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When Brad Gushue announced he would retire at the end of the 2025-26 season last September, it set up a poetic 23rd and final Brier appearance. 

It’s poetic for a couple reasons: First, because it’s in his hometown of St. John’s, Newfoundland, and second, it’s where he won the first of his record-holding six Brier championships as a skip. 

Gushue has played in every big game possible. An Olympic gold-medal game, world championship final, now 269 Brier games, 190 of which are wins — both are the most of all time — but yet, the butterflies got to him before taking the ice to open this year’s Brier.

“I haven’t been this nervous in a long time,” Gushue said to a Curling Canada official as fans entered the building on mics picked up by the broadcast.

It followed with player introductions, usually a time when fans are still grabbing their snacks and drinks before reaching their seats at some point during the opening end. 

Not this time. The sold-out crowd understood the moment, and when Gushue’s team was introduced, they gave him a long standing ovation — likely the first of many over the next week.

The building got loud immediately after as Gushue scored a quick deuce in the first end. 

However, for the following five ends the crowd was taken out of the game as Quebec’s team led by skip Jean-Michel Menard was the only rink to score. The game was even at 2-2.

In the seventh end though, the crowd erupted as Gushue hung a four on the board after a miss by Quebec’s fourth-stone thrower Felix Asselin left an open draw to the four-foot. 

We’re two days into the 2026 Montana’s Brier in St. John’s, and the crowds are really starting to bring the heat.

Everyone wants to be a part of Brad Gushue’s final Brier, and as a result, two of the first three draws have been sold out. Which is great for the sport, but hard for the ice technicians.

With the arena packed full on Saturday night, the curlers across all four sheets battled unusual ice conditions because the building was so warm that the ice was at a near-melting point.

The ice crew tried everything to cool the crowd of 6,125 down throughout the draw, but it didn’t seem to matter.

In the feature game between Canada’s Team Brad Jacobs and Saskatchewan’s Team Kelly Knapp on Sheet A, one of the closest to the boards, nobody could get a handle on draw weight and in the 10th end it almost cost Jacobs.

Up 7-6 with the hammer, Jacobs had a chance to put the game on ice after Knapp misjudged the opposite side of the sheet, sliding through on his draw attempt. However, even after a lengthy team discussion, Jacobs came up well short of the house, leaving just a guard.

With that, Knapp had a chance to steal to try and force an extra end. He adjusted and made the come around to sit buried. Jacobs came through with his final shot, however, to earn the 8-6 victory.

Still, to see all eight men’s teams with the level of sweeping at their disposal struggle to find just the rings all night long was surprising.

The broadcast mentioned the ice crew tried some temporary fixes, but nothing could fully fix the problems.

Crowds are expected to be high all week long, and the attendance for Saturday afternoon’s non-Gushue draw was 5,912.

If the technicians can’t come up with a great fix to combat the hot fans, then expect whichever team figures out the changing ice conditions first to win.

Gushue still trying to settle in

Before a dramatic opening-night win against Quebec, Gushue admitted that he was quite nervous for his final Brier.

Those nerves continued Saturday versus Nunavut’s team, led by skip Derek Samagalski.

Gushue’s front three of Mark Nichols, Brendan Bottcher and Geoff Walker played great throughout, setting up nice ends for the skipper, but he wasn’t at his sharpest. This led to a couple of misses that would’ve cost him against a stronger opponent, but Samagalski let the veteran off the hook with some misses of his own.

It’s hard to picture a world where Gushue doesn’t feel nerves every time he steps onto the ice during this event, but he’s going to have to channel those butterflies if he’s going to win a seventh title in his hometown.

Brier debut victory for MacEwan and Northern Ontario

Sandy MacEwan, the 40-year-old… Brier rookie.

His Northern Ontario team made up of Dustin Montpellier, Olivier Bonin-Ducharme and Luc Ouimet didn’t look like rookies out on the ice against Yukon during their opening match, though, largely because of their 10th end, which they began without hammer tied 8-8.

The whole end was managed well by the Northern Ontario rink, but MacEwan’s first shot sealed the deal. With his soft delivery, he was able to wrap around two stones to sit right on the button. In two attempts to remove it, Yukon’s skip Thomas Scoffin couldn’t get the job done, giving MacEwan his first Brier win.

MacEwan has a chance to backdoor his way into a couple of upset victories over the course of the week, especially considering what he did in the Northern Ontario playdowns to even reach the Brier when MacEwan defeated the World No. 8-ranked John Epping in a thrilling match.

Don’t count Koe out this week

Just like Pool A, there are two teams predicted to finish at the top of Pool B with Team Saskatchewan McEwen and Team Manitoba Dunstone, leaving just one more spot to make the playoffs, barring a major upset.

The two favourites for the third spot have widely different resumes and faced each other on Saturday. Team Alberta, led by skip Kevin Koe in his 14th Brier appearance, topped Team Manitoba and skip Braden Calvert, a team with four Brier rookies, by a score of 8-2.

Even though Koe, 51, has won the Brier four times, at this point in his career, he knows where he stands amongst his competitors.

“When we used to come to these, we were probably more of a favourite, this time I’d say we’re middle of the pack, but I like our chances and it’s going to be a fun week,” Koe told the broadcast.

Well, if Koe is going to play like he did on Saturday for the full week, they might be a favourite. For the first three ends, Manitoba outplayed Alberta, except Koe, who made some great shots to give his team a 1-0 lead.

The rest of Koe’s team found their game in the fourth end, forcing Calvert to take one and from there the rink rolled. In the end, Koe shot 97 per cent, and as a team, they curled 90 per cent.

Since there are no tiebreaker games to determine who makes the playoffs, head-to-head is the most important thing, and this victory should really boost Koe’s chances.

Ontario’s Jayden King may have received his first career Montana’s Brier loss on Sunday while facing six-time national champion Brad Gushue, but the rookie skip gained something much more valuable than any win or loss.

Respect. 

It can be intimidating for anyone making their first Brier appearance to play a top team like Gushue. Then, add the fact Gushue is playing in his hometown of St. John’s and this was the first-ever televised game for King and his full rookie rink from Ontario. 

Simply put, it would be frightening.

However, for King, just 23 years old and second youngest skip in the competition, he shined despite the loss. 

It started in the fourth end when Ontario was down 3-1 with the hammer. Gushue was sitting one in the top four-foot leaving King with no chance to draw or hit the stone. So, King had to attempt a long-angled slash with his first rock. He made it, no problem. But thanks to another great draw by Gushue, King had to throw another angled slash from the other side of the sheet to score one. 

He made the second one look even easier than the first to score one and make it a 3-2 game.

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Most players, especially at his age, would want to throw big weight and not think about keeping the shooter. Since both were quiet weight hits, it gave the team more of a chance to work the stone to make each shot. 

King showed even more poise in the eighth end, though, when his team was down 6-3 and was facing two on his last shot. Once again, the rookie played a soft weight tap-back on his own stone to put it right on the button to score his single.

Gushue’s longtime teammates Mark Nichols and Geoff Walker, who also have six Brier championships as well, had seen enough. 

Ontario’s Jayden King bumps his way to the pin with brilliant shot

Watch as Jayden King bumps his way to the pin with a brilliant shot to nab a single point against Team Gushue in the eighth end.Play Video

They told the skipper he made a great shot on his way down the ice.  

King couldn’t help himself but smile and say, “thank you Mark, thank you Geoff.”

Even though Ontario as a whole chased most of the game, King now knows he belongs on the same sheet of ice with some of the best to ever play the game. Surely a confidence boost going forward.

Manitoba Dunstone looks calm

It was a long seven weeks for Matt Dunstone and his Manitoban rink of Colton Lott, E.J. Harnden, Ryan Harnden between the final Grand Slam of Curling event and the Brier.

In an Olympic year, the season started off great for Dunstone. His rink reached the first three GSOC finals of the season, winning one of them. Going into the Canadian Trials last November, he was considered the favourite because of the team’s play leading up to the event, which included going 3-0 versus Brad Jacobs.

As we all know, Jacobs beat Dunstone in the finals to advance to the Olympics, where he won gold. 

Afterwards, it wasn’t pretty for Dunstone at the two remaining GSOC events. He couldn’t recover mentally and it hurt his team as they went 0-4 and 3-2, missing the playoffs in both.

All of that to say, through two games at the Brier, Dunstone’s play and calling of the game looks a lot more like the beginning of the season. Which is good, not only for him, but E.J. as he also is retiring at the end of the season. 

The whole team is playing with more confidence and they’re letting the games come to them rather than chasing whatever their opponent is trying to do.  

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• Montana’s Brier 2026Keep up with the latest at the Canadian men’s curling championship as action gets underway in St. John’s, N.L.Scores, standings, schedule

Jacobs benefiting from schedule

You could tell the first two games the defending Brier champions led by Jacobs didn’t have their legs under them as they were trying to adjust back to a North American time zone. 

In their first game without a sick Ben Hebert, Canada shot 77 per cent. In their second match, with Hebert back in the lineup, they improved to 87 per cent, but Jacobs himself struggled at 76 per cent.

However, in Sunday’s 11-2 victory against Nunavut they looked exactly like the team that beat World No. 1 ranked Bruce Mouat for the Olympic gold medal just over a week ago. As a rink, they curled 93 per cent with the lowest being Hebert at 91.

Of course, they’re one of the best teams in the world, so you kind of expect this type of dominance against weaker opponents in the early days of this bonspiel. But a big reason they’re rapidly improving with each match is the schedule working in their favour. 

So far, they’ve only had to play once a day and that will continue until Wednesday, the second last day of round robin and five days after the event has started. Considering the short turnaround from the Olympics, having the ability to rest and recharge their bodies between matches should make the round-robin easier for them. 

Gushue’s schedule is set up the same way for Pool A. Dunstone and Team Manitoba Calvert are on a similar footing as well for Pool B but will play twice on Tuesday.  

Team Saskatchewan McEwen needs to pick up their play

Yes, Team Saskatchewan Mike McEwen is 2-1 right now, but through three games the whole Saskatchewan rink outside of Dan Marsh has struggled. 

Mainly for two reasons: First, and the obvious one, they’re just not making enough shots consistently to go far in this tournament, especially McEwen himself. Second, the line calls haven’t been great.

Against Alberta’s Team Kevin Koe on Sunday, they had chances to score multiple points in more than just the fifth end where they scored two, but either a complete miss out of the hand or a missed line call hurt them throughout the match.  

For nine ends though, McEwen was able to keep it together and stay in the game. What’s the saying though? If you play with fire, you will get burned.

Canadian curling legend Brad Gushue will have home-ice advantage in his final Montana’s Brier with the national men’s championship in St. John’s, N.L. this year.

The field includes recent Olympic gold medallist and defending Brier champ Brad Jacobs.

The competition runs Feb. 27 to March 8.

Here are the standings, schedule and results:

STANDINGS

Pool A

Team	Wins	Losses
Canada (Brad Jacobs)	3	0
Newfoundland and Labrador (Brad Gushue)	3	0
Ontario (Jayden King)	2	1
Newfoundland and Labrador (Nathan Young)	2	1
Saskatchewan (Kelly Knapp)	1	1
Quebec (Jean-Michel Menard)	1	1
Nova Scotia (Kendal Thompson)	0	2
Prince Edward Island (Tyler Smith)	0	3
Nunavut (Derek Samagalski)	0	3

Pool B

Team	Wins	Losses
Alberta (Kevin Koe)	3	0
Manitoba (Matt Dunstone)	2	0
Saskatchewan (Mike McEwen)	2	1
Manitoba (Braden Calvert)	1	1
New Brunswick (James Grattan)	1	2
Northwest Territories (Jamie Koe)	1	2
Northern Ontario (Sandy MacEwan)	1	2
Yukon (Thomas Scoffin)	1	2
B.C. (Cody Tanaka)	0	2

Top three teams in each pool qualify for the Page Playoffs.

ROUND-ROBIN SCHEDULE

Draw 4: Sunday, March 1: 8 a.m. ET / 5 a.m. PT

Yukon 7, B.C. 4
New Brunswick 8, Northern Ontario 6
Alberta 6, Saskatchewan (McEwen) 4
Manitoba (Calvert) 12, Northwest Territories 5

Draw 5: Sunday, March 1: 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT

Newfoundland and Labrador (Gushue) 8, Ontario 4
Canada 11, Nunavut 2
Newfoundland and Labrador (Young) 9, Prince Edward Island 8
Saskatchewan (Knapp) 8, Nova Scotia 5

Draw 6: Sunday, March 1: 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT

Alberta 9, New Brunswick 3
Saskatchewan (McEwen) 10, Yukon 5
Northwest Territories 7, Northern Ontario 6
Manitoba (Dunstone) 9, B.C. 4

Draw 7: Monday, March 2: 8 a.m. ET / 5 a.m. PT

Nunavut vs. Prince Edward Island
Newfoundland and Labrador (Young) vs. Nova Scotia
Saskatchewan (Knapp) vs. Quebec
Canada vs. Ontario

Draw 8: Monday, March 2: 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT

Saskatchewan (McEwen) vs. Northern Ontario
Northwest Territories vs. Manitoba (Dunstone)
B.C. vs. Manitoba (Calvert)
Yukon vs. New Brunswick

Draw 9: Monday, March 2, 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT

Quebec vs. Nova Scotia
Prince Edward Island vs. Saskatchewan (Knapp)
Nunavut vs. Ontario
Newfoundland and Labrador (Young) vs. Newfoundland and Labrador (Gushue)

Draw 10: Tuesday, March 3, 8 a.m. ET / 5 a.m. PT

Manitoba (Calvert) vs. Manitoba (Dunstone)
Northern Ontario vs. B.C.
Saskatchewan (McEwen) vs. New Brunswick
Northwest Territories vs. Alberta

Draw 11: Tuesday, March 3, 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT

Ontario vs. Newfoundland and Labrador (Young)
Nova Scotia vs. Newfoundland and Labrador (Gushue)
Quebec vs. Canada
Saskatchewan (Knapp) vs. Nunavut

Draw 12: Tuesday, March 3, 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT

New Brunswick vs. Northwest Territories
Manitoba (Dunstone) vs. Alberta
Manitoba (Calvert) vs. Yukon
B.C. vs. Saskatchewan (McEwen)

Draw 13: Wednesday, March 4, 8 a.m. ET / 5 a.m. PT

Nova Scotia vs. Canada
Quebec vs. Nunavut
Newfoundland and Labrador (Young) vs. Saskatchewan (Knapp)
Newfoundland and Labrador (Gushue) vs. Prince Edward Island

Draw 14: Wednesday, March 4, 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT

Manitoba (Dunstone) vs. Yukon
Manitoba (Calvert) vs. Saskatchewan (McEwen)
Northwest Territories vs. B.C.
Alberta vs. Northern Ontario

Draw 15: Wednesday, March 4, 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT

Saskatchewan (Knapp) vs. Newfoundland and Labrador (Gushue)
Canada vs. Newfoundland and Labrador (Young)
Nova Scotia vs. Prince Edward Island
Ontario vs. Quebec

Draw 16: Thursday, March 5, 8 a.m. ET / 5 a.m. PT

B.C. vs. Alberta
Yukon vs. Northwest Territories
Manitoba (Dunstone) vs. Northern Ontario
New Brunswick vs. Manitoba (Calvert)

Draw 17: Thursday, March 5, 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT

Prince Edward Island vs. Quebec
Saskatchewan (Knapp) vs. Ontario
Canada vs. Newfoundland and Labrador (Gushue)
Nunavut vs. Nova Scotia

Draw 18: Thursday, March 5, 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT

Northern Ontario vs. Manitoba (Calvert)
B.C. vs. New Brunswick
Yukon vs. Alberta
Saskatchewan (McEwen) vs. Manitoba (Dunstone)

PAGE PLAYOFFS

Friday, March 6, noon ET / 9 a.m. PT

Page 1-2 qualifiers

Friday, March 6, 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT

Page 3-4 qualifiers

Saturday, March 7, noon ET / 9 a.m. PT

Page 3-4 game

Saturday, March 7, 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT

Page 1-2 game

Sunday, March 8, noon ET / 9 a.m. PT

Semifinal

Sunday, March 8, 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT

Final

Draw 1: Friday, Feb. 27

Newfoundland and Labrador (Young) 8, Nunavut 4
Newfoundland and Labrador (Gushue) 10, Quebec 2
Ontario 11, Nova Scotia 4
Canada 8, Prince Edward Island 3

Draw 2: Saturday, Feb. 28

Saskatchewan (McEwen) 11, Northwest Territories 5
Alberta 8, Manitoba (Calvert) 2
Manitoba (Dunstone) 5, New Brunswick 3
Northern Ontario 9, Yukon 8

Draw 3: Saturday, Feb. 28, 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT

Canada 8, Saskatchewan (Knapp) 6
Ontario 8, Prince Edward Island 3
Newfoundland and Labrador (Gushue)10, Nunavut 2
Quebec 7, Newfoundland and Labrador (Young) 3

The fateful slider that Miguel Rojas hooked over the left-field wall for a game-tying homer stuck with Jeff Hoffman for a long time over the winter. In the excruciating moments afterwards, as he and the Toronto Blue Jays struggled to process a gutting 5-4, 11-inning loss in Game 7 of the World Series, Hoffman blamed himself.

“I cost everybody in here a World Series ring,” he said. Once home, replays of the moment followed him “everywhere.”

“I didn’t have to replay it in my mind,” he said.

He believes it was the right pitch call for that 3-2 count, would throw it again in the same situation “and nail the pitch nine out of 10 times.” But, in that ninth inning of Game 7, “it spun on me and, yeah, it wasn’t good.”

“It’s my job,” Hoffman said during a recent 25-minute interview on a quiet spring morning at the Player Development Complex. “When I come in, the game is supposed to be over. Obviously, it stings more when it’s in a spot like that, but it stings all through the year. There were a lot of times last year I felt the same exact (responsibility). Maybe I didn’t vocalize it post-game or whatever. But when I come into the game, that’s what they pay me to do, to shut it down and to make sure we walk out of there with a win. When you don’t do it, I take those chips and I don’t take them lightly. I carry them with me and it drives you to be better the next time out. It just comes with the job.”

It’s a job Hoffman still wants, along with all that comes with it, and it’s a role he’s been told he will have again this season, when the Blue Jays try to make up the narrow margin that cost them their first championship since 1993. 

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Anointed closer for the first time last season, the 33-year-old led the majors with 59 games finished and placed fourth with 33 saves while appearing in a career-high 71 games and logging 68 innings, his most as a reliever. He also blew seven save opportunities and, glaringly, gave up 15 home runs, six more than he did combined during brilliant 2023 and 2024 seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies.

In the post-season, he was dominant, allowing only two runs in 12.1 innings over 10 games. One of those runs was meaningless in the 5-2 win that clinched the American League Division Series over the New York Yankees — the other came on the Rojas homer. Even with the bitter final outing, he “loved” being a closer.

“Obviously the good times are the highest of the highs, and the bad times are lowest of the lows,” said Hoffman. “It didn’t surprise me that’s the way it was — I just didn’t perform the way I wanted a lot of the season. I got more comfortable and I think that showed in the post-season when I was able to turn it back on and do what I had to do through the majority of the post-season. That season will teach me a lot moving forward and I’ll be a better pitcher for us this year.”

During his entrance meeting this spring, manager John Schneider told him that “we’re going to do the same thing that we did last year, I’m going to get the ball at the end of the game,” Hoffman said.

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That wasn’t a given heading into the off-season. The Blue Jays, to varying degrees, pursued a number of free-agent closers — Edwin Diaz, Ryan Helsley, Raisel Iglesias and Emilio Pagan among them — before eventually landing set-up man Tyler Rogers.

General manager Ross Atkins scoured the market with Hoffman’s blessing.

“I got a lot of calls from Ross about guys that we were targeting and what I thought about certain avenues we could go down and it was just very relieving to know that we were in on so many guys,” Hoffman said.

“My message to Ross was like, ‘If it’s going to help us win, then yes, do it, no matter what the guy is, no matter what his role is going to be coming in.’ We didn’t necessarily end up getting one of those established closers that have been doing it for a long time, but we got a really, really good one in Tyler and a guy that can pitch in so many different ways for us. You pair that with guys like Louis (Varland), Yimi (Garcia) when he’s back healthy, guys like (Mason) Fluharty and (Braydon) Fisher, who are just going to get better after the experiences they’ve gone through, and we have a good group. I’m really excited.” 

Contributing to that excitement is the way Hoffman intends to attack this season.

As part of his spring entrance meeting, he and the Blue Jays discussed his pitch usage and ways to adapt. Over the past three seasons, his fastball and splitter percentages have gone up at the expense of his slider, which went from 47.9 per cent in 2023, to 40.8 per cent in 2024 to 29.9 per cent last year. The thinking now is to scale back use of the heater to more effectively blend the other two offerings.

The slider, at 47.4 per cent of swings, and splitter, at 31.8 per cent, “get a lot more whiff,” compared to the fastball at 24.2 per cent, which is also the pitch on which he took the most damage. Ten of his 15 homers came against the fastball, leading to an outlier season in that regard that he and the Blue Jays spent a lot of time studying.

“I think sometimes my aggressiveness in the zone can get me,” said Hoffman. “Through the season, we realized what was happening and I started to try to take care of some of those pitches a little bit better. Whether it was throwing a ball on purpose or making sure that if I was trying to throw a strike, it was going to be the perfect strike or it was going to miss and I wasn’t going to get hurt by it. That was definitely part of my learning curve being a first-year closer full-time. … We’ll be able to combat that this year and it won’t happen again.”

Hoffman plans to use the spring to test out some grip adjustments on his splitter to “see if there’s anything there that can optimize it,” so it’s even more deceptive to left-handed hitters, with less horizontal and more vertical break.

Lastly, the Blue Jays are aiming to be more strategic about his usage so that he’s pitching more consistently without some of the bigger swings from last year, when he pitched on back-to-back days 22 times but also nine times on three days of rest, four times on four days of rest and five times on six days of rest.

“I’m not going to have five days off in a row because we’re blowing teams out or scores aren’t close,” said Hoffman. “We’re going to do a better job of getting me in there in non-save situations and allowing me to stay fresh from a pitching standpoint and knowing what my stuff is going do and being able to feel the ball with a batter in the box, not just throwing bullpen sessions and all that.”

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Combined, all the adjustments are aimed at building upon a 2025 season that for Hoffman will forever be marked by that one slider to Rojas. 

All those feelings from Game 7 didn’t begin to fade for him until a few weeks later, once he resumed working out and had something different to focus on. He’s able to look back now while also casting an eye on what it all means moving forward.

“We had all these moments throughout that series, like the Bo (Bichette) homer in Game 7, that should be a moment immortalized and capped off with a trophy. I had the opportunity to shut it down and just didn’t happen. You still see stuff on the media about that game and it brings back good and bad memories. You never know if you’re going to get that close again. It took me parts of 10 seasons to get to a World Series, been on some pretty good teams and it just doesn’t happen. You have to be really good and really lucky and it just didn’t happen for us last year. There’s a lot of what could I have done better, what could I have changed? Just thinking about that kind of stuff,” Hoffman said.

“In a perfect world, I would have loved to go out and had my best year as a Blue Jay in Year 1 and really excelled and did everything above and beyond that that I had in my head. It didn’t happen that way. Went through some growing pains. But I’m a learner and I’m super-competitive and I’m looking forward to get another crack at it.

“And I think this year is going to go a lot different than it did last year.”

EDMONTON — Let’s think of an NHL roster like a car. A confluence of interconnected parts that come together to produce a single entity — a game — which is the output of all the working parts doing their own specific job.

Contracts (and no-move clauses) marry teams to certain parts that cannot simply be changed out on a whim. Andrew Mangiapane, waived by the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday, was not one such part.

Otherwise, they are forced to depend on those parts, whether they’re working well or not. If those parts function at less than their required level, the car — the team — cannot purr along at its highest level.

Take Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse, for example.

The 11-year veteran is a huge part of Edmonton’s defensive game on the ice, and their dressing room culture off of it. He’s been there since the start, before Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and he has the battle scars to prove it.

Nurse wears an ‘A’ as an alternate captain, and for better or worse, has been given a large percentage of the salary pie ($9.25 million per season).

Nurse is trusted with nearly 21 minutes per game of ice time — fourth on the Oilers. Edmonton’s defensive game, like it or not, turns around Nurse’s axis to some degree.

If Nurse’s game becomes leaky or untrustworthy, which it has been for much of the season, Edmonton’s overall game becomes untrustworthy for the one-third of the game that he plays. As a leader, if he’s not performing, it becomes impossible for him to call on others to block more shots, or make better plays.

You might say, “Then don’t play Nurse so much!” Fine.

But what does head coach Kris Knoblauch do with those minutes then?

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Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm, the first pairing, can’t take on more ice time. Their plate is full.

And the third-pairing guys — Ty Emberson and Spencer Stastney — are third-pairing guys for a reason. If they could handle 20-plus minutes a night, they’d be second-pairing guys, right?

Now, back to the car analogy. You can trick our car out at the deadline with an extra, optional part here and there. But if the core pieces — Nurse, the penalty kill, the depth scorers, an overall game that respects the defensive side of the sport — don’t effectively cover off their responsibilities, it doesn’t matter who or what you add.

And it’s not just Nurse.

The other core pieces on this roster are playing an unbalanced game as well. Lots of offence is great, but that’s only one facet of the game — a facet that becomes secondary to solid defensive play as the games get more important.

Auston Matthews’ recent comments about effort levels in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ lineup have caught the attention of fans and analysts alike. As one of the team’s star forwards and a consistent offensive force, Matthews’ perspective carries significant weight.

Leadership by Example

Matthews is not just a scorer; he is a team leader whose performance sets a standard in the locker room. When he critiques effort, it sends a clear message to teammates that every shift matters. In professional hockey, where momentum and intensity can swing a game, accountability from a top player can influence the entire roster.

Impact on Team Culture

Criticism from a player of Matthews’ caliber can help shape the Maple Leafs’ culture. It emphasizes discipline, focus, and competitiveness. Coaches often rely on star players to enforce standards internally, and Matthews’ willingness to speak out could push younger or less consistent players to elevate their game.

Fan and Media Reactions

Fans and media also take notice when a star player comments on effort. Matthews’ remarks spark discussion about the team’s performance, potentially adding pressure but also increasing motivation. It frames him as someone who demands excellence, not just from himself, but from everyone on the team.

In short, Matthews’ critiques are more than locker-room chatter—they are a signal that the Maple Leafs’ top talent expects the highest standards. How the team responds could define their season and playoff aspirations.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The flirtation between receiver Tyreek Hill and the Kansas City Chiefs did not take long.

Hill, who began his NFL career with the Chiefs, became an unrestricted free agent for the first time in 10 years last Monday when the Miami Dolphins released him as part of a series of moves to create salary cap space. The decision from the Dolphins let them to save $22.8 million. By early that evening, Chiefs pass rusher Chris Jones, had used his X account to send Hill, his teammate with the Chiefs for six seasons, a message that anyone on the social media website could see. He tagged Hill’s account and used the alarm clock emoji to indicate that it was indeed time for the receiver to rejoin the Chiefs.

Jones wasn’t the only person who expressed that a reunion for Hill and the Chiefs for the 2026 season would be beneficial to both parties. Several analysts suggested that Hill, who is recovering from surgery to repair his dislocated left knee and torn ACL that he sustained last season in Week 4, has the best chance to reestablish himself as a player in the league with the Chiefs.

“Not only do they need him, he needs them,” Louis Riddick, the analyst and former NFL safety, said Wednesday on ESPN’s “First Take.”

In March, Hill, whose elite speed and playmaking established him as one of the league’s best offensive threats, will turn 32. Within hours of being informed by the Dolphins of his release, Hill wrote a post on Instagram to guarantee that he will continue his career with the same level of production that made him a star.

“The Cheetah don’t slow down. Ever,” Hill wrote. “So to everyone wondering what’s next… just wait on it. The Cheetah will be back…Born Again.”

Two days later, Hill used his Snapchat account to show that he was back in Kansas City to visit family members and to continue his rehab. Of course, Hill’s profile photo showed him in a Chiefs uniform.

While it’s uncertain if Hill will be available for the season opener, the Chiefs are expected to monitor the progress of his recovery and training, according to league sources.

“We go through everything and everybody [in free agency],” Reid said Friday. “That’s how [general manager] Brett [Veach] does [it]. I’m sure [Hill’s] working hard on that [rehab] part of it and trying to get all that straightened out. We talk about everything, so there’s nothing happening there, but we know he’s out there and cranking away trying to get himself back to where he can play.”

The Chiefs, as they’ve done in the past, could offer Hill a one-year contract with incentives to add a boost to their offense — a unit that will feature quarterback Patrick Mahomes after he recovers from the most significant injury of his career, the torn ACL and LCL in his left knee. In 2022, after the Chiefs traded Hill to the Dolphins for five draft picks, the team signed veteran receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster to a one-year deal for a maximum of $10.75 million. The Chiefs and Hill could negotiate a similar contract, which would allow Hill to be a free agent again next year with the hope of him being healthier and his knee further strengthened.

If both parties can agree to a deal, whether later in the offseason or early in the season, Hill would be reunited with Mahomes, coach Andy Reid and potentially tight end Travis Kelce, who is strongly considering re-signing with the team for the 14th season in his career, according to multiple members of the Chiefs’ organization..

Adding more talent at the receiver position should be one of the top priorities this offseason for Reid and Veach. Entering this week, the Chiefs have just five receivers on their roster — Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Jalen Royals, Jason Brownlee and Jimmy Holiday.

Even if Hill can just replicate his production from the first month of last year prior to his injury, his play will be an upgrade from what the Chiefs had at the position for much of their 2025 campaign. Entering Week 4 last year, Hill had accounted for more than half of the Dolphins’ air yards (53.5%), and his three deep receptions — 20 air yards or more — almost matched his total from the previous season (four), according to Next Gen Stats.

“With his work ethic, I’m not counting him out coming back and being just as dominant as he was before,” former Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu said Wednesday of Hill on his “In The Bayou” podcast. “The next best thing for him to do is to find a quarterback and an offensive coordinator that likes him, that appreciates his talents, his gifts.

“I’m sure a lot of people are going to talk about K.C. Essentially, me and him left the Chiefs at the same time [in 2022]. … I know a lot of people are going to throw his name in the hat as far as linking back up with Mahomes, which I don’t count that out.”

Since Hill was traded to the Dolphins, the Chiefs’ offense hasn’t been as explosive as it was in the past. In fact, Kansas City has not had a 1,000-yard receiver since 2021 — and that player was Hill.

“Given the guys that they have on the roster now, he might be the person to sort of lift those guys’ play,” Mathieu said of Hill. “One of things that impressed me most with Tyreek was he was just like me. He [doesn’t] miss practice, he’s going to take all his reps, he [doesn’t] miss no games.

“Given what the Chiefs have experienced the last three years at the receiver position, he may be the next-best teacher for them.”