Comment on Tampa columnist: Filppula's solid play honed with Wings

The Colorado Avalanche began the season with a dud against a recent Stanley Cup champion — the Vegas Golden Knights. But the Avs looked like a completely different club Monday night, completing the first half of the regular season with a statement effort against the defending champion Florida Panthers. Devon Toews scored twice, Mackenzie Blackwood made 26 saves and the Avalanche scratched out its 25th win in 41 games, a 3-1 victory at Ball Arena. “(We’ve come) a long ways,” Toews said.

You’ll thank Russell Wilson one day. Not because he showed up. Oh, no. Because he left. Getting him was a risk. Extending him was screwy. But cutting Big Russ forced the Broncos to go cold turkey in record time, to eat a ton of cap money and go young all over the place.

The play probably just should have been a bad one. The Broncos didn’t exactly have a fleet of explosive playmakers on the field in the first place for a first-and-goal snap Sunday from the Kansas City 3-yard line midway through the second quarter. Rookie quarterback Bo Nix play-faked, but nobody came open. That was, in part, because the only wide receiver on the field didn’t do what he was supposed to. Tight end Adam Trautman worked himself free as Nix ran to his right, but Nix put the ball in a bad spot for him, giving Chiefs cornerback Nazeeh Johnson a chance to disrupt the throw. Johnson did just that, batting the ball up into the air.

By The Associated Press The wife of late San Diego Padres owner Peter Seidler, Sheel Seidler, sued brothers-in-law Matthew and Robert on Monday, attempting to prevent another brother, John, from taking control of the team rather than her. The suit comes at a time when the Padres are among the teams recruiting Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki. In a petition filed in Travis County Probate Court in Austin, Texas, Sheel Seidler sued Matthew, who became executor of Peter Seidler’s estate last year, and Robert, the prior executor.

The Broncos finally put their long playoff drought in the past. Almost nine years after Super Bowl 50, they’re back in the AFC postseason field. Now comes the hard part. Trying to go to Buffalo to knock off an MVP candidate in quarterback Josh Allen and the 13-4 Bills. “Everybody’s ready to go and everybody understands that getting to the playoffs is nice, but we don’t play football for consolation prizes and moral victories,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said.

The cost to construct Billions of dollars in both public and private money have been spent to build professional sports stadiums across North America. Below is the cost of each stadium or arena currently being used by teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB, including older venues that have undergone extensive renovation in recent years.