Heading into the 2026 Season, 31 players who attended high schools in Wyoming have played or are currently playing in the NFL.
That number may increase this fall as recently drafted players make their first pro games. Those who play only in exhibition games won’t be included, however, as the League only counts regular-season contests.
Meanwhile, here is a list of the State’s top pro-producing high schools with their respective ranks, player counts, and cities.
Advertisement
Click on the name of each school to see the players who have played in NFL games.
Wyoming’s East High School has produced four NFL players to lead the State, followed by Central and Greybull high schools with three each, and Natrona County, Campbell County and Laramie with two apiece.
German boxer Julia Igel has insisted she is not frightened of Olympic champion Imane Khelif, despite telling DW that she considers her Algerian opponent to be “male” amid questions over Khelif’s eligibility for the female category.
“Someone that might have something to do with the male gender shouldn’t be in women’s boxing,” Igel said ahead of the fight in Paris on April 23. “You can’t say you’re a woman and you feel like a woman. Just the punching power and the danger that you face when you have a male in front of you, it is different.”
Khelif is not transgender and was assigned female at birth, but has admitted that she has the SRY gene, which is found on the Y chromosome and triggers the development of male characteristics. Critics argue this gives her an unfair and dangerous advantage over other women in the ring.
Not that Igel appears bothered by the apparent additional risks.
Advertisement
“I’m definitely not scared,” the 25-year-old told DW at her training camp in Berlin. “And that is the best part, because when my coach asked me if I wanted to do this fight, my last thought was fear. I know my skills, I know my abilities.”
Khelif’s controversial Paris gold medal
By making her professional debut in the French capital, Khelif is returning to the scene of not only her greatest triumph, but also the biggest controversy of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Her gold medal was overshadowed by accusations that she had failed unspecified sex tests in the two years before the Games.
Those tests, according to the International Boxing Association, which was expelled by the International Olympic Committee in 2023, allegedly showed Khelif and another female boxer, Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, as having XY (male) chromosomes and “male levels” of testosterone. (Lin has since been “deemed to be female” by World Boxing, the body now in charge of the sport at the Olympics).
Advertisement
While Igel still uses the pronoun “she” for Khelif, Ikram Kerwat, the German’s coach and manager, is far more blunt.
“Ever since it came out that he has XY chromosomes, he has balls, he produces testosterone … yes, it’s a he,” said Kerwat, a four-time world champion.
Imane Khelif defeated Angela Carini on her way to winning gold at the 2024 Paris OlympicsImage: John Locher/AP/picture alliance
It does all beg the question: Why then take on the fight? According to Kerwat, several other female boxers turned down the opportunity because of the questions surrounding Khelif, who hasn’t fought competitively since the Olympics.
Igel, for her part, sees no contradiction in complaining about safety, and yet not feeling scared.
Advertisement
“I’m here for the challenge,” she said. “I think the special thing about this fight is the reach that it has, the people talking about it. This is really something that we will do to put out a statement to the world. So this one is definitely going to take us to new heights.”
The 26-year-old’s February admission, to the French sports newspaper L’Equipe, has added further fuel to her critics. In the same interview, though, she said that her difference was “natural;” that she had lowered her testosterone levels; and that she had sent her medical records to World Boxing but hadn’t received a response.
“If she really is 100% female, then she can go fight in the women’s sport,” Igel said. “If not, then she should stop being so loud about it.”
DW has approached Khelif for comment via her promoter and PR company.
Advertisement
Igel: I can beat Khelif
In contrast to her debutant opponent, Igel has had seven professional bouts, winning five (four by knockout) and losing two, her most recent a defeat on points to the American Stephanie Simon in Los Angeles.
The former kickboxer, who took up combat sports in her Swiss hometown for a “safe space” during her parents’ divorce, has enjoyed a steady rise under Kerwat’s tutelage, after the pair met in a Berlin gym two years ago.
This is the biggest fight of Igel’s career by far, although she says Khelif will also be feeling the heat.
“It’s a lot of pressure on her, because the boxing world is not that happy to see her in pro boxing with the women,” Igel said. “So that’s just what we’re going to use, because I think we have the world on our side.”
Advertisement
As part of her preparations for the bout, Khelif had a training match against French boxer Davina Michel, who competes in a higher weight category. But Igel, who is conceding eight centimeters (3.15 inches) in height to Khelif, is confident of victory.
“I’ve got it all,” she said. “I’ve got the skills, I’ve got the power, I’ve got the precision, and I have something inside of me that if I unlock it and set it free, then it doesn’t matter who’s in front of me.”
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre could face disciplinary action at The Masters after he directed a middle finger at the 15th green during a quadruple bogey.
The 29-year-old plunged towards the bottom of the leaderboard after his nine on the par-five hole, ultimately posting an eight-over par 80.
The left-hander offered the gesture after he struck his approach into the pond guarding the front of the green.
Having taken a penalty drop, his again found the water, and then his second drop flew to the back of the green.
Advertisement
MacIntyre also reacted angrily to his second shot on the 17th, and did not speak to the waiting media after his round.
Masters organisers are known for their strict rules and MacIntyre could be in further trouble after his outward nine of 39 effectively ended his chance of tournament victory.
The 29-year-old left-hander was picked out by some observers as a potential contender after finishing fourth at the recent Players Championship.
He lead after the third round at the Texas Open last week, but was overtaken by JJ Spahn to finish as runner-up.
Advertisement
Defending champion Rory McIlroy and American Sam Burns posted five-under par 67s to lead The Masters after the first round.
Spring Football is coming to a head with intrasquad games and showcases throughout the West.
After another wild offseason of recruiting and transfers, the games represent the first opportunity for fans and media to see the new players and units.
Here is a list of all of the region’s known spring games and showcases, sorted by date and time (All times PT).
Advertisement
The events begin with Montana on April 10th and conclude with San Diego State on May 2nd.
Friday, April 10
Montana,5:00 pm Nevada,6:00 pm
Saturday, April 11
Colorado State,9:30 am (approx.) USC (Fan Fest – no game),9:00 am Colorado,Noon Idaho State,1:00 pm Stanford,2:00 pm
Saturday, April 18
UC Davis,10:15 am Utah State,11:00 am Cal,1:00 pm San Jose State,1:00 pm
AUGUSTA, Ga. — A head coach to your favorite golfing stars offers this: “You hear this more at Augusta than anywhere else: ‘I can’t take my range game to the course.’”
This is not a pre-tournament comment. It’s something you hear after the Thursday rounds have been posted.
There’s a reason for that as there is a reason for everything. The tournament practice range at Augusta is about 300 yards wide, flatter than the famous club driveway behind it, with only about a dozen pins and a dozen pines at which to aim. On the course itself, once you’re off the tee, there are few flat lies, lots of pine straw, greenside grain leaning this way and that — and a nervous system in overdrive. So in that sense, the range and the tournament course — on Thursday, on Friday, on the weekend — are on different planets.
But there’s something else that happens more at the Masters, the first Grand Slam event of the year, than anywhere else. At 4:30 Thursday afternoon, there were six players on the range and six instructors. There were two players on the putting green with instructors. There was another player by the chipping green, his coach behind him. Over the course of the afternoon, more players came to this temple of practice for a post-round session, every last one (but one) accompanied by a teacher. Every coach had either a phone or a tablet in hand and many of the players had Trackman devices diagnosing their every swing.
This is a relatively new development, player and coach continuing to work together after the start of a tournament. In the 1990s, you would often see Ernie Els and sometimes Tiger Woods on a range without an instructor with a tournament underway. (Every blue moon, you’d see Els or Woods alone on the range, the caddie sent home for the day. Incredible to watch.) But over the past 10 or 15 years, and you see this more at Augusta intra-tournament than anywhere else, the professional golfer has morphed from lonesome cowboy to CEO of Team Your Name Here.
In 2015, Jordan Spieth won the Masters. In 2016, he was the third-round leader after an indifferent Saturday 73. He had been going it alone that week. Saturday night, he made an emergency call to his swing coach, Cameron McCormick, looking for help with a case of the short rights. McCormick arrived Sunday morning. Whatever they worked on worked, until it didn’t. Spieth shot a Sunday 73 and Danny Willett won by three. Over the past decade on the Augusta range, you see a player, you see an instructor and a gizmo.
“It’s probably been a real thing for the last 10 or 15 years,” Adam Scott said Thursday. He’s 45 and has been a touring pro playing the world for 25 years. “There aren’t 85 coaches here this week, but then there’s someone like Pete Cowen who has a bunch of guys. And I’m not just saying [swing] coaches. There are chipping coaches, putting coaches, psychologists. There are a lot of coaches.”
But only one coach is allowed on the range with the player at Augusta and it’s always the main swing coach. It’s good for business. A swing coach at the Masters is usually highly invisible, but when you’re on the inside it’s an enviable place to be.
“Ideally, you’ve got everything organized before you get here,” said Scott, who shot a first-round 72. “I feel a lot of the time when I had a coach here they were just watching and not saying too much. Even on a day like today, when you’re a little off, sometimes you just need someone to say, I didn’t feel good today, but I don’t think it’s bad. What do you think? ‘Nothing wrong with it. Go hit 20 balls and come back tomorrow.’ But it looks like everyone is going for perfection.”
Augusta National is not a course that lends itself to perfection. Things go wrong. It’s kind of a head game, because Augusta National, the club, sells the pursuit of perfection, but things go wrong from Thursday morning to Sunday night, for every last player.
And that’s the point of the unnamed mental coach here — the players are searching for perfection on the range with a tournament underway, and it’s counter-productive. The real work, the mental coach said, should be between the player and the caddie, because the player and the caddie are out there together. You can’t make a lifeline call in tournament golf.
“Early in my career, there was a phase where the coach wasn’t around a lot, and I think that was good,” Scott said. “At 21, I didn’t know what bad golf was. I’d just go out and play.
“Later, it was more about taking it to the next level, with more eyes on it. That was how it worked for me, and it worked well. Now I have a lot less of that. I speak to Trevor [Immelman] often about how I feel and my swing but I don’t have him watching all the time. There are phases.”
Rory McIlroy, for instance. There have been times in his career where his lifelong swing coach was behind him every time he went to the range. And then there was last year, when McIlroy won the Masters. There was no talk about his team, no discussion of we did this and we did that. He and his caddie, Harry Diamond, were on the range. He and Diamond were on the 18th green Sunday night. McIlroy signed his playoff scorecard. The only other signature required was his opponent’s.
After news that Max Verstappen’s race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, is leaving Red Bull for McLaren went viral, rumors of McLaren team principal Andrea Stella moving back to Ferrari have gained traction, especially after comments made by Williams Racing driver Carlos Sainz resurfaced online, linking Stella to Ferrari.
MotorBiscuit reported Lambiase’s exit from Red Bull, set to happen at the end of 2027, as he joins the Papaya outfit in 2028 in a multi-million dollar deal. This comes less than two years after Lambiase became the head of racing at Red Bull during an internal restructuring in 2024.
Advertisement
Lambiase’s McLaren signing has led to speculation about a potential change in McLaren’s leadership structure, especially amid rumors of Stella moving back to Ferrari, a team where he worked for 15 years as a performance engineer for Michael Schumacher and Kimi Räikkönen, before becoming a race engineer for Räikkönen and eventually for Fernando Alonso.
Advertisement
Stella joined McLaren in 2015 as head of race operations and became team principal in December 2022. According to a report by F1 Oversteer, Stella is heading to Ferrari in the future, and as a result, Lambiase has been poached from Red Bull to potentially fill his role.
Read More from MotorBiscuit:
Atlassian Williams F1 Team on X | Carlos Sainz
The report quoted F1 reporter Jacky Martens, who stated that Stella has already “signed a pre-contract with Ferrari.” But it remains to be seen who Stella replaces at the Italian team if the rumor turns out to be true. Could it be Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur?
Advertisement
Amid Stella’s Ferrari rumors, Sainz’s statements from his time with McLaren resurfaced, in which he said he wished to take Stella and other key members with him to Ferrari.
Advertisement
The Spaniard joined McLaren in 2019 but left after the 2020 season to join Ferrari. Appearing on F1’s Beyond the Grid Podcast last month, Sainz acknowledged Stella’s expertise, naming him among the McLaren figures he would bring to Ferrari. Sainz said:
“I remember telling my team when we were leaving McLaren, ‘This team is actually a very good race team. These people are going to go up, they’re going to keep climbing.’
“I know how good Andrea Stella is, I know how good [technical director] Pete Prodromou is and I remember leaving that team and having two, three or four names that if I could have taken them with me to Ferrari, I for sure would have taken them.”
Advertisement
Advertisement
He added:
“I knew they were doing things well and they were really good people that I enjoyed working with a lot.”
Kolkata Knight Riders’ Finn Allen (R) walks back to the pavilion after losing his wicket.
NEW DELHI: Kolkata Knight Riders all-rounder Rovman Powell did not hold back after his side’s heartbreaking last-ball defeat to Lucknow Super Giants, pointing to an umpiring “blunder” while also admitting that conditions at Eden Gardens played their part in the result.Defending 181/4, KKR seemed in control when LSG slumped to 128/7 after 16 overs. But a sensational late onslaught from Mukul Choudhary, who smashed an unbeaten 54 off 27 balls, turned the game on its head as LSG sealed a three-wicket win on the final delivery.‘Maybe it was a blunder’The flashpoint came earlier in the innings when Finn Allen was dismissed in controversial fashion. His top-edge was caught at deep third man, but replays suggested the fielder may have brushed the boundary rope. Despite the close call, on-field umpires chose not to refer the decision upstairs.“Definitely more angles should have been looked at,” Powell said. “We thought we had seen in the IPL that umpires have gone upstairs for lesser things, and not as close as that.”“Maybe it was a blunder on their part, but we’re not going to say that is what cost us two points tonight,” he added, stopping short of placing full blame on the officials.‘Not a 220-wicket’Powell also highlighted the nature of the Eden Gardens surface, saying it was far from the high-scoring tracks typically associated with the venue.“It’s not that classic Eden Gardens wicket where you just go and blast. It was not a 220-wicket; there was a little bit in it for the bowlers, especially with slower balls,” he explained.Despite the loss, Powell credited Mukul’s composure under pressure. “You want to make Eden Gardens your fortress… but credit to the youngster, he batted really well,” he said.KKR’s struggles continue, with just one point from four matches so far. However, Powell remains optimistic.“If you see the history, winners build momentum in the middle and back end. It’s not easy when you don’t start well, but our destiny is still in our hands. We still have 10 games left,” he said.
The writings were on the wall as Lucknow Super Giants’ wicket-keeper batter Mukul Choudhary arrived at the Eden Gardens with the hope of reviving his team’s chase of 182 runs. After a cautious start, Mukul went bonkers with the bat, hitting an unbeaten 54 off 27 balls as LSG chased down the target against KKR on the final ball of the match. While many would say that Mukul Choudhary came out of the syllabus, his LSG teammate Arjun Tendulkar had warned the Indian Premier League (IPL) in advance of the six-hitting prowess the 22-year-old possesses.
During an interview with Shubhankar Mishra, Arjun narrated how amazed he was upon seeing Mukul’s 360-degree hitting ability.
“Mukul Choudhary hits amazing sixes. Yesterday, in a practice match, I saw his sixes. I was really impressed. He hits everywhere, square-leg, point, upper cut, behind the bowler. I was really impressed by his batting,” Arjun Tendulkar had said during an interview with Shubhankar Mishra.
Advertisement
Arjun Tendulkar’s game knowledge, he said Mukul Choudhary is the player to watch out for this season from LSG pic.twitter.com/LA3ZHwkAtK
LSG needed 54 runs from the final 4 overs to win the match, with Mukul the only recognised batter in the middle. Despite the fact that he had to face some prominent bowlers in the form of Cameron Green, Kartik Tyagi and Vaibhav Arora in the death overs, the batter put his 360-degree skills to use and struck sixes all across the park. Narrating Mukul’s strength, Arjun had revealed how the batter can sixes even square of the wicket. But, KKR bowlers looked underprepared facing him.
After the game, even LSG skipper Rishabh Pant admitted that he had no words left to describe Mukul’s performance.
Advertisement
“I do not have words to describe but what a fantastic effort. One thing I made sure of personally is trust, and when you believe in someone, a player can do wonders. The character, with each and every match like this, shows something is building. We don’t want to talk much about it, but something is cooking inside,” Pant said on the performance from the young wicket-keeper batter.
LSG coach Justin Langer was also full of praise for the batter from Rajasthan, saying he runs like Virat Kohli and chases totals like MS Dhoni.
“What I love most about him is that he’s a real athlete. The way he runs between the wickets is elite, like Virat. But the other thing is his game sense. We’ve had some practice games, and the way he talks about the game feels like he’s played 300 matches already. He’s got power, he’s a great athlete, and he’s got grace. As we both know, that’s a pretty good combination.”
Featured Video Of The Day
IPL 2026 | Delhi Capitals Wins By 6 Wickets Against Mumbai Indians: Redemption For Sameer Rizvi
AUGUSTA. Ga. — Jordan Spieth swings. And Michael Greller screams.
“Forrrre leeeeft!”
And you salivate. The caddie’s two words — or their siblings, forrrre riiiight — now have a Pavlovian effect. When Spieth goes wayward with shots, you froth — because here comes a Spiethian treat, more often than not, so to the right of Augusta National’s 18th hole you must go, where, under a dozen or so thick tree branches, Spieth’s tee ball ended up.
Spieth called for a rules official. Of course he did. “I just was curious as to how I could back in,” he said. “Like it’s supposed to be path of least resistance.” He pretzeled himself over the ball. Of course he did. He worked a punch shot back to the fairway. He dropped an iron to 10 feet right of the hole.
Advertisement
He somehow parred. Or course, he did. Spieth Spiethed. After day one of the Masters, he was at even par, and five back of the lead. “I did well to get it out in the fairway, and frankly I don’t know how many people in the world make a four from that tee ball,” Spieth said. “So that was — I’m walking off with a smile on my face. I’m happier than you walk off bogeying to shoot one-under … and it’s funny how the game works, right?”
Right?
A decade ago, that was the thought, too, if you were thinking kindly. In 2015, at the age of 21, Spieth was your Masters winner. In 2016, after 63 of 72 holes, he was your Masters leader by five. And he finished three behind winner Danny Willett. And he hasn’t won here since.
Late Thursday afternoon, he reflected on some of that. There have been years of other near-misses. But 2016 is “up there with memorable tournaments for me, good and bad,” Spieth said. The large lead. The large lost lead. The opportunity to repeat. The current search for a second Masters win. But he said he felt he exited with something more than a seemingly awkward moment of fitting Willett into the green jacket.
Advertisement
“I was super resilient,” he said in front of a couple of reporters.
“It’s certainly gone both ways for me here, so stay within arm’s reach and try to make it go my way.”
If anything, it’s what made him charming over the past 10 years. There was some of that on Thursday. He was two-under through Amen Corner, then bogeyed the 14th hole, after his tee ball finished up against a tree, and the 15th hole, on a three-putt from 30 feet. But then came that par on 18.
“What I’ve learned the last 10 years,” Spieth said, “is a lot — anything can happen.”
Advertisement
This year, the results have been mixed. Eight starts. Just one missed cut. Five finishes in the top 30. But zero wins. He’s talked often of how things have felt right, but the scores haven’t reflected that, and Thursday was more of the same. The bogey on 15 was an example.
In the par-5’s right greenside bunker after two shots. Made a bogey six.
“Just I don’t take four to get in from a greenside bunker on 15 very often,” Spieth said. “You know, just had a lie that I thought it was going to come out super fast and didn’t. And then I was — I wasn’t tentative on the greens. I just thought they were quicker and I left a number of putts short. You can’t leave the five-footers downhill for your par putts if you can get it below the hole.
“So I made kind of a couple mistakes in that regard. Got away with one or two and didn’t on 15. That’s the kind of stuff that’s been happening. I’m in position to make birdie and walk off with a six on a random hole. Give me a dozen balls in there I probably make birdie on 10 and make bogey on one and par on the other, you know what I mean?
Advertisement
“I feel good about it. It’s like close to clicking and it just didn’t quite click today.”
Cameron Green finally rolled his arm over for Kolkata Knight Riders but failed to get the desired outcome from their IPL 2026 match against Lucknow Super Giants at Eden Gardens on Thursday. The right-arm fast bowler started with a 12-run over that also included the wicket of Rishabh Pant, but followed it with an extremely poor one. When Green came in to bowl his second over, LSG needed 30 runs to win off the final 12 balls. He was smashed by Mukul Choudhary for two sixes and a four, leaking a total of 16 runs.
The Rs 25.2 crore KKR star was already under the scanner over his poor batting form, and his bowling struggles only added to the trouble. With the bat, Green has scored 56 runs at an average of 18.67 in four matches in IPL 2026. As he struggled with the ball too, fans on social media criticised and trolled him.
Mukul Choudhary announced himself in style! Backed by Arjun Tendulkar, picked cheap by #LSG, he demolished Cameron Green & chased the impossible with ice-cold nerves. 53 off 24? Too easy! A new #IPL superstar is born #PSL#Bangladesh#CricketFeverpic.twitter.com/wNUHvbr6se
Mukul Choudhary was the star of the night as he scored an unbeaten 54 off 27 balls to guide LSG to a last-ball victory over KKR in the match. He smashed two fours and seven sixes.
Advertisement
KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane backed his bowlers while praising LSG’s Choudhary after the game.
“For them (LSG), it was nothing to lose. Two overs, 30 runs to win. Every ball, it was about swinging. And I thought, as I said, he was really brave to play those shots. There were some brilliant shots. I thought there were a couple of brilliant deliveries (bowled), but the way he batted was amazing. Probably in the fielding, I’d say a couple of misfields, but apart from that, I thought our bowlers did a brilliant job,” the KKR skipper said after the game.
“When you lose a game, you can easily think about things we could have done better. I thought 180-185 was a very good total on this wicket. It wasn’t easy to play big shots. Slow balls were stopping; it was hard to hit. But in the end, I thought, let’s give credit to the batter, the way he (Mukul) batted,” Rahane added.
Featured Video Of The Day
IPL 2026 News | RCB Outplay CSK For 2nd Win On Trot, Ruturaj Gaikwad & Co Suffer 3rd Loss
Out of the National Hockey League playoff race for months, the Vancouver Canucks continue to be formidable “spoilers.”
On Thursday, they spoiled the Nashville Predators’ wild-card chances by losing 4-1 to the Los Angeles Kings. Impacting the race at the top of the Pacific Division, the Canucks hurt the Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks by losing twice in nine days to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Before that, the Canucks dealt a setback to the San Jose Sharks by losing to the Kings, and the Winnipeg Jets by losing to the St. Louis Blues.
At the most critical stage of the NHL playoffs races, the Canucks have lost nine out of 10 games in regulation and the only game they won hurt no none — because it was irrelevant to the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche.
Advertisement
The Canucks haven’t exactly fulfilled the spoiler role they envisioned for themselves. They are 7-30-5 since peaking at two games under .500 on Dec. 20.
It’s not for lack of trying.
At the embryonic stage of their rebuild, the Canucks just aren’t good enough. They played a far better game Thursday in their three-goal loss against the Kings than they did in their 11-shot, one-goal loss to the Knights on Tuesday.
The Canucks pressed the Kings for stretches, and especially in the second period, generated offensive-zone time with their forecheck, put 25 pucks on Los Angeles goalie Anton Forsberg, outhit their heavy opponents 21-19 and out-attempted them 57-50.
Advertisement
But the Canucks haven’t the talent to outscore their mistakes, and haven’t the experience to prevent them. Marcus Pettersson scored the only Vancouver goal on a shot-pass that caromed in off Los Angeles defenceman Brian Dumoulin.
A step ahead of Linus Karlsson, Adrian Kempe was open in the Vancouver slot to open scoring, Joel Armia made it 2-1 for Los Angeles with an unscreened wrist shot from the high slot after a turnover by Jake DeBrusk, before Kempe and Trevor Moore scored on deflections.
The victory moved the Kings back into the Western Conference’s final wild-card spot, one point ahead of Nashville, three ahead of Winnipeg and four up on San Jose.
Among their four games remaining, the Kings get to play the Canucks for the third time in less than three weeks in Vancouver’s final home game on Tuesday.
Advertisement
In the meantime, the Canucks will visit the Sharks and Ducks in back-to-back road games starting Saturday.
32 Thoughts: The Podcast
Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.
With a 7:39 pm puck drop, and overwhelming evidence about which way the game was going, referees Kelly Sutherland and Brandon Schrader worked a power-play free contest. There were a few things they could have called (see item below) besides offsetting minors to Elias Pettersson (Junior) and Jeff Malott, but at least the game ended in less than 2 ½ hours.
Easily the most positive aspect of the Canucks’ game was the growing confidence rookie defenceman Zeev Buium exhibited in the offensive zone. The 20-year-old was a one-on-one handful for Kings checkers, using his edges and tight turns to spin away with the puck and create space for himself. He could have drawn a couple of penalties, especially in the second period when Kempe got his stick between Buium’s legs and knocked him down as the Canuck was sidestepping him inside the Los Angeles blue line. Sutherland spent the next television timeout explaining his non-call to Vancouver coach Adam Foote.
Buium’s forays still generally lack endings — sharp passes or superior scoring chances — but his willingness and ability to challenge players with the puck is an excellent sign for someone who will be expected to drive the Canucks’ attack a couple of seasons from now.
Advertisement
Sportsnet’s cameras caught veteran defenceman Filip Hronek, iPad in hand, apparently upbraiding his young defence partner at the Canuck bench after Artemi Panarin easily split the defenders to force a strong save from Tolopilo early in the second period. Whatever the discussion was about, we can confirm that Buium, like half of Vancouver’s young lineup, still has a lot to learn about defending at the NHL level.
On a night when the Kings clobbered the Canucks in the faceoff circle and top Vancouver centre Elias Pettersson went 4-14, it’s easy to see why second-year centre Aatu Raty’s short-term NHL future is connected to the dots.
Although he was 7-10 in L.A., the 23-year-old is fourth in the NHL with a 61.3 per cent win rate on faceoffs among players who have taken at least 300 draws. The three guys ahead of him, Claude Giroux, J.T. Miller and Jonathan Toews, have combined for 3,423 NHL games. Raty has played 110.
Despite his limitations offensively and defensive misreads at times, Raty is already being relied on late in games to win the Canucks the puck. Raty also leads the current Canucks with 159 hits. So, he’s big (6-2, 205 pounds), physical and wins a lot of faceoffs. Players have built careers with less.
Advertisement
Adam Foote to reporters in Los Angeles: “The second period was probably one of our best second periods of the last 30 games. We were great on the forecheck and spent more time in their zone than they did in our zone, and we just had two guys go to the same spot in our end (on Kempe’s goal that made it 3-1) and then they got one. So it was hard to come back.”
You must be logged in to post a comment Login