Good Morning, Stumpers!

I’ll tell you what we just had a helluva Thursday in Sports. Still in recovery mode from the Pacers going up 2-1 and then we had Day 1 of the U.S. Open and Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final! JUICEEE!

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The Rundown

🏒 Glue To Announce From the NHL

⛳️ Recapping Day 1 at the U.S. Open! Spaun in Front!

🏆️ Stanley Cup Game Four Was Electric!

⚽️ World Cup Flashback…That Hasn’t Happened Yet 👀 

On This Day

⚽️ World Cup to North America is Official!

There was a lot of speculation in the time leading up to the announcement on when the FIFA World Cup would come to the United States, but when news broke, that’s when the wheels really started turning.

On this day in 2018, FIFA Congress voted to award the 2026 World Cup to joint bid by the United States, Mexico, and Canada. All this time later, we have one summer to go until the soccer world turns their eyes to North America. Games will be played in all three countries, but the final will be hosted in East Rutherford, New Jersey at MetLife Stadium. ONE. MORE. SUMMER.

Today’s Trivia

Yesterday’s Trivia Answer: One day in and our leader is 4-under… but the rain looms large over the next few days.

Glue Guy of the Day

🤝 Goalie as the MVP? Yep.

Glue Guy of the Day: Connor Hellebuyck, Goalie, Winnipeg Jets

The Jets may not have been playing in the Stanley Cup Finals last night, but it was still a great night to be Connor Hellebuyck. The netminder for Winnipeg was named the winner of the Hart Trophy yesterday, awarded to the most valuable player to his team. He became the first goalie to win the honor since 2015, and only the fourth since the 1967-68 expansion season.

Hellebuyck was also named the winner of the Vezina Trophy, which honors the NHL’s top goaltender. He was nearly a unanimous winner, receiving 31 of 32 first-place votes. You may be sitting there and wondering, how the heck do you consider the NHL’s MVP a glue guy?

Well, the goalie is one of the hardest positions in sports. Pucks flying at you north of 100 mph while bodies fly all around you sounds like no walk in the park. A good goalie is so key to a successful team, that sometimes when you’re one of the best in the position, people just kind of overlook you and become numb to your greatness. This is obvious in the fact that no goalie has won MVP since 2015, despite all the great seasons we’ve seen by tenders throughout the recent years.

Hellebuyck was the glue that held together this Winnipeg team all season long. He was their unflappable tender in the regular season, leading to 47-wins and a Presidents’ Trophy (awarded to the team who collects the most regular season points). How glue he is really showed in the postseason, where his struggles led to the ultimate second-round exit for Winnipeg. This team goes at Hellebuyck goes, and I don’t think there’s anything more glue than that.

Goalie as the MVP? Connor Hellebuyck is GLUE for Winnipeg.

Yesterday’s Moments

⛳️ Day One of the US Open

The Stump Short Story: There course reared it’s ugly head all day long, but some golfers were able to survive and actually go under par. There was talk for weeks about how this course was going to chew up and spit out these guys. 10 were able to go under, the rest, not so much. JJ Spaun leads after day one with a score of 4-under and Thriston Lawrence in solo second at 3-under. Si Woo Kim, Brooks Koepka, Sungjae Im, and John Rahm are the big names to fill out the top-10.

Why it Matters: Honey, there’s a big storm coming, literally. There’s supposed to be rain today, tomorrow, and Sunday. So if you got away with a decent score on the nicest weather day of the week, you’re in a great position. I’d expect the score to settle somewhere at one or two under par as some of the leaders fall off and some of yesterday’s higher scores come back down to Earth. It’s going to be an interesting day two as the players try to avoid the lightning and rain.

Read More: 2025 US Open Leaderboard and Live Coverage (CBS)

🏒 Stanley Cup Game Four

The Stump Short Story: This thing just gets better and better….AND BETTER! Last night the Panthers went up 3-0 in the first period and it seemed like we were destined another blowout. Enter Calvin Pickard! The backup goalie for Edmonton. He came in and was lights out, and the offense started ROLLING! The Oilers flipped the game on it’s head and scored 3 in the 2nd, tying the game up. The Oilers scored with 6 minutes to go and then Florida got their prayers answered with 19 seconds left in the game! In OT it was once again Leon Draisaitl who scored the game-winner!

Why it Matters: This series is awesome! Last year this matchup went 7 and not a single game went into OT. Last night was the third OT game of the series. We’re all tied up at 2 games a piece. It’s a best of three as the two squads pack their bags for Edmonton!

Read More: Oilers Stun Panthers in OT (The Athletic)

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🔗 Quick Links

⛳️ Patrick Reed with an ALBATROSS

💰️ Sauce Gardner ‘hopeful’ to get new deal done

🔥 This Brewers rookie throws some legit GAS

Today’s Top Three

⛳️ Day TWO of the 2025 US Open from the most challenging course on Tour, Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania. GOOD LUCK EVERYBODY ELSE!

🏆️ Men’s College World Series gets rolling at 2:00 PM ET with Arizona vs Coastal Carolina, then Louisville vs. Oregon State at 7:00. Omaha, let’s get this started right!

⚾️ It’s rivalry weekend in the MLB as the New York Yankees head to Fenway Park to take on the Boston Red Sox in a three-game series. The Sox will throw their ace Garrett Crochet in game one.

Of! The! Day’s!

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