SPORTS
Saturday, June 1, 2019
East Oregonian
B3
Undersized Hughes stands
out as top NHL draft prospect
By JOHN WAWROW
AP Hockey Writer
AP Photo/Ryan Kang, File
In this Aug. 13, 2016, fi le photo, the Los Angeles Rams take the fi eld at Los Angeles Memorial
Coliseum for a preseason NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys in Los Angeles.
From functional to
fancy, NFL stadiums
have made a huge leap
By DAVE CAMPBELL
AP Pro Football Writer
Next summer, the Raiders
are slated to relocate to Las
Vegas and begin playing in a
sleek $1.8 billion dome with a
transparent roof, a black glass
exterior to match their boldest
uniform color, and retractable
doors to frame an 80-foot-tall
and 215-foot-wide view of the
casinos on the strip.
Around the same time, the
Rams and Chargers will set-
tle in a Los Angeles suburb in
a futuristic, covered-yet-light-
fi lled stadium straight out of
“The Jetsons” cartoon. It will
be the centerpiece of a 298-
acre entertainment and life-
style complex originally pro-
jected to cost $2.6 billion that
could come close to doubling
in price.
Two years ago, the Falcons
moved into Mercedes-Benz
Stadium, a $1.6 billion facil-
ity in Atlanta with a pin-
wheel-like cover that opens
and closes like a camera lens.
The season before that, the
Minnesota Vikings arrived
at U.S. Bank Stadium, a
$1.1 billion venue with the
league’s fi rst translucent roof,
fi ve pivoting glass front doors
facing the Minneapolis sky-
line, and a ship-like shape
refl ecting the region’s Nordic
heritage after extensive cul-
tural research by the design-
ing architectural fi rm HKS.
In 2010, the New York
Giants and New York Jets
kicked off at $1.6 billion
MetLife Stadium in New Jer-
sey with an offi cial NFL-high
seating capacity of 82,500.
In the previous year, the Dal-
las Cowboys unveiled their
new $1.1 billion suburban
home with a high-defi nition,
four-sided, center-hung vid-
eoboard that’s 160 feet long,
equal to four city buses, and
71 feet high.
These venues being added
to the league over the last
decade sure have taken quite
the leap from Lambeau Field.
Of course, even that hal-
lowed home of the Green Bay
Packers that opened in 1957
has undergone two signifi cant
renovations since the turn
of the century. The NFL’s
smallest city has modern-
ized and monetized the sta-
dium
and
surrounding
development.
Of the current 32 teams,
seven remain in facilities
erected prior to 1995 — sort
of. One, the Chicago Bears,
moved out in 2002 so Sol-
dier Field could be com-
pletely rebuilt on the same
site. Only the exterior colon-
nades endured the $690 mil-
lion renovation. The Miami
Dolphins had Hard Rock Sta-
dium (1987) remade for $500
million.
Attending a game has
become as much about expe-
riencing the immediate area
and enjoying the amenities as
simply watching four quar-
ters of football.
“They have a personality.
They have a powerful formal
expression. They do things
to create an iconic, glob-
ally recognizable facility,”
said Bryan Trubey, a princi-
pal architect at HKS, the lead
designer on the Rams-Char-
gers, Vikings, and Cowboys
projects. “For a billion dol-
lars, you should get some-
thing that the rest of the
world looks at and recognizes
instantly, whether there is a
name on it or not.”
The league has embarked
on its 100th season, trigger-
ing a natural refl ection on
the transformation of the
game from humble, helmet-
less beginnings to a business
with more than $14 billion in
annual revenue that draws
more 100 million people to
watch the Super Bowl on tele-
vision. Perhaps no aspect has
evolved more drastically than
the places where these games
are played.
“Without the people pres-
ent to make the stadium a
reality, they never would have
happened, but stadiums can
and should be celebrated for
the moments in history that
occurred within their con-
fi nes,” said Eric Grubman, a
former NFL executive who
worked heavily on the devel-
opment of new venues. “The
great game, the great sadness,
the great celebration, what-
ever it may be.”
According to Pro Football
Reference’s online database,
166 stadiums have hosted at
least one regular season game
since the NFL began. That
includes rival leagues — the
All-American Football Con-
ference (1946-49) and the
American Football League
(1960-69) — that were even-
tually absorbed. One hundred
of those venues have hosted
17 games or more.
Over the fi rst half of the
league’s life span, teams were
frequently shoehorned into
baseball parks where base-
ball clubs took top billing.
The Bears played at Wrig-
ley Field for 50 seasons. The
Giants had long-time homes
at the Polo Grounds and Yan-
kee Stadium. The Cardinals,
now in Arizona after moving
from St. Louis, were tenants
at Comiskey Park and Wrig-
ley Field where the franchise
originated in Chicago. Then
there were the pre-war pub-
lic works projects like Los
Angeles Memorial Coliseum,
where the Rams returned
in 2016 from St. Louis after
fi rst playing there from 1946-
1979. Cleveland Municipal
Stadium housed the Browns
for a half-century before
their move to Baltimore that
embittered the lakeside city.
On through the AstroTurf era
of the 1960s and 1970s, when
several teams moved with
their baseball counterparts
into cookie-cutter circles
with few frills, stadiums were
still primarily taxpayer
funded. By the time the
mid-1990s came, though,
multi-purpose was out. Fancy
was in.
M
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BUFFALO, N.Y. — Dan
Marr will never forget the
fi rst time Jack Hughes landed
on his radar as a potential top
NHL draft prospect.
It happened last sum-
mer, when the NHL Cen-
tral Scouting director was
attending a skills camp in
Toronto.
After listing New Jer-
sey’s Taylor Hall, Edmon-
ton’s Connor McDavid and
then-Islanders captain John
Tavares as the best three
players on the ice, Marr
added: “The next best player
was Jack Hughes.”
Even at 5-foot-10 and
170 pounds, Marr said the
17-year-old stood out for a
variety of reasons.
“It was a series of drills
that they were doing that
involved skating, quick-
ness, speed, execution, pre-
cision. And right away you
could see he already has an
NHL shot,” Marr said Fri-
day, speaking at the NHL’s
annual pre-draft scouting
combine being held in Buf-
falo. “So he’s got the tal-
ent that he belongs in that
group.”
Very little has happened
to change Marr or anyone
else’s mind since.
From Orlando, Florida,
Hughes is Central Scouting’s
top-ranked North Ameri-
can skater after spending
the past two seasons setting
USA Hockey National Team
Development
Program’s
record by combining for 228
points (74 goals, 154 assists)
in 110 games.
Finland’s Kaapo Kakko
is the top-ranked European
skater after completing a
season in which he helped
his nation complete a gold-
medal sweep of international
titles by winning the world
championship last weekend,
the world junior title in Jan-
uary and the Under-18 title
last year.
The two are projected to
be selected with one of the
two top picks — the Dev-
ils select fi rst followed by
the New York Rangers — at
the NHL draft at Vancouver,
British Columbia on June
21-22.
After joking he’d look
good in either a red Dev-
ils’ or blue Rangers’ jersey,
Hughes said he’d obviously
prefer to go fi rst.
“You always dream of
being No. 1,” Hughes said.
“You don’t dream of being
two, three or four when
you’re a young kid.”
Hughes is also aware of
how he and Kakko will draw
comparisons with the likeli-
hood of the two playing on
Metropolitan Division rivals.
“We’ll be linked to each
other for a lot of years with
the Rangers and Devils right
there,” Hughes said.
Kakko is not attending the
combine because the week-
long event, which includes
player-team interviews and
medical testing, began a day
after Finland beat Canada
to win the world champion-
ships in Slovakia on Sunday.
“It has zero affect really,”
Marr said about Kakko’s
absence. “I think the teams
understand that. And the
teams at the top, they’re just
going to have to spend a
little bit more time with him
when he comes over for the
draft.”
The two players differ in
size and style of play.
At 6-foot-2 and 194
pounds, Kakko is known for
his goal-scoring ability and
considered more of a power
forward.
He led Finland with six
goals in 10 games at the
World Championship. His
22 goals in the Finnish Elite
League last season were
the most by a draft-eligible
player.
Seahawks sue former draft pick
McDowell for bonus repayment
DETROIT (AP) — The
Seattle Seahawks have
fi led a lawsuit in U.S. Dis-
trict Court in Michigan
seeking repayment of a
nearly $800,000 of the sign-
ing bonus given to former
draft pick Malik McDow-
ell claiming he violated his
NFL contract.
The Seahawks fi led the
suit this week in the East-
ern District of Michigan
seeking $799,238. McDow-
ell was a second-round pick
of the Seahawks in 2017, but
never played a snap for Seat-
tle after suffering serious
injuries in an ATV accident
prior to the start of train-
ing camp before his rookie
season.
According to the law-
suit, an arbitration hear-
ing last February found that
McDowell had “breached
paragraph 3 of his NFL
Player Contract,” and as a
result was ordered to repay
his signing bonus within
30 days. The Seahawks say
they have not been paid.
McDowell was waived
by Seattle in March after
spending the past two sea-
sons on the non-football
injury list.
The Detroit News fi rst
reported the lawsuit.
P E N D L E T O N
th
of
july
HOSTED BY THE PENDLETON VFW “LET’ ER BUCK” POST 922
10 AM Thursday, July 4, 2019
THEME:
“Only in America”
Horse Staging Area: Western Auto/Baxter Parking Lot
Line-Up Area: SW Dorion Street
From City of Pendleton building on SW Dorion to
Main Street to SW Court to the Convention Center
Any Individual, Organization or Business - ALL ARE WELCOME
All Entries will receive a participation ribbon.
Trophies will be awarded in the following 14 Categories:
MOTORIZED - Best ClubMOTORIZED - Judges’ Choice
BUSINESS/COMMERCIAL • FIRST RESPONDERS & ARMED FORCES
PEOPLE WITH PETS • BAND / DRUM & BUGLE • YOUTH DANCE &
DRILL GROUPS • FLOATS • CIVIC GROUPS & SERVICE CLUBS
YOUTH GROUPS • EQUESTRIAN (2 riders or less)
EQUESTRIAN GROUPS • EQUESTRIAN GROUPS - Royalty
HORSE & BUGGY/WAGON
In Addition, the VFW will award the
“Patriot Trophy” to the entrant with the most overall votes
(Winner of Patriot Trophy not eligible for additional trophies)
May be picked up at the Pendleton Chamber of Commerce,
Dean’s Athletic, DG Gifts, Elite Guns &
Tactical and the Pendleton Downtown Association
You may also mail requests to VFW Post 922 • PO Box 787 • Pendleton,
OR 97801 or email requests to: fbradbury@yahoo.com
Renata Anderson, MA
2237 SW Court, Pendleton • 541-276-5053
www.renataanderson.com
Questions? Call Fred Bradbury at 541-377-7474
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