{"id":563133,"date":"2026-03-25T10:33:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T10:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/563133\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T10:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T10:33:11","slug":"how-gen-z-has-changed-the-nhl-plus-unc-fires-davis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/563133\/","title":{"rendered":"How Gen Z has changed the NHL, plus UNC fires Davis"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Good morning! Buy a $16,000 espresso machine today. Inside:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tonight: Hello, baseball\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Jim McIsaac \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Happy Opening Day! Well, sort of.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As with any professional sports league fueled by the concept of growth, MLB\u2019s classic Opening Day has been fragmented a bit this year. The usual spread of all-day baseball? Happening tomorrow. Tonight, we get just one game, designed for prime time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some quick notes:\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Yankees and Giants have the TV \u2014 or wherever you prefer, uh, Netflix! \u2014 all to themselves this evening, and both arrive at interesting junctures. New York is simply running it back<\/a> with a team that lost in the ALDS last season and the World Series before that. Pressure is already boiling in the Bronx before a pitch has been thrown.
San Francisco, meanwhile, arrives here with intense scrutiny but no real expectations, for now. Team president Buster Posey went out this offseason and made one of the most intriguing manager hires in recent memory with Tennessee\u2019s Tony Vitello, who has never coached at this level. Vitello has a long runway, but it\u2019ll be fascinating to see what his team even looks like tonight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And let\u2019s not forget that Aaron Judge, a native of Northern California, grew up rooting for the Giants and nearly signed with the team in free agency three winters ago. Brendan Kuty wrote a really fun story yesterday on former Giant Rich Aurilia, Judge\u2019s favorite player growing up<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Also, one of the strangest streaks in baseball will be snapped tonight: Heliot Ramos will start in left field, ending San Francisco\u2019s run of 19 straight Opening Day games with 19 different left fielders. The last player to start two in a row in left? Barry Bonds<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll have a full MLB preview tomorrow. Let\u2019s get some ice:<\/p>\n

Aura: Welcome to hockey\u2019s new reality<\/p>\n

It started with Trevor Zegras, in Dan Robson\u2019s estimation. A seemingly nonchalant rookie in 2021, Zegras played with skill and aplomb that impressed any learned hockey watcher. But it was his style that struck a chord in the center of hockey\u2019s nervous system. Here was something new.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no better example than his literal alley-oop:<\/p>\n

The play is both extremely cool and norm-bending for hockey, a sport that once prided itself on being anti-flashy. But, as Dan\u2019s story<\/a> so eloquently illuminates today, the cultural shift that\u2019s already occurred is impossible to ignore.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two quick points:<\/p>\n

There is a group of Gen Z superstars in the NHL responsible for this. Zegras (25) started it, but think of Macklin Celebrini (19), Connor Bedard (20), Matthew Schaefer (18). They are fun. They don\u2019t buckle to the rules of hockey\u2019s past century. They open up the game to a younger audience, too.
And for whatever hemming and hawing the oldheads do \u2014 and there\u2019s plenty of it in the story \u2014 no one can deny how unbelievably skilled these new stars are. One veteran in the story talks about watching a game from 10 years ago and realizing how slow the sport was.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You can also partially thank TikTok for this leap. Make time for Dan\u2019s story today<\/a>. <\/p>\n

News to Know\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Jared C. Tilton \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

UNC officially fires Davis
Men\u2019s basketball coach Hubert Davis is out at North Carolina, the school announced last night<\/a>, ending a week of speculation after the Tar Heels lost horrifically in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Davis\u2019 five-year tenure was one of whiplash, which saw a national title game appearance in his first season turn into multiple collapses in the seasons afterward, including missing the tournament altogether in 2022-23 after starting the season No. 1. North Carolina is expected to go outside the Tar Heel family for its next coach. We have a list of possible replacements<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Salah to leave Liverpool
Mohamed Salah\u2019s nine-year tenure at Liverpool will end after the 2025-26 season, the club confirmed<\/a> yesterday. It is wholly expected after a turbulent year between player and team, yet moving considering how beautiful his time was at Anfield. Salah, 33, leaves with eight trophies (thus far), including two Premier League titles and a Champions League crown. Simon Hughes said it feels right for both sides<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More news:<\/p>\n

Ducks captain Radko Gudas said he feels \u201cterrible\u201d for causing the season-ending injury to Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews. His full comments are worth a read<\/a>.
\nThe college football schedule could move up one week as early as 2027, sources told The Athletic<\/a>. Extremely in favor.
\nJoe Flacco is returning<\/a> to the Bengals. I hope he never retires.
\nConversely, Buccaneers linebacker and franchise icon Lavonte David announced his retirement<\/a> after 14 seasons yesterday.
\nThe Athletic obtained the term sheet with details of the new WNBA collective bargaining agreement. See the full breakdown<\/a>.
\nFrank Thomas filed a lawsuit against the White Sox, Nike and Fanatics over the use of his name for an admittedly fantastic City Connect jersey. Read more here<\/a>.
\nItaly\u2019s espresso maker from the World Baseball Classic sold for more than $16,000<\/a> yesterday. The actual machine costs $140-$200 retail. I love this.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcf0\u00a0Find more news here 24\/7<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m Sorry? Whoops, wrong knee\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Paul Ellis \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

A knee injury has harried Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe for much of the season. As sources revealed to The Athletic, some of the pain could\u2019ve been avoidable if not for the cringiest of mistakes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Imagine this happening to your favorite player:\u00a0<\/p>\n

In early December, Mbappe was feeling pain in his left knee after Madrid\u2019s 2-0 loss at home to Celta Vigo. The team conducted an MRI, which revealed no issues. He played a full 90 minutes in three more matches the rest of the month.
When he returned from Christmas break, he chatted with medical staff about his lingering left knee injury. It was then the team realized its error: The initial MRI scan was performed on his right knee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pretty unreal, particularly for one of the world\u2019s highest-paid and most-visible athletes. Mbappe is still ailing despite playing plenty in January. It\u2019s a problem. See the fallout here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Watch Guide<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa NBA: Hawks at Pistons
7 p.m. ET on ESPN
It\u2019s always useful to check in on the Eastern Conference leaders, who are without their best player<\/a> right now. Detroit is five games up on the Celtics with 11 games to play for the No. 1 seed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa NHL: Bruins at Sabres
7:30 p.m. on TNT and HBO Max
There may be no better story in the NHL right now than Buffalo, which has risen from mediocrity to Cup contention<\/a> in a season. Catch a glimpse if you haven\u2019t yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa MLB: Yankees at Giants
8:05 p.m. ET on Netflix
It\u2019s going to feel weird watching this sport in the same place I go for \u201cKPop Demon Hunters,\u201d but here it is, all by its lonesome, before the blitz of tomorrow. Just watch.<\/p>\n

Get tickets to games like these here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pulse Picks<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

To come full circle on tonight\u2019s MLB opener: Andrew Marchand wrote a really great analysis of the complicated sports TV landscape right now. The Yankees are a perfect example of it, too<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What the fork? Brendan Marks has a great story about the men\u2019s college basketball coaches who fill up every practice with curse words \u2014 hello, Dan Hurley \u2014 while others keep it totally clean via substitute words. This will make you chuckle today<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Necessary reading: A breakdown<\/a> of every women\u2019s NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 matchup. Games start Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield is due a contract extension soon. The deal could redefine the QB market<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Our story on the quadruple amputee professional cornhole player arrested for murder<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Most-read on the website yesterday: \u261d\ufe0f<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb That\u2019s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com<\/a>, and check out our other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":563134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":["post-563133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=563133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/563134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=563133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=563133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}