The Stanley Cup Final will feature the Florida Panthers of the Eastern Conference and Edmonton Oilers of the Western Conference in a best-of-7 series.

Oilers: 49-27-6, 104 points; defeated Los Angeles Kings 4-1 in first round, Vancouver Canucks 4-3 in second round, Dallas Stars 4-2 in conference final

Panthers: 52-24-6, 110 points; defeated Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 in first round, Boston Bruins 4-2 in second round, New York Rangers 4-2 in conference final

Season series: FLA 2-0-0; EDM 0-2-0

Connor McDavid has been a man on a mission. The Florida Panthers have been a team on a mission.

Their paths will collide when McDavid and the Oilers take on the Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final.

The Atlanta Braves suffered a gigantic blow with the announcement that All-Star outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. of La Guaira, Venezuela is out for the remainder of the 2024 Major League Baseball season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. 

The reigning National League Most Valuable Player is without a doubt the heart and soul of the entire Atlanta organization. 

Acuna Jr. has had ACL injuries before which caused him to miss time in 2018, 2021 and 2022.

Acuna Jr. was in between second and third base during the first inning  on Sunday in an 8-1 Braves win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, when he had a fake break to third base, stopped and tried to get back to second base. In the process, Acuna Jr. went down, favored his knee,  and did not return to the lineup. 

In 48 games this season, Acuña Jr. slashed .246/.348/.356 with four home runs, 15 RBI and 16 stolen bases.

Prior to his number retirement ceremony, Dwight Gooden said more than once on Sunday he wanted to “make things right” with Mets fans after the way his tenure with the team ended in 1994, when he tested positive for cocaine and was suspended by MLB for all of the 1995 season.

“The fans stuck with me through everything,’’ Gooden said Sunday prior to his number retirement ceremony at Citi Field. “After ‘94, when the Mets cut ties with me, I always wanted to come back here.”

He got the opportunity on Sunday, when he recounted that he tried to return to the Mets as a player on several occasions, but the team never gave him the chance.

During his brief speech prior to Sunday’s game during an ill-timed rain shower, Gooden said he called the Mets following his two-year stint with the Yankees, which elicited a round of boos from the crowd. Gooden responded, “I’m always a Met.”