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Cam Fowler shines in 1,000th game, Blackhawks and Blues get physical: Winter Classic takeaways

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Cam Fowler shines in 1,000th game, Blackhawks and Blues get physical: Winter Classic takeaways

By Scott Powers, Mark Lazerus and Jeremy Rutherford 

CHICAGO — The spectacle of an NHL rink wedged between the first- and third-base lines at Wrigley Field did not disappoint at Tuesday’s Winter Classic, a capacity crowd braving chilling rain and biting wind to take in the view, the fireworks and a brief Smashing Pumpkins concert. The Blackhawks arrived on the L train, leaving the Addison stop with their skates slung over their shoulders like kids marching out to the pond. The weather (mostly) cleared just in time, everything proceeded on schedule, and the NHL really couldn’t have asked for much more.

Then the puck dropped.

The environment was pristine, but the game was lopsided and choppy as the Blackhawks and Blues did what the Blackhawks and Blues do in the league’s signature regular-season event. St. Louis scored two early power-play goals and never looked back, cruising to a 6-2 victory. St. Louis is now 3-0 in the Winter Classic and Chicago is 0-5.

Here are some takeaways:

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Cam Fowler, who was No. 12 overall pick by the Anaheim Ducks in 2010, played 991 games for the organization before being traded to the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 14.

Fowler’s wife, Jasmine, pointed out that his 1,000th NHL game would be at the Winter Classic in Chicago.

“The whole day is going to be pretty surreal,” Fowler said Monday, on the eve of the outdoor game. “The game itself is going to be an incredible experience, and then when you mix in the personal accomplishments, it’s going to be a special day.”

Fowler didn’t know at the time how special.

On his second shift, the defenseman netted his first goal of the game on the power play for a 1-0 Blues lead.

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Someone grabbed the puck and moments later the souvenir was in the possession of Blues athletic trainer Ray Barile.

Late in the second period, Fowler had his second of the game, cementing what will certainly be a career memory for a player who grew up about three hours away in Windsor, Ontario.


Petr Mrázek had been the main reason why the Blackhawks were in games for much of the first two months of the season. Game after game, he was keeping them competitive, just as he did last season.

But Mrázek hasn’t been near that goalie for all of December. In Mrázek’s six starts in the month, he allowed four or more goals in five games, and the other he left in the first period due to an injury. With the five goals he gave up Tuesday, he finished the month with 110 saves on 134 shots for an .821 save percentage.

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Mrázek missed a few weeks in December due to a groin injury. Tuesday’s start was his third since he returned. The Blackhawks had been riding him in net more than expected due to Laurent Brossoit’s injury issues, but Mrázek didn’t think that workload contributed to his injury. Still, the Blackhawks are well aware Mrázek has a recent history of groin injuries and they probably need to be careful with him going forward. You would think that means more starts for Arvid Söderblom during the second half of the season, or at least until Brossoit is ready to return. Söderblom wasn’t much better in his last start, allowing five goals to the Dallas Stars on Sunday.


In any baseball stadium, the locker room accommodations aren’t perfect for a hockey team coming in for a couple days. But Wrigley Field proved to be extra challenging for the visiting Blues, and one player in particular.

To get from the rink area to the Blues’ locker room, the players walked on their skates through the dugout and up a significant number of stairs. They did this before the game, during intermissions and, of course, after the final horn.

Well, after the first period of Tuesday’s game, TNT cameras caught Blues forward Alexey Toropchenko taking one frightening step at a time as he made his way down the stairs and back to the ice.

Toropchenko’s cautious approach may have generated some chuckles from those who saw the video, but he can say that he safely finished the game without snapping any ankles.

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Connor Bedard has been the face of the Winter Classic since it was first announced 11 months ago. He’s been interviewed from inside the famous center field scoreboard, he’s been taking batting practice with ex-Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster, he’s been shooting tennis balls from the rooftops across the street, he’s been part of countless photo shoots and he was the center of attention during the last two days. And while Bedard doesn’t particularly love the added attention he gets, he certainly appreciated the opportunity the Blackhawks had at Wrigley Field.

“It’s an older building, and I find that stuff really cool, sports history,” he said. “It’s a great spot. I got to tour it a little bit and go around the room and stuff. … It’s fun we get to be here.”


Connor Bedard jerseys were everywhere inside and outside of Wrigley Field. (Scott Powers / The Athletic)

Bedard’s the entire reason the Blackhawks were picked to host this game. He’s already one of the biggest names in the sport and one of the most marketable faces in the league. Following Monday’s practice and family skate, Bedard said the Winter Classic already was “one of the coolest experiences of my life so far, and the game hasn’t even started yet.”

Once it did start, though, the Blackhawks’ 19-year-old wunderkind wasn’t much of a factor. Aside from a sharp-angle rebound chance shortly before Dylan Holloway gave the Blues a 4-1 lead in the second period, Bedard was mostly quiet. He finished with just a secondary assist on a late power-play goal by Tyler Bertuzzi.


The Blues’ Zack Bolduc certainly had the hit of the game as he sent Taylor Hall into the bench.

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Moments before the Blackhawks officially dropped the puck, the teams’ captains — Nick Foligno and Brayden Schenn — participated in a ceremonial puck drop.

Of course, they were all smiles for that photo, but they were not smiling late in the second period.

After Fowler gave the Blues a 5-1 lead, Foligno and Schenn squared off on the ensuing faceoff.

With the Blues in the driver’s seat, Schenn probably didn’t need to request the fight, and he may have been second-guessing himself after Foligno landed a couple of haymakers, but that’s hockey.

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(Top photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)

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Deonna Purrazzo touts Ring of Honor as having ‘great women’s wrestling,’ should be seen as landing spot

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Deonna Purrazzo touts Ring of Honor as having ‘great women’s wrestling,’ should be seen as landing spot

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Deonna Purrazzo was credited with helping restart the women’s division in Ring of Honor (ROH) when she joined the company in 2015. She was featured in one of the first women’s matches in the company’s history in nearly a decade at the time.

She spent three years with the company before she landed back in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in 2024. By that time, AEW co-founder Tony Khan had bought Ring of Honor and it became a sister company of AEW. Upon her return to Ring of Honor, she was thrust into a tournament to determine the first ROH women’s pure champion.

PRO WRESTLING STARS LEADING SHOWCASE TO BENEFIT TUNNEL TO TOWERS, SHARE WHAT BEING AN AMERICAN MEANS TO THEM

Deonna Purrazzo celebrates after winning her match during AEW Collision on June 15, 2024, at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio. (Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire)

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In December, Purrazzo defeated Billie Starkz to be crowned the champion and has held the title ever since.

As a wave of new wrestlers hit the free-agent market over the last two weeks, Purrazzo touted the opportunities that Ring of Honor has for women’s wrestlers – something that was “really important” to the New Jersey native.

“I think what’s so great about Ring of Honor is that it kinda flies under the radar a little bit,” she told Fox News Digital. “So, you get to really develop and tell stories and show personality and maybe try something different than you would if you were on ‘Dynamite’ every single week. I think that there is really great women’s wrestling within Ring of Honor. Most weeks there’s four, five, six women’s matches and so I think that it doesn’t get enough credit online that it deserves for what it’s doing and the purpose it’s serving for women’s wrestling, which is, again, really important to me, starting in Ring of Honor, starting the women’s division 11 years ago.

“To get to see multiple women every single week grow and develop, I think it’s really important and I think that if more people saw it as a landing spot, we can maybe grow that perception in the public’s eyes.”

Athena sits at the top of the women’s division in ROH. She’s held the ROH Women’s World Championship for more than 1,200 days. Red Velvet is the current ROH Women’s World Television Championship and has held it for more than 150 days.

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Deonna Purrazzo attends Shaq’s Fun House at XS nightclub at Encore Las Vegas on Feb. 9, 2024. (Greg Doherty/Getty Images)

Purrazzo also has the opportunity to help veterans and first-responders in need.

She and her husband, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling star Steve Maclin, are putting on the Battle for the Brave on June 6. The charity event will benefit the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

Purrazzo stressed how important giving back to military veterans was to her in an interview with Fox News Digital earlier this week, especially as a military wife. Maclin served in the U.S. Marines.

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“Growing up in New Jersey as well, 9/11 was such a big deal. For me, I was in second grade,” she said. “I didn’t understand what was going on but in the days after, I felt a sense of unity in that everyone came together, everyone was proud to be an American, and we were going to fight back and stand together and be one, united country. And I think that, that feeling has always stuck with me but being a veteran’s wife, it’s taken on a completely different role.

“Steve opening up about his service and things he’s seen and experienced with me has given me a new passion to let veterans know that, yes, war will always come home with you but it doesn’t have to define you. Steve was so lucky that he was able to find wrestling right after he got out of the Marine Corps and it saved him, in a way, from falling down the unknown path of ‘What am I? Who am I next?’

Pro wrestling stars Steve Maclin and Deonna Purrazzo stare at each other. (Provided to Fox News Digital)

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“And I think that’s something that our veterans deal with unbeknownst to the rest of the public. It’s not talked about enough. They say 22 veterans but right now the math is leading toward 44 veterans a day lose their lives to that battle – an identity crisis of who am I after service. So, that’s what it means to be American for me now, is showing that support for our veterans, showing that our country is here for them and we’re here to support them and we’re here to give them the resources that they need to live healthy and successful lives after service.”

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Kyle Loftis, street racing media pioneer who founded 1320Video, dies at 43

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Kyle Loftis, street racing media pioneer who founded 1320Video, dies at 43

Kyle Loftis, who started filming street racing with a point-and-shoot camera and went on to become a pioneer in car culture media, has died, his company confirmed Wednesday. He was 43.

“We are extremely saddened to share that Kyle Loftis, the founder of 1320video, passed away last night,” the company wrote in a statement posted on social media. “We are in a state of shock.”

No cause of death has been disclosed.

The Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office and Gretna Fire Department in Nebraska responded to Loftis’ home Tuesday night, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said in a statement emailed to The Times.

“Loftis was declared deceased; his death is not suspicious,” the spokesperson wrote. “Out of respect for privacy, we will not be releasing further details.”

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According to his LinkedIn page, Loftis attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha from 2000-2005 and earned a bachelor’s degree in management of information systems.

It was there, Loftis said in a 2023 video on his company’s YouTube channel, that his interests in car stereos and photography evolved into a passion for street racing — in particular, capturing races in still photos and on video and making that media available to fans.

“I’m a hardcore ‘car nut’ that’s taken his love for cars and turned it into the most amazing ‘job’ of my life,” Loftis wrote on LinkedIn. “Through my business, 1320Video, I’m able to experience the craziest & best automotive events (fitting my tastes) and share them with millions of people around the world!”

Back in the early days, Loftis posted his work on message boards and sold it on DVDs. For nearly 10 years after college, he worked for PayPal while building his motorsports media business on his own time. He dedicated himself to 1320Video full time starting in January 2015.

Currently, 1320Video has nearly 4 million subscribers on YouTube, more than 6 million followers on Facebook and nearly 3 million followers on Instagram.

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“Kyle’s passion for motorsports inspired millions of people around the world and we will never forget what he has done to grow our beloved sport,” 1320Video wrote. “Kyle was a beam of light at every gathering… his enthusiasm, kindness, and creativeness was contagious.

“Let us pray that Kyle is in a better place.”

Garrett Mitchell — the YouTuber and stock car racer known as Cleetus McFarland — posted a tribute to his longtime friend on Facebook.

“Completely shocked about the loss of Kyle,” Mitchell wrote. “The most influential person on my life. We’re crushed. Please pray for his Mother and close friends, they need it most.”

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Eli Manning hilariously shuts down comeback talk as Giants explore Odell Beckham Jr reunion possibility

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Eli Manning hilariously shuts down comeback talk as Giants explore Odell Beckham Jr reunion possibility

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The New York Giants have had an active offseason, but fans still want to see a reunion with Odell Beckham Jr.

A video of Beckham scoring a touchdown from his time with the Giants went viral on social media.

“All these Giants signings have been great and all, but there’s still one final piece missing…,” the user posted.

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NFC coach Eli Manning looks on during the NFL Pro Bowl Skills Competition at the UCF Nicholson Fieldhouse in Orlando, Florida, on Feb. 1, 2024. (Nathan Ray Seebeck/USA TODAY Sports)

Eli Manning, who threw the touchdown to Beckham in the clip, had some fun with it.

“Guys, I’m not coming back to play! Stop asking,” Manning posted on X.

Manning retired after the 2019 season, ending a 16-year run with the team. Toward the end of his career, Manning struggled, as the team went 9-26 in his starts over the last three seasons of his career.

Before Manning’s play declined, Beckham was one of his favorite targets. Manning threw more touchdowns to Beckham (44) than to any other player in his career.

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New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning and wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. warm up before a preseason game against the Miami Dolphins at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Aug. 12, 2016. (Danielle Parhizkaran/USA TODAY NETWORK)

Beckham was electrifying in New York. In five seasons with the Giants, Beckham played 59 games, catching 390 passes for 5,476 yards and 44 touchdowns.

He was then stunningly traded to the Cleveland Browns and never recaptured that same form, spending just two and a half seasons with them before they released him.

The Giants recently brought Beckham in for a workout. He played under coach John Harbaugh with the Baltimore Ravens in 2023. The 33-year-old was productive as a depth receiver, catching 34 passes for 565 yards and three touchdowns.

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Harbaugh called Beckham one of his favorite people in the world in March.

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Odell Beckham Jr. started his career with the New York Giants. (Danielle Parhizkaran/USA TODAY NETWORK)

“He and I do talk. We do text,” Harbaugh said. “We’ve maintained a really great relationship. He’s one of my very favorite people in the world. It’s not like you don’t talk to guys on things like that. And certainly we have.”

“We’ll just have to see where it all goes, what’s best for him, what’s best for the Giants.”

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While the Giants have to see where it goes with Beckham, they know for sure Manning is staying in retirement.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

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