{"id":471355,"date":"2026-02-25T15:40:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T15:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/471355\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T15:40:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T15:40:37","slug":"where-things-stand-in-the-nhl-as-it-returns-post-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/471355\/","title":{"rendered":"Where things stand in the NHL as it returns post-Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yahoo Sports AM<\/a>\u00a0is our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to get it every weekday morning.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udea8 Headlines<\/p>\n

\u26be\ufe0f Griffin’s viral blasts: Super prospect Konnor Griffin, 19, fueled the hype machine on Tuesday by hitting two titanic blasts out of “Fenway South”<\/a> during the Pirates’ spring training win over the Red Sox. Get to know the name, folks. Scouts are calling him the best hitting prospect<\/a> in at least a decade.<\/p>\n

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\ud83c\udfd2\u00a0Near-record viewership: 20.7 million viewers tuned in for Team USA’s gold-medal victory over Canada on Sunday, making it the second-most watched hockey game<\/a> ever on NBC. Only 2010’s gold-medal game drew a larger audience (27.6 million).<\/p>\n

\u26bd\ufe0f Survive and advance: Bod\u00f8\/Glimt (over Inter Milan), Atl\u00e9tico Madrid (over Club Brugge), Newcastle United (over Qarabag) and Bayer Leverkusen (over Olympiacos) advanced to the Champions League Round of 16<\/a> after winning their playoffs.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\u00a0Another medal for Helly: Team USA goalie Connor Hellebuyck will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom<\/a> for his outstanding play in the gold-medal game from President Trump, who welcomed the men’s hockey team to the Capitol for Tuesday’s State of the Union.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc8 “America’s Game” on the move? The Army-Navy game, played annually in mid-December, may move up a couple weeks<\/a> so that it would count towards the conference title race and potential CFP inclusion. It would also give the playoff more scheduling wiggle room as it prepares for expansion.<\/p>\n

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\ud83c\udfd2 Back in action: NHL resumes play\"(Davis<\/p>\n

(Davis Long\/Yahoo Sports)<\/p>\n

The 2025-26 NHL regular season resumes tonight after a 19-day break for the Winter Olympics. Eight games are scheduled<\/a> for the return, marking the start of a critical push toward the March 6 trade deadline<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Eastern Conference: Parity, or “competitive balance,” as commissioner Gary Bettman calls it, is alive and well this season<\/a>. That’s especially true in the East, where 15 of 16 teams have a points percentage over .500. Get it together, Rangers! You’re ruining the whole vibe.<\/p>\n

\"(Davis<\/p>\n

(Davis Long\/Yahoo Sports)<\/p>\n

Western Conference: The West is home to the Stanley Cup favorites (Avalanche) and three of the top four Hart Trophy contenders in Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon (-225 at BetMGM), San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini (+325) and Edmonton’s Connor McDavid (+850). The only other serious contender is Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov (+550).<\/p>\n

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\u26be\ufe0f Mount Rushmore of homers\"Maz<\/p>\n

Maz heads toward home plate after his historic blast. (Bettmann Archive\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

In the wake of Pirates legend Bill Mazeroski’s recent passing<\/a>, we felt it prudent to honor his iconic World Series walk-off with its rightful place on the Mount Rushmore of MLB home runs.<\/p>\n

The top four: Maz’s World Series clincher sits alongside three other homers that, in our humble opinion, represent the most iconic in the game’s 150-year history.<\/p>\n

Bill Mazeroski (1960): World Series, Game 7<\/a> \u2026 The first walk-off homer to win the Fall Classic, and still the only one to come in Game 7, gave the Pirates their first championship in 35 years. The light-hitting second baseman went on to make the Hall of Fame for his glove, but will always be remembered for his blast against Yankees reliever Ralph Terry.<\/p>\n

Bobby Thomson (1951): The Shot Heard ‘Round the World<\/a> \u2026 Thomson’s Giants trailed the crosstown Dodgers by 13 games on Aug. 11 before finishing the season on a 37-7 run to tie them on the last day, forcing a best-of-three playoff for a spot in the World Series. Thomson’s walk-off, three-run shot against Ralph Branca in Game 3 triggered an all-time great call from Russ Hodges: “The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!”<\/p>\n

Joe Carter (1993): Touch ’em all, Joe!<\/a> \u2026 The only other World Series-clinching walk-off home run came in Game 6, where Carter turned a 5-3 deficit into a 6-5 victory over the Phillies for Toronto’s second straight title. A quick shoutout to this Blue Jays lineup, which featured three future Hall of Famers in Rickey Henderson, Paul Molitor and Roberto Alomar.<\/p>\n

Hank Aaron (1974): No. 715<\/a> \u2026 Babe Ruth’s record of 714 home runs stood for nearly four decades before Hammerin’ Hank hit No. 715. Naturally, Vin Scully was on the call:<\/p>\n

“What a marvelous moment for baseball. What a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the state of Georgia. What a marvelous moment for the country and the world. A Black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol.”<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An illustration of Ruth “calling his shot.” (Transcendental Graphics\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Honorable mentions: Kirk Gibson, 1988 (Hobbled heroics<\/a>); Carlton Fisk, 1975 (Waves it fair<\/a>); Barry Bonds, 2007 (No. 755<\/a>); Mark McGwire, 1998 (No. 62<\/a>); Babe Ruth, 1932 (Called shot<\/a>*); Kirby Puckett, 1991 (“We’ll see you tomorrow night!<\/a>“); Aaron Boone, 2003 (ALCS walk-off<\/a>); Ted Williams, 1960 (final career at-bat<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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*The Babe’s legendary “called shot” in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series would have probably made it on Mount Rushmore if not for the mystery surrounding its true nature<\/a>. Accounts differ as to whether the Yankees slugger was calling his shot or simply pointing at the Cubs dugout to remind his opponents, who had been jawing him all game, that he still had one strike left. As they say, “print the legend.”<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcaf Big numbers\"(Jared<\/p>\n

(Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u26f8\ufe0f 5.4 million new followers<\/p>\n

Figure skating gold medalist Alysa Liu has gained an astonishing 5.4 million Instagram followers since the start of the Milan Cortina Olympics, going from 211k before the Games to 5.6M as of this morning.<\/p>\n

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The Olympics bump: Liu isn’t the only American hero to see a spike in IG followers. Jack Hughes jumped from 681k entering Sunday’s hockey finale to over 1M after his golden-goal heroics. That makes the Devils star just the third active NHL player to eclipse that mark, joining Alexander Ovechkin (1.7M) and Connor McDavid (1.4M).<\/p>\n

\u26be\ufe0f -105<\/p>\n

Team USA has won just one of the first five World Baseball Classics, but their stacked roster has positioned them as the odds-on favorite<\/a> to win the upcoming 20-team tournament (-105 at BetMGM), which begins next week.<\/p>\n

Top contenders: Defending champion Japan (+350) and 2013 champion Dominican Republic (+425) are viewed as Team USA’s strongest competition. The only other countries with better than 50-to-1 odds are Venezuela (+900), Puerto Rico (+2000) and Mexico (+2000).<\/p>\n

\"(Maria<\/p>\n

(Maria Gracia Jimenez\/Soccrates\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u26bd\ufe0f 16 Americans<\/p>\n

Atl\u00e9tico Madrid midfielder Johnny Cardoso’s beautiful strike<\/a> in Tuesday’s win over Club Brugge made him the 16th American<\/a> to score a goal in the Champions League.<\/p>\n

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The full list: Christian Pulisic is the leader (12 goals), followed by Weston McKennie (10), Ricardo Pepi (6), Folarin Balogun (5), Malik Tillman (5), DaMarcus Beasley (4), Jordan Siebatcheu (2), Tim Weah (2) Fabian Johnson (2), Jermaine Jones (2) and one each for Tyler Adams, Sergi\u00f1o Dest, Maurice Edu, Jovan Kirovski, Sacha Kljestan and Cardoso.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc0\u00a0655 appearances<\/p>\n

UConn’s Geno Auriemma made his 655th appearance in the AP Top 25 this week, breaking a tie with Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer for the most by a head coach<\/a> in the history of the women’s poll.<\/p>\n

Huskies on fire: The defending champion Huskies (29-0), who’ve been ranked No. 1 all season, have won 45 consecutive games dating back to last February. That’s the seventh-longest streak in D-I women’s basketball history \u2014 and four of the six winning streaks with longer durations<\/a> also belong to UConn.<\/p>\n

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\ud83d\udcfa Watchlist: Wednesday, Feb. 25\"The<\/p>\n

The Nuggets beat the Celtics in their first meeting last month. (Adam Glanzman\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc0\u00a0NBA on ESPN<\/p>\n

Tonight’s heavyweight doubleheader begins in Detroit, where the Pistons are hosting the Thunder in a battle of first-place teams (7:30pm ET). Then it’s off to Denver for a game between the second-place Celtics and fourth-place Nuggets (10pm).<\/p>\n

Title contenders: OKC (+135 at BetMGM), Denver (+550), Boston (+1200) and Detroit (+1200) are four of the five betting favorites to win the NBA championship.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfd2\u00a0NHL on TNT<\/p>\n

The NHL’s first post-Olympics doubleheader is a doozy, with the first-place Lightning hosting the Maple Leafs (7:30pm) and the first-place Golden Knights visiting the Kings (10pm).<\/p>\n

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Team USA on display: Four gold-medal winning Americans are set to take the ice tonight, including Team USA captain Auston Matthews (Maple Leafs). The others: Jack Eichel (Golden Knights), Noah Hanifin (Golden Knights) and Jake Guentzel (Lightning).<\/p>\n

\u26bd\ufe0f Champions League<\/p>\n

The knockout playoffs conclude today with four second-leg matches featuring an array of European giants, including the reigning champions (Paris Saint-Germain) and the winningest club in tournament history (Real Madrid). The winners advance to the Round of 16.<\/p>\n

Full slate: Atalanta (0-2) vs. Dortmund (12:45pm, Paramount+); Real Madrid (1-0) vs. Benfica (3pm, Paramount+); PSG (3-2) vs. Monaco (3pm, Paramount+); Juventus (2-5) vs. Galatasaray (3pm, CBSSN).<\/p>\n

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More to watch:<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc0\u00a0NCAAM: No. 15 St. John’s at No. 6 UConn (7pm, NBCSN) \u2026 The Johnnies (22-5) are 15-1 in the Big East for the first time since the 1984-1985 season, when they made their most recent Final Four appearance.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc0\u00a0NCAAW: No. 8 Michigan at No. 13 Ohio State (8pm, Peacock) \u2026 Sophomores Jaloni Cambridge (Ohio State) and Olivia Olson (Michigan) are both on the Wooden Award late midseason top 20<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u26f3\ufe0f LPGA: HSBC Women’s World Championships (9:30pm, Golf) \u2026 Nine of the world’s top 10 players headline the field at Singapore’s Sentosa Golf Club.<\/p>\n

Got plans tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events happening in your city.\u00a0Get tickets now!<\/a><\/p>\n

\u26be\ufe0f MLB trivia\"(Julio<\/p>\n

(Julio Aguilar\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Norway is one of eight countries with territory located within the Arctic Circle.<\/p>\n

Question: Can you name the other seven?<\/p>\n

Answer at the bottom.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcf8 Photo finish\"(Patrick<\/p>\n

(Patrick Smith\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

I’ve viewed thousands of photographs from the Milan Cortina Olympics. There are more iconic shots… More memorable moments… But this right here is my favorite photo.<\/p>\n

Australia’s Abbey Willcox (aerials) looks like she’s handplanting on the mountain!<\/p>\n

_________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

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Trivia answer: Ken Griffey Jr. (Mariners)<\/p>\n

We hope you enjoyed this edition of\u00a0Yahoo Sports AM<\/a>, our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to get it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yahoo Sports AM\u00a0is our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports.\u00a0Sign up here\u00a0to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471356,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[56988,532,56993,33973,56989,56992,4620,56987,1171,155,4034,149,5,1041,1331,56994,501,20,17258,517,56991,4,1335,2833,557,5210,56995,12318,3255,56990,7562],"class_list":["post-471355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-atletico-madrid","tag-auston-matthews","tag-babe-ruth","tag-bayer-leverkusen","tag-bill-mazeroski","tag-bobby-thomson","tag-celtics","tag-club-brugge","tag-connor-hellebuyck","tag-connor-mcdavid","tag-dodgers","tag-golden-knights","tag-hockey","tag-jack-eichel","tag-jake-guentzel","tag-konnor-griffin","tag-macklin-celebrini","tag-maple-leafs","tag-mariners","tag-nathan-mackinnon","tag-newcastle-united","tag-nhl","tag-nikita-kucherov","tag-noah-hanifin","tag-nuggets","tag-phillies","tag-ralph-branca","tag-red-sox","tag-team-usa","tag-the-pirates","tag-world-series"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116132031253562248","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}