The roster for PWHL Detroit‘s inaugural season is taking shape before the historic first regular-season game in late November.

General manager Manon Rheaume announced Friday morning the signing of Olympic goaltender star Andrea Brändli to a three-year contract and Port Huron defender Casey Borgiel to a one-year contract.

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Brändli and Borgiel are the first of the team’s six-player draft class to sign and brings Detroit’s roster to 18 players under contract with two goaltenders, seven defenders and nine forwards.

Brändli, 29, is a three-time Olympian who backstopped Switzerland to a bronze medal victory in February and was named best goaltender and a tournament All-Star with a 1.94 goals-against average and a .953 save percentage.

“Andrea comes with a really good pedigree and her success at the Olympics,” Rheaume told The Detroit News. “We’re really fortunate to have a second goalie signed (Alice Philbert) that’s also participated in the Olympics for France. It’s very exciting to have that scenario.

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“I look at the Islanders when you have both goalies together (Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov) and you can go with either one in the playoffs. You never know what’s going to happen. Minnesota also shares their goaltending (Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt) the last few years.”

Borgiel, 22, joins her hometown team following two seasons as the top scoring defender at Colgate University, most recently tallying four goals and 21 points in 36 games during the 2025-26 campaign.

She’s a product of Detroit’s Little Caesars program, winning back-to-back national titles in 2021 and 2022.

“I actually saw her skate before Little Caesars,” Rheaume said. “She played with my son and I think she was the only girl on our team. She kept up with everyone and she played physical against those boys.

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“When she made the transition to the girls game, she continued to play the same way. She didn’t change her physicality. She’s just a solid defender who moves the puck well and brings stability to our blueline.”

Brändli is one of nine on the team who competed in Milano Cortina counting Americans Cayla Barnes, Hannah Bilka, Britta Curl-Salemme and Hilary Knight, Canada’s Daryl Watts, France’s Philbert, Germany’s Nina Jobst-Smith, and Japan’s Akane Shiga.

“Akane (Shiga) is a very skilled player who sees the play well,” Rheaume said. “She put 10 pounds of muscle on in the last few years and did very well in Europe. We like her hockey IQ and feel she can be helpful.”

Borgiel is one of four Michigan-area players on the roster joining Mellissa Channell-Watkins (Plymouth) and forwards Shiann Darkangelo (Brighton) and Taylor Girard (Macomb).

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The PWHL schedule hasn’t been released yet for the 12 teams, including Detroit and three other expansion teams.

Last year, the schedule was released Oct. 1 with play beginning in late November. This year, the women’s world championships will be held in Denmark from Nov. 6-16. The season is expected to start shortly after the worlds.

mark.falkner@detroitnews.com

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: PWHL Detroit signs Olympic star, local defender as roster takes shape

By default, Vikings rookie fullback Max Bredeson is the starter at his position. As with somebody like Andrew DePaola at long snapper, Bredeson is the only option in town, meaning he’s the top option no matter what.

Still, though, allow me to press the point a touch that the FB looks like a sneaky important player.

The young fella got scooped up in the 5th Round of the 2025 NFL Draft, a lofty spot for a fullback without a single college carry. Kevin O’Connell has been telling anyone within earshot that he feels good about where the run game is heading. At this stage, Coach O’Connell saying that this year will be different for the run game has become an annual tradition, but the insertion of an upside rookie FB may spark a new turn.

Vikings Rookie Max Bredeson as a Puzzle Piece

On the Vikings’ website, the depth chart begins with an explanatory note: “Minnesota opted to list 12 positions on offense to account for the use of three receivers in 11 personnel (a running back and tight end) or the use of a fullback in 21 personnel (a running back, fullback and a tight end with two receivers).”

For a long time, the Vikings have favored 11 personnel. The football lingo refers to using a trio of receivers alongside a single tight end and single running back (the other players are assumed as five offensive linemen alongside a single quarterback). Pretty standard stuff for the modern NFL that’s all about passing.

But then there’s the carve out: the Vikings explicitly create a subcategory for Mr. Bredeson rather than see him lumped into the running backs more broadly. Doing so addresses the nuance between fullbacks and running backs while shoehorning the young thumper into the starting lineup.

Consider where the nine-person draft class gets listed:

• DT Caleb Banks: Second String
• LB Jake Golday: Second String
• DT Domonique Orange: Second String
• OT Caleb Tiernan: Second String
• S Jakobe Thomas: Third String
• FB Max Bredeson: First String
• CB Chuck Demmings: Third String
• RB Demond Claiborne: Fourth String
• C Gavin Gerhardt: Third String

Over and over again, the Vikings seek to insulate the young fellas even as it’s easy to see where things are trending. Putting Demmings behind Dwight McGlothern appears to be very unlikely at this stage. McGlothern’s virtue, though, is that he has been in town for a little while whereas Demmings is brand new. Making the young fella earn it is a touch old school but still smart.

At the beginning of August, Alec Lewis (The Athletic) sent along a specific thought about the young fullback: “Another non-QB Vikings thing from today: Max Bredeson was very much in the offensive mix. A pretty telling and impressive thing for a rookie FB to be as a part of it as he was this early given complexity of the system.”

Last year, Bredeson played as a tight end a good portion of the time. He is, nevertheless, a fullback in Minnesota. Look for the Vikings to shuffle him around to gain an edge when there needs to be some added ruggedness. His versatility is going to get put to good use.

Max Bredeson is listed as being 6’2″ and weighing 252 pounds. He is 23.

Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.

Chris Waller’s ambition to claim an early victory in Sydney’s three-year-old features may fall to Central Europe, with his other two contenders for The Rosebud facing uncertainty about their participation.

Hidrix, carrying the topweight, is reportedly being saved for the San Domenico Stakes (1100m) in two weeks after drawing barrier 17. Separately, the Perth-based filly Striking Alibi might be redirected to the Silver Shadow Stakes (1200m) next week, having drawn gate 12.

“We were probably only going to run (Hidrix) if he drew perfectly, just because of the weight,” said Waller’s assistant trainer, Charlie Duckworth.

“Striking Alibi has been really sharp in all of her work since coming to us. She has been pretty pushbutton in terms of she has settled in well and done everything right.

“Just the draw might mean she could wait and go against the fillies next week instead.”

There are no such reservations about commencing Central Europe’s three-year-old season, with the colt drawing barrier seven.

The Frankel colt has shown promise in his two previous starts, both at Group level, including a narrow second to stablemate Campione D’Italia, who went on to win the ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes, in the Skyline Stakes (1200m) in February.

While the stable expects him to perform better over longer distances than the 1100m of The Rosebud, the confidence of star jockey James McDonald has swayed them to target the Listed sprint instead of a lesser race on the program.

“We had him nominated in the 1300 as well but James was confident off his trials and trackwork that 1100 was fine. He’s been sharper than he was last time in, so that’s a positive,” Duckworth commented.

“He’s a beautiful colt, incredibly well bred. We’ll learn a bit more on Saturday.”

If Central Europe performs well in his initial races, he is being targeted for the Golden Rose, for which he is currently sharing the fourth line of betting at $11.

Four horses have been withdrawn from The Rosebud field: Tornado Valley, Outspan, Oh Yes She Did, and Scintillation. All are anticipated to race in stakes events at Caulfield.

Central Europe is on a clear path towards the Golden Rose if he performs well in The Rosebud, with current odds of $11. You can compare the latest racing odds at online bookmakers.

Prime Ice Constructs in Genshin Impact are a brand-new feature introduced in the 7.0 Snezhnaya update. Among the various things they can do, one use case is leaving signs with messages in the open world. Moreover, they also appear in other players’ worlds. Luckily, there is a way you can remove them entirely if you do not want to see them.

This article explains how to remove co-op Prime Ice Constructs in Genshin Impact.

How to delete Prime Ice Constructs in Genshin Impact

While co-op Prime Ice Constructs in Genshin Impact 7.0 are a useful feature that can be used to pass certain useful information to others, at times certain players may also use them to troll you. If you are someone like me who finds these unnecessary blocks of text annoying, you will want to delete them from your map.

You can either choose to delete a single Prime Ice Construct at a time or mass delete several of them at once if you are looking to remove them entirely. Here’s how that can be accomplished:

• Open the main map.
• Turn on the Manage Prime Ice Construct button at the bottom of the screen.
• Click on any Construct you want to delete.
• In the menu that opens up on the right-hand side, click on the Remove button to delete the Prime Ice Construct.
• Alternatively, tap on the Trash icon on top of the Navigate button to mass delete several Constructs at once.

• This will bring up a red ribbon at the bottom asking how many Constructs to delete. Tap on the Select quantity button to make a selection based on their type.
• Choose between removing all Prime Ice Constructs or only the ones built by others.
• Press the Delete button in the bottom right corner to permanently remove them.

Do note that this does not prevent more co-op Prime Ice Constructs from appearing.

Also read: How to unlock Snezhnaya commissions in Genshin Impact

How to prevent co-op Prime Ice Constructs from appearing in Genshin Impact

Once you have rid yourself of all Prime Ice Constructs created by other players, your next objective is to stop them completely. Here’s how to do that:

• After obtaining the Eye of Graeae, click on the Prime Ice Constructs button to begin placing one.
• Tap on the Construct Details button found on the right-hand side.
• Open the Settings dialog box from the top-right corner.

• Toggle off the option to receive Prime Ice Constructs from others.

That’s all there is to removing those pesky co-op Constructs in Snezhnaya.

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