EDMONTON, Alberta — The wait is almost over.

The Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers will drop the puck at 8 p.m. Wednesday to begin Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

WATCH BELOW: WPTV reports from Edmonton ahead of Game 1

Panthers ready for Game 1 of Stanley Cup final

By the afternoon, hockey fans were already gathering outside Rogers Place in Edmonton in anticipation of the re-match of last year’s final.

“As a hockey fan and just respecting the overall culture of the game,” Oilers fan Jerry Maclachlan said. “I tell you what, the Oilers, we’re coming.”

After the Oilers eliminated Dallas last Thursday in the Western Conference finals, the city has been busy prepping for Game 1.

Fans in the hockey-crazed capital of Alberta get to see their team start a series at home for the first time during this playoff run.

“To be able to start the Stanley Cup Final on home ice, you can just feel a buzz in the city and these people deserve it,” NHL MVP finalist Leon Draisaitl said. “They’ve waited a long time for this and, obviously to us, it’s all about finishing it.”

Starting at home last year, the Panthers went up two games to none and won the first game in Edmonton to take a 3-0 series lead. They lost the next three before winning Game 7 to capture the first title in franchise history.

Panthers season ticket holder makes trip to ‘hockey country’

Florida is in the final for a third consecutive season and is four wins away from becoming the NHL’s first back-to-back champions since cross-state rival Tampa Bay in 2020 and ’21.

“It’s why we’re here: We’re playing hockey in June for the third straight year and a chance to be a part of history,” standout winger Matthew Tkachuk said. “We’ve had two kicks at it so far, and they’ve been very different summers, so we’re hoping for the good one.”

The Panthers have won 10 of 11 playoff series since Tkachuk joined in a trade from Calgary in 2022 and coach Paul Maurice took over that same offseason.

As one of those 10 opponents who ended up on the wrong side of the handshake line against the burgeoning hockey powerhouse in South Florida, the Oilers don’t want history to repeat itself. But veteran defenseman Mattias Ekholm, back from an extended injury absence, doesn’t want to load up too much pressure on Game 1.

“You ask every single guy in our locker room, we want to come out flying, we want to play great and we want to win Game 1,” Ekholm said. “You go to their locker room, they’re probably saying the same thing. One team’s going to win it and one team’s not.”

Game 2 will be Friday in Edmonton before the series shifts to Sunrise. Games 3 and 4 will be played on Monday and next Thursday in South Florida.

On the latest episode of the On3 Recruits podcast, hosts Josh Newberg, Scott Schrader, Andrew Bone, and Blake Alderman talked about and analyzed a massive recruiting weekend, highlighting three programs: USC, Georgia, and Florida, that are using the NIL and strategic visits to dominate the 2026 cycle.

USC, Georgia Bulldogs, And Florida Gators Are Making Massive Strides In The NIL Says Experts

USC

USC has reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the On3 Industry Team Rankings, fueled by a game-changing commitment from five-star tight end Mark Bowman on Friday. The Modern Day High School star, who chose USC over Georgia, pushed the Trojans ahead of LSU, which had held the top spot for weeks.

“It’s a big boost in NIL,” Schrader noted, suggesting that USC’s strong collectives are a key driver for their position. The Trojans’ pipeline from Southern California, including talents like Bowman and TomTom Tapoule, is thriving under coach Lincoln Riley. USC’s class, with 15 commitments, is all set to hit 30 by month’s end, with upcoming visits from prospects like Brandon Arrington promising more home-state hauls.

Georgia

On the other hand, Georgia also hosted a massive recruiting weekend, welcoming double-digit visitors to Athens and securing their 11th commitment of the 2026 class in defensive lineman Carter Lucky. The 6-foot-5, 270-pound Norcross native, whose family bleeds red and black, joins standout Jevon Cloud on the defensive front.

Newberg noted that five-star wide receiver Cedarian Morgan, a longtime Alabama player, is leaning towards Athens. The Bulldogs are also targeting five-star tight end Kaden Prothrow and flip candidates like Isaiah Williams, the No. 1 linebacker committed to Ole Miss, and Auburn commit Devin Carter.

Florida

Finally, Gainesville, Florida, is not holding back on capitalizing on its home-state advantage and NIL momentum. The Gators hosted a loaded official visit weekend, headlined by five-star safety Bralan Womack.

KEEP READING: Gray Shirt, Blue Shirt, Redshirt: What Do They Mean in College Football Recruiting?

Alderman praised how great Florida has been so far. Florida is also reportedly closing in on flipping Nebraska-committed quarterback CJ Bronaugh, whose 10.24-second 100-meter dash at the Florida Relays turned heads. Defensive linemen Vondy Cleveland and Jeran McCoy, both on campus, are key targets, with McCoy leaning toward Florida over Texas. With a top-10 class and coach Billy Napier’s aggressive push, the Gators are building some good momentum.

College Sports Network has you covered with the latest news, analysis, insights, and trending stories in college football, men’s college basketball, women’s college basketball, and college baseball!

BOSTON, Mass. – June 4, 2025 – Atlantic Hockey America has announced the schedule for the 2025-26 season. The full composite schedule can be found HERE. Dates and times are subject to change.

The battle for the AHA regular season title will begin on Oct. 10 with the first slate of conference games. The regular season wraps up on Feb. 28, with the postseason beginning on March 3.

Bentley Aims to Defend Title

After winning the 2025 AHA postseason title, the Bentley Falcons open their 2025-26 season on Oct. 10 at Colorado College. The first AHA conference game for Andy Jones‘ squad will be on Oct. 24 vs Canisius.

Championship Game Rematches

Last season, Bentley and Holy Cross met in the AHA title game on March 22, 2025, with Bentley prevailing in a 6-3 win. The Falcons and Crusaders will meet four times during the 2025-26 regular season: Jan. 2 at Bentley, Jan. 3 at Holy Cross, Feb. 6 at Holy Cross and Feb. 7 at Bentley.

Gotkin Begins Final Season

The 2025-26 season will be head coach Rick Gotkin‘s 38th and final season behind the bench at Mercyhurst. Gotkin is the longest-tenured coach in college hockey, and has racked up 611 career wins. Assistant coach Tom Peffall is slated to take over the program for the 2026-27 season. Peffall has been as assistant on Gotkin’s staff at Mercyhurst since 2022. Gotkin will begin his final season on Oct. 3 at Michigan. His final regular season home game is scheduled for Feb. 28 vs Robert Morris.

Riga and Holy Cross Open at Northeastern and Maine

Defending Atlantic Hockey Coach of the Year Bill Riga will lead Holy Cross into 2025-26 with a road tilt at Northeastern on Oct. 4. The Crusaders will then head to Maine for a weekend series on Oct. 10-11.

Thomas Takes Over at RIT

RIT head coach Matt Thomas enters his first season behind the bench in Rochester. RIT begins its season with a home series vs Sacred Heart on Oct. 10-11. Thomas takes the reins at his alma mater, where he appeared in 102 games from 1994-98, and served as a captain for the Tigers for the 1997-98 season. He totaled 72 points on 25 goals and 47 assists in his playing career with the Tigers.

2026 Atlantic Hockey America Men’s Postseason

The chase for the Jack Riley trophy will include all 10 Atlantic Hockey America teams. The 2026 Atlantic Hockey America Postseason will open with single-game first round matchups on March 3. The No. 7 and No. 8 seeds will host the No. 10 and No. 9 seeds, respectively. 

Best-of-three quarterfinal series will take place March 6-8. The semifinal best-of-three series will take place March 13-15 with the highest-remaining seeded quarterfinal winner hosting the lowest-seeded quarterfinal winner and the second-highest remaining seed hosting the third-highest remaining seed.

The postseason will conclude on March 21 when the two semifinal winners meet at the home of the highest-seeded semifinal winner for one game to determine Atlantic Hockey’s 2026 postseason champion. The winner of the AHA postseason tournament will claim the conference’s automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament. 

About Atlantic Hockey America

Atlantic Hockey America (AHA) embarks on its second season in 2025-26 after the merger between the Atlantic Hockey Association and College Hockey America prior to the 2024-25 campaign. The conference fields 10 men’s teams (Bentley University, Canisius University, The College of Holy Cross, Mercyhurst University, Niagara University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Robert Morris University, Sacred Heart University, the United States Air Force Academy, and the United States Military Academy), and seven women’s teams (University of Delaware, Lindenwood University, Mercyhurst University, Penn State University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Robert Morris University, and Syracuse University). For more information, visit atlantichockeyamerica.com.

The Golden Griffins schedule for the upcoming season features an even split of 17 home games and 17 road contests.

Canisius begins its ninth season under the guidance of Large Oct. 3 when it welcomes North Country foe Clarkson to LECOM Harborcenter.

Non-league matchups at home against St. Lawrence (Oct. 5) and LIU (Oct. 10-11) follow the season-opening contest against the Golden Knights before the Griffs take to the road for their AHA debut at Army (Oct. 14). A visit to Colgate (Oct. 17-18) and a trip to defending AHA Tournament champion Bentley (Oct. 24-25) close out the first month of the regular season.

November gets underway with the home half of Canisius’ season series against Army (Nov. 1) and continues with a pair of AHA games at Sacred Heart (Nov. 14-15) before concluding with home league series against longtime rival Mercyhurst (Nov. 21-22) and Air Force (Nov. 28-29). The Griffs close out the fall semester with a home-and-home series against RIT (Dec. 5-6).

Canisius rings in the new year with a trip to Big Ten foe Notre Dame for a pair of games to wrap up the non-conference portion of its schedule (Jan. 2-3) before returning its focus to league play with its second home-and-home weekend against RIT (Jan. 16-17).

A visit to Mercyhurst (Jan. 23-24) and a home-and-home series against Battle of the Bridge rival Niagara (Jan. 30-31) put the finishing touches on the January slate.

The final month of the regular season gets underway for the Griffs with a visit to Robert Morris (Feb. 6-7). Home series against defending AHA Regular Season Champion Holy Cross (Feb. 13-14) and Robert Morris (Feb. 20-21) await Canisius after their visit to the Steel City before concluding the regular season with a home-and-home weekend against Niagara (Feb. 27-28).

The 2026 AHA Postseason will feature all 10 league teams. All rounds of the tournament will be held at on-campus facilities.

 

The top six teams at the end of the regular season will receive a first-round bye, while the other four teams will square off in a pair of single-elimination contests on March 3.

 

The winners of the two first-round matchups will join the top-six seeds for a best-of-three quarterfinal round (March 6-8). A pair of best-of-three semifinal series will be held the following weekend (March 13-15) before a single-elimination championship game will take place at the highest-remaining seed (March. 21). The winner of that contest will receive the league’s automatic berth in the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

 

Season and single-game ticket information for the 2025-26 season will be made available to the public in the coming weeks.

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EASTON, Mass. (June 4, 2025) – Stonehill College Director of Athletics Dean O’Keefe announced the hiring of Tim Williamson as the Skyhawks’ Associate Director of Athletics for Strategic Communications.
 
In his new role, Williamson will be responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive communications strategy that advances the College’s athletic brand, engages stakeholders, and supports the success of Stonehill’s 23 NCAA Division I athletic programs and over 500 student-athletes.
 
The Associate AD for Strategic Communications will oversee the Athletic Communications team and collaborate with internal and external partners to promote the achievements of student-athletes, coaches, and the College.
 
Before Williamson’s most recent stint as a faculty member at St. Catherine of Siena School in Norwood, Massachusetts, he held the role of Associate Director of Athletics for Athletic Communications at Harvard University from 2013 to 2022. In total, Williamson spent 14 years with the Crimson, promoting the largest Division I intercollegiate athletic department in the country.
 
At Harvard, he handled the direct publicity for several of Harvard’s teams and was responsible for updating GoCrimson.com, writing, designing, and editing publications such as media guides and game programs, creating video highlights for assigned Harvard teams, and working to keep Harvard athletics prominent in the local, regional, and national media. Williamson also oversaw Harvard’s social media efforts, using X, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to promote Harvard athletics.
 
Williamson also served as the program manager for the men’s and women’s fencing programs and was the assistant program manager for baseball. He was also the assistant program manager for men’s and women’s basketball for two years.
 
In the fall of 2014, Williamson, who worked directly with the Crimson football program from 2013-2022, and the Athletic Communications staff at Harvard hosted ESPN’s College GameDay. The national show was televised live before Harvard’s home game against Yale in the 131st playing of The Game on Nov. 22, 2014. This marked only the second time an Ivy League school has hosted the premier weekly college football show.
 
From 2010-13, Williamson was the primary contact for the men’s basketball team. During the 2011-12 season, Williamson led the public relations effort for the men’s basketball team, as the Crimson advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1946 and earned the program’s first national ranking. In 2012-13, Harvard won the first NCAA tournament game in team history and advanced to the Round of 32.
 
In May 2008, Williamson served as the press box coordinator, helping oversee 300 media members for the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships held at Gillette Stadium.  He worked in a similar capacity at the 2009 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships and was the media coordinator at the 2010 NCAA Fencing Championships and the 2011 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Quarterfinals at Gillette Stadium. In May 2012, Williamson also served as the media coordinator for the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships at Gillette Stadium.
 

Before arriving at Harvard, he spent one year as the Assistant Director of Media Relations at Columbia University, where he was the sports information contact for baseball, wrestling, field hockey, cross country, and track & field.
 

A 2004 graduate of Boston College with a B.A. in United States history, Williamson later earned his M.A. in United States history from B.C. in 2005.  Williamson entered the sports information field as an intern at B.C., working as the secondary contact for football and served as the primary contact for softball, cross country, track & field, and golf. 
 
Williamson is on the executive committee of the New England Football Writers’ Association and is the current vice president of Stoughton Youth Baseball.
 
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
 

LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell ice hockey team will travel west yet again this upcoming season to host and compete in the second annual Cactus Cup presented by Sonoma County Winegrowers on January 2 and 3, joining Minnesota State, St. Cloud State and Yale. The event will take place at Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, California, home of the Seattle Kraken’s AHL affiliate, Coachella Valley Firebirds.

The two-day event will showcase four games taking place on Friday, January 2 and Saturday, January 3, 2026. The River Hawks will kick off the tournament against Minnesota State University, Mankato at 3:30 p.m. PT, before St. Cloud State takes on Yale at 7:00 p.m. PT. The next day, the two losers of Friday’s matchups will face off at 3:30 p.m. PT, while the championship game will take place at 7:00 p.m. PT.

“We are excited to announce this event for a second year,” said Head Coach Norm Bazin. “All the teams really enjoyed their experience last year and the tournament was huge success. The location is very attractive for fans and supporters alike. We are anxious to welcome teams from four different conferences to form an excellent college hockey showcase.”

Tickets go on sale to the general public starting Friday, June 6, at 10:00 a.m. PT on Ticketmaster, the official ticketing provider of Acrisure Arena. Tickets for the 2026 Cactus Cup provide access to both games scheduled for each day, allowing fans to enjoy two full days of exciting NCAA Men’s College Hockey action. Purchase tickets for Friday, January 2, HERE and Saturday, January 3, HERE. Two-day passes can be purchased HERE.

Groups of 10 or more save when booking through the Acrisure Arena Group Sales team. Groups receive reduced ticket prices and processing fees, opportunity to reserve seats and pay later, and group seating options. Learn more HERE.

For more information about the 2026 Cactus Cup at Acrisure Arena, visit acrisurearena.com or follow Acrisure Arena on all social media platforms @AcrisureArena.