MORRISVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Carolina Hurricanes top-line forward Seth Jarvis had shoulder surgery after the team's Stanley Cup title run and is expected to be out up to six months, a recovery time that could linger into the start of next season, general manager Eric Tulsky said Friday.
Jarvis had the procedure to deal with a long-running issue after relying on strengthening and rehab work to get through it, Tulsky said.
“Shoulders are tough,” Tulsky said after the first round of the NHL draft. “Once it goes, you can keep aggravating it and it can limit what you can do and it’s tough. And eventually it needs to be repaired. You can strengthen it and try to get through it, and he did that for a while.”
Tulsky said fourth-line forward Eric Robinson also had knee surgery with a recovery time of 6-8 weeks, but said no other players are currently scheduled for surgeries after the two-month playoff run.
Jarvis led the Hurricanes with 32 regular-season goals in 71 regular-season games, and also played for the silver medal-winning Team Canada at the Milan Cortina Olympics. He had four goals during the playoffs, including the overtime winner on a one-timer to take Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Jarvis had dealt with labrum and rotator-cuff issues in his right shoulder going back to at least the 2023-24 season. Carolina reached the Eastern Conference Final in 2025, then had another long postseason run before closing out the Golden Knights in six games on June 14. Jarvis joined the team for last weekend's downtown championship parade and rally, and didn't hesitate to lift the Cup over his head.
“If we had missed the playoffs last year, he probably would've last summer, I would guess,” Tulsky said. "But we had a deep run and he started looking at the timeline and didn't want to miss a big chunk of the season. Then we got to this year and had another deep run.
“At some point, you just need to do it. You can't be limited for the rest of your career. You start thinking: Maybe we're going to have deep runs every year, you're just going to have to bite the bullet and get it done.”
Tulsky said there's a “very real chance here" that the Hurricanes will have an open spot in the lineup for a month or two next season, which could potentially mean work for rising prospect Bradly Nadeau or someone else.
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Carolina Hurricanes right wing Seth Jarvis (24) takes a shot as Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Rasmus Andersson (4) defends during the third period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
HOUSTON (AP) — Tiny Cape Verde defied odds to become the smallest country to earn a spot in the World Cup knockout round behind the stellar play of Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who embodied the grit of his nation.
“We are small,” he said. “But we have big hearts and we are fighters.”
Cape Verde completed an improbable run through the group stage with a third straight World Cup draw, a 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia on Friday night to advance in the tournament.
The small island nation off the western coast of Africa, which is making its debut on soccer’s grandest stage, already held 2010 champion Spain to a 0-0 draw and then came from behind to get a 2-2 result against Uruguay.
“The team was very eager to show this to the whole world,” Cape Verde coach Bubista said while draped in his country's flag. “We are proud of having arrived at this stage. We have shown that we are a small country, but that we fight for the things that we want to achieve.”
Cape Verde’s three points put the team in second place behind Spain, which beat Uruguay on Friday night and won the group.
Cape Verde will play reigning World Cup champion Argentina in Miami on July 3.
Drawing all three group matches doesn't guarantee advancement at major soccer tournaments. But several teams have done it in the past, including Wales in 1958, Ireland and the Netherlands in 1990, and Chile in 1998. New Zealand, however, also got three draws at the 2010 World Cup and was eliminated.
On the eve of the match, Bubista mused, “everyone is entitled to dream and nothing is impossible.”
The Blue Sharks proved him right, overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds as this country of just more than 500,000 reached the round of 32.
A woman, her face painted with a flag of the archipelago, held a sign that read: “Small Islands, Big Dreams.”
A dream that these underdogs have made reality as they continue their charmed run on the world stage.
They did it with another strong game from Vozinha, whose tournament success has helped him amass more than 16 million Instagram followers.
He had a save in first half stoppage time, grabbing a header from Mohamed Kanno to keep Saudi Arabia scoreless. Another save came in the 66th minute when he leaped to deflect a shot from Mohammed Abu Al-Shamat.
A third came in the 92nd minute when he stopped a shot by Abdullah Al-Hamdan.
“There is a lot of quality in our national team,” Vozinha said. “Maybe for many of you, you think the Cape Verdean player is not good enough. But we came here to show that we have a lot of quality and we are here to compete and our players can play everywhere in the big competition, in the big leagues.”
A group of shirtless men in the crowd each painted one letter of his name on their chests as they cheered Cape Verde.
But Vozinha had a much bigger fan among the crowd of 68,278 as his mother Ana Candida Evora watched from a luxury suite, waving a tiny Cape Verde flag. It was her second match of the tournament after missing Vozinha’s epic seven-save performance against Spain because of visa issues.
Cape Verde had a chance to score in the 50th minute, but Kevin Pina's shot from distance was just above the crossbar. Another chance came in the 74th minute when Laros Duarte’s shot from the middle of the box was stopped by goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais.
A last chance to score came in the final seconds when Nuno da Costa sent a shot from the middle of the box wide left.
But it didn’t matter because a couple of minutes after the final whistle, Spain completed its victory over Uruguay and set off a joyous celebration among Cape Verde's players and fans, many of whom cried as they rejoiced.
Having led his squad to new heights, Bubista was asked if he could have imagined such a run entering the tournament.
“I’ve always said that sooner or later Cape Verde would be on such a stage,” he said. “Of course it’s hard to have such a forecast, but I always knew.”
Saudi Arabia was eliminated after finishing with two points in the group stage.
“We were very poor in terms of creating things, controlling the game and creating actions,” coach Georgios Donis said. “And one cannot win a game this way. It would be very difficult.”
See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here
Cape Verde head coach Bubista waves the flag as he celebrates with fans after their 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia after the World Cup Group H soccer match in Houston, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Cape Verde head coach Bubista waves a flag while being carried on the shoulder of Jovane Cabral (7) during the World Cup Group H soccer match between Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia in Houston, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Cape Verde goalkeeper Marcio Rosa (12) celebrates with teammates after advancing during the World Cup Group H soccer match between Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia in Houston, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) CORRECTION: Corrects ID to Cape Verde goalkeeper Marcio Rosa (12), not Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha (1).
Cape Verde team members celebrate after the World Cup Group H soccer match between Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia in Houston, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Saudi Arabia's Mohamed Kanno (23) battles for the ball with Cape Verde's Nuno da Costa (21) during the World Cup Group H soccer match between Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia in Houston, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Cape Verde's Diney Borges (3) slides under Saudi Arabia's Mohammed Abu Alshamat (26) during the second half of the World Cup Group H soccer match between Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia in Houston, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Saudi Arabia's Ali Lajami (3) battles for a header on a corner kick with Cape Verde's Diney Borges (3) during the World Cup Group H soccer match between Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia in Houston, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Mohammed Alowais (21) and Cape Verde's Laros Duarte (15) look on as the ball goes wide after Alowais made a save during the World Cup Group H soccer match between Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia in Houston, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Saudi Arabia's Abdulelah Alamri (4) and Cape Verde's Nuno da Costa (21) collide was they try to head the ball during the second half of the World Cup Group H soccer match in Houston, Friday, June 26, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
