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Torey Krug: Small Man, Enormous Heart, No Matter Whether He Returns To The NHL Or Not

Torey Krug (Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images)

St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong suggested on Wednesday that defenseman Torey Krug isn't expected to play in the NHL again due to an ankle injury that won't allow him to perform in the best league in the world.

That's sad, because anyone who has watched Krug over the years, knows it must be killing him inside to not be able to do what he has done so well for the Boston Bruinsand Blues since he came out of Michigan State University in the NCAA as an undersized, undrafted defenseman in 2012.

Despite being only 5-foot-9, Krug did not just survive in the NHL, but he thrived. And he gave every bit as well as he took. And he was able to do that because of a passion for the game and a level self-confidence that were both off the charts.

Watch today's video column for what made Krug such a good NHL player.

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2025 NBA Playoffs Panic Meter: Which of four home teams trailing in series should panic?

For the first time in NBA history, the four higher-seeded home teams lost Game 1 in their second-round series. Home teams are 0-5 so far in the postseason, which feels strange.

But is it reason to panic? Which fan base should be reaching for the panic button? Let’s rank all four home teams on our 2025 NBA Playoffs Panic Meter, with teams ranked on a scale of 1-5 sirens going off.

1) Cleveland Cavaliers

Where are the Cavaliers on the panic meter?

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It’s not simply that Cleveland is down 0-2 to Indiana, dropping both home games, or that the second loss was a gut-punch where the Cavaliers led by seven with 48 seconds left and found a way to blow it. No, the bigger concern is injuries.

Darius Garland’s value to the Cavaliers has never been more evident than when watching them struggle just to get the ball up the court under pressure and set up their offense. Everything has fallen to Donovan Mitchell, and while he scored 48 points in Game 2, it wasn’t enough. Garland has turf toe (a sprained big toe), which is painful, has already cost him the last four games, and usually lasts at least 10 days and sometimes weeks beyond this.

Evan Mobley would help with shot creation, especially in the half court, but he is fighting through a sprained ankle suffered in Game 1. De’Andre Hunter is out with what the team has diagnosed as a sprained finger, which it first described as a dislocation — he won’t be able to play until he can grip a ball.

The Cavaliers have to win Game 3 on the road, if they fall to 0-3 in the series it’s over. Cleveland needs Garland back at close to 100% to knock off an Indiana team that will be energized at home, but it doesn’t sound like he (or Mobley) are close to a return.

That’s reason to panic in Cleveland.

2) Boston Celtics

The level of panic drops considerably here — it’s just one game. Boston is not going to miss 45 3-pointers again this series.

The Knicks tried to employ some of the tactics the Magic used in their first-round series to chase the Celtics off the arc, but New York doesn’t have the personnel to pull it off. It only "worked" because Boston missed open shot after open shot.

Two little reasons for Celtics fans to at least know where the panic button is located, just in case. One is the health of Kristaps Porzingis, if the big man can’t play it makes life easier for the Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns, and it asks too much of Al Horford. Second, if the Knicks can just keep games close at the end (as they did in Game 1) they have Jalen Brunson. New York’s late-game execution has just been better.

3) Oklahoma City Thunder

No need to panic here, it’s just one loss, but that game raised this question: Are Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren ready for this moment? Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 but had to play in a crowd as the Nuggets tilted their defense toward him. As they should. Which means Williams and Holmgren have to make them pay as the secondary scorers and shot creators, but Williams shot 5-of-20 and Holmgren had a rough night late. If they struggle again in the next couple of games, then more sirens come into play.

4) Minnesota Timberwolves

No reason to panic. There can be mild concern about losing Game 1, but there are two reasons to remain optimistic. First, Stephen Curry is out for the next week and Golden State can’t replicate that offensive performance without him (Draymond Green isn’t hitting four 3-pointers again). Second, and more importantly, Anthony Edwards isn’t going to be that bad again. If he wants to be a top-five player in the league, a guy who gets MVP ballot votes, if he wants to be the face of the league (even if he says he doesn’t) that is all earned in the playoffs.

Minnesota isn’t going to score 88 points again. Game 2 will look very different.

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Basketball world reacts to Knicks' second-straight comeback win over Celtics

Basketball world reacts to Knicks' second-straight comeback win over Celtics originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Knicks-Celtics sequel was very similar to the original.

Same cast. Same plot. Same ending.

The Celtics go up by 20 in the third quarter, the Knicks chip away and take a late lead, Mikal Bridges makes a defensive stop to seal the win, the Knicks celebrate on Boston’s home court, and Knicks fans celebrate in the streets of Manhattan.

History repeated itself on Wednesday as the Knicks erased a 20-point deficit and defeated the Celtics 91-90 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. New York, which also erased a 20-point third quarter deficit in Game 1 en route to a 108-105 win, return to Madison Square Garden for Game 3 on Saturday afternoon with a 2-0 series lead over the heavily-favored defending champions.

Jalen Brunson made two free throws with 12.7 seconds left for a 91-90 lead. Jayson Tatum was then unable to get a shot off after being stifled by OG Anunoby and Bridges, who batted the ball away just before the buzzer.

That made the Knicks the first team to comeback from a 20-point deficit and win in consecutive postseason games, per TNT, and the first team to do so in any two games within a single series since at least 1998, according to ESPN.

The historic comebacks for New York and collapses for Boston caused an uproar on social media….

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NBA Playoff Ratings Up 6% Through First Round

The Minnesota Timberwolves may have robbed the NBA’s media partners of a quarterfinals collision between perennial ratings champs LeBron James and Steph Curry, but the league has momentum on its side as the second round of the playoffs begins to heat up.

According to Nielsen live-plus-same-day data, the opening salvo of the NBA postseason averaged 3.71 million viewers across ABC, ESPN and TNT/truTV, which marks a 6% increase versus the year-ago 3.49 million. The Disney networks did much of the heavy lifting in the first round, as deliveries across the 12 ABC/ESPN games were up 14% year-to-year, while the TNT Sports channels saw a more modest 4% lift as their long association with the NBA nears an end.

As expected, big-reach broadcaster ABC has put up the biggest audience numbers, averaging 5.55 million viewers for its half-dozen weekend airings, up 13% from last year’s analogous stretch (4.9 million). ABC carried the most-watched playoff outing thus far, as Minnesota’s 116-113 win over Los Angeles on April 27 averaged 7.35 million viewers in the Sunday matinee (3:30 p.m. ET) slot.

ABC also was the beneficiary of an opening weekend that coincided with the Easter holiday, a date that has proven to be a boon for out-of-home viewing. With an average draw of 5.57 million viewers, deliveries for the network’s April 20 doubleheader were up a massive 32%, as ABC reaped the benefit of all those additional impressions that were captured via brunches and family celebrations. TNT’s own Easter two-fer also enjoyed a considerable boost, as its evening and primetime telecasts were up 23% to 4.13 million viewers.

Bear in mind that there’s been a distinct uptick in out-of-home impressions since Nielsen expanded coverage of its OOH panel earlier this year. The combination of the more inclusive metric and the Easter lift conspired to help boost the opening weekend’s deliveries by 17%.

While the NBA didn’t maintain that big year-over-year surge for long—after the second weekend of the playoffs, the rate-of-change was +4%—the first round finished on a strong note, as TNT averaged 6.63 million viewers for Game 7 of the Warriors-Rockets series. With an average draw of 4.51 million viewers per game, that maxed-out set stands as the playoffs’ second-biggest attraction, trailing only the truncated Wolves-Lakers series (5.1 million).

From a ratings standpoint, the Lakers’ early exit is less than ideal, as it dashed hopes for a second-round showdown with Golden State. When James and Curry crossed swords in the 2023 playoffs, that six-game slate averaged 7.8 million viewers, peaking with 8.64 million for the deciding telecast on ESPN.

While there won’t be a Lakers-Warriors juggernaut to help boost the NBA’s numbers this time around—the 2023 series was the most-watched conference semifinals in 27 years—a lengthy Knicks-Celtics duel could go a long way toward staving off a letdown. While the ratings for Game 1 of the New York-Boston tilt have yet to be issued, the rekindled rivalry between these two major-market franchises guarantees that at least one high-profile team will punch its ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Together, the combined reach of the nation’s largest media market (New York boasts 7.49 million TV households) and the No. 9 DMA (2.58 million) translates into a hometown rooting interest for 8% of all U.S. TV homes. All told, the Eastern time zone is home to 48% of all TV users.

Out West, any best-case scenario involves Curry and the Warriors advancing to the Finals. The rest of the field is littered with smaller-market clubs, with top seed Oklahoma repping a market with 762,700 TV homes, giving the Thunder 40% of the local reach of the Nuggets and Timberwolves.

Coverage of the NBA playoffs continues Wednesday night with Game 2 of Knicks-Celtics tipping off at 7 p.m. ET, followed by Nuggets-Thunder in the 9:30 p.m. slot. Both games will be carried by TNT/truTV.

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The Walking Wounded: NHL Stars Hit The Ground Running After Long Injuries

Matthew Tkachuk (John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images)

When we think of NHL players returning from injury just in time to help their team in the playoffs, we usually think of Patrick Kane, Nikita Kucherov or Mark Stone. 

Those three players seem to evoke the most wrath from rival fan bases after their teams discovered new ways of pumping up their playoff rosters by leveraging long-term injured reserve to unprecedented levels.

Though he is still dealing with chronic issues, Stone only missed two games after Christmas this year. His 66 games played were the most for him since the year he was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights, 2018-19. And Vegas was pretty healthy this year. William Karlsson missed two months, but he was back by late March, just before Shea Theodore returned from the arm injury he suffered at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Elsewhere, though, other teams got some big boosts from less-familiar faces in Round 1. Here’s a look at some of the most impactful injury returns:

Gabriel Landeskog, LW, Colorado Avalanche

His team didn’t advance, but Landeskog’s return after three grueling years of surgeries and rehab was the feel-good story of the first round. Best of all, the Colorado Avalanche captain played just like he always has, with an aggressive jolt of energy.

Landeskog averaged a solid 17:13 of ice time after his Game 3 return. He finished with four points and a plus-four over five games.

Matthew Tkachuk, LW, Florida Panthers

A groin injury at the 4 Nations tournament ended Tkachuk’s regular season at 52 games. But the super-pest returned with a bang in Game 1, setting the tone for the Panthers with three power-play points on the way to a 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning – in Tampa, no less.

Starting Round 2, Tkachuk saw a playoff-high 19:06 of ice time in Game 1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s now up to six points in six games.

As for Matthew’s brother, Brady Tkachuk, his playoffs are over, but he collected seven points against the Leafs while battling a hip issue that had nagged him since 4 Nations and an upper-body problem that cost him eight games near the end of the year.

NHL Playoff Predictions 2025: Which East Teams Will Win Round 2? Expect A Leafs And Panthers Game 7NHL Playoff Predictions 2025: Which East Teams Will Win Round 2? Expect A Leafs And Panthers Game 7The second round of the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs starts Monday, so it’s time to predict them.

Evander Kane, John Klingberg, Trent Frederic, Edmonton Oilers

After missing the entire regular season while he got a laundry list of ailments addressed, Kane added another threat to the Edmonton offense when he returned in Game 2 of the first round.

It didn’t take long for him to get his feet under him. He chipped in a goal and an assist to help the Oilers get their first win of the series in Game 3, added another in Game 5, and delivered the pass that set up the game-winner from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in Game 1 of the second round against Vegas.

If Kane’s return has been welcome, John Klingberg’s early contributions have been downright surprising. His 2023-24 season lasted barely a month before he was shut down for hip surgery, and when he signed with Edmonton in January, he managed just 11 regular-season games. But Klingberg also joined the Oilers’ series against the Kings in Game 2 and instantly formed an airtight shut-down defense pairing with Jake Walman.

Then there’s Trent Frederic, essentially acquired on spec from the Boston Bruins at the deadline while he was out with a lower-body issue. The big 27-year-old only logged 7:10 of ice time in one game with the Oilers before the end of the regular season. But he was ready for Game 1 and has brought a dose of bottom-six grit that the Oilers didn’t have elsewhere in their lineup.

Tyler Seguin, C, Dallas Stars

Still no Miro Heiskanen for the Stars, but Jason Robertson could return from a Game 82 knee injury for Game 1 against Winnipeg on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Tyler Seguin has been chipping in, even though his body has been through some things over the last few years.

After essentially duct-taping himself together to get to the Stanley Cup final in the 2020 bubble, Seguin missed almost the entire 2020-21 season following hip surgery. This year, he went under the knife for a hip issue again in December, but he looked like he hadn’t missed a beat when he put up an assist in his return for the last game of the regular season.

In Round 1, Seguin averaged 14:55 a game and chipped in four points, including the overtime-winner in Game 3. 

Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.