Canada beats Team USA in 4 Nations Face-Off championship thriller; Victor Wembanyama out for season

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Good morning to all, but especially to …

CANADA

An incredible 4 Nations Face-Off came to an incredible end, thanks to an incredible player. Connor McDavid scored a blistering shot to the upper corner 8:18 into overtime to lift Canada over Team USA, 3-2, in the championship.

Of course, McDavid doesn’t even get that chance if not for Jordan Binnington. The up-and-down Blues goalie pulled off a performance reminiscent of his 2019 Stanley Cup Game 7 — in the very same building, in fact — stonewalling several great chances for the Americans, including two from goal-scorer extraordinaire Auston Matthews.

McDavid’s winner also conjures up the happy memory of Sidney Crosby‘s overtime winner against the U.S. in the 2010 Winter Olympics gold-medal game. History, it turns out, has a way of repeating itself.

But this isn’t about history. This is about the future, where the game is going. The arrow is very much pointing up, making the sport of hockey as a whole a big winner from the past week and a half, Chris Bengel writes.

• Bengel: “Regardless of what country you were pulling for, hockey fans were by far one of the biggest winners. After all, there hasn’t been a best-on-best tournament in the hockey world since the World Cup of Hockey back in 2016. NHL players, such as McDavid, Auston Matthews, and Nathan MacKinnon, hadn’t been able to suit up for their respective countries since entering the league prior to this event.”

Honorable mentions

• The UEFA Champions League Round of 16 draw took place on Friday morning.
• Could MLB copy the 4 Nations Face-Off? What about USMNT vs. Canada soccer?
• The Yankees extended Aaron Boone through 2027.
• Juan Soto gave Brett Baty a new car for allowing him to wear No. 22.
• Mike Trout and Freddie Freeman gave memorabilia to young fans who lost their collections in the Los Angeles wildfires.
• The automatic ball-strike challenge system is here (for spring training), and Cody Poteet won the first challenge.
• Lawrence Butler is in extension talks with the Athletics.
• The Pirates signed Andrew Heaney.
• The Chargers extended Elijah Molden.
• The USWNT beat Colombia, 2-0, to open the SheBelieves Cup.
• Ahead of another huge college basketball weekend, I enjoyed Matt Norlander’s story on Maryland star Derik Queen and David Cobb’s inside look at the travel travails of teams in super conferences.
• Here’s Isabel Gonzalez’s look at No. 1 Notre Dame and its X-factors.
• A’ja Wilson wants to spend her entire career with the Aces.
• It’s a big weekend in boxing, headlined by Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol for the light heavyweight title and Martin Bakole vs. Joseph Parker after Daniel Dubois fell ill. Here are our best bets.
• Clinton Portis joined DeSean Jackson‘s staff at Delaware State.
• Fran Dunphy will retire at the end of the season.
• Denver is getting an NWSL team. What will it be named?

And not such a good morning for …

VICTOR WEMBANYAMA AND THE SAN ANTONIO SPURS

Victor Wembanyama‘s season is over. The Spurs star was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder. He had experienced low energy recently, and after things didn’t improve following a vacation after All-Star Weekend, he underwent tests revealing the condition.

• Deep vein thrombosis is the development of a blood clot in veins deep in your body because the vein is injured or the blood flowing through it is “too sluggish,” per the Cleveland Clinic. Possible causes include long periods of inactivity — as an NBA player, Wembanyama takes long plane rides, for example — or dehydration. Here’s our full explanation.
• The Spurs are optimistic this is a one-time issue, which is very, very good news. Other NBA players have had DVT, most notably Chris Bosh, whose condition ended up being career-ending. On the other hand, Brandon Ingram had season-ending DVT in 2019, had surgery and won Most Improved Player the next season.

Wembanyama is on a superstar track, if he’s not there already. He’s averaging 24.3 points, 11 rebounds and a league-leading 3.8 blocks. The only other players to do that in a whole season are Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Keep in mind that Wembanyama just turned 21.

Obviously this is a huge blow for the Spurs. Sam Quinn looked at three ripple effects from the injury, including …

• Quinn: “The Spurs are likely headed for the lottery — That may not be what the Spurs were planning when they traded for Fox, but it’s obviously not a bad place to be. This is a very strong draft class, and if Wembanyama continues to progress as he has thus far, the Spurs won’t be using their own first-round pick in the lottery again for quite some time. It never hurts to add one extra blue-chip talent.”

It also re-opens the Defensive Player of the Year race, which Wembanyama had all but clinched. Players must play 65 games to be eligible for individual awards; Wembanyama has played 46. Jaren Jackson Jr. and Evan Mobley are among the betting favorites after Wembanyama’s injury, but Sam likes a different player on one of the league’s best teams.

Not so honorable mentions

• Joel Embiid expressed frustration about his ongoing knee issues.
• Trae Young was not happy with the officiating in the Hawks‘ loss to the Magic.
• Anthony Davis (groin strain) is out at least two more weeks.
• Bobby Portis was suspended 25 games for taking a banned substance.
• It sounds like Shedeur Sanders won’t be at the NFL Draft.
• Cam Jurgens had back surgery, but he’s expected back by training camp.
• The Saints hired Doug Nussmeier as offensive coordinator.
• These NFL teams will be hit hard in free agency.
• Christian Pulisic denied any rift between him and coach Sergio Conceicao.
• Dennis Gates told fans not to rush the court moments before No. 15 Missouri beat No. 4 Alabama. He’s right … but c’mon, SEC, do we really need these fines?
• Texas is the latest team to eliminate its spring game.
• Carson Beck had two of his cars stolen.

Ranking top 25 NBA players this season, plus who will make difference during stretch run?

The NBA got fully back underway last night post-All-Star break, and with the regular season roughly two-thirds of the way over, Brad Botkin ranked the league’s top 25 players so far.

The player ranked No. 1 isn’t the current MVP favorite.

• Botkin: “Nikola Jokic — He’s been the best player not just this season, but this is one of the greatest seasons we’ve ever seen from anyone at any time. Jokić is on pace for the highest PER in history. He’s third in points per game, second in assists, fourth in rebounds and fourth in steals. The Nuggets’ point differential plummets by 24 points per 100 possessions when he leaves the court.”

That seems like a good argument for MVP for me, though it’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (No. 2 on Brad’s list) who currently has that title.

Not on that list? Luka Doncic, who missed much of the season with injury and is still finding his footing playing for the Lakers alongside LeBron James. But Doncic leads Colin Ward-Henninger’s list of players who could define the stretch run. Also on that list is …

• Ward-Henninger: “Chet Holmgren — The Thunder were arguably the best team in the NBA even without Holmgren, but with him they can not only distance themselves from any Western Conference competition, but can also give themselves a much better shot against any of their potential Finals opponents from the East. … Holmgren takes the Thunder from a great defensive team to a virtually impenetrable one.”

2024 NFL season grades

Four teams earned grades in the “A” range in Bryan DeArdo’s 2024 NFL grades. Three — the Eagles, Chiefs and Commanders — were probably pretty easy guesses. The fourth? Maybe not as obviously, but certainly well-deserved.

• DeArdo: “Broncos — A- | Denver’s 2024 season started with some criticism after the team paid Russell Wilson $39 million to play for the Steelers. Few people were discussing that by season’s end, however, as rookie quarterback Bo Nix enjoyed an exceptional campaign while helping the Broncos snap their nine-year playoff drought.”

Denver bet really big on Sean Payton, who in turn bet big on Nix. Both delivered.

On the other end of the spectrum, six teams got an “F.” Yikes!

What we’re watching this weekend

Friday

Knicks at Cavaliers, 7 p.m. on ESPN
No. 16 Marquette at Villanova, 7 p.m. on FS1
No. 14 Michigan State at No. 12 Michigan (M), 8 p.m. on Fox
Timberwolves at Rockets, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN

Saturday

No. 6 Tennessee at No. 7 Texas A&M (M), noon on ESPN
Oregon at No. 11 Wisconsin (M), noon on Fox
Wild at Red Wings, 12:30 p.m. on ABC
No. 8 Iowa State at No. 5 Houston (M), 2 p.m. on ESPN
Capitals at Penguins, 3 p.m. on ABC
Georgia at No. 1 Auburn (M), 4 p.m. on ESPN
Oklahoma State at No. 23 Kansas (M), 4 p.m. on CBS
No. 17 Kentucky at No. 4 Alabama (M), 6 p.m. on ESPN
No. 3 Duke vs. Illinois (M), 8 p.m. on Fox
Lakers at Nuggets, 8:30 p.m. on ABC

Sunday

UConn at No. 10 St. John’s (M), noon on Fox
No. 1 Notre Dame at No. 13 NC State (W), noon on BTN
No. 17 West Virginia at No. 10 TCU (W), noon on ESPN2
Knicks at Celtics, 1 p.m. on ABC
Oilers at Capitals, 1 p.m. on TNT/truTV
No. 13 Purdue at Indiana (M), 1:30 p.m. on CBS
No. 3 UCLA at Iowa (W), 2 p.m. on Peacock
No. 9 North Carolina at Louisville (W), 2 p.m. on ESPN
Mavericks at Warriors, 3:30 p.m. on ABC
Rangers at Penguins, 3:30 p.m. on TNT/truTV
No. 25 Illinois at No. 4 USC (W), 4 p.m. on FS1
No. 7 LSU at No. 14 Kentucky (W), 4 p.m. on ESPN
USWNT vs. Australia, 5 p.m. on TBS
Grizzlies at Cavaliers, 7 p.m. on ESPN
Thunder at Timberwolves, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN