Sports Digest.

Colorado Avalanche Clinch NHL's Top Seed — Wild Playoff Push Continues

The **Minnesota Wild** are in the thick of the NHL playoff race with less than a week left in the regular season — and things just got a little clearer. The Wild are set to face the **Dallas Stars** in the first round...

Minnesota Teams

The Minnesota Wild are in the thick of the NHL playoff race with less than a week left in the regular season — and things just got a little clearer. The Wild are set to face the Dallas Stars in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. No score to report tonight, but the matchup is essentially locked in, so Wild fans can start mentally preparing for that series. Stay tuned for final standings as the week wraps up.

On the basketball side, the Minnesota Timberwolves aren't featured in today's headlines — which at this point in the season is either a good sign or a quiet one. We'll keep watching.

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NFL

The big off-field story: the Justice Department is investigating the NFL over how it handles its TV broadcast rights. Basically, the government wants to know if the NFL's deals are bad for fans — think higher cable bills or fewer options for watching games. The NFL is pushing back. No charges yet, just an investigation. Meanwhile, NFL Draft talk is heating up — the New York Jets hold the No. 2 overall pick and everyone's buzzing about who they'll take when the draft kicks off later this month. Also, Kirk Cousins of the Las Vegas Raiders said something refreshingly honest: he only wants to play if he's truly the team's best quarterback, even after the team is expected to draft a QB named Fernando Mendoza.

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NBA

The NBA regular season is winding down and playoff positioning is everything right now. The big question on everyone's mind: can the Los Angeles Lakers actually make a run? League insiders aren't feeling confident. Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors (yes, the Stephen Curry ones) have some internal issues to sort out before the postseason. Off the court, the NBA is reportedly planning a big change to the draft lottery — the idea is to punish teams that deliberately lose games to get a better draft pick. Commissioner Adam Silver is said to be enthusiastic about the reform. The Sacramento Kings were also in hot water this week after a suspicious late-game foul, but the NBA ruled it wasn't intentional tanking — just a bad decision.

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MLB

Baseball is only two weeks in and already there are some surprises. The Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates are both rising in the power rankings, while the Boston Red Sox have stumbled out of the gate. The big fashion moment of the week: eight teams — including the Braves, Orioles, Padres, and Royals — unveiled new City Connect jerseys, which are flashy alternate uniforms designed to represent each team's city. Think of them as the "special edition" look. On a sad note, Davey Lopes, a beloved former Dodger and four-time All-Star known for stealing bases, passed away at age 80. Also, the Toronto Blue Jays have raised a complaint about Shohei Ohtani's warm-up pitching routine — apparently they think it gives him an unfair edge. They made the same complaint during the World Series.

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NHL

Big news: the Colorado Avalanche locked up the NHL's best record (called the Presidents' Trophy) with a 3–1 win over the Calgary Flames on Thursday. That means they'll have home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs — a significant edge. The playoff picture is nearly set across the league, with most matchups falling into place. As mentioned above, the Wild will take on Dallas in Round 1. Lots of hockey to look forward to starting soon.

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College Sports

College basketball's transfer portal is wide open, and teams are shuffling their rosters for next season. TCU and Texas have both dropped in early 2026–27 rankings after losing key players to the portal — basically, good players can now switch schools like free agents, and those two programs took hits. On the football side, Alabama holds its annual spring game (called "A-Day") this Saturday, and the main attraction is a quarterback competition between Austin Mack and Keelon Russell. Spring games are low-stakes scrimmages that give fans their first look at what next season might bring.

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Other Sports

The Masters golf tournament is underway at Augusta National in Georgia — one of the most famous events in all of sports. Round 1 is in the books and Round 2 tee times are set for Friday. If you've never watched golf but want to start somewhere, the Masters is the one — beautiful course, storied history, and always dramatic. Separately, UFC 327 is this Saturday in Miami, with the light heavyweight championship on the line as Jiri Prochazka takes on Carlos Ulberg. Ulberg trains alongside legends like Israel Adesanya, and this is his first shot at a title.

Sources

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