Deadspin | Hurricanes complete playoff prep against Islanders Apr 13, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jalen Chatfield (5) in action against the Philadelphia Flyers in the third period at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images For most of the past several months, the regular-season finale between the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders looked as if it would be a potential playoff preview. However, while the Hurricanes will be in tune-up mode on Tuesday, the Islanders will be wondering where a previously successful season went wrong as they prepare for an uncertain spring and summer. The Hurricanes and Islanders will close out their regular-season schedules on Tuesday when Carolina faces New York in a battle of Metropolitan Division rivals in Elmont, N.Y. The Hurricanes will be completing a back-to-back road set after falling to the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in the shootout Monday night. The Islanders were off Monday after their costly late-season skid continued Sunday, when they were eliminated from playoff contention with a 4-1 loss to the visiting Montreal Canadiens. The Islanders (43-33-5, 91 points) needed to win their final two games and have the Flyers lose their final two to have any chance of getting the third and final playoff berth from the division. However, getting eliminated on the ice served as a stark reminder of the scope of the collapse for the Islanders, who were in third place in the Metropolitan for most of the previous four months before going 4-9-0 since March 19. First-year general manager Mathieu Darche fired head coach Patrick Roy on April 5. The Islanders beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3 in Peter DeBoer’s debut on Thursday, but New York then fell 3-0 to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday before being blanked into the third period on Sunday. “I feel for them,” DeBoer said Sunday night. “They put in 81 games here and seven months. So that’s a lot of blood, sweat and work that went into that. And when the lights go out on a season, it’s never easy after you put in that kind of time.” The hard part may be coming for Darche and the Islanders, who found a franchise cornerstone in rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer (23 goals and 59 points). But New York has four defenseman 30 or older, and Darche needs to decide the fate of captain Anders Lee, who is 35 and headed for free agency. The short-term focus is much different for the Hurricanes (52-22-7, 111 points), who won the Metropolitan Division and clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference by collecting a point for the shootout loss on Monday. Carolina will oppose the second wild card — either the Boston Bruins or the Senators — in the first round of the postseason this weekend. “That’s a huge accomplishment,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “It says you had a real good year and you came to play every night. You can’t luck into that.” Carolina is in the playoffs for the eighth straight season, breaking the franchise record set by the then-Hartford Whalers from 1986 through 1992. But the Hurricanes have yet to appear in the Stanley Cup Final during their current run, They reached the Eastern Conference finals in 2019, losing to the Bruins, and fell in the East to the Florida Panthers in both 2023 and 2025. With the playoffs on the horizon, the Hurricanes scratched Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis — their first-, second- and fourth-leading scorers — on Monday along with captain Jordan Staal and top defensemen Shayne Gostisbehere and Jaccob Slavin. –Field Level Media #Deadspin #Hurricanes #complete #playoff #prep #Islanders

Deadspin | Justin Thomas: Packed stretch of tough events between majors not ideal Apr 9, 2026; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Justin Thomas tees off on the 12th hole during the first round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Grace Smith-Imagn Images Fans are about to see a lot more of the PGA Tour’s star players. The Masters kicked off a stretch of two major championships and three signature events in a six-week stretch that culminates with the PGA Championship May 14-17. The RBC Heritage is played this week in its traditional post-Masters slot, and the newly added Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral in early May makes for a more congested part of the calendar. Justin Thomas, speaking to reporters Tuesday before he attempts to defend his RBC Heritage title, said it’s “not how (he) would prefer to draw it up,” “The season is important,” Thomas said. “Obviously it’s very important for your FedEx Cup standing, how your season is going, getting into events, not in events, whatever it may be. But majors are kind of what guys will generally build their schedule off of, in a sense, of what they need to do to prepare for a major, and it’s also how kind of your legacy in the game is remembered for a lot of people. “Going to very difficult courses into a major I don’t think is probably how it would be drawn up for a lot of guys, but it’s one of those things that it’s obviously — we’ve had some changes and probably will continue to see some in the next, I don’t know, couple years until it gets — it’ll never be perfect, but at least something that’s maybe a little more ideal for guys in their eyes.” Thomas was alluding to the expected changes to the sport’s calendar being planned by the PGA Tour and the Future Competition Committee. Instead of eight or nine “signature events” with elevated purses, fixed fields and no cuts, the tour is looking into a two-track system that would ensure the best players are playing similar schedules of 21-26 events over the course of the season. A lower track would feature tournaments that help less-accomplished players qualify for the upper tier. As it stands now, the PGA Tour’s elite are expected to play the Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links, the Cadillac at the “Blue Monster” and the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow Club in the run-up to the PGA Championship, the second major of the year. Doral and Quail Hollow are especially challenging, while this week’s event has been won with scores of 17 or 19 under par four of the past five years. Thomas beat Andrew Novak in a playoff last year after they tied at 17-under 267. Many golfers see the South Carolina-based tournament as a place to unwind with family after the Masters. “It is tough, but I mean, at least for me, I’ve found that using (Monday) as just a day off helps,” Thomas said. “We stay Sunday night, just drive here yesterday and just take the day off. I came and saw my physio and hung out, but just really need a day of rest and to decompress and kind of get back to it today has been a pretty decent recipe for me the last however many years.” One thing going for Harbour Town: It is a far easier walk than hilly Augusta National. “The physio room yesterday afternoon was pretty busy,” Thomas said. “I think a lot of guys with hips and quads, everything like that, very, very sore. It feels like you kind of are floating and running around here a little bit.” –Field Level Media #Deadspin #Justin #Thomas #Packed #stretch #tough #events #majors #ideal

#Deadspin #Justin #Thomas #Packed #stretch #tough #events #majors #ideal">

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Apr 9, 2026; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Justin Thomas tees off on the 12th hole during the first round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Grace Smith-Imagn Images

Fans are about to see a lot more of the PGA Tour’s star players.

The Masters kicked off a stretch of two major championships and three signature events in a six-week stretch that culminates with the PGA Championship May 14-17. The RBC Heritage is played this week in its traditional post-Masters slot, and the newly added Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral in early May makes for a more congested part of the calendar.

Justin Thomas, speaking to reporters Tuesday before he attempts to defend his RBC Heritage title, said it’s “not how (he) would prefer to draw it up,”

“The season is important,” Thomas said. “Obviously it’s very important for your FedEx Cup standing, how your season is going, getting into events, not in events, whatever it may be. But majors are kind of what guys will generally build their schedule off of, in a sense, of what they need to do to prepare for a major, and it’s also how kind of your legacy in the game is remembered for a lot of people.

“Going to very difficult courses into a major I don’t think is probably how it would be drawn up for a lot of guys, but it’s one of those things that it’s obviously — we’ve had some changes and probably will continue to see some in the next, I don’t know, couple years until it gets — it’ll never be perfect, but at least something that’s maybe a little more ideal for guys in their eyes.”

Thomas was alluding to the expected changes to the sport’s calendar being planned by the PGA Tour and the Future Competition Committee.

Instead of eight or nine “signature events” with elevated purses, fixed fields and no cuts, the tour is looking into a two-track system that would ensure the best players are playing similar schedules of 21-26 events over the course of the season. A lower track would feature tournaments that help less-accomplished players qualify for the upper tier.

As it stands now, the PGA Tour’s elite are expected to play the Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links, the Cadillac at the “Blue Monster” and the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow Club in the run-up to the PGA Championship, the second major of the year.

Doral and Quail Hollow are especially challenging, while this week’s event has been won with scores of 17 or 19 under par four of the past five years. Thomas beat Andrew Novak in a playoff last year after they tied at 17-under 267. Many golfers see the South Carolina-based tournament as a place to unwind with family after the Masters.

“It is tough, but I mean, at least for me, I’ve found that using (Monday) as just a day off helps,” Thomas said. “We stay Sunday night, just drive here yesterday and just take the day off. I came and saw my physio and hung out, but just really need a day of rest and to decompress and kind of get back to it today has been a pretty decent recipe for me the last however many years.”

One thing going for Harbour Town: It is a far easier walk than hilly Augusta National.

“The physio room yesterday afternoon was pretty busy,” Thomas said. “I think a lot of guys with hips and quads, everything like that, very, very sore. It feels like you kind of are floating and running around here a little bit.”

–Field Level Media

#Deadspin #Justin #Thomas #Packed #stretch #tough #events #majors #ideal">Deadspin | Justin Thomas: Packed stretch of tough events between majors not ideal

Apr 9, 2026; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Justin Thomas tees off on the 12th hole during the first round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Grace Smith-Imagn Images

Fans are about to see a lot more of the PGA Tour’s star players.

The Masters kicked off a stretch of two major championships and three signature events in a six-week stretch that culminates with the PGA Championship May 14-17. The RBC Heritage is played this week in its traditional post-Masters slot, and the newly added Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral in early May makes for a more congested part of the calendar.

Justin Thomas, speaking to reporters Tuesday before he attempts to defend his RBC Heritage title, said it’s “not how (he) would prefer to draw it up,”

“The season is important,” Thomas said. “Obviously it’s very important for your FedEx Cup standing, how your season is going, getting into events, not in events, whatever it may be. But majors are kind of what guys will generally build their schedule off of, in a sense, of what they need to do to prepare for a major, and it’s also how kind of your legacy in the game is remembered for a lot of people.

“Going to very difficult courses into a major I don’t think is probably how it would be drawn up for a lot of guys, but it’s one of those things that it’s obviously — we’ve had some changes and probably will continue to see some in the next, I don’t know, couple years until it gets — it’ll never be perfect, but at least something that’s maybe a little more ideal for guys in their eyes.”

Thomas was alluding to the expected changes to the sport’s calendar being planned by the PGA Tour and the Future Competition Committee.

Instead of eight or nine “signature events” with elevated purses, fixed fields and no cuts, the tour is looking into a two-track system that would ensure the best players are playing similar schedules of 21-26 events over the course of the season. A lower track would feature tournaments that help less-accomplished players qualify for the upper tier.

As it stands now, the PGA Tour’s elite are expected to play the Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links, the Cadillac at the “Blue Monster” and the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow Club in the run-up to the PGA Championship, the second major of the year.

Doral and Quail Hollow are especially challenging, while this week’s event has been won with scores of 17 or 19 under par four of the past five years. Thomas beat Andrew Novak in a playoff last year after they tied at 17-under 267. Many golfers see the South Carolina-based tournament as a place to unwind with family after the Masters.

“It is tough, but I mean, at least for me, I’ve found that using (Monday) as just a day off helps,” Thomas said. “We stay Sunday night, just drive here yesterday and just take the day off. I came and saw my physio and hung out, but just really need a day of rest and to decompress and kind of get back to it today has been a pretty decent recipe for me the last however many years.”

One thing going for Harbour Town: It is a far easier walk than hilly Augusta National.

“The physio room yesterday afternoon was pretty busy,” Thomas said. “I think a lot of guys with hips and quads, everything like that, very, very sore. It feels like you kind of are floating and running around here a little bit.”

–Field Level Media

#Deadspin #Justin #Thomas #Packed #stretch #tough #events #majors #ideal

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