Blue Jackets' Zach Werenski honored by Columbus fans for Olympic gold

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Blue Jackets' Zach Werenski honored by Columbus fans for Olympic gold

2026-03-01 11:22 Last Updated At：11:31

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Zach Werenski celebrated being an Olympic gold medalist in front of Columbus Blue Jackets fans Saturday night.

Werenski was honored before the Blue Jackets' 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Islanders. A video was played on the scoreboard above center ice of Werenski's pass to Jack Hughes for the gold medal-winning goal in the United States' 2-1 victory over Canada on Feb. 22.

After that, the spotlight focused on Werenski on the Blue Jackets' bench as the fans gave him a raucous standing ovation with “USA!” chants throughout the arena.

Werenski's U.S. jersey and gold medal from the Milan-Cortina Olympics were displayed in the main concourse of Nationwide Arena before the game as fans got to take pictures in front of it. At one point, the line to view it was halfway around the arena.

“It was really cool," Werenski said. "I was excited for it and it’s super special coming back here and seeing that and seeing our fans get behind it.”

The pregame video also showed Werenski and Matthew Tkachuk skating around the ice with the U.S. team Johnny Gaudreau No. 13 jersey in tribute to the beloved player who was killed along with his brother in August 2024 when they were struck by an SUV while riding bicycles near their hometown in New Jersey.

Gaudreau played two seasons for the Blue Jackets after signing as a free agent. His No. 13 hangs in the rafters inside Columbus' arena.

Werenski's game hasn't suffered despite two busy weeks at the Olympics and the celebrations upon returning to the U.S., including appearances at the White House and State of the Union speech on Tuesday.

Werenski has three assists in Columbus' two games since the Olympic break, including two on Saturday night. He has a point in nine straight games for the Blue Jackets, the longest run by a defenseman in the franchise's 25-year history.

Werenski, second among NHL defensemen with 65 points, has 13 in his last nine games (two goals, 11 assists). It was Werenski’s 21st multipoint game this season and the 100th of his 10-year career. With 621 games played, he’s the fifth-fastest active defenseman to reach the mark.

Colorado's Cale Makar did it in 336 games, followed by Minnesota's Quinn Hughes (410 games), the Rangers' Adam Fox (459) and Pittsburgh's Erik Karlsson (505).

Werenski had the second assist on Mason Marchment’s goal 3:58 into the second period which gave the Blue Jackets a 2-0 lead. Adam Fantilli then redirected Werenski’s wrist shot from the left point with 1:02 remaining in the period to tie it at 3.

Despite Werenski's best efforts, it didn't end being a storybook night for the defenseman and the Blue Jackets.

Columbus had won seven straight before the Olympics break, but have picked up only one point in its last two games. The Blue Jackets lost 4-2 to Boston on Thursday.

Columbus is seven points behind the Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division and five back of Boston for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins lost 3-1 to Philadelphia on Saturday.

“I think both games probably deserved four points, and we came away with one against two teams we're chasing and we only have 24 games left now. So extremely disappointing," Werenski said. "But in saying that, we’ve got a lot of hockey left, and we’re still in it, so we’ll move on to the (New York) Rangers on Monday.”

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Head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard killed in airstrikes, state media reports

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and a top security adviser to the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were killed in American-Israel airstrikes on the country, state media reported Sunday.

The state-run IRNA news agency announced the death of Maj. Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, who took over as the Guard’s top commander after Israel killed its past commander in the 12-day war last June.

Also killed was Ali Shamkhani, who has long been a figurehead within Iran’s security establishment, IRNA said.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack by Israel and the United States, Iranian state media confirmed early Sunday, throwing the future of the Islamic Republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability.

President Donald Trump announced the death hours earlier, saying it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country.

State media reported that the 86-year-old was killed in an airstrike targeting his compound in downtown Tehran. Satellite photos from Airbus showed that the site was heavily bombed.

His death at his office “showed that he consistently stood among the people and at the forefront of his responsibilities, confronting what officials call global arrogance,” state TV said.

“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” Trump wrote in a social media post. He warned of “heavy and pinpoint bombing” that he said would continue throughout the week and even beyond, part of a lethal assault the U.S. has justified as necessary to disable the country's nuclear capabilities.

Iran, which responded to the strikes with its own counterassault, warned of retribution, with the Cabinet saying that this “great crime will never go unanswered.” The paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened to launch its “most intense offensive operation” ever targeting Israeli and American bases.

The attack opened a stunning new chapter in U.S. intervention in Iran, carried the potential for retaliatory violence and a wider war, and represented a startling flex of military might for an American president who swept into office on an “America First” platform and vowed to keep out of “forever wars.”

The killing of Khamenei in the second Trump administration assault on Iran in eight months appeared certain to create a leadership vacuum given the absence of a known successor and because the 86-year-old supreme leader had final say on all major policies during his decades in power. He led Iran’s clerical establishment and the Revolutionary Guard, the two main centers of power in the governing theocracy.

As reports trickled out about the death, eyewitnesses in Tehran told The Associated Press that some residents were rejoicing, cheering from rooftops, blowing whistles and letting out ululations.

Mourners raised a black mourning flag over the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city and a major pilgrimage site for Shiite Muslims. The Iranian government declared 40 days of public mourning and a seven-day nationwide public holiday to commemorate Khamenei’s death.

Citing unidentified sources, the semiofficial Fars news agency, believed to be close to the Revolutionary Guard, reported that several relatives of Khamenei were also killed, including a daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law and grandchild.

The joint U.S.-Israel operation, which officials say was planned for months, took place Saturday during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan and at the start of the Iranian workweek. It followed stilted negotiations and warnings from Trump, who last year trumpeted his administration's success in incapacitating the country's nuclear program but nonetheless cast the latest round as necessary to head off its potential resurgence.

About 12 hours after the attacks began, the U.S. military reported no U.S. casualties and minimal damage at U.S. bases despite “hundreds of Iranian missile and drone attacks.” It said targets in Iran included Revolutionary Guard command facilities, air defense systems, missile and drone launch sites, and military airfields.

Israel, for its part, said it had killed the commander of the Revolutionary Guard Corps and the country’s defense minister, as well as the secretary of the Iranian Security Council, a close adviser to Khamenei.

Khamenei “was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do,” Trump said. “This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country.”

An Iranian diplomat told the United Nations Security Council that hundreds of civilians were killed and wounded in the strikes. Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones toward Israel and at U.S. military bases in the region, and exchanges of fire continued into the night.

Some of the first strikes on Iran appeared to hit near the offices of Khamenei, the second leader of the Islamic Republic who succeeded Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Israeli officials confirmed the death, followed by Trump.

Democrats decried that Trump had taken action without congressional authorization. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said the administration had briefed several Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress in advance.

Tensions have soared in recent weeks as the Trump administration built up the largest force of American warships and aircraft in the Middle East in decades. The president insisted he wanted a deal to constrain Iran’s nuclear program while the country struggled with growing dissent following nationwide protests.

Though Trump had pronounced the Iranian nuclear program obliterated in strikes last year, the country was rebuilding infrastructure that it had lost, according to a senior U.S. official who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss Trump’s decision-making process. The official said intelligence showed that Iran had developed the capability to produce its own high-quality centrifuges, an important step in developing the highly enriched uranium needed for weapons.

Iran responded to the latest strikes by launching missiles and drones toward Israel and targeting U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. The Israeli military said Iran fired dozens of missiles at Israel, with many intercepted. The Magen David Adom rescue service said Saturday night that a woman in the Tel Aviv area died after being wounded in an Iranian missile attack.

At least three explosions were heard Saturday evening near the Intelligence Ministry building in northern Tehran, witnesses said, adding that air defense systems had begun operating there. Israel’s military said it had begun new strikes against missile launchers and aerial defense systems in central Iran.

In southern Iran, at least 115 people were reported killed when a girls’ school was struck, and dozens more were wounded, the local governor told Iranian state TV. U.S. Central Command spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins said he was “aware of reports” that a girls’ school was struck and that officials were looking into them.

Iran’s state news agency IRNA said at least 15 people were killed in the southwest, quoting the governor of the Lamerd region, Ali Alizadeh, as saying a sports hall, two residential areas and a hall near a school were hit.

Flights across the Middle East were disrupted, and air defense fire thudded over Dubai, the United Arab Emirates’ commercial capital. Shrapnel from an Iranian missile attack on the UAE capital killed one person, state media said.

Israel said the operation had been planned for months with the United States. Air Force pilots struck “hundreds of targets across Iran,” Israeli military chief of staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said in a statement.

Targets in the Israeli campaign included Iran’s military, symbols of government and intelligence targets, according to an official briefed on the operation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic information on the attack.

Trump acknowledged Saturday that there could be American casualties, saying “that often happens in war.” He said he was aiming to “annihilate” the Iranian navy and destroy regional proxies supported by Tehran. He called on the paramilitary Iranian Revolutionary Guard to lay down arms, saying members would be given immunity or face “certain death” if they did not.

Iran had said it hoped to avert a war, but it maintained its right to enrich uranium.

Iran has said it has not enriched since June, but it has blocked international inspectors from visiting the sites the U.S. bombed. Satellite photos analyzed by AP have shown new activity at two of those sites, suggesting Iran is trying to assess and potentially recover material.

Trump had threatened military action but held off following Iran’s recent crackdown on protests spurred by economic grievances that evolved into a nationwide push against the ruling clerics.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency says it confirmed more than 7,000 deaths in the crackdown and is investigating thousands more. The government has acknowledged more than 3,000 killed.

The strikes could rattle global markets, particularly if Iran makes the Strait of Hormuz unsafe for commercial traffic. A third of worldwide oil exports transported by sea passed through the strait in 2025.

Saudi Arabia said Iran targeted its capital and eastern region in an attack that was repelled. Bahrain said a missile attack targeted the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters in the island kingdom, and three buildings were damaged in the capital, Manama, and Muharraq city by drone strikes and debris from an intercepted missile.

Kuwait’s civil aviation authority said a drone targeted the main international airport, injuring several employees. Kuwait’s state-run news agency said three troops were injured by shrapnel from strikes that hit Ali Al-Salem air base. Explosions could also be heard in Qatar. Jordan said it “dealt with” 49 drones and ballistic missiles.

Lidman reported from in Tel Aviv. Boak reported from West Palm Beach, Florida. Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press reporters Joe Federman in Jerusalem, Aamer Madhani and Konstantin Toropin in Washington, Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Farnoush Amiri in New York and AP journalists around the world contributed to this report.

This story has been corrected to show that the IRNA news agency reported 40 people were killed in the school strike, without specifying students.