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The New York Yankees were already limping into the second half of the season. Now, they’ll find themselves yet another arm short as they try to stop the bleeding in the American League East. 

Right-hander Clarke Schmidt will likely undergo Tommy John surgery, manager Aaron Boone announced Saturday, which would end Schmidt’s season and likely keep him shelved through most of 2026. 

The elbow reconstruction is the Yankees’ second this year, following ace and reigning Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole going under the knife during spring training. And it comes with the Yankees having lost five in a row and 15 of their past 21. 

That skid took them from a 4 ½-game lead in the East to two games behind the Toronto Blue Jays and tied for second with the Tampa Bay Rays. And it further weakens their rotation depth as they await the return of reigning Rookie of the Year Luis Gil, who has been out all season with a lat injury. 

Gil could soon begin a rehab assignment and is expected to be back by the end of this month. 

Schmidt, 29, wasn’t so fortunate. He’d been placed on the injured list with forearm discomfort before additional imaging revealed the likely need for major surgery. Schmidt was 4-4 with a 3.32 ERA in 14 starts this season, and was part of the Yankees’ playoff rotation last season as they reached the World Series for the first time since 2009. 

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This is Part 3 of a three-part summer series visiting with three former major league All-Stars turned sports dads. They offer sports and life advice about how to make our kids better players, but also how to get the most out of athletic experiences with them. 

This week: Fulfilling professional dreams with Tom, Dee and Nick Gordon while enjoying the ride as fathers and sons.

New York Yankees fans learned a familiar pitching formula in 2004 and 2005. If their team had the lead, they would see Flash Gordon’s biting fastballs and sharp curveballs in the eighth inning, then Mariano Rivera’s lethal cutters in the ninth. A victory was virtually sealed.

The routine often started much earlier in the day, in the New Jersey suburbs where Gordon lived with his teenaged son.

“Daddy, I want to go to the ball field,” Dee Gordon would say as he woke up his dad.

The veteran relief pitcher, now in his mid-to-late 30s, found a personal revival in what came next.

They would go to a nearby diamond at 10:30 or 11 a.m. and get in their work: Father hitting son ground balls, the two talking baseball and soaking up the energy of the interactions he would replicate with similar sessions with another son, Nick.

He would rest for a couple hours, feeling laser focused when he headed to Yankee Stadium.

“That way of doing things took pressure off me,” Tom “Flash” Gordon tells USA TODAY Sports. “I had such a regimen with working with them, where it was taking stress off my mind. And then when it was time for me to get ready to go, I can ease back into it, and then I can go as hard as I can go. They helped me just as much as I helped them.”

It’s the way youth sports can work for parents and kids. Dee and Nick both reached the major leagues, which Flash credits to their determination to climb above their competitors, but also to a path to success his mother and father set him and his siblings along in Avon Park, Florida.

Gordon calls himself an ambassador of sorts these days as he coaches and scouts for Perfect Game, a youth baseball and softball platform.

“I tried to do the very best I could as a father but also I feel like my job is to pass on information that was given to me,” he says.

Gordon, 57, spoke with us about Rivera, Bo Jackson and George Brett, but also the wisdom of Tom and Annie Gordon that drives him, and how we can use it to guide our kids’ travel sports journeys. He offers 10 tips:

1. Approach sports as a love that can last a lifetime

When Flash’s father, also named Tom, took his son to the ballyard, they gassed up, packed sandwiches and headed up into Alabama, Georgia or South Carolina in a parade of cars. It was a real-life barnstorm.

Others came to watch, and the young boy developed an image of what it looked like to be a professional.

 “I got to see not the actual Negro Leagues — the Grays and the Monarchs and teams like that — but these small teams and these small little towns that wanted to be like them,” Flash Gordon says. “It was a Negro league for them, and it was something that they needed.”

His father never graduated from high school, never came close to the opportunities his son had, but he embraced the life a game had given him.

“He never thought he’d be a major league baseball player,” Gordon says of his father. “He probably never thought that his son would and then grandsons, but what he did believe in is that he loved baseball so much to where you keep playing it, or play a sport or do something you love, until it’s out of you in regards to you don’t have the same drive to do it.

“And I was really proud of him because he could have easily said, ‘Son, I play every Sunday, and I work as hard as I could go, and I was hoping that maybe somebody would see me and like me as a player.’ (He was a good pitcher.) And they never did. But he never let that deter him from being our best supporter, our best parent, our best love, and a guy that always wanted to hear how our day went.”

2. It’s not your sports career, it’s your kids’: Parents’ job is to provide the experience

Late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner once offered advice that Flash continues to use when he’s at the Florida car dealerships he and his brothers own: It’s important to be here, but it’s more important for you to leave something behind.

“The knowledge you have, just give that, leave it, because when you’re gone, it’s not yours to take with you,” Flash says.

He saw his parents’ dedication to not only their jobs, but their roles as parents. Annie was at all of her sons’ local games but also carefully sketched out activities for their sister, he says, ‘to create things in her life that kept her motivated and happy and excited about growing up as a kid in our household.”

“My mom was a stickler in staying on top of your grades,” he says. “Being the oldest, you wanted to make sure that the chores around the house were done. … I don’t think I would have made it to the major leagues, I don’t think I would have been the person that I’ve had an opportunity to become without the leadership of my parents. And I see it in my brothers, how they deal with people, respond to people. It’s almost like seeing my brothers be just like my mom in a lot of ways; they have that gentle smile before they make a decision.”

3. Scouts look at the full person, not just their ability

As he scowled from the mound, Flash thought he was tough. But he says he has plenty of his mom in him, too.

Annie has helped him understand, as he roves around to showcases and events, what constitutes the most elite players.

“You’re looking at social media and the stuff that they’re doing, it’s almost like they’re already gratified, they’re already at that point where, ‘Hey, I’ve shown a scout that I’m going to be great. I can hit home runs, shoot 3-pointers, I can hit a volleyball or whatever on videos and show ’em that I got a chance to be great,” Gordon says. “Well, guess what? The coach and the scout have not been around you long enough to see if you’re a quality enough of a person to make everybody around you better.

“It looks good when you do all these things on video, but now I need to come to your house and ask your parents whether or not you do your chores on time, do you look out for your brothers and sisters, or are you someone that they have to stay on and have to constantly be motivated to do something.”

4. Let your kids’ sports motivation come from within

Flash’s son, Dee Strange-Gordon, was drafted in the fourth round by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008 and became a two-time All-Star. But his first sports love was basketball.

“All of a sudden, it was like, ‘Daddy, could you buy me a bat? Could you buy me a glove?’ Yes, yes!’ ” Flash says. “It’s only because they’re around it so much. … This game wasn’t pushed on them to where they had to play.

“Let it be about them and their career and just be more motivated to help them the best way you possibly can, reminding them, for the most part, and Nicholas had a tough time sometimes with this one: Nothing comes easy, son.”

5. Whether you are in the dugout or bleachers, allow your son or daughter to be coached

Before Nick Gordon was drafted in the first round in 2014 and would play 338 big-league games, Flash coached him in travel ball.

“I moved my son from shortstop to second base. Sometimes I played him at third,” Flash says. “He felt like, well, that’s the wrong decision to make. However, I have to make the decision best for the entire team, not just for the fact that you’re my son.

“Be willing to allow your coach to coach your child, and then sit back in the stands and observe and watch the process. … The toughest thing for a parent is when a coach changes your son’s position, and maybe you don’t think that’s the right way. However, you’re looking at it from a parent’s perspective outside, and he’s looking at it [from] the coach’s perspective on the ground, boots down.”

6. The most elite players have pregame routines

After Flash Gordon was drafted by Kansas City in the sixth round in 1986, he reported to the rookie-level Gulf Coast League in Sarasota, Florida. He was a hotshot high schooler who found himself up against another Kansas City Royals prospect named Linton Dyer. Dyer’s nickname was “Lightning.”

“Flash vs. Lightning,” another Royals prospect, Bo Jackson, observed, coining Gordon’s moniker.

Gordon was 20 when he reached the majors. He found out how much he didn’t know, when Brett called him over to his locker.

“I don’t see a routine, son,” the future Hall of Famer said.

Brett did the same thing every day. He arrived, put on his shorts, and headed off to hit and watch video.

“The routine as a parent at home, getting up, those things change sometimes,” Flash says, “but when you have a game that’s being played at 7 o’clock, it’s time for you to get a routine at 3 p.m. and have that routine ready to go and make sure that you capture those goals through that routine until game time.

“I really appreciated Mark Gubicza and Bret Saberhagen. Those guys had great routines and prepared, they paid attention in the meetings, and it just inspired me to want to try and see if I could do more of that and become that much of a better baseball player.”

7. We don’t ever want to tear kids down, but we can use constructive criticism to motivate them

Gordon learned in the majors that teammates wanted to know when they weren’t pulling their weight.

“Every now and then it’s OK to let them know you were not that good today,” he says. “Sometimes, as a leader, you have to be reminded that it ain’t just about the way you see things. It’s about team. We’re trying to promote winning. Sometimes players think about things a week down the road when we right now are in this struggle with this other team to beat them three out of four. In the major leagues, guys come there, they all think they’re ready to play, and everyone’s coming to watch them. I was there. I know what it feels like. But sometimes that criticism puts things back into perspective.”

8. Taking nothing for granted when you reach the upper levels of sports

Sometimes Flash will look at his phone, and see that it’s Bo Jackson calling, and say to himself: “What have I done now?”

Bo always gave it to Flash straight if he felt he was just going through the motions.

“Hey, you’re in the major leagues,” Jackson would tell the younger player. “Every day you take nothing for granted here. You go as hard as you can because you never know when that day that you can’t play again happens. You get hurt, you may not ever be able to play again. Things don’t go well, you may not find that way of being able to progress.”

Even when our kids reach high school sports, there is no guarantee they will play. Each game, each sliver of playing time within that game, presents an opportunity.

Gordon tells kids there are always three things they can control: Your preparation, your attitude and your emotions.

“If you do those things,” he says, “you make my job easier, and I can help you become a much better baseball player, a much better person.”

9. Find calm before you go into the storm

Gordon was in his 15th full major-league season when he got to the Yankees. When he walked into the clubhouse, he’d see Rivera two lockers away. Rivera’s routine was to sit there. Nothing, it seemed, could disrupt the guy who would become baseball’s all-time saves leader.

“We could have a bonfire in the middle of the clubhouse,” Gordon says.

He was putting himself in that space of mindfulness and focus where pitchers thrive. The practice kept him fresh and motivated, and it was one Gordon realized he liked himself.

10. Your No. 1 asset is being a good teammate

When Flash came up with the Royals, he had lived with Jackson and his wife, Linda. He was a part of the family to the point where Bo’s kids called him their brother.

Gordon had just been told by then-Arizona Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch he had been released after what would be his final major-league game in 2009, when he was reminded of that feeling. He walked out of Hinch’s office, and each of his teammates was there to hug him.

“There’s not a coach I’ve ever come across that’s not willing to give you great information to help make you better when you’re a good teammate,” he says.

He couldn’t stop crying and yet he was at peace, like he had felt in those days when he and Dee were on the field in New Jersey.

“With everything that we have today, technology and the Internet, and everything that’s out there, kids’ lives start to get overshadowed with them being athletes and other things that they’re doing,” he says. “Just stay at a place where you’re more of a listener than you are someone that’s giving advice. You don’t have o. Sometimes just watching gives you the best perspective. Just be there for their journey.”

Read Part II: World Series champ shares how to maximize high school, college potential

Steve Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He spent 10 years coaching his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents for two high schoolers. His column is posted weekly. For his past columns, click here.

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The Carolina Hurricanes landed the biggest remaining name on the free agent list when winger Nikolaj Ehlers agreed to terms on a six-year deal averaging $8.5 million a year.

Though Jack Roslovic, Matt Grzelcyk, Ilya Samsonov and other unrestricted free agents remain out there, teams will focus on their restricted free agents. Eleven players chose on July 5 to have their 2025-26 salaries determined by a neutral arbitrator.

Among unrestricted free agents, Mitch Marner went to the Vegas Golden Knights in a sign and trade on June 30, and several key players re-signed, including Florida’s Aaron Ekblad and Brad Marchand, plus Detroit’s Patrick Kane. Vancouver’s Brock Boeser and New Jersey’s Jake Allen decided on the July 1 free agency opening day to stay.

In addition to Ehlers, Mikael Granlund, Vladislav Gavrikov, Pius Suter, Brent Burns and others have changed teams.

Here are the signings, trades and other news that have taken place since free agency opened:

July 5: 11 file for salary arbitration

The NHL Players’ Association announced that 11 players have filed for salary arbitration. Hearings will be held from July 20 to Aug. 4, though both sides usually reach an agreement beforehand.

The biggest names are Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal, who will be the clear-cut No. 1 netminder after the trade of John Gibson to the Red Wings, and Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi, who set career bests with 27 goals, 34 assists and 61 points for the NHL’s top regular season team. Two other Jets players filed.

The full list:

Morgan Barron(Winnipeg Jets)
Lukas Dostal (Anaheim Ducks)
Drew Helleson (Anaheim Ducks)
Kaapo Kakko (Seattle Kraken)
Nicholas Robertson (Toronto Maple Leafs)
Dylan Samberg(Winnipeg Jets)
Arvid Soderblom (Chicago Blackhawks)
Jayden Struble(Montreal Canadiens)
Conor Timmins (Buffalo Sabres)
Maksim Tsyplakov (New York Islanders)
Gabriel Vilardi (Winnipeg Jets)

July 3 signings

Capitals re-sign Anthony Beauvillier

He’ll average $2.75 million in the two-year deal. The Capitals bring back their trade deadline acquisition after falling short in the Nikolaj Ehlers sweepstakes.

Hurricanes agree to terms with Nikolaj Ehlers

The Hurricanes had acquired a skilled offensive player the last two seasons via trade only to see Jake Guentzel and Mikko Rantanen go elsewhere. This signing means Carolina has Ehlers locked in until 2031. He’s known for his speed and he takes a lot of shots, which fits in well with Carolina’s system. His goal production is consistently in the mid to high 20s. He could hit 30 if he gets more than the 16-plus minutes he averaged with the Jets. Ehlers has been named to the Danish Olympic team, along with his new teammate, goalie Frederik Andersen.

Sharks sign Dmitry Orlov, claim Nick Leddy off waivers

He’ll average $6.5 million in his two-year deal. Orlov is the third veteran defenseman that the Sharks have added this season after signing John Klingberg and claiming Nick Leddy off waivers. Orlov, 33, had 28 points and 101 hits with the Hurricanes in 2024-25. He won a Stanley Cup with the Capitals in 2018 and Leddy won with the Blackhawks in 2013. The additions of Orlov and Leddy bring the Sharks up to the salary cap floor and they have room to make other moves if they want.

July 2 signings

Avalanche agree to terms with Brent Burns

The 40-year-old defenseman gets one year. Sportsnet reports it’s a $1 million deal and he could get another $3 million in bonuses. Burns has the longest active consecutive games streak in the NHL at 925 games. He last missed a game in 2013-14. His offensive numbers have dropped the past two seasons (he had 29 points in 2024-25), but he has a booming shot and averaged nearly 21 minutes a game in the regular season and nearly 23 in the postseason. He’s still looking for his first Stanley Cup title. The Avalanche could give him a chance.

Red Wings sign Mason Appleton

The Wings gave Appleton two years at $2.9 million average, a hefty price for a forward who topped out at 14 goals in one season in 2023-24 while a member of the high-octane Jets. Appleton had 10 goals in 71 games last season with the Jets. He has 57 goals and 138 points in 400 career NHL games. Appleton played at Michigan State from 2015-17. – Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press

Devils re-sign Cody Glass

The center will average $2.5 million in the two-year deal. The restricted free agent was acquired at the trade deadline from the Penguins.

Jets sign Gustav Nyquist

Nyquist landed a one-year, $3.25 million contract. He had 28 points in 79 games between the Minnesota Wild and Nashville Predators last season but had a 75-point season in 2023-24. The Jets are losing Ehlers in free agency.

Islanders sign Maxim Shabanov, Emil Heineman

The Islanders signed Kontinental Hockey League free agent forward Shabanov, 24, to a one-year entry-level deal. He averaged more than a point a game last season with Chelyabinsk and had 25 goals the season before. The Islanders also signed Heineman, acquired in the Noah Dobson trade, to a two-year contract.

Blues sign Pius Suter

The forward will average $4.125 million over two years. Suter set career highs with 25 goals and 46 points in 2024-25 with the Canucks while tying his career best of 21 assists. The Blues earlier placed defenseman Nick Leddy on waivers.

Penguins sign Anthony Mantha

The Penguins have signed forwards Anthony Mantha ($2.5 million) and Rafael Harvey-Pinard ($775,000) to one-year contracts. Mantha was limited to 13 games in 2024-25 because of ACL surgery.

Oilers sign Curtis Lazar

Lazar gets a one-year, $775,000 deal for a likely bottom six role. The NHL veteran played his junior hockey in Edmonton and has 47 goals and 78 assists in 572 career games.

Connor Bedard, Blackhawks talking extension

Bedard, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 draft, and the Blackhawks are talking about an extension. He’s eligible for one because he’s entering the final year of his contract.

“I probably don’t want to get too far into it, but we are talking,” Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said, according to NHL.com. “So, I think that’s an indicator of an openness to discuss. He made his thoughts very clear at the end of the season and subsequently in other interviews, that he’s committed to Chicago and wants to be here long-term and we obviously want him here long-term, so there’s mutual agreement there.”

Bedard won rookie of the year in 2023-24 and has 45 goals and 123 points through 150 games over two seasons.

July 1 signings

Oilers sign Andrew Mangiapane

He’ll average $3.6 million in the two-year deal. The Oilers needed scoring depth after trading Viktor Arvidsson. Mangiapane did score 35 goals in 2021-22, though mostly he’s in the 14 to 18 range, including 14 this past season with the Capitals. The Oilers got to see Mangiapane a lot when he played for the Flames from 2017-24.

Hurricanes sign K’Andre Miller after trade with Rangers

The Hurricanes signed defenseman K’Andre Miller to an eight-year deal with a $7.5 million cap hit after acquiring him in a trade with the Rangers. Carolina gives up defenseman Scott Morrow, a conditional first-round pick and Carolina’s 2026 second-rounder in the trade. The Rangers dealt Miller, 25, to free up the space to sign top free agent defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov.

Miller gives the Hurricanes a young defenseman for their roster with Dmitry Orlov and Brent Burns hitting free agency. ‘Right now, I do not anticipate either of them being back with us,’ general manager Eric Tulsky said. ‘Obviously that could change with one phone call.’

The Hurricanes also signed free agent defenseman Mike Reilly to a one-year, $1.1 million deal. He played for the Islanders last season.

Rangers re-sign Will Cuylle

New York locked up its top restricted free-agent priority to a two-year, $7.8 million deal on July 1, as first reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. It will carry an average annual value of $3.9 million. Cuylle’s coming off a sophomore NHL season in which he scored 20 goals while breaking the franchise’s single-season record with 301 hits. – Vince Z. Mercogliano, lohud.com

Sharks sign John Klingberg

The veteran defenseman gets a one-year, $4 million deal. He had played for the Oilers last season, suiting up for 19 playoff games and four in the final. The Sharks also signed forwards Philip Kurashev (one year, $1.2 million) and Adam Gaudette (two years, $2 million average) and traded for goalie Alex Nedeljkovic.

Devils sign Evgenii Dadonov

He’ll get a one-year, $1 million deal that could grow with bonuses. He’s coming off a 20-goal season in Dallas, but his ice time shrank in the playoffs.

Stars sign Radek Faksa

His three-year deal will average $2 million. Faksa played his entire career in Dallas, except for 2024-25, when the depth forward played for the Blues. He won 57% of his faceoffs this past season and he kills penalties. The Stars also are bringing back forward Colin Blackwell on a two-year deal with a $775,000 cap hit.

Mammoth sign Vitek Vanecek

The goalie signs a one-year, $1.5 million contract. He split time between San Jose and Florida last season, getting to lift the Stanley Cup. Utah backup goalie Connor Ingram is out indefinitely after entering the NHL/NHLPA Players Assistance Program.

Ducks sign Mikael Granlund

He gets a three-year deal, with a reported $7 million cap hit. Granlund played on an all-Finland in Dallas after arriving in a trade, but the Stars didn’t have the cap room to keep him. The Ducks continue to be aggressive in trying to get back to the playoffs after earlier trading for Chris Kreider.

Wild sign Nico Sturm

He’ll average $2 million in the two-year deal. Sturm is strong on faceoffs and kills penalties. He spilt time the past between the Sharks and Panthers, winning a Stanley Cup with Florida. He started his career in Minnesota.

Islanders sign Jonathan Drouin

He gets a two-year contract with a reported $4 million average. He averaged 0.76 points per game in two seasons in Colorado but missed nearly half of the 2024-25 season.

Devils sign Connor Brown

He’ll average $3 million in the four-year deal. Brown has reached the Stanley Cup Final the past two seasons with the Oilers. He can move up and down the lineup and teams appreciate that versatility.

Mammoth sign Brandon Tanev

He’ll average $2.5 million in the three-year contract. The forward is fast, kills penalties and has the league’s best team head shots.

Red Wings sign James van Riemsdyk

The forward gets a one-year, $1 million contract. His 16 goals this past season were his most since 2021-22.

Kings sign two defensemen, goaltender

Defenseman Cody Ceci (four years, $4.5 million average) and Brian Dumoulin (three years, $4 million average) will fill the roster spots of Vladislav Gavrikov (signed by Rangers) and Jordan Spence (traded to Senators). Goalie Anton Forsberg gets two years at a $2.25 million cap hit. Kings goalie David Rittich signed a free agent deal with the Islanders.

Kings sign Corey Perry, Joel Armia

Perry, 40, had 10 playoff goals during the Oilers’ run to the Stanley Cup Final. He has been to the final five times in the last six seasons, losing all five (he won in 2007). But for a Kings team that has lost four years to the Oilers. they’ll gladly accept a player who regularly gets past the first round and more. Armia is a penalty killing forward with 17 career short-handed goals.

Perry gets a one-year, $2 million contract and can earn other $2 million in bonuses. Armia averages $2.5 million his two-year deal.

Mammoth sign Nate Schmidt

The defenseman will average $3.5 million in the three-year deal. Schmidt had been bought out in Winnipeg last summer and joined coach Paul Maurice in Florida, where he played a key role in the Stanley Cup run. The Mammoth were in need of a defenseman after trading Michael Kesselring to the Sabres. The Mammoth also signed defenseman Scott Perunovich and forward Kailer Yamamoto to one-year, two-way deals.

Blackhawks acquire Sam Lafferty from Sabres

The forward is returning after previously playing in Chicago for parts of two seasons. He struggled in Buffalo with seven points in 60 games. The Sabres get a 2026 sixth-round pick in return.

Kraken sign Ryan Lindgren

The defenseman will average $4.5 million over four years. He kills penalties and is known for putting his body on the line, but that takes its toll. The team later signed goalie Matt Murray to a one-year, $1 million contract.

Flyers sign Christian Dvorak

He’ll get $5.4 million in the one-year deal. He kills penalties and wins faceoffs. The Flyers ranked 20th in penalty killing and were just below 50% in faceoff winning percentage.

Sharks give William Eklund contract extension

The three-year deal, starting in 2026-27, will average $5.6 million. He finished second on the Sharks this past season with 58 points. His brother, Victor, was just drafted by the Islanders.

Bruins sign Tanner Jeannot

He’ll average $3.4 million in the five-year contract, per reports. Jeannot is a rugged forward with 211 hits in each of the past two seasons. He scored 24 goals in his second season but hasn’t had more than seven goals since.

Rangers sign Vladislav Gavrikov

He’ll average $7 million over seven years, according to multiple reports. He was the top defensive defenseman in the free agent pool and can slot in next to Adam Fox. The Rangers needed shoring up defensively and Gavrikov (140 blocked shots) will fill that role. He also had 30 points, second best in his career. Does this mean K’Andre Miller gets moved out?

Flyers sign goalie Dan Vladar

He’ll average $3.35 million in the two-year deal. Goaltending was an issue with the Flyers last season, and Vladar will make sure that Samuel Ersson has a steadier backup.

Capitals extend Martin Fehervary

He’ll average $6 million in the seven-year extension that kicks in during the 2026-27 season. He had career highs with 20 assists and 25 points this past season.

Avalanche re-sign Parker Kelly

He’ll get four years at a reported $1.7 million average.

Canucks re-sign Brock Boeser

He’s staying with a seven-year deal worth $7.25 million a year. That’s key for the Canucks after he scored 40 goals two seasons ago. His agent, Ben Hankinson, posted that the deal was reached ‘in the final minutes, really, did you expect him to sign anywhere else?’

Free agency officially open

It’s noon and teams can officially pursue players on other teams.

Bruins-Oilers trade

The Bruins acquire forward Viktor Arvidsson from the Oilers for a 2027 fifth-round draft pick, Arvidsson had signed a two-year deal with Edmonton last season and did not work out. He was in and out of the lineup in the playoffs. But he did score 26 goals two seasons ago and could fill a middle-six role in Boston. Edmonton saves $4 million in cap space.

Canadiens-Blues trade

The Canadiens acquire forward Zack Bolduc for defenseman Logan Mailloux. Bolduc adds secondary scoring after scoring 19 goals and 36 points in his first full season. Mailloux, who was taken in the first round of the 2021 draft despite asking not to be drafted, has played eight NHL games. The Canadiens recently acquired Noah Dobson, who fills the role of offensive defenseman.

Jake Allen staying with Devils

He’ll average $1.8 million over five years and will remain in a tandem with Jacob Markstrom. That will disappoint teams that may have been looking for a goalie. He was the top netminder out there.

Islanders re-sign Tony DeAngelo

The defenseman gets a one-year deal worth a reported $1.75 million. His offensive role will grow with the Islanders trading Noah Dobson to the Canadiens.

Hurricanes’ Logan Stankoven gets extension

He’ll average $6 million in the eight-year deal. Stankoven, 22, was the key return when the Hurricanes traded Mikko Rantanen to the Stars. He scored five game-winning goals last season. The contract kicks in during the 2026-27 season.

Panthers sign Daniil Tarasov

The goalie, recently acquired from the Blue Jackets, will get one year at $1.05 million, according to reports.

Canucks sign Thatcher Demko, Conor Garland to extensions

Demko will average $8.5 million in his three-year contract and Garland will average $6 million in his six-year contract. Both deals will take effect in 2026-27. Demko has dealt with injuries but was a Vezina Trophy runner-up in 2023-24. Garland is a two-time 50-point scorer.

Panthers re-sign Tomas Nosek

He’ll get one year at $775,000. Nosek joined the lineup with the Panthers down 2-0 to the Maple Leafs in the second round. The new-look fourth line helped lead the Panthers’ comeback and the team rallied around Nosek after his overtime delay of game penalty proved costly in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers have all 12 forwards from their clinching game under contract.

Maple Leafs announce Matthew Knies deal

He’ll get six years at a reported $7.75 million per year. Knies, a restricted agent, played on the top line with Auston Matthews and just-departed Mitch Marner. He had a career-best 29 goals, 29 assists and 58 points.

Golden Knights make Mitch Marner deal official

The Golden Knights officially announced the Mitch Marner deal on July 1. He was acquired from the Maple Leafs for center Nicolas Roy and will get an eight-year, $96 million contract. The $12 million average makes him Vegas’ top-paid player ahead of Jack Eichel ($10 million). Marner will wear No. 93, his junior hockey number with the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights.

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Ailing defending champion Barbora Krejcikova was knocked out of Wimbledon on July 5 when she was beaten 2-6 6-3 6-4 by American 10th seed Emma Navarro in a disjointed Court One contest.

Czech Krejcikova, seeded 17, led by a set and a break of serve but faded badly and looked physically drained in the final set in which she required treatment from the doctor.

A distressed Krejcikova, who has had a difficult season plagued by a back injury, battled on but appeared to be in tearsas she prepared to serve to stay in the tournament at 3-5 in the decider, bravely holding serve to prolong the contest.

But Navarro held her nerve to seal victory and ensure that, for the eighth Wimbledon in a row, the women’s singles champion will be a first-time winner.

Navarro, who reached the quarterfinals last year, will face 18-year-old seventh seed Mirra Andreeva in the next round.

A 15-minute interruption for drizzle after two games and a blustery breeze hardly helped the flow of an untidy contest in which Navarro struck only 13 winners to Krejcikova’s 34.

But the American managed to focus through the distractions, with Krejcikova at times bent double between points in the third set after having her blood pressure and pulse checked.

‘It was tough out here today, neither of us played our best tennis, she was dealing with some injuries and I wasdealing with whatever I was dealing with,’ Navarro said on court.

‘It’s not easy to be composed (when your opponent is struggling). Part of you is saying just put a bunch of balls inthe court and that’s all you need to do. But then you trick yourself into not playing the way you want to play.’

After the early rain stoppage left the players twiddling their thumbs on court with officials opting not to shut the roofor cover the grass, Krejcikova settled better and reeled off four games in a row on her way to taking the opening set.

Krejcikova broke serve for a 2-1 lead in the second set but, unlike earlier when she went on a roll, she lost the momentum as Navarro began to dig in her heels.

‘I like to play scrappy and get a few more balls back in the court,’ Navarro said of her change in fortunes.

Navarro broke serve twice on her way to levelling the match with Krejcikova then going off court for a comfort breakand Navarro having a long pep talk from her coach Peter Ayers.

The 24-year-old saved five break points in the second game of the third set and Krejcikova looked mortified when shewas broken in the next game, staring into space as her hopes faded.

Krejcikova broke back, but then lost her own serve immediately as Navarro found the corner with a sweetly-struckbackhand. After being checked over by the doctor, Krejcikova dragged herself back to the baseline and even found some inspiration to level the set at 3-3.

Despite the support of a sympathetic crowd, Krejcikova looked close to collapse at times in the finals stages as herWimbledon reign came to a bitter end.

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Bryan Braman, a former NFL linebacker who played seven seasons with the Houston Texans and Philadelphia Eagles, is battling an aggressive form of ‘life-threatening cancer,’ according to a GoFundMe set up in his benefit by William Jones.

Braman, 38, has had multiple surgeries while being treated for the disease in Seattle, which has put financial strain on the Spokane native and his family.

‘He is required to have a 24-hour caregiver, but his insurance doesn’t pay for housing for this program,’ Jones’ first GoFundMe update in February read. ‘He has no home currently as he has had to pay out of pocket for much of his treatment, and even sold his last vehicle to raise the money for the motel [for] this week.’

The GoFundMe for Braman had raised more than $65,000 as of 11 a.m. ET on Saturday. That included a $10,000 donation from Braman’s former Texans teammate, J.J. Watt, and donations from other former teammates including Chris Long, Duane Brown, Brian Cushing, Brent Celek and Rasul Douglas, among others.

Braman’s treatment has included CAR T-cell Therapy – which the American Cancer Society describes as ‘a way to get immune cells called T cells (a type of white blood cell) to fight cancer by changing them in the lab so they can find and destroy cancer cells’ – according to an update posted to the GoFundMe on June 20.

‘His cells did re-infuse themselves, and did in fact start reproducing within his bone marrow,’ Jones wrote. ‘At first the mass did start to shrink, but then the cancer started fighting back.’

Braman has since had chemotherapy treatments but has struggled to bounce back from the surgical procedures he has had due to lowered immunity from the treatments.

Despite this, Braham remains ‘determined to never give up,’ according to the GoFundMe. That hasn’t been a surprise to Sean Stellato, his long-time agent.

‘At Stellato Sports, Bryan Braman has always stood for strength, resilience and leadership,’ Stellato told KPRC 2 in Houston. ‘He is a pillar and a staple of the underdog. Now, in the face of cancer, he embodies those qualities more than ever.’

‘If there is one person that I know that can beat cancer, it is Bryan Braman, who I have always considered family. He’s in the fight of his life.’

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The Indiana Fever are perhaps playing their best basketball of the season, having won three in a row with the Los Angeles Sparks coming to town on Saturday.

All three of those victories, including a win in the Commissioner’s Cup against Minnesota, have been without All-WNBA guard Caitlin Clark, who will miss her fifth straight game due to a groin injury.

The Fever’s recent success has been due to their work on the defensive end, holding opponents to a league-low 27% percent from the 3-point line. In their last game, an 81-54 rout over Las Vegas on Thursday, the Aces had their 16-game winning streak against Indiana snapped after being held to 26% shooting.

The Sparks (5-13) are led by veteran guard Kelsey Plum, who is averaging 20.1 points and 5.7 assists per game. The last time the two teams played was on June 26 in Indianapolis, with Los Angeles winning 85-75.

How to watch Los Angeles Sparks vs. Indiana Fever: TV, stream

Date: Saturday, July 5
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
TV: NBA TV
Live stream:  Fubo

The game will be available to view on demand on WNBA League Pass after it concludes.

Watch Fever vs Sparks with Fubo

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The highs and lows of the MLB season were on display for the Los Angeles Dodgers this week.

After celebrating pitcher Clayton Kershaw’s 3,000 strikeout on Wednesday, July 2, the Dodgers were handed one of their biggest losses on Friday, July 4.

The Houston Astros’ bats proved to be too much, delivering an 18-1 loss for the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, with the 17-run defeat representing the largest for the team in stadium history.

The Astros had already built up a 7-1 lead in the fifth inning before Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called for Noah Davis out of the bullpen. Davis struck out Mauricio Dubón to end the inning, but things didn’t get much better for the pitcher. Davis allowed 10 runs in the sixth inning.

Jose Altuve went 3-for-3 with five RBIs, four runs and two home runs for the Astros. Christian Walker went 4-for-5 with four RBIs, three runs and a home run.

‘Yeah, that was one you want to flush as soon as possible,’ Roberts said after the game.

While the Dodgers did avoid being shut out on Friday night, the team had already suffered its worst home shutout loss in franchise history this season. The Chicago Cubs picked up a 16-0 victory over the Dodgers on April 12.

It was also the Dodgers’ largest defeat since suffering a 20-1 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field on May 5, 2001.

Astros vs. Dodgers highlights

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The measuring stick for new New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown is obvious.

Do better than Tom Thibodeau.

Which means a spot in the NBA Finals.

You don’t fire Thibodeau, who coached the Knicks to back-to-back 50-win seasons for the first time since 1993-94 and 1994-95 and led them to the conference finals for the first time since 2000, to replace him with a coach who maintains the status quo – or worse.

And if you fire Thibodeau, you better replace him with a coach who has the gravitas across several fronts to justify a new coach.

The Knicks got a coach in Brown who checks several boxes:

Experience coaching in a big market (Los Angeles) and stars (LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, De’Aaron Fox).
Versatile: Known earlier in his career as a defensive-minded coach, he has expanded his offensive repertoire, guiding the Sacramento Kings to the No. 1 offense in 2022-23.
Playoff success: 50-40 overall in the playoffs, including a Finals appearance in 2007, two Eastern Conference finals appearances and he was an assistant coach for Steve Kerr on three Golden State championship teams.
Credibility with players: Players know Brown, and he’s a coach who can balance being a player’s coach with the appropriate authority.

Brown takes over a team that doesn’t need a lot of change in terms of commitment. The culture of hard work and championship expectations have been established.

It’s about getting the most out of the roster, individually and collectively with Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart leading. But it’s imperative that Brown develop a rotation that utilizes bench players and gives him options.

One just needed to watch the NBA Finals between Oklahoma City and Indiana to understand the importance of depth and options. It’s one reason why Thibodeau is no longer the Knicks coach.

This job needed a coach like Brown. I am a proponent of giving unproven coaches like Mark Daigneault, Joe Mazzulla and Ime Udoka chances to coach championship-caliber teams or teams headed in that direction.

But a young coach without previous NBA head coaching experience would not have been a good fit for this version of the Knicks – the expectations are too high, the pressure too much to go in that direction.

So, the Knicks reached a deal with Brown, and he knows what the job entails.

The Knicks built what they believe is a championship roster. Brown doesn’t need to get the Knicks to the Finals in 2026, but he does need to get him there if he wants to keep the job beyond this contract.

Each season that passes without the Knicks improving on what they did under Thibodeau will be viewed with sideways glances.

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You ask former U.S. men’s national soccer team standouts Marcelo Balboa and Stu Holden about the Concacaf Gold Cup final, and the competitive spirit just oozes from their soul.

Especially since USMNT will face its biggest rival, Mexico, in the Sunday, July 6 match at NRG Stadium in Houston.

“Listen, you never want to lose to Mexico,” Balboa, 57, told USA TODAY Sports, before he joins the Gold Cup’s Spanish-language broadcast on Univision, TUDN and ViX. “I’m retired. I haven’t played against Mexico a long time. Even when I play in the old legends games, I don’t want to lose to Mexico.”

Holden – who will be on the Gold Cup call alongside play-by-play announcer John Strong on FOX – still remembers how humiliated he felt after playing in USMNT’s 5-0 loss to Mexico in the 2009 Gold Cup final.

“Man, I would give anything to step on that field on Sunday,” Holden said. “And I’m going to step on the field – I just won’t be allowed to kick a ball.”

Coach Mauricio Pochettino, breakout star Diego Luna and the USMNT have a golden opportunity to rewrite the team’s narrative ahead of next summer’s FIFA World Cup.

They could end a tumultuous summer on a high note by lifting a trophy, setting the stage for a World Cup where they could at least be competitive against some of the best national teams in the world.

A loss, however?

Well, here’s where it’s important to maintain some perspective.

USMNT has been a club on the fly before the World Cup – hiring Pochettino last September, and trying to field a capable roster that won’t embarrass itself when the U.S. co-hosts the tournament next summer with Canada and Mexico.

By no means are they ready for the World Cup just yet. But they’ll have to be when next summer rolls around.

Star Christian Pulisic is one of several players not with USMNT during the Gold Cup this summer – his decision to rest upsetting several former players turned analysts, especially after the U.S. lost friendlies to Turkey (2-1 on June 7) and Switzerland (4-0 on June 10) before the tournament.

During the Gold Cup, the U.S. beat Trinidad and Tobago 5-0 on June 7, beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 on June 19, beat Haiti 2-1 on June 22, advanced past Costa Rica 2-2 (4-3 on penalty kicks) on June 29 and topped Guatemala 2-1 on July 2 to reach the final.

Pochettino has 10 wins in 15 matches since taking the job, a run that included a four-game losing streak going into the Gold Cup. Would another loss to Mexico – in the Gold Cup final – be a failure for Pochettino and USMNT?

“No, not at all. The fact that this team got there, I think it’s very valuable for Pochettino and his coaching staff,” Balboa said, adding it’s a prime opportunity for the players pushing for a roster spot to play for USMNT in the World Cup.

“Listen, nobody wants to lose. Is it a failure? I wouldn’t think it’s a failure at all. I think it’s just one of those games that it could go either way. One mistake could cost you the game. But at the end of the day, you can’t say one game that you lose to Mexico in the final, the tournament was a failure.”

Holden said he’s cautious to put a label like “failure” if this group of USMNT players fall to Mexico because “it would be me getting a little bit lost in the moment.”

This Gold Cup experience is about Pochettino finding his way as the USMNT coach.

It’s about players like Luna, who scored both goals against Guatemala, making a name for themselves.

It’s about others like forwards Brian White and Patrick Agyemang, midfielders Max Arfsten, Jack McGlynn and Sebastian Berhalter, defenders Chris Richards and Alex Freeman, and goalkeeper Matt Freese solidifying their chances to make the World Cup roster.

Holden believes a Gold Cup win could solidify USMNT’s belief in itself, and send a message to its pool of players that the club is heading in a clear direction under Pochettino’s leadership.

“That means: You fight like hell on Sunday, and you beat your fiercest rival, and you cap off a great month, and we have a great storyline to tell for the next year,” Holden said.

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Prominent Democrats sent messages of doom and gloom rather than celebration on July 4, drawing ire from a multitude of critics. Many of the messages included warnings about supposed threats to the country emanating from the Trump administration.

‘This Fourth of July, I am taking a moment to reflect. Things are hard right now. They are probably going to get worse before they get better,’ former Vice President Kamala Harris wrote in a post on X that included a photo of her and former first gentleman Doug Emhoff at the White House. ‘But I love our country — and when you love something, you fight for it. Together, we will continue to fight for the ideals of our nation.’

Many social media users were quick to point out that Harris cropped former President Joe Biden and former first lady Jill Biden out of the photo. Others took one of Harris’ famous phrases to mock her, saying that the country was ‘unburdened by what has been.’

Harris’ old boss, former President Joe Biden, posted a more mild message, while also encouraging Americans to ‘fight to maintain’ democracy.

Meanwhile, former President Barack Obama also chimed in with a warning of his own, saying that ‘core democratic principles seem to be continuously under attack.’ He argued that the word ‘we’ is the ‘single most powerful word in our democracy,’ and used his first presidential campaign slogan as one of his examples.

‘Independence Day is a reminder that America is not the project of any one person. The single most powerful word in our democracy is the word ‘We.’ ‘We The People.’ ‘We Shall Overcome.’ ‘Yes We Can.’ America is owned by no one. It belongs to all citizens. And at this moment in history—when core democratic principles seem to be continuously under attack, when too many people around the world have become cynical and disengaged—now is precisely the time to ask ourselves tough questions about how we can build our democracies and make them work in meaningful and practical ways for ordinary people,’ Obama wrote.

Xi Van Fleet, a survivor of Mao’s Cultural Revolution, responded saying, ‘We the People are taking our country back from those like you who despise America and work tirelessly to dismantle everything it stands for.’

Sen. Bernie Sanders appeared to support the anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ movement in his July 4 post.

‘On July 4, 1776, Americans said: No to Kings, No to Despotism. On July 4, 2025, all across the country, Americans say again: No to Kings, No to Despotism,’ Sanders wrote.

In response, several social media users pointed out that, unlike a king, President Donald Trump was elected.

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