship means everything. Knowing now the tradition his father has here and being the first father-son combination to ever win a state championship, it means more for all of us. We play our butts off for Coach Brett and the whole coaching staff. To get Coach Brett a state title, we are even more motivated.”

    Brett received his business degree from Villanova and worked in the corporate world for 15 years, building a national reputation in the software industry. It gave him financial flexibility, he said, to do what he is doing now. He had to first check with Tanya, his wife, son, Luke, who is a sophomore quarterback for La Salle, and teenaged daughter, Grace, who follows her father everywhere.

    La Salle’s Gavin Sidwar broke school records held by his head coach

    “Tanya puts up with a lot, especially at certain times of the year like now,” he said. “In order to take on the role as coach at La Salle, I needed full support from not only Tanya, but Luke and Grace. This job impacts our entire family, so it was very important for me to have both Tanya and Grace involved so they feel a part of what we are building here.

    “Tanya has gotten to know most of our players and has our son in the program, so it can be difficult being the head coach’s wife and being a parent in the program. She has done an amazing job balancing it all. Tanya and Grace often remind Luke and I at home when it is time to talk about something other than La Salle football.”

    La Salle coach Brett Gordon with quarterback Gavin Sidwar at practice.

    In 2009, father and son were robbed of their time in the sun, or in the Gordons’ case, that late-December Saturday, the snow. When the Explorers played State College in the 2009 Class 4A championship, the game was postponed for a day because of a raging blizzard. Luke had been born a few weeks earlier with a collapsed lung. His medical situation put the family on edge. Brett woke up at 7 a.m. on a snowy Saturday, Dec. 19 morning and had the roads to Hershey to himself. La Salle handily beat State College, 24-7, to become the first Catholic League team to win a state football championship.

    The problem was Brett had no time to celebrate. He had to trek back home to be with Tanya and Luke.

    Around 9 p.m. that night, Brett got a knock on the door. It was his dad, who drove through a snowstorm to get there, tossing aside the state championship celebration himself to see his grandson. He stayed in the guest room that night.

    Drew never missed anything Luke or Grace did. To this day, Luke wears a silver chain his grandfather gave him.

    There were more than 1,000 people who attended Drew’s funeral services, Brett recalled. It stretched over two days in September 2023.

    “I saw my dad cry once, after my last high school game on Thanksgiving against St. Joe’s Prep in 1997,” Brett said. “We lost, and I remember when I saw him after the game, I told him I was sorry. He just burst open and hugged me. I remember his younger brother, my godfather, telling me years later he never saw anything like that with my dad. … It won’t be easy on or off the field. I wish I could bounce ideas off him, but I also know how much he would love being a part of this. If we are able to pull this off, he’ll be the first one I think of.”

  • Eagles’ Dec. 20 game at Commanders will start at 5 p.m.

    Eagles’ Dec. 20 game at Commanders will start at 5 p.m.

    The Eagles’ NFC championship game rematch against the Washington Commanders in Week 16 has an official kickoff time.

    The first of two matchups against Washington (3-9) over the season’s final three weeks is set for Dec. 20 at 5 p.m. and will air on Fox29 locally, the Eagles announced Tuesday.

    The Commanders are on a seven-game losing streak since opening the season at 3-2, and have been playing without quarterback Jayden Daniels after he suffered a left elbow dislocation against the Seattle Seahawks on Nov. 2. Daniels attended practice last week, but coach Dan Quinn said Monday that the second-year quarterback is not yet cleared for practice.

    The Eagles (8-4) and Commanders split the regular-season series last year, with each team winning at home. They met again in January’s NFC title game, when the Eagles dominated Washington, 55-23, en route to the franchise’s second Super Bowl title.

    The second meeting between the NFC East foes in Week 18 still does not have a time and will be played on either Jan. 3 or 4.

  • NFL Week 14 power rankings roundup: Faith in the Eagles is dwindling after another ugly loss

    NFL Week 14 power rankings roundup: Faith in the Eagles is dwindling after another ugly loss

    The Eagles gave up 281 rushing yards to the Bears on Friday, the ninth-highest total they’ve allowed in team history. The defense also allowed Chicago to make history of its own: DeAndre Swift and Kyle Monangai became the first pair of Bears running backs to each rush for 100 yards in a game since 1985.

    The Eagles’ ground offense didn’t enjoy nearly as much success. Saquon Barkley gained a modest 56 yards on 13 carries and extended his touchdown drought to four games. No other Eagles running back received carries.

    The Birds (8-4) have a chance to rebound on Monday night against the Los Angeles Chargers, although their consecutive losses have resulted in a significant drop across power rankings. Here’s where the Eagles stand heading into Week 14 …

    The Ringer: Fifth

    Despite giving the Eagles the highest ranking of any list, Diante Lee, who dropped Philly one spot, believes that the team’s conservative philosophy has hindered its ability to win games and develop young players.

    “Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni seems to have convinced himself that he’s solved the game of football. He’s got a formula for his team: Avoid turnovers, keep the game simple on offense, and let the defense carry the team home in the second half,” Lee wrote.

    “But that formula has caused the entire franchise to stagnate. Outside of young star cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, is there a single player who looks better now than he did a year ago? Outside of a drive or two per game, have we seen anything that looks cohesive from this offense? And most concerning, is there any reason to trust that this team will even have an extra gear come playoff time?”

    Eagles slim favorites over Chargers in Week 14, but Super Bowl odds slip again

    ESPN: Sixth

    The loss to the Bears dropped the Eagles four spots in ESPN’s rankings. Tim McManus’ primary concern was the effectiveness of their rushing attack.

    “The reigning Offensive Player of the Year has had a difficult time getting going in 2025. He is on pace for 1,048 rushing yards, just about half of his production from his record-breaking 2024 season (2,005),” McManus wrote. “He has faced more stacked boxes and is running behind an offensive line that hasn’t been as buttoned up as last season’s group. The ground game is vital to Philadelphia’s operation. The Eagles need to figure out how to unlock Barkley if they have designs on making another run.”

    Barkley is averaging just 3.7 yards per carry this season, a dramatic decline from the 5.8 yards the Penn State alum averaged last season.

    Jeff Stoutland’s offensive line has been hit with several injuries this season.

    CBS Sports: Seventh

    CBS Sports dropped the Eagles just two spots, but pointed out the decline of the team’s offensive and defensive lines.

    “They won a Super Bowl being dominant on both lines. This year, it isn’t close to being that good,” Pete Prisco wrote. “What happened to the defense against the Bears?”

    The Eagles finished behind the No. 4 Seattle Seahawks, No. 5 Green Bay Packers, and No. 6 Bears, who all won their Week 13 matchups.

    Nick Sirianni reiterates Eagles are ‘evaluating everything,’ but Kevin Patullo will still call plays

    Yahoo! Sports: Seventh

    The outlet criticized Sirianni and offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo’s utilization of their offensive skill position players and expressed doubt that the situation could improve.

    “It’s hard to remember a team getting less out of its offensive talent than the 2025 Eagles. They returned four Pro Bowlers, the Super Bowl MVP, and one of the NFL’s best receiver duos in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith from last year’s offense,” Frank Schwab wrote. “That group is 19th in points scored, 24th in yards gained and 22nd in success rate. Just about every player is performing well below their career standards. And three months into the season, it’s unlikely to fix itself and it’s getting harder to trust the Eagles going deep in the playoffs.”

    From ‘Fire Kevin Patullo’ website and matching street sign to dating troubles, Eagles fans have had enough

    The Athletic: Ninth

    In Thanksgiving fashion, Chad Graff and Josh Kendall shared the most positive takeaway from every team’s game this past week. But they struggled to find one for the Eagles, and the Birds tumbled six spots from No. 3.

    “The Bears defense is just OK, yet the Eagles managed only 317 yards of offense and 15 points at home on Black Friday,” Graff and Kendall wrote. “But we’re looking for positives today, and if this offense can get sorted out — which admittedly feels like a big ask 13 weeks into the season — Philadelphia should be fine.”

    Jalen Hurts and the Eagles have already lost four games this season, more than they lost all of last year.

    Sports Illustrated: 10th

    The biggest drop of the week took place at Sports Illustrated, where Conor Orr moved the Eagles from third to 10th, although it seems like at least some of the blame lies with Birds fans. There wasn’t any analysis about the team, just a mention of the “uniquely pathetic” vandals who egged Patullo’s house.

    Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo’s house was vandalized after Bears loss, police confirm

    NFL.com: 10th

    Eric Edholm mentioned a litany of issues concerning the Eagles’ play and suggested that the NFC East title was back in play.

    “Even the tush push doesn’t feel like a team strength now. There are multiple issues with this offense, but the bottom line is that Jalen Hurts must play better. The presumption is that the Eagles have the defense to make a deep playoff run, but the way they defended the run vs. Chicago suggested this unit isn’t nearly as impregnable as its reputation suggests,” Edholm wrote.

    “We haven’t seen a repeat divisional champ in the NFC East since the Eagles won their fourth straight crown in 2004, and this year’s Philly team is doing everything it can to extend the drama as long as possible.”

    As a result, the Eagles dropped four spots in NFL.com’s rankings and were leapfrogged by the Packers, Bears, Indianapolis Colts, San Francisco 49ers, and Buffalo Bills.

    Can the Eagles still get the No. 1 seed in the NFC? Yes, but it will be difficult.

    USA Today: 11th

    USA Today’s ranking represented the Eagles’ lowest placement across the board. The outlet dropped the Birds five spots and pointed out the negative correlation between A.J. Brown’s success and the team’s success.

    “WR A.J. Brown is averaging 7.3 catches and 91.3 receiving yards (with three TDs) in Philly’s four losses,” Nate Davis wrote. “In his seven other games, all wins, he’s averaging 47.7 yards and 3.9 receptions (with three TDs). So, tell us again how important it is that you get the ball, A.J.?”

    On Friday, the Mississippi native had his best game of the season, achieving season highs in receptions (10) and yards (132). Brown also caught both Eagles touchdowns in the loss.

    Yes, Jalen Hurts is the ‘problem’ for the Eagles, not Kevin Patullo: So what? | Marcus Hayes
  • Kathleen A. Case, longtime writer, pioneering medical journal editor, and award-winning historian, has died at 80

    Kathleen A. Case, longtime writer, pioneering medical journal editor, and award-winning historian, has died at 80

    Kathleen A. Case, 80, of Bryn Mawr, longtime writer, pioneering medical journal editor, award-winning historian, researcher, and volunteer, died Friday, Nov. 14, of heart failure at Bryn Mawr Hospital.

    A natural wordsmith who was interested in the origins and nuances of language as well as its use, Ms. Case spent 24 years as a top editor for the Annals of Internal Medicine and vice president for publishing at the Philadelphia-based American College of Physicians. Later, for 15 years, she was publisher, archivist, historian, and director of strategic planning for the publishing division of the Philadelphia-based American Association for Cancer Research.

    She was adept at understanding and organizing complex research and other medical information, and helped Annals of Internal Medicine digitize its production process and content, expand its reach, and become one of the world’s most influential and cited medical journals. “She loved precise, concise, and unambiguous writing,” her family said in a tribute.

    She was one of the few female editors in the medical publishing industry when she joined Annals as an assistant editor in 1977, and she rose to managing editor, executive editor, and senior vice president for publishing by 1998. She attended many international medical publishing conferences around the world, and other journals tried unsuccessfully to lure her away from Philadelphia.

    Ms. Case and her husband, Jacques Catudal, married in 1995.

    “She set the highest editorial standards in medical publishing and expected the best from everyone around her,” a former colleague said in an online tribute. “But she also took the time to teach. … The lessons I learned from her have shaped my work ever since.”

    Ms. Case joined the American Association for Cancer Research in 2001, served two stints as head of the publishing division, and supervised its marketing campaigns, advertising sales, and product development. She retired in 2008 but continued part time as the AACR archivist, historian, and director of strategic planning until retiring for good in 2016.

    Away from her day jobs, Ms. Case was past president of the Society for Scholarly Publishing and what is now the Council of Science Editors. She also served on boards and committees for the American Medical Association, the American Chemical Society, the American Heart Association, and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.

    Even in retirement, she continued to work as a board member, writer, researcher, and historian for the Haverford Township Historical Society. She served on the Haverford Township Historical Commission, was a member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, chaired the Friends of the Polo Field, and helped establish the Brynford Civic Association.

    Ms. Case graduated from Radnor High School and Pennsylvania State University.

    “She was always busy, always involved with some project,” said her husband, Jacques Catudal. She edited his published academic papers, he said, and routinely marked up her two sons’ school reports in red ink for years.

    In 2019, she won a historic preservation award from the Heritage Commission of Delaware County. “She was an endlessly inspiring woman whose intelligence was matched only by her sharp wit and her extraordinary cultural sensitivity,” a friend said in a tribute.

    Survivors give advice about mourning their loved ones, as told to The Inquirer’s obit writer

    Kathleen Ann Case was born Sept. 13, 1945, in Westfield, N.J. The youngest of three children, her family moved to Omaha, Neb., and then Radnor when she was young.

    She graduated from Radnor High School, studied journalism at Pennsylvania State University, and earned a bachelor’s degree in English in 1967. She was a reporter and editor for the Penn State student newspaper and so active that school officials waived their prohibition of female students living alone off campus so she could reside near the paper’s office. In 1987, she earned a master’s degree in technical and science communication at Drexel University.

    Ms. Case (second from left) enjoyed time with her family

    She married D. Benjamin van Steenburgh III, and they had sons Ben and Jason. After a divorce, she married Peter Moor. They divorced, and she married Catudal in 1995.

    Ms. Case raised her sons as a single mother in Avondale, Chester County, for years and moved to Bryn Mawr in 1979. She read voraciously about history, collected antiques, and enjoyed travel, classic rock, and Irish folk music.

    When parents die, even the mundane memories comfort their children. Here are their tales, as told to The Inquirer’s obit writer.

    She rode horses, was an expert archer, and followed the local sports teams. She tended her garden and investigated her genealogy.

    She liked to refinish and paint furniture and discuss current events. She and her husband camped, hiked, and canoed all over the world.

    Ms. Case enjoyed hiking and the outdoors.

    She also dealt with metastatic breast cancer and three heart attacks. “She always gave as much honesty, opinion, perspective, experience, literary acumen, word knowledge, help, advice, comfort, and love as could be needed,” said her son Jason.

    Her husband said: “She was brilliant and extremely funny. She was an organizer and always giving of herself.”

    In addition to her husband, sons, and former husbands, Ms. Case is survived by four grandchildren, a sister, a brother, and other relatives.

    A celebration of her life was held earlier.

    Donations in her name may be made to The American Association for Cancer Research, 615 Chestnut St., 17th Floor, Philadelphia, Pa. 19106; and the Haverford Township Historical Society, P.O. Box 825, Havertown, Pa. 19083.

    Ms. Case (right) rode horses, was an expert archer, and followed the local sports teams.
  • A man died driving on Northwest Philly’s winding, wet roads. The neighborhood has tried addressing the danger for decades.

    A man died driving on Northwest Philly’s winding, wet roads. The neighborhood has tried addressing the danger for decades.

    A 65-year-old man died Sunday after he lost control of his vehicle on Cresheim Valley Drive in Chestnut Hill, striking a downed guardrail and flipping the car upside down into a creek. Just weeks before, another driver veered off the same road but survived.

    Compounding this latest traffic death is the fact that the guardrail meant to prevent cars from swerving off the road was broken and nearly flattened from previous crashes, leaving a gap in the guardrails for months, said Josephine Winter, a Mount Airy resident and executive director of West Mount Airy Neighbors (WMAN). “The guardrail was down, and it was previously crumbled so it’s a frequent site of crashes,” she said. Images from Google Maps show the guardrail down as far back as July.

    The Philadelphia Streets Department is aware of the recent crash and is conducting an assessment of the guardrail on Cresheim Valley Road. “The streets department’s top priority is public safety,” a spokesperson said.

    A screenshot of a Google Map’s street view captured in July 2025 shows the downed guardrail on Cresheim Valley Drive in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia. On Nov. 30, 2025, a 65-year-old man crashed and went over the guardrail, later succumbing to his injuries.

    Neighbors say accidents, sometimes fatal, have plagued the winding roadways in Chestnut Hill and Mount Airy for decades. These traffic safety concerns came to a head with Sunday’s deadly crash.

    “It’s a curvy, tricky road, especially when it’s wet, and people tend to speed on that road,” Winter said of roadways like Lincoln and Cresheim Valley Drives, which are lined with trees, have swooping dips and hills, and are prone to flooding.

    Map of fatal crashes in Northwest Philadelphia since 2019.

    Since 2019, according to city crash data, at least five people have died while driving on the dark, winding sections of Lincoln Drive, which intersects with Cresheim Valley Drive, prompting many neighbors to fear walking down their street or leading them to invest thousands on giant boulders to protect their home and lawn.

    Winter, who leads WMAN’s traffic-calming committee, and other neighborhood organizations have petitioned for city support, urging the streets department to slow the speed of traffic on Cresheim Valley Drive, Lincoln Drive, and Wissahickon Avenue. The group’s efforts are so ingrained in the fabric of the neighborhood that, when digging through Temple University’s Urban Archives, Winter found an advertisement from 1968 stressing the need for cars in Mount Airy to “slow down to keep kids safe.”

    The intersection of Cresheim Valley Drive and Lincoln Drive, in Philadelphia, PA, Dec. 1, 2025.

    The streets department installed “speed slots,” traffic-calming structures similar to speed bumps, earlier this year along Lincoln Drive between Allens Lane and Wayne Avenue. Along the same stretch of road, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation installed rumble strips and speed tables to slow drivers down in 2023, in addition to traffic lane separators to keep drivers from using center lanes to pass other vehicles.

    In addition to the recently completed speed slots and traffic-calming measures on sections of Emlen Street, which becomes Cresheim Valley Road, signal upgrades are planned for Lincoln Drive as well.

    However, the work to improve these streets is not over, Winter said. Additionally, the streets department plans do not include changes to Cresheim Valley Drive, where Sunday’s crash happened.

    “We’ll need a collaborative approach as soon as possible to temporarily address the downed guardrail, and then see what the options are moving forward,” Winter said.

    The intersection of Cresheim Valley Drive and Lincoln Drive, in Philadelphia, PA, Dec. 1, 2025.

    Throughout the last decade, locals have suggested better-timed signals, more speed tables, and reducing the number of driving lanes from two in either direction down to one. They also want to see more roundabouts and curb bump-outs in the neighborhood to keep traffic flowing, but at a reasonable speed.

    A mere 50 to 100 feet from Cresheim Valley Drive is a parallel bike trail, where trail organizers like Brad Maule are accustomed to the crashes on the road nearby. Before Sunday’s fatal crash, he remembers two other cars that drove off the side of the road in recent months, not counting the crashes on the roadway itself. The city recently installed pedestrian crossing signs and repainted the crosswalk on nearby Cresheim Road, but Maule hopes speed bumps will follow.

    Cresheim Valley Drive near where it intersects with Lincoln Drive, in Philadelphia, PA, Dec. 1, 2025.

    While Winter said that engineers from the Philadelphia Streets Department were among the first calls she received Monday morning responding to the crash, and that the community appreciates the response, she, Maule, and other neighbors hope that more safety improvements will be considered to save more lives.

    “I’m just looking forward to the new measures of safety that come here,” Maule said. “Hopefully, people will abide by them.”

    Staff writers Max Marin and Dylan Purcell contributed to this article.

  • Analyzing where the Flyers’ penalty kill went wrong in Monday’s 5-1 loss to the Penguins

    Analyzing where the Flyers’ penalty kill went wrong in Monday’s 5-1 loss to the Penguins

    The Flyers entered Monday’s matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins with the league’s fourth-best penalty kill. When the night was done, the Flyers were handed a 5-1 loss to snap a three-game winning streak, and their penalty kill slipped to ninth.

    In some ways, it made sense. The Penguins started the day with the NHL’s No. 2 power play and an impressive 30.2% effectiveness. Even with that, no one expected them to score three times in four opportunities.

    Flyers activate Oliver Bonk from injured reserve, assign him to Lehigh Valley

    The Penguins now have the NHL’s No. 1 power play at 33.3% — which is ridiculous when you think about it. But maybe not.

    “Well, they’ve got a championship pedigree, right?” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. “They’re well-coached. They stuck to their game plan. They went north on us. First period, actually, we had some chances, [but] not much velocity on the shots. I don’t know, we weren’t assertive enough. And then obviously the PK, which has been good all year, struggled tonight.”

    Tocchet knows the Penguins. He was an assistant coach on former Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan’s staff and won two Stanley Cups. And he ran the power play.

    Yes, the Penguins’ power play boasts Sidney Crosby, who is 23rd in NHL history with 191 power-play goals and scored one on Monday night. And, yes, there’s Evgeni Malkin, who is four spots below Crosby and has 185.

    Sidney Crosby scored one of the Penguins’ three power-play goals on Monday night.

    But the Flyers coach also hasn’t liked his group’s penalty kill the last five games, noting the structure. It was exposed to the utmost degree at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

    “We’ve been running around lately,” he said. “We’re an aggressive diamond … and if you look at the goals, after the shot, two guys ran out of position, opens up the middle. Twice. Those are killers.”

    The diamond pattern is just that, a diamond shape. It allows there to be a defender, usually a defenseman, in front of the goalie with the other defenseman as one of the points on the side of the diamond picking up someone in the circle, aka on the flank. There is one forward opposite that defenseman and another at the top of the diamond shape.

    The aggressiveness comes with the unit moving together as one of the penalty killers puts pressure on the opposition’s power play. Does it leave open the middle of the ice and the person in the bumper? Sometimes, but an active stick and closing lanes are critical to this type of penalty kill.

    “If you give them the flanker shots, you can live with it,” Tocchet said. “I think the [Bryan] Rust flanker, [Travis Sanheim’s] got to get out there. That’s his flex. He was backed in too much.

    “He flexes out; his job is to take the weak side away so [Dan Vladař] can see it. Things like that. But that’s just, maybe that’s guys being tired, mentally tired. I don’t know.”

    When the pass is made, Travis Sanheim (No. 6 in front of the net) is a little too low to take away the weakside shooter, Bryan Rust (bottom of the screen).
    Because Sanheim (front of the net, closest to the bottom) is too low and stagnant, it allows Rust (bottom) ample time and space to carry the puck into the left face-off circle and score.

    The Flyers’ penalty kill has been a strong suit for a while. Over the first 24 games, the Flyers had killed off 100% of the penalties they faced in 14 games, had allowed just one power-play goal in nine other games, and, before Monday night, had allowed two goals on the man advantage just once all season, against the Montreal Canadiens in a wild 5-4 shootout win in early November.

    “All year, PK has been great for us,” captain Sean Couturier said. “Tonight we didn’t have it. They picked us apart. It happens. We’ve got to fix it and get back on track next game.”

    The structure has fallen by the wayside a bit. The New York Islanders had the second-worst power play entering Friday’s game, and Anders Lee could stand in front of the net and deflect a point shot in. Against the New Jersey Devils, Timo Meier was allowed to crash the net down the middle and clean up a loose puck.

    Travis Konecny is playing with ‘more conviction,’ according to Rick Tocchet. Are the goals about to come?

    On Monday night, Crosby buried the puck from just above the slot “because we cheated on one of them,” Tocchet said. Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson carried the puck from the left to the right and down the boards, causing the Flyers to overcommit. It opened the ice for Rust, who sent a backhand pass to Crosby coming down the middle — and Crosby isn’t going to miss from there.

    Bryan Rust (No. 17 and bottom of the screen) has plenty of room to either shoot or pass the puck, choosing the latter as the Flyers overcommitted.
    Sidney Crosby (No. 87 and middle of the screen) received the pass from Bryan Rust in the high slot and was able to score as the Flyers collapsed around the net.

    The Penguins added a third power-play tally after Malkin put a shot on goal, Kris Letang retrieved the rebound along the boards, and set up Tommy Novak for the shot past Vladař. The Flyers were out of their structure.

    Initially, when Malkin shot the puck from the point, they collapsed into an I formation, meaning everyone straight down the middle. When the puck went to the boards, Owen Tippett went to him, which is fine, but Noah Juulsen and Nick Seeler were too low to step into Novak or play a possible pass to Ville Koivunen, who was sitting wide-open across the crease.

    “They snap it around, and they get a lot of shots from the middle, and that’s what we’re trying to get our guys to do,” Tocchet said. “It’s actually a good learning lesson … get that shot in the middle.”

  • International fans with World Cup tickets arriving in the U.S. next summer can apply for a priority visa. Here’s how.

    International fans with World Cup tickets arriving in the U.S. next summer can apply for a priority visa. Here’s how.

    Editor’s note: The headline in this story was updated to reflect that international ticketholders will have priority access to apply for a visa, not receive one.

    Ticket holders for the 2026 FIFA World Cup who plan to travel internationally into the U.S. next summer will have priority access to interview appointments for travel visas.

    On Monday, FIFA and the U.S. Department of State announced that international fans who bought tickets to any of the 78 matches hosted in 11 U.S. cities, including Philadelphia, will be eligible for the FIFA Priority Appointment Scheduling System, or FIFA PASS, which allows each ticket holder to obtain a prioritized visa interview for a B-2 visa.

    Here’s what it is, how it works, and why the State Department is looking to make World Cup travel to America a priority.

    President Donald Trump holds the FIFA World Cup trophy alongside FIFA president Gianni Infantino on Monday.

    What is FIFA PASS?

    The U.S. is co-hosting the world’s largest soccer tournament alongside Canada and Mexico, with the final scheduled to take place at MetLife Stadium on July 19.

    The FIFA PASS is expected to expedite visa processing for international travelers seeking to enter the U.S. for the international tournament next summer.

    Watch: Local soccer fans share their excitement for the World Cup in Philly

    Typically, wait times for an interview at U.S. embassies in countries where a B-2 tourist visa is required range from less than a month to 16½ months.

    How many matches will be in Philadelphia?

    Philadelphia will host six matches at Lincoln Financial Field in June and July, including a Round of 16 match on July 4.

    The FIFA World Cup 2026 Volunteer Center at the Fashion District is said to have over 3,000 Philadelphia-based volunteers.

    How do people apply?

    Many of the nations already qualified for next summer’s World Cup are listed under the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, including Japan, Australia, France, South Korea, England, and Germany, among others.

    However, many qualified nations are not included on the list of waiver countries. All six CONMEBOL qualifiers from the South American federation are excluded from the list, as are the nine qualifying countries from the Confederation of African Football. Fans from these nations will need to obtain a visa to cheer on their teams in the U.S.

    Travelers from countries included in the Visa Waiver Program can travel to the U.S. as tourists or on business for 90 days or less without obtaining a visa. Travelers from nations included in the waiver program must have a valid Electronic System for Travel Authorization approval before departing their home countries.

    Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney (right) is presented with a novelty World Cup ticket by FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Oct. 10.

    What officials are saying

    Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, regaled the news in a press release, saying that “we have always said that this will be the greatest and most inclusive FIFA World Cup in history — and the FIFA PASS service is a very concrete example of that.”

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio added that “the kickoff is coming up” for the World Cup in the next eight months and that “the United States is offering prioritized appointments so FIFA World Cup fans can complete their visa interviews and show they qualify.”

    The State Department encourages those who are in countries where interview appointments are available to apply for one immediately. FIFA’s release said that further information about the FIFA PASS process will be distributed directly to ticket holders “in early 2026.”

    Gift Share Gio Reyna seizes his moment with the USMNT, and is now in the World Cup race

    How many nations have qualified?

    As of Tuesday, 34 countries have qualified for the tournament, leaving 14 spots to be filled in the 48-team field. The 2026 World Cup will be the first to feature 48 teams, expanding from the traditional 32-team format. The World Cup draw, which will determine groups for the tournament, will take place in Washington at noon on Dec. 5.

    Over 1 million tickets have already been sold worldwide for matches in the United States, Mexico and Canada next year.

    How many people are expected?

    FIFA said it had sold 1 million tickets for the event in October, less than a month after making match tickets available to the public. More than 6 million tickets are available for 104 tournament matches in 16 host cities in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

    Are there any concerns?

    The announcement comes in the midst of logistical uncertainty for next summer’s World Cup. President Donald Trump threatened to relocate World Cup matches from a few cities, including Boston, in October over his safety concerns because of civil unrest. On Monday, he mentioned those relocation threats again while speaking alongside Infantino in the Oval Office.

    Follow the Inquirer’s complete coverage of soccer right here!
  • Flyers activate Oliver Bonk from injured reserve, assign him to Lehigh Valley

    Flyers activate Oliver Bonk from injured reserve, assign him to Lehigh Valley

    Barkey. Bjarnason. Bump. … Bonk.

    The Lehigh Valley Phantoms will add another highly touted B-named prospect to their ranks this week, as Oliver Bonk will join the team after missing the first 20 games of the season because of an upper-body injury. The Flyers activated the defenseman from injured reserve on Tuesday before assigning him directly to their American Hockey League club.

    The news is a long time coming for the 20-year-old Bonk, who suffered the injury early in rookie camp and later missed all of training camp. The 2023 first-round pick is considered the Flyers’ top defensive prospect and has a chance to make his professional hockey debut this weekend for the Phantoms.

    Oliver Bonk and Denver Barkey display an appetite to succeed at Flyers rookie camp

    Bonk has been rehabbing with the Flyers and has been skating with the team for the last couple of weeks. On Oct. 27, general manager Danny Brière provided an update on Bonk and said that things were “going well now” in terms of his rehab.

    “We’re just hoping that there’s no setbacks,” Brière said. “We’re trying to give him the time and proper space between skates for him to feel good enough to come back and play. It’s a little tougher on a timeline with him. We’re kind of waiting on the progression and making sure there’s no setback on him.”

    The Flyers have high hopes for Bonk, whom they selected with the 22nd pick in the same year they drafted Matvei Michkov at No. 7, and believe he can be a top-four NHL defenseman. A two-way blueliner with a game predicated on smarts and his ability to kill plays defensively through angles and good positioning, Bonk came in at No. 5 in The Inquirer’s annual Flyers prospect rankings.

    Defenseman Oliver Bonk had designs on making the Flyers before suffering an upper-body injury in September.

    Bonk was a key cog, alongside close friend Denver Barkey, with London over the last few years, leading the Knights to back-to-back Ontario Hockey League titles and the Memorial Cup crown last season. He was a first-team OHL All-Star in 2023-24 after scoring 24 goals and tallying 67 points in 60 games. Last season he was a second-team selection after posting 11 goals and 40 points in 52 games.

    Carson Bjarnason and Alex Bonk are two more prospects on the Phantoms roster.

    The next steps for Bonk, a steady Eddie who isn’t flashy but defends at a high level and largely keeps things simple, will be to continue to get stronger and learn to play with more pace and urgency.

    “I think Bonk is going to adjust to the pace of the game in the American League,” Riley Armstrong, the Flyers’ director of player development, said in August. “I think he [and Barkey] played on a very good team in London, where you’re able to go back and break a puck out with ease, and play 30 minutes a night, and, you know, maybe not even break a sweat.

    “I think that’s going to be a change for him, heading into this year where the pace is going to pick up. … Guys are going to forecheck a lot quicker and harder, finish checks on him. But I do think his brain is high-end … and I think he’s going to be able to adjust pretty quickly once you get him in that environment.”

    That first pro test likely will come this weekend with Lehigh Valley.