From 'The Next One' to Philly Icon: How the 1992 draft-day trade for Philly icon Eric Lindros revived the Flyers

Former Flyers and Colorado Avalanche winger Keith Jones seldom took faceoffs during his nine-year NHL career. But when future Hockey Hall of Famer Peter Forsberg summoned Jones to the dot to take a draw in his place on Jan. 4, 1997, against the Flyers, Jones complied, naive to the challenge that awaited him.

Jones lined up across from 23-year-old Eric Lindros, whom Jones recalled being “already built like a mountain” when he made his NHL debut in 1992 as a 19-year-old at 6-foot-4, 225 pounds. The linesman dropped the puck. Before Jones could flinch, Lindros knocked him onto the seat of his pants with the brute force of an offensive lineman on skates and won the faceoff.

“I remember looking over at Forsberg and he kind of chuckled because I think he knew exactly what was going to be coming,” Jones said. “That’s just kind of what Eric did. So it didn’t matter who he went up against, he was going to try to overpower that player. And in many cases, he was strong enough, big enough to do that.”

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Title IX: Temple fencing coach Nikki Franke is as inspiring as ever

On the night before the 2020 Northwestern University duals, the Temple women’s fencing team filtered out of a restaurant in Chicago and onto the street corner. Before the group started a walk back to the hotel, one of sophomore Cassie Navalta’s teammates delivered news that stopped them in their tracks.

The Temple women’s fencing program had earned its highest ranking in team history by securing the No. 5 spot in the national College Fencing 360 rankings, a feat more satisfying than the meal they just shared.

“Everyone was screaming,” Navalta said with a laugh. “We must’ve looked very funny.”

The Temple fencers had consistently appeared in the top 10, peaking at No. 6 in 2017. No. 5 marked an unprecedented achievement for the team. On that street corner in Chicago, Navalta felt as if she became a part of the program’s history.

But before 1972, that program didn’t have a history. In fact, it didn’t exist. The university only offered the sport to women in the form of a club populated by students enrolled in a fencing class. That changed when 21-year-old public health graduate student and fencing teacher Nikki Franke approached women’s athletic director Barbara Lockhart — “Being very naive,” Franke said. “Absolutely naive.” — and asked her why Temple lacked a bona fide women’s fencing team.

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Flyers’ Morgan Frost to play first NHL game in Toronto with father and former Maple Leafs announcer watching proudly

From his booth above the ice at the Air Canada Centre more than a decade ago, former Toronto Maple Leafs public address announcer Andy Frost attentively watched the action unfold beneath him, prepared at any moment to announce a goal or a penalty.

But he broke his focus occasionally, peering over the glass barrier at the edge of his desk down to press row below him. Among the horde of reporters typing away at their laptops sat his adolescent son, Morgan, who fixated on the game with a pen in one hand and a program in the other.

Andy watched Morgan write something down, mimicking the reporters around him. Was he taking notes on the actions of his favorite Leafs players, including Kyle Wellwood and Mats Sundin? Tracking stats, just like the ones he memorized on the backs of hockey cards? Was he doodling? Andy couldn’t quite tell. Regardless, Andy knew Morgan liked what he saw and what he was a part of on press row.

“I could tell he had the aptitude,” Andy said. “Like any little kid, you know what press boxes are like. He liked the fact that he could get popcorn and bags of chips and ice cream and drinks for no charge.”

That aptitude built in the rafters of Air Canada Centre inspired an adoration for the game, propelling Morgan to an illustrious junior hockey career with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and a burgeoning professional one with the Flyers.

On Tuesday, 22-year-old Morgan will return to the home of the Leafs, now called Scotiabank Arena, to play his first NHL game in Toronto.

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Jets QB James Morgan savors Green Bay homecoming, chance to talk plays with childhood hero Aaron Rodgers

GREEN BAY - Under the beating sun on a cloudless August morning in Green Bay, New York Jets quarterback James Morgan strolled across the Lambeau Field parking lot on his way to Ray Nitschke Field for joint practice with the Packers. Growing up in Green Bay attending Packers training camp, Morgan had walked the hallowed grounds of the stadium before.

But this time, the sound of hot pavement crunching under his cleats accented each step through the parking lot. This time, he wasn’t wearing Packers quarterback Brett Favre’s No. 4 — he donned his own No. 4 complete with shoulder pads. Instead of being the child behind a barricade pleading with players for autographs, children shouted his name, thrusting their jerseys and pens into his hands.

For the first time in his life, Morgan was at Lambeau Field for work, not for pleasure.

“I think back to two years ago when I was here watching practice in college and picturing being here someday,” Morgan said. “So to be on the other side of that fence, it was awesome. It's a cool experience.”

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Safety Henry Black impresses Packers with his maturity: 'He's beyond his years'

GREEN BAY – Put an opportunity in front of Green Bay Packers safety Henry Black and he’ll go at it full speed. Just ask Houston Texans running back David Johnson.

When the Texans attempted a comeback late in their Week 7 matchup against the Packers last season, Black snuffed their surge in his NFL debut. After Johnson caught a checkdown over the middle and slipped past the outstretched arms of linebacker Ty Summers, the rookie undrafted free agent came crashing down on Johnson and popped the ball loose with his helmet.

Safety Adrian Amos recovered the rare Packers forced fumble, one of just seven all season, and secured the win.

“That definitely lit up the bingo card, I'm sure, from training camp,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said after the game. “(Jace) Sternberger touchdown, Malik Taylor touchdown, Henry Black forced fumble, that's pretty special right there.

“You don't expect those things starting the week out maybe, but I'm proud of the way those guys made the most of their opportunities.”

But for two attendees at NRG Stadium that day, Black’s willingness to hurl himself into the moment came as no surprise. Former Packers cornerback Tramon Williams and Black’s high school football coach Jerwin Wilson watched Black accelerate toward every opportunity in his path for the last eight years, including the ball cradled in Johnson’s arm.

“He's a good kid and he has a lot of ability,” Williams told PackersNews. “You see him move out there and you're like, man, why do guys get overlooked like this?”

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Packers defensive lineman Kingsley Keke on concussion: 'I knew I wasn't right in my head'

GREEN BAY - At first, Kingsley Keke’s vision went blurry.

The second-year Green Bay Packers defensive lineman said he doesn’t remember the exact play, nor the exact hit, that caused the concussion that kept him sidelined throughout the 2020 postseason.

Looking back, Keke said he sustained the concussion in Week 13 on the road against the Detroit Lions. But he didn’t think anything at the time about the spurt of blurred vision that subsided shortly thereafter. Keke stayed in the game and played more than half of the defensive snaps, finishing with a quarterback hit and a pass breakup.

It wasn’t until Week 15 against the Tennessee Titans that Keke noticed he felt off.

“The first couple snaps, that's when I knew something was wrong,” Keke told PackersNews. “I knew I wasn't right in my head. I was just out there just trying to keep going for my team. I thought I was fine, but then again, I knew I wasn't fine. It's just the adrenaline running.

“But I kept playing.”

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Bucks founder Marv Fishman first wanted to bring football to Milwaukee; Vince Lombardi said no

Less than two years before Marvin Fishman, the self-described “unknown real estate man from Milwaukee,” became Marv Fishman, an “owner of Milwaukee’s new NBA franchise,” he stood before county officials trying to establish the city’s first professional sports team since the Milwaukee Braves left town.

Fishman wasn’t interested in basketball yet. He was set on bringing a football team to Milwaukee.

At 4 p.m. on Sept. 1, 1966, Fishman met with the county board to request a County Stadium lease agreement for his prospective Continental Football League franchise. The team was Fishman’s dream born out of months spent recovering in hospitals from pericarditis, an infection that causes the sac around the heart to swell. He had plenty of time to ponder why Milwaukee, then the 11th-largest city in the United States, wasn’t a major-league hub.

“Somebody had to do something about getting major league sports for Milwaukee,” Fishman wrote in his book "Bucking the Odds: The Birth of the Milwaukee Bucks".

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Packers Super Bowl XLV Oral History: 'We came out like a whirlwind tornado'

At first, cornerback Tramon Williams was hesitant to celebrate.

Up 31-25 with 56 seconds left in Super Bowl XLV, the Green Bay Packers’ defense needed a fourth-down stop against the Pittsburgh Steelers to secure the title. When Williams landed on his feet after tipping Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s pass away from the outstretched arms of wide receiver Mike Wallace, he clapped his hands and pumped his fist.

But then Williams saw Wallace, sprawled on the turf after their airborne battle, calling for a defensive pass interference penalty. Williams whipped his head around, too, in search of the yellow flag that could stand in the way of the team’s first Super Bowl victory since 1996.

It never came.

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Matt LaFleur on decision to kick late field goal on fourth down: 'It just didn't work out'

GREEN BAY - For a moment, the NFC championship game seemed within the Green Bay Packers’ grasp.

Down eight, 31-23, with 2:22 left in the game, the Packers stormed 58 yards down the field to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 8-yard line. There they had three opportunities on three downs; each were passing plays that fell incomplete.

But then there was the fourth opportunity.

Head coach Matt LaFleur, known for the “all gas, no brake” approach that propelled the Packers to a 13-3 record for a second straight season, pumped the brakes. Instead of taking another shot at the end zone on fourth down, LaFleur took his offense off the field, sent on kicker Mason Crosby and the field goal unit and settled for the three points.

The decision came as a shock to Buccaneers outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett.

“Hey, I couldn’t believe it, honestly,” Barrett said. “Because there’s no guarantee that they’re gonna make it back down there again, even if they was on fourth down. They might as well try.

“But I know if he could take it back, he probably wouldn’t do that next time. But I appreciate it.”

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Packers' defensive front steals spotlight from highly touted Rams linemen

GREEN BAY - Going into the Green Bay Packers' divisional-round game against the Los Angeles Rams, one of the most eye-catching matchups between the two teams focused on the Rams defensive front and the Packers offensive line.

The giant, glittering, hypothetical marquee sign floating in the sky above Lambeau Field featured seven-time Pro Bowl, five-time All-Pro defensive lineman Aaron Donald against All-Pro center Corey Linsley and Pro Bowl left guard Elgton Jenkins.

To that, the Packers defensive front said, “Hold my Spotted Cow.”

The Packers' pass rush sacked Rams quarterback Jared Goff four times in their 32-18 victory, which was the most he had been taken down in a game all season. Donald, outside linebacker Leonard Floyd and the Rams defensive front, however, failed to sack Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers once. His clean jersey could’ve been the face of a Tide campaign.

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Dominique Dafney goes from grabbing IDs as bar bouncer to snaring TD passes for Packers

GREEN BAY - Mere months before he grabbed a touchdown pass from Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers under the lights at Chicago's Soldier Field, tight end Dominique Dafney grabbed IDs as a bouncer at 300 Craft & Rooftop, a bar in Des Moines, Iowa.

Dafney’s routine had become monotonous — wake up, lift weights, go home, eat, wait for a life-changing phone call from an NFL team looking to give him a chance to live out his dream of playing professional football.

So, he took the bouncer gig to shake up the daily grind. But it didn’t last long. The Packers called him in mid-October and offered him a practice squad spot.

“I just texted in our group message, ‘Hey, I'm leaving,’” Dafney said. “’Cause the Packers called me.’ And (my boss) was like, ‘Nope, I get it. You don't have to come to work tonight.’ I'm like, ‘Yep, I probably shouldn't.’ And then I was gone the next day.”

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Packers lineman Billy Turner funnels fashion into passion for social justice reform

Every Sunday, Green Bay Packers right tackle Billy Turner is in sync with the game clock. Each moment spent at the line of scrimmage, each step, each strike is perfectly timed out and executed according to the play call.

When Turner is off the clock in his free moments away from football, he powers down his inner perfectionist and lets his mind go by creating art, from spray painting canvases to hand dyeing and altering clothing.

“When I sit down and I'm working on certain pieces and certain things, I could just sit there for 24 hours straight and keep doing things and not have any idea or recollection of time,” Turner said. “Just because that's how passionate I am about it. That's how much fun I have when I'm trying to come up with different ideas and putting pen to paper or brush to paper at that.”

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