There are 48 days until the New Jersey Devils drop the puck on a new season. In honor of the countdown, it’s fitting to highlight No. 48 himself—left winger Brian Halonen.
Halonen’s journey hasn’t been the traditional NHL path. Undrafted out of college, the 26-year-old forward signed with New Jersey as a free agent on March 28, 2022, after four standout seasons at Michigan Tech. He began his pro career in Utica with the Devils’ AHL affiliate, where he’s developed into one of the Comets’ most reliable offensive weapons.
At 6 feet tall and on a two-year, $1.55 million contract, Halonen has split time between the NHL and AHL. Over the past two seasons, he’s appeared in four games for New Jersey, logging 11:06 of total ice time. The bulk of his work, though, has come in the AHL—where last year he put together his best professional season yet: 62 games, 27 goals, 13 assists, and 40 points. That performance earned him the Comets’ Team MVP Award for 2024–25.
Despite his success in Utica, Halonen has yet to earn a meaningful NHL opportunity. Injuries to Jack Hughes, Curtis Lazar, and Nathan Bastian last season forced the Devils to dip into their depth, calling up players like Nolan Foote and Justin Dowling—but Halonen never got the call.
That decision is puzzling, given the Devils’ need for secondary scoring and the winger’s proven ability to produce. For a team that has repeatedly relied on its AHL depth to weather mid-season injuries, Halonen remains an underutilized option.
With just 48 days left until puck drop, perhaps this is the year New Jersey finally leans on Halonen. His scoring touch and steady play could make him exactly the type of depth piece the Devils need.
Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, who has been solid at the plate again this season, has been criticized for his play in right field, leading some fans to wonder why he isn't playing left field. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
When will the Dodgers' hierarchy finally come to the same conclusion as everyone else in Dodger nation? Teoscar Hernández is a hack in right field, Michael Conforto needs a one-way ticket to the waiver wire and the Dodgers are a better team with Mookie Betts in right field.
Ron Yukelson San Luis Obispo
Everyone is blaming Teoscar Hernández for the Monday night loss to the Rockies. It’s not Teoscar’s fault. A manager’s job is to put his players in the best position to perform at their best, Teoscar is not a right fielder, he’s better in left field. Everyone thinks that these are professional players and they should be able to play any position. Yeah, they can play any position, but it may not be their best performance. Quit juggling the players around and put them where they will perform at their best.
Paul Kawaguchi Rosemead
Teoscar Hernández was singled out for criticism over his poor defense in a game the Dodgers lost to the Rockies. Yes, he didn't do well in that game, but he has been very productive with his bat, with 74 RBIs and 20 home runs. Instead of making him the scapegoat for losing a game, why not point out the often awful bullpen performances. We are ahead in a game, then the relievers come in and blow the lead. They do this far more than Teoscar commits errors.
Deborah R. Ishida Beverly Hills
If the Dodgers crashed the Little League World Series, no one would blink. Like the kids, their leather is leaky, their arms are toast, their best hitter is their best pitcher, their silly celebrations are pure playground — shimmy shakes and sunflower seed showers. What's missing? A team mom and the minivan for postgame DQ runs.
Steve Ross Carmel
I think the heat is getting to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. Not only was Michael Conforto in the lineup on Thursday with his .190 batting average but he was batting cleanup with his nine home runs and 27 RBIs while Andy Pages was further down the batting order. Since Shohei Ohtani was not in the lineup, I was shocked that the Dodgers scored nine runs.
Jeff Hershow Woodland Hills
Fallen Angels
Once again, here we are — August, staring down the end of another miserable season with the Angels circling the drain. Same story, different year. We fans sit around pretending it’ll turn out differently, and yet, by the time the standings settle, the Angels are once again headed for the basement of the division.
The talent’s been wasted, the momentum squandered, and hope has been crushed before Labor Day. The truth is, it isn’t just bad luck or a rough patch. The rot starts at the top. Owner Arte Moreno has turned what should be one of baseball’s marquee franchises into a punchline. His record speaks for itself: no postseason wins in more than a decade, a revolving door of managers and GMs, and enough ill-conceived signings to keep sports talk radio in business for years.
The saddest part? Fans keep showing up, hoping for change, while Moreno cashes the checks and delivers mediocrity. Anaheim deserves better. The players deserve better. Baseball deserves better.
Until ownership changes — or at least changes its attitude — don’t expect the Angels to fly. They’re grounded, and it looks like they’re comfortable staying that way.
Brian Hews Orange
Trip to nowhere
It's so ironic that Frank McCourt's Gondola to Dodger Stadium project is hopelessly mired in red-tape. After all, under his brilliant leadership as owner, all he did was drive the franchise into the red!
Jack Wolf Los Angeles
Does anyone think that anything Frank McCourt would do for Los Angeles is for anyone else but himself? It’s just another expensive project with funds L.A. could use for any number of other essential projects. Put this proposal in the parking lot where he and it belong.
Bob Goldstone Corona Del Mar
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San Diego's Luis Arráez celebrates in front of Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts after hitting a double in the eighth inning of the Padres' 2-1 win Friday at Petco Park. (Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
The home team was one strike from victory Friday night, when the Petco Park video board suddenly erupted in hues of pink and mint, flashing the preferred accompaniment to any game against the Dodgers: BEAT LA.
Then came the 102-mph fastball, then a swing and a miss, and the San Diego Padres had indeed beaten the Dodgers.
For Dodgers fans who thought the National League West had been won last weekend at Dodger Stadium, this just in from San Diego: The NL West is tied.
These were words in this publication just five days ago: “The Dodgers now lead the National League West by two games, but it feels like 20.”
The Dodgers had just swept the Padres, their only competition for the division title. The Dodgers were 8-2 against the Padres this season. There was a blue wave of emotion. The thing that happened last is the thing you remember best.
“It’s natural,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “That’s the great thing about fandom. People get excited. That’s a great thing about sports.”
The feeling in the clubhouse last weekend?
“In here? We played a great series, but there’s still a lot of baseball left to play,” Roberts said. “It wasn’t going to be won or lost then, and it’s not going to be won or lost this weekend.”
The trouble is not with the emotion. The trouble is with the schedule.
The number of games left after this weekend: 31. The number of Dodgers-Padres games left after this weekend: 0.
This is baseball’s best rivalry, with a division title and potential first-round playoff bye on the line. The Dodgers and Padres should be facing each other to wrap up the season, with all that emotion bursting forth.
Instead, the Dodgers finish the regular season against another traditional rival, the (checks notes) Seattle Mariners.
There has been plenty of emotion among the Dodgers and Padres fan bases already this year, mostly in the form of angst.
The Dodgers won the winter, and Padres fans wondered why their team was not keeping up with the competition.
The Padres won the trade deadline, and Dodgers fans wondered why their team was not keeping up with the competition.
For the Dodgers, the cliche is about to be put to a real-life test: Getting a player off the injured list is just like getting a player in a trade.
Reliever Tanner Scott was activated Friday. Reliever Kirby Yates could be activated as soon as Saturday.
On Friday, infielder Alex Freeland hit his first major league home run, but infielder Buddy Kennedy (.287 OPS) went hitless, and the Dodgers burned their backup catcher to bat for him. They trusted outfielder Justin Dean to pinch-run and play center field, but not to bat.
Alex Freeland celebrates after hitting a solo home run in the third inning of a 2-1 loss to the Padres on Friday. (Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
“This is our club right now,” Roberts said. “We have guys coming back.”
On a hot August night, Petco Park was its usual lively self, with its usual sellout crowd, with Dodgers fans drowning out chants of “Let’s Go Padres” and Padres fans returning the favor at the sound of “Let’s Go Dodgers.”
Amid intensity fit for October, the Dodgers and Padres each let a strong starting pitcher — Blake Snell for L.A., Yu Darvish for San Diego — continue rather than reflexively remove him for the third time through the lineup.
How do you win in October, with pitchers like Snell and Darvish lined up?
Is it with the home run?
Only one major league team has more home runs than the Dodgers. The Dodgers scored their only run Friday on a home run.
Is it with small ball?
Only one major league team has fewer home runs than the Padres. The Padres scored both their runs in one inning Friday, with a rally that included three singles, a walk, a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly.
The Padres dropped three sacrifice bunts Friday. They have 40 this season, the most in the majors. The Dodgers have eight, the fewest of any NL team.
Before the game, I spoke with Mason Miller, the former Athletics All-Star closer turned Padres eighth-inning setup man. To this point in his career, Miller said, the biggest game of his career has been closing the A’s final game in Oakland last September.
“I think I said it after that game: until I play in the playoffs, that will probably be my all-time baseball memory,” Miller said. “Now it doesn’t seem like I’ll have to wait that much longer to get that playoff taste.”
Not much longer at all. As of Friday morning, Baseball Prospectus put the Dodgers’ chance of making the playoffs at 99.8% and the Padres’ chance at 99.6%.
Maybe this weekend won’t mark the last Dodgers-Padres game this season. What we really want is the first NL Championship Series between the Dodgers and the Padres, with the winner advancing to the World Series: SoCal vs. the World.
Welcome to The Hockey News - Vancouver Canucks site’s player preview series for the 2025–26 season. In these articles, we’ll preview the players who are expected to play for the Canucks in the 2025–26 season. This edition will cover Birmingham, Michigan native Max Sasson.
Sasson’s 2024–25 Season
The 2024-25 season was very successful for Sasson overall. He played his first NHL game, scored his first handful of NHL points, as well as winning the Calder Cup with the Abbotsford Canucks. Sasson scored his first NHL point in his first game, assisting on Teddy Blueger’s second period goal in an eventual 4–3 win over the Ottawa Senators. He would score his first NHL a few weeks later, in a 5–1 home loss to the Boston Bruins.
Sasson was a restricted free agent heading into the offseason, when he re-signed with the Canucks on a one-year, one-way contract for $775k. The Canucks front office likely hopes he is able to expand on his seven points (3 goals, 4 assists) from his prior NHL campaign, as well as incorporating his championship momentum from the Calder Cup in the big leagues.
Sasson’s 2024–25 Letter Grade
For his efforts this past season, Sasson earned a B+ letter grade, thanks to his speed, grit, versatility, and perseverance. He became a quick fan favourite, while also becoming a reliable bottom-six forward for the coaching staff with his NHL minutes.
Though the Vancouver coaching staff has changed quite a bit from the previous season, I expect that the reputation Sasson earned will carry forward as Adam Foote minds the bench. While Sasson is on a one-way contract, he is still exempt from waivers, so even if he doesn’t crack the opening night line-up in Vancouver, it is likely he will spend time in the NHL regardless.
Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.
Police are on alert for Sunday’s Premier League match after Nottingham Forest had a hand in the Eagles’ demotion
Crystal Palace against Nottingham Forest isn’t usually a Premier League fixture that would have the Metropolitan police on red alert. But after a summer spent at each other’s throats at the court of arbitration for sport as well as on social media over Uefa’s decision to demote Palace from the Europa League to the Conference League, to Forest’s advantage, supporters of both clubs are preparing to come face-to-face on Sunday afternoon.
“Forest aren’t our rivals – they’re nothing to us,” says the Palace fan Chris Waters. “But all of a sudden this game has a bitter edge to it.” Sanad Attia, AKA Wolfie, who presents the Forest Fan TV YouTube channel, says: “We’ve never really had any kind of issue with Palace – I was quite happy for them winning the FA Cup. But they have been wanting to blame everyone but themselves. And in particular, Forest and Evangelos Maranakis.”
Battle between real and fake is an active front in sport and the Newcastle striker transfer saga is vast but strangely hollow
Depraved. Sickening. Toxic. Foul, but also pestilent. The end of days? That last thing wasn’t the end of days. This right here is the end of days.
But is it though? Is it really? Going on a summer holiday is always a bit strange when your life involves staring at sport. Taking a break just as football is preparing to enter its own sweaty, steamy eight-month meat pocket is extra tough. Re-engagement can be difficult. Oh look. There’s football hiding behind a bush in the car park again, frazzled and wired from staying up drinking crystal meth negronis and writing a presentation about merging marketing and sales, all the while gripped with a gathering sense of horror that it’s just not possible.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani reacts after drawing a walk during the sixth inning of a 2-1 loss to the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Friday night. (Orlando Ramirez / Associated Press)
Five days ago, the Dodgers finally seemed to be building some late-season momentum.
In the span of a week, however, they have once again squandered any real forward progress.
Coming off a sweep of the San Diego Padres at home last weekend, the Dodgers appeared to be in strong position for the stretch run. They’d built a two-game lead in the National League West. They had the last-place Colorado Rockies up next on the schedule. And even with a trip to San Diego looming after that, they were primed to potentially take a stranglehold in the standings.
Instead, the team split its four-game set in Denver, giving a game back to the Padres while San Diego took three of four from the San Francisco Giants in the same span.
Then, in Friday’s series-opener at Petco Park, the Padres punched back in a rivalry the Dodgers had owned for most of this season, winning 2-1 to draw even for first place in the National League West.
"I think when you're in it, you don't really have the time to think about disappointment and what could've been,” manager Dave Roberts said of so quickly squandering a division lead they worked so hard last weekend to build.
“You've got to just go out there and deal with what's going on right now. We're tied in the standings and we've got to win a game tomorrow. There's just no other way to look at it."
Before Friday, beating the Padres (73-56) was the one thing this year’s underwhelming Dodgers team had consistently done well. They had taken eight of the previous 10 matchups. Their sweep at Dodger Stadium last week felt like a statement, one that looked to have the club poised to break out of an extended summer funk.
But after a disappointing week against the Rockies, the Dodgers (73-56) once again fell flat in front of a sold-out Petco Park crowd. They managed just three hits, and only one before a failed rally in the top of the ninth inning. They got seven productive innings out of Blake Snell, yet couldn’t get him off the hook for a standings-swinging loss.
“It’s hard for us, not giving him the support he deserved,” outfielder Teoscar Hernández said. “But it’s baseball. He threw the ball really good today. We didn’t get the job done.”
Rookie infielder Alex Freeland hit his first career home run in the third inning, opening the scoring on a hanging sweeper from Yu Darvish. But after that, the veteran Japanese right-hander went on the attack, retiring 10 of the final 11 batters he faced in a dominant six-inning, one-walk, five-strikeout start.
“It’s just one of those days you just tip your cap,” Hernández said of Darvish, who kept the Dodgers guessing with his unpredictable seven-pitch repertoire. “You don’t know where to look. You don’t know what pitches to look for. He was using all the pitches today. Hitting the spot, corners really good with all of it.”
Snell, meanwhile, started strong in his first outing at Petco Park since leaving the Padres at the end of 2023. Through three innings, he had silenced his former club beneath a barrage of curveballs, changeups and sliders, showing more progress in his fourth start back from a three-month shoulder injury.
Dodgers starting pitcher Blake Snell delivers during the first inning Friday against the Padres. (Orlando Ramirez / Associated Press)
"I thought Blake was fantastic tonight,” Roberts said of Snell, who left the ballpark immediately after the game for the birth of his second child. “Just a really stellar performance.”
A turning point, however, arose at the end of the third.
With Ramón Laureano on second with two outs, Snell thought he had struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. on a curveball in the dirt. Tatis and Laureano evidently thought the same, with Tatis briefly starting toward the dugout and Laureano walking casually off second. But at first base, umpire Chris Guccione ruled that Tatis checked his swing. The play was still live. And catcher Will Smith alertly threw to third, where Laureano was hung out to dry.
That might have ended the inning. But it also meant Tatis was back at the plate to begin the fourth. This time, the Padres star managed to work a walk from what started as an 0-2 count. And from there, the home side built a rally.
Luis Arráez executed a sacrifice bunt (one of three the Padres executed in an apparent pre-determined game plan). Manny Machado followed with an RBI single. Ryan O’Hearn moved him to third with another base hit. Xander Bogaerts then flipped the score with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-1.
“We have a lot of different styles. ... We can beat the other team in a lot of different ways,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “Tonight, it was more of an old-fashioned recipe.”
Snell was excellent the rest of the way, completing seven innings for the first time in his Dodgers career with six hits, two walks and five strikeouts.
Alas, it didn’t matter.
Because even after Darvish left the game, the Dodgers’ offense couldn’t claw back.
Their best opportunity came in the eighth, when hard-throwing Padres deadline acquisition Mason Miller walked Michael Conforto and Freeland to create a jam. With one out, however, Dalton Rushing came to the plate as a pinch-hitter, rolled a ground ball on a 101-mph fastball to the right side, and couldn’t get to first in time to beat out a double play (he was initially called safe, but a Padres challenge overturned the call).
The inning ended with Shohei Ohtani waiting on deck. And while he came up to lead off the ninth, he watched a towering fly ball die at the warning track.
“We were fighting,” Roberts said. “Tonight was one of those things where good pitching beat good hitting."
The Dodgers nonetheless mounted one last rally, recording their first hits since Freeland’s homer on singles from Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman against Padres closer Robert Suarez. But with runners on the corners, Hernández struck out to end the game — leaving the Dodgers once again on the back foot, just days after they had finally seemed to have found solid ground.
“Obviously, we’re fighting for the division, but this one is in the past,” Hernández said. “One day you have it. Next day you don’t. You just gotta grind through it, and keep playing.”
Despite a third consecutive season of disappointment in 2024-25, there were still a few bright spots for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Captain Sidney Crosby continued to show why he is still one of the best active players in the game - and one of the greatest of all time - by registering his record-breaking 20th consecutive point-per-game season. Wingers Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust both cracked the 30-goal plateau and enjoyed career years. Young prospects in Owen Pickering, Rutger McGroarty, and Ville Koivunen came up and showed a lot of promise, giving the Penguins’ future outlook a boost.
But another player who flew a bit under-the-radar was forward Blake Lizotte.
Lizotte, 27, was signed to a two-year deal worth $1.85 million annually by the Penguins in the summer of 2024. He spent his previous six NHL seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, establishing himself as a reliable, speedy, gritty bottom-six forward with a touch of offensive upside.
He brought much of that same energy to the Penguins last season despite an unfortunate run of injuries in the early part of the season, and he ended up with 11 goals and 20 points in 59 games - which are respectable numbers for a role player. And - interestingly enough - he registered a good chunk of those points in a brief elevated role as third-line center in late November into early December, registering five goals and nine points in a nine-game stretch between now-departed wingers Michael Bunting and Anthony Beauvillier.
Lizotte was taken out of that role rather abruptly, though, and the Penguins didn’t look back. And, given their potential roster situation heading into 2025-26, what should folks expect to see from the tenacious 5-foot-9, 173-pound center this season?
It’s safe to say that Lizotte is probably not going to see much of an elevated role beyond the fourth line, even if he showed flashes of capability last season. With Rust and Rakell still on the roster as of now, the Penguins simply have too much forward depth for him to be afforded that opportunity. Guys like Tommy Novak, Anthony Mantha, and Philip Tomasino are more likely to occupy those roles, and prospects like McGroarty, Koivunen, and Filip Hallander will also be in the mix.
In other words, Lizotte will likely resume his post as fourth-line center. But, one big difference this season in comparison to last is that he may actually have the opportunity to play with linemates who could, potentially, bring out more of the offensive upside in his game.
Last season, Lizotte largely played with Noel Acciari and the likes of Danton Heinen and Kevin Hayes. While guys like Acciari, Heinen, and Hayes bring their own respective sets of skills to a lineup, one thing they didn’t bring was footspeed, which is an element that Lizotte thrives off of.
Ideally, Lizotte would be centering an energy fourth line: One that is capable of getting the job done defensively but also turning things around quickly the other way. That simply wasn’t possible with the guys he was playing with for most of last season.
This season should be a different story, however - especially if some of the younger guys make a serious push for the roster out of training camp, which would force the hand of Penguins’ management to offload some of the older bottom-six veterans who won’t provide as much future-focused value.
Of course, Lizotte himself could be a casualty of that situation. The reality is that he does have more trade value than some of the other guys in similar roles who would face the same predicament. But Lizotte also provides more value to the Penguins as a player, which is something they’d have to consider should the need arise.
Penguins Forward Could Become Popular Trade TargetIt is no secret that the Pittsburgh Penguins are open to making trades right now as they continue to retool their roster. Bryan Rust, Erik Karlsson, and Rickard Rakell are three notable names who have been discussed heavily in the rumor mill this off-season. However, with the Penguins willing to make changes, it is fair to wonder if some of their depth players could end up moved, whether that is during the summer or the season.
Assuming Lizotte would stick around, however, he may get the opportunity to have a full season next to Dewar - who displayed some chemistry with Lizotte last season and also plays a speed game - and a guy like Justin Brazeau, who the Penguins signed out of free agency as an energy player. And if things shake out a bit differently, even guys like Tomasino or Hallander might drop down into a fourth-line role, which would provide some offensive upside for the line.
Overall, Lizotte should be in a much better position this season to have better, more consistent linemates as well as more consistent deployment. Hopefully, his health will hold up, too, as he was on a 16-goal, 28-point pace - which would have represented one of his two most productive NHL seasons.
He will still block a lot of shots. He will still kill penalties with relative ease. He will still throw his body and play the responsible defensive game that folks became accustomed to seeing last season. But, hopefully, some fresh linemates will be able to solidify Lizotte's line as a solid two-way threat and elevate his offensive game.
