Denver, CO

Flyers forward Denver Barkey called up as NHL rosters head toward holiday freeze

Published

3 days ago

December 20, 2025

Flyers forward Denver Barkey called up as NHL rosters head toward holiday freeze

NEW YORK — The NHL hits a roster freeze at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, so with defenseman Egor Zamula clearing waivers and being assigned to the American Hockey League, it left a roster spot open.

Forward Denver Barkey has been called up.

Drafted by the Flyers in the third round of the 2023 NHL draft, Barkey turned pro this season and has been impressive while skating primarily on the wing for Lehigh Valley of the AHL. The 20-year-old has 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in 26 games for the Phantoms, primarily playing on the wing with center Lane Pederson and winger Alex Bump.

“I think right from the start, he’s played very well,” Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr recently told The Inquirer. “On the production side, he makes plays, he works, and the details are great. Such a smart player. He’s got to get stronger and build up his body to handle the grind and but so far, so good.

“Down there, he’s been arguably our best forward a lot of nights, and coaches love them plays, plays a lot. He’s certainly going in the right direction.”

» READ MORE: Flyers Q&A: Brent Flahr dishes on prospects Porter Martone, Jett Luchanko, and more

Well, the direction now is east to New York City ahead of the Flyers’ matchup with the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon (12:30 p.m., NBCSP). The kid from Ontario is in line to make his debut at the World’s Most Famous Arena.

“I call him like a little mini [Travis Konecny],” Flyers director of player development Riley Armstrong said of Barkey over the summer. “He’s all over the puck. He’s grimy when he doesn’t have the puck. He’s always working to get the puck back.

“He’s really good with his stick picking pockets, transitioning, and his eyes are up; I don’t think a little guy like that skating around, his head down, is going to last very long in the game.

“But when you watch him go into corners, and he’s not afraid of that, he’s quick to get in, he’s quick to get out.”

Some have questioned Barkey’s size at 5-foot-10, 173 pounds, but no one questions his grit, moxie, will, and determination. Last season, he notched 25 goals and 82 points in 50 regular-season games before adding another nine goals and 20 points in 11 postseason games for London of the Ontario Hockey League.

On June 1, he captained the Knights to the Memorial Cup championship despite suffering a high-ankle sprain in the OHL Final. In the finale of the Memorial Cup, against the projected No. 1 for this June’s draft, Gavin McKenna, and Medicine Hat of the Western Hockey League, Barkey drove play and scored a pair of goals.

A month later, he was at the Flyers development camp but did not participate. He did, however, try.

“[Barkey] always comes to me every morning, ‘Hey, do you think you can get me out on the ice?’ No, no, you’re done,” Armstrong said with a chuckle in early July.

The rest helped. He was again impressive at the Flyers’ rookie camp and in a game against their Rangers counterparts in early September in Allentown.

Barkey opened eyes with his speed, hockey IQ, puck possession and patience, and high-end passing ability. Looking completely healed from his high-ankle sprain, the forward used his quickness, leverage, and ability to win pucks to beat the defense at every turn and notched a goal.

It appears that his summer of eating Italian giant subs — Mike’s way, minus the onions — at Jersey Mike’s with his buddy, and former London teammate, Oliver Bonk, to add weight paid off. Phantoms coach John Snowden called him “a heck of a hockey player” in September.

“Continue to get bigger, stronger,” Barkey said of his summer plans at development camp. “It’s a big jump next year. I’m going to be playing against older men and strong guys. So, continuing to get stronger, faster, and I think the biggest thing is just using my brain and then finding a way to adjust. It’s a different game in pro.”

And Barkey has adjusted well to the pro ranks, skating on the wing of the Phantoms’ top line, which drives play and is relied on for offensive swings. His fellow winger, Bump, was actually the one many thought would be called up.

The kid from Minnesota, who led Western Michigan to the NCAA championship in April, was pegged by everyone, including The Inquirer, to break camp with the Flyers; however, he was sent down after a poor main training camp. After a slow start in Lehigh Valley, he now has 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) in 26 games in Allentown.

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Denver, CO

Denver Broncos Week 18 opponent just lost a huge defensive contributor

Published

9 hours ago

December 22, 2025

Press Room

Denver Broncos Week 18 opponent just lost a huge defensive contributor

The Denver Broncos saw their 11-game winning streak end thanks to the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was a pretty brutal performance all the way around from Denver, but thanks to that 11-game winning streak, the Broncos were actually able to lose a game – they could afford a loss, if that makes sense.

Even with the Bills, Chargers, and Patriots all winning in Week 16, the 12-3 Broncos are still atop the AFC West and atop the AFC. All Denver has to do is win their final two games, and both things will be clinched. With Denver slowly beginning to battle key injuries, getting that first-round bye could be massive for the health of the team.

With the Kansas City Chiefs likely starting a third-string QB in Week 17, you would like to think that Denver can take care of business and get to 13-3, which could set up a massive showdown with the Los Angeles Chargers for the division title. Well, that game just got a bit more interesting, as a key Chargers’ defensive player was just suspended.

Chargers lose starting linebacker Denzel Perryman to a two-game suspension

Here is the update from Tom Pelissero:

Chargers linebacker Denzel Perryman has been suspended without pay for two games for repeated violations of playing rules intended to protect the health and safety of players, including during Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 22, 2025

Denzel Perryman is a starting linebacker for the Los Angeles Chargers and was essentially suspended two games for not playing a clean, safe version of football. This obviously means that Perryman is not suiting up for the remainder of the regular season, but will be back in time for the playoffs.

Perryman, 33 years old, is on his second stint with the Chargers and has now played in 10 games this year. In those 1- games, he’s racked up three passes defended, 47 total tackles, and four tackles for loss. Perryman is definitely more of a tone-setter on the defensive side of the ball and not someone who is going to make those hyper-athletic splashy plays that some linebackers can make.

This is huge for the Chargers’ defense, a very good unit thanks to defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, but the personnel on that side of the ball aren’t super talented. The Chargers are one of those teams that honestly benefit more from great coaching than they do having more talent than the opponent.

The Bolts can still win the AFC West, but they would have to win their final two games. Not having Denzel Perryman for a massive Week 18 showdown in Denver is flat-out massive and a huge blow to their defense.

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Denver, CO

Win over Broncos should allow Jaguars to think about ‘super’ heights

Published

21 hours ago

December 22, 2025

Press Room

Win over Broncos should allow Jaguars to think about ‘super’ heights

The Jacksonville Jaguars defeated the Denver Broncos 34-20, ending the Broncos’ 11-game winning streak.
Jacksonville’s victory has positioned them as a potential Super Bowl contender in the AFC.
Coach Liam Coen used comments from Broncos coach Sean Payton about Jacksonville being a “smaller market” as motivation.

DENVER — Time to recalibrate our expectations for this Jacksonville Jaguars team. Time to set a higher bar. Time to think about bigger things. Time to talk about goals beyond an AFC South title.

Like Super Bowl things.

How can you not after watching the Jaguars beat the Denver Broncos 34-20 at the cauldron known as Empower Field at Mile High on Sunday, Dec. 21? It was impressive and thorough and workmanlike, how the Jaguars ended the Broncos’ 11-game winning streak and handed them their first home loss in more than a year.

The Jaguars should believe a division title — they lead the Houston Texans by a game — isn’t enough.

The Jaguars should feel winning a first-round playoff game is only the beginning of a magical run in January/February.

And the Jaguars should be confident regardless of whether they have to return to Denver or play at New England next month.

“The fight of this team,” veteran receiver Tim Patrick said as he shook his head. “It was our first time this year going back and forth against somebody and battling and the continued will to execute at a high level when the pressure was on, I’m definitely proud of the guys.”

Welcome to the party, Jaguars. The Super Bowl Contender Party.

Hey, New England, Denver and Buffalo in the AFC and the Los Angeles Rams, Seattle, Philadelphia and Chicago in the NFC, make a place at the table for the Jaguars, who have won 11 games in a season for the first time since 2007 and have a six-game heater for the first time since 1999.

They … have … arrived.

“It’s not about ‘arriving’ — I knew what we had in OTAs (last spring),” cornerback Jourdan Lewis said. “I guess the rest of the league (now) understands who we are.”

Coen doesn’t care about narrative

Opponents should understand the Jaguars are hitting a new stride in their passing game (three touchdowns for quarterback Trevor Lawrence), have myriad play-makers (take a bow, receiver Parker Washington) and are all kinds of opportunistic on defense (two more takeaways).

But maybe to spice things up and feed the internal narrative that nobody believe in them, Jaguars coach Liam Coen found a new target last week: Broncos coach Sean Payton.

During the week, Payton said of the Jaguars: “It’s a smaller market, but you see a real good team.”

Not sure what being a smaller market has to do with winning in the NFL with revenue sharing and the salary cap, but Payton tends to stir the pot, even if it isn’t on purpose.

You really never know where Coen is going to take a press conference. To get the briefing going, I threw out an innocuous, big-picture question about all three phases contributing to the win. (And they did. The special teams was lights out.)

“Great team effort,” Coen began.

But then, he couldn’t help himself.

“Just thankful that a small-market team like us can come into a place like Mile High and get it done,” Coen continued.

Boom. I asked Coen if it really was a rallying cry.

“You know … yes. Yeah,” he said.

Whatever works. Back in Week 4, San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh was the figurative bullseye. Being a home underdog to Indianapolis two weeks ago was noted. Entering this game, it was Payton.

Manufactured motivation has been a part of sports at all levels since the first newspaper was published and first microphone was turned on to gather audio.

Look, as I talked to a long-time team employee earlier this month about, the Jaguars won’t get their desired respect even if they won the Super Bowl. The headlines outside Jacksonville the next morning would be more about the losing team.

Coen kinda embraces it, but sorta not.

“We don’t really care about the narrative,” he said. “I want that narrative to keep coming. It’s only helping us.”

Team getting better each week

You know what’s really helping the Jaguars? They’re a darn good team. A team improving each week.

This is why I won’t make a habit of writing the “Nobody believes in us. Nobody respects us,” card. I’ll leave that to players, coaches and fans.

What should be the focus is how the Jaguars took the lead over Denver for good with 4:33 left in the second quarter, part of a stretch where they outscored the Broncos 27-7.

Against the Broncos’ league-best red zone defense, the Jaguars went 4 of 5.

Against the Broncos’ league-best third down defense, the Jaguars went 8 of 15.

And against the Broncos’ league-best pass rush, the Jaguars gave up five sacks, but for a total of 14 lost yards.

The Jaguars offense is borderline unstoppable with a league-high 12 games of at least 25 points.

After consecutive punts to open the game, the Jaguars went touchdown, punt, touchdown, field goal, touchdown, touchdown and field goal to take control.

After allowing a Denver touchdown, the Jaguars’ defense went field goal, punt, touchdown, punt, fumble, field goal and interception over the next seven possessions.

As we head toward Christmas, this Jaguars season — unexpectedly entertaining and successful — is presenting you, the fans, the best kind of present. And it’s a ride that may not end until mid-February in Santa Clara, Calif.

“My expectations were already high,” Patrick said. “This was just another stop.”

Just another stop, but a huge stop on the way to the Super Bowl.

Contact O’Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com

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Denver, CO

Broncos vs. Jags first quarter recap

Published

1 day ago

December 21, 2025

Press Room

The Denver Broncos won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half to bring out Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars offense to start the game. Interestingly, the Jaguars only sent out former-Broncos wide receiver Tim Patrick as their lone team captain on the coin toss.

Jonathon Cooper almost got a sack on the first play, but Lawrence was able to dump it off for an incompletion instead. Two plays later on third and four, Riley Moss chased Lawrence down for a sack to force a quick three-and-out. Denver wouldn’t do anything with their possession due to a dropped pass by RJ Harvey and a false start on Garett Bolles, so the Jaguars would get the ball right back.

The Broncos defense wasn’t playing to start the game. Talanoa Hufanga and Jonah Elliss made create open field tackles for minimal gains, then John Franklin-Myers broke through inside to sack Lawrence to force another three-and-out early in the first quarter.

On the first play of their next drive, Jaleel McLaughlin nearly broke one for an 80+ yarder but was caught by a shoestring tackle for just a 16-yard gain instead.

Two plays later, McLaughlin ripped off another nice gain of nine, then on third and one, Nix was stuffed on a quarterback keeper. They decided to go for it on fourth and inches where Harvey just barely dove forward to pick up the first down. The Jaguars would challenge the spot, but the call stood for the critical first down on their own side of the field.

Bo Nix then fired a sideline pass to Courtland Sutton who toe-tapped for a 17-yard gain into Jaguars territory. Nix went right back to Sutton for another quick pass for a 14-yard gain into field goal range.

They’d stall out from there, however, and had to settle for a 44-yard field goal attempt by Wil Lutz that doinked off the right upright to keep the game scoreless.

The defense seemed to keep the pressure going with Lawrence a bit skittish in the pocket and quickly found themselves in a third and nine. But he settled in on third down with a last second throw after having all day to find Parker Washington for a first down and a 21-yard gain.

After a nice pass breakup by Riley Moss on first down and a stuffed run, Lawrence was again in a third and long. The Broncos got another sack and fumble, but the play was blown dead. P.J. Locke was charged with a penalty because he didn’t hear the dead ball whistle to give the Jaguars another first down.

The crowd noise hurt the Broncos on that play to put Jacksonville into field goal range.

The first quarter wound down with the Jaguars scoring a touchdown on a Lawrence third down throw to Washington for 12 yards.

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