RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Carolina Hurricanes captain and reigning playoff MVP Jordan Staal is out 1-2 months with a partially torn calf muscle, coach Rod Brind’Amour said Tuesday.
Staal was hurt during pregame warmups Sunday at Philadelphia, according to Brind’Amour.
“It was just something he did in warmup: a freaky thing, but it is what it is,” Brind'Amour said following his team's morning skate. “Not good news there, but we’ve had a lot of injuries over the years and we’re just going to have to keep figuring it out.”
The defending Stanley Cup champions now have to go without one of their most important centers while already missing winger Seth Jarvis for the start of the season following shoulder surgery.
Staal won the Conn Smythe Trophy for his contributions on Carolina's title run, which included scoring six goals in the final, winning 55% of his faceoffs and playing lockdown defense against some of the NHL's top players.
“He gets the tough matchups every night,” Brind'Amour said. “No hiding that now. We’re all going to have to step up a little more with those two guys out, in particular.”
Jesperi Kotkaniemi figures to take Staal’s spot in the lineup, with the Hurricanes expected to call up a forward from the minors.
“When you have guys out that we have — high-end top players that do so much for your team — you’re not replacing them with one guy,” Brind'Amour said. “It’s kind of sharing the duties. With Jarvy out, we’ve had to do that, and now with Jordo out we’re going to have to figure that out, as well.”
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Philadelphia Flyers' Cam York, right, and Carolina Hurricanes' Jordan Staal collide during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Carolina Hurricanes' Jordan Staal (11) collides with Vancouver Canucks' Jake DeBrusk (74) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)
A man charged with rigging college basketball games as part of an elaborate point-fixing scheme that raked in millions was sentenced to six years in federal prison, prosecutors in Pennsylvania announced on Tuesday.
It was the first penalty handed down as part of an investigation that revealed a sprawling network of professional gamblers and college basketball players who, prosecutors say, profited off fixed games.
Prosecutors said Jalen Smith, 30, played a “central role” in helping fix games in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 NCAA Division I basketball seasons, placing bets and recruiting players with the promise of a big payment for purposefully underperforming during a game, U.S. Attorney David Metcalf said on Tuesday. Bettors would then wager against the players’ teams in those games, defrauding sportsbooks and other gamblers, authorities said. Smith pleaded guilty earlier this year to bribery and wire fraud charges.
The sentencing comes at the start of the 2026-27 NCAA basketball season, when bettors will wager billions of dollars both legally and illegally on games nationwide. In the meantime, law enforcement, regulators and sports leagues have struggled to keep up with gambling's growing popularity in collegiate and professional sports alike.
“Today’s sentencing sends a clear message: Those who exploit professional and collegiate athletes for personal gain will be held accountable,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, special agent in charge of the FBI's Philadelphia office. “This conduct does more than harm individual athletes. It undermines the integrity of sports and the trust placed in fair competition.”
Smith’s attorney did not immediately return an email seeking comment on Tuesday.
The point-shaving scheme Smith was involved in is said to have involved nearly 30 NCAA basketball games, and included schools like DePaul University, State University of New York at Buffalo and Tulane University, among others.
Prosecutors accused Smith and at least 26 other named defendants of wagering millions of dollars and paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to players in bribes. Payments to players typically ranged from $10,000 to $30,000 per game, according to an indictment.
Smith and others strategically targeted players considered “underdogs” in games, encouraging them to underperform in order to guarantee certain spreads. Those players were prime targets, prosecutors said, because they were offered money that exceeded potential income from legitimate sponsorships.
Smith, of Charlotte, North Carolina, trained and developed local basketball players for professional scouting combines and used those connections with players when he became part of the scheme, according to prosecutors.
The point-shaving scheme resulted in more than $3 million in fraudulent wagers. Smith, who also pleaded guilty to a separate felony gun possession charge, will have to pay $1.1 million in restitution, which prosecutors said is the cost incurred by gambling platforms as a result of the scheme.
Besides the fixers who recruited players and placed bets, the charges targeted over a dozen former college basketball players and four other players who were active with their college teams last season.
FILE - Information is displayed during a news conference to announce charges against several people including former college basketball players, in what prosecutors called a betting scheme to rig NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association games, Jan. 15, 2026 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Tassanee Vejpongsa, File)
FILE - This photo taken with a fisheye lens shows the NCAA logo displayed at mid-court in Philadelphia, March 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
