Lauren Theisen

The story of the 2026 Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes is that of a team that made a lot of smart decisions over a period of many years and was eventually rewarded. Sebastian Aho, drafted in the second round in 2015, has been the foundational forward ever since they started making the playoffs as likeable upstarts back in 2018-19. Head coach Rod Brind'Amour, whose first year on the job coincided with the beginning of their playoff appearance streak, has spearheaded and maintained an effective and attractive style of play in which Carolina consistently outworks their opposition to earn the majority of a game's chances. And while there was no obvious path through the second- and third-round roadblocks that the Canes continuously hit, the more recent moves that they made—signing

For nearly as long as Canadian homes have had televisions, hockey fans have been able to spend their Saturday nights watching the country's teams on the public broadcast channel CBC.

Nobody told me that becoming a fan of the Chicago White Sox meant that I would have to suffer humiliating losses!

The Father's Day crowd in downtown Detroit was likely unanimous in its disappointment that Keider Montero was on the hill for the Tigers. It's nothing personal against Keider, but until a few days prior, this game against the White Sox was looking far more momentous. Justin Verlander, finally healthy again, would be appearing for the first time at home in a Tigers uniform since he was traded to Houston in 2017.

If there is a funnier MLB broadcast duo than Jason Benetti and Andy Dirks, I am not familiar with their work. Regardless of how the Tigers are playing, you can guarantee that Benetti will arrive at the booth ready to pepper his play-by-play with clever one-liners, deep-cut references and an extended bit or two. Of all his rotating partners in his couple years calling Detroit baseball, the modest, folksy Dirks has proven the most able and game to follow along with Benetti and—perhaps occasionally—egg him on.

The NHL draft was this weekend, and even though we had several weeks to get used to the image of Gavin McKenna in a Toronto Maple Leafs hat, the

You weren’t watching MLB.TV on Sunday, because NBC bought out all of the day’s games and locked most of them behind their billions-losing streaming service. But if you were tuned in for out-of-market baseball in the days prior, like I was, you may have been delivered an advertisement from MLB itself that served as a…

The crud-ass New York Mets were able to manage a series split on the road against division-leading Atlanta during the long weekend, overcoming severe bullpen issues for 10-9 and 7-6 victories on Sunday and Monday. But before any fan could even begin to think about letting their guard down or their hopes up, New York returned home to kick off a series with the Royals and deliver another entry in this year's contest for "Most Frustrating Loss." Again, the Mets offense did their part, but Kansas City beat the brakes off some minor-league relievers to win the game 16-12.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — If you regret that you never got a chance to see the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, the losingest team in MLB history, can I interest you in a trip to Staten Island?

We'll start with the most significant play of the 2026 MLB All-Star Game: a hit batsman.