Wayne Gretzky was the 1st person to find out the Bucs had re-signed Mike Evans

When he got the news Mike Evans had agreed to terms, Bucs GM Jason Licht told the first person he saw at a local charity event

At the end of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ press conference announcing a new two-year contract extension for wide receiver Mike Evans, general manager Jason Licht told a fantastic story about the moment he found out the deal was done.

Licht and his wife, Blair, were in attendance at a local charity event for Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper. The Bucs’ GM was having a conversation with Wayne Gretzky, the greatest player in hockey history, “without realizing it was Wayne Gretzky for the first two minutes,” Licht said.

He told “The Great One” he had to step away to take a phone call, and it was front-officec executives Mike Greenberg and Jackie Davidson on the phone, telling Licht that Evans’ camp had agreed to terms on the new deal.

Licht went back inside at the charity event “fist-pumping,” and told Gretzky they had just locked up Evans with a new contract.

“He’s a great one,” Gretzky said, according to Licht.

If anyone would know, it would be Wayne.

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Wayne Gretzky was the 1st person to find out the Bucs had re-signed Mike Evans

When he got the news Mike Evans had agreed to terms, Bucs GM Jason Licht told the first person he saw at a local charity event

At the end of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ press conference announcing a new two-year contract extension for wide receiver Mike Evans, general manager Jason Licht told a fantastic story about the moment he found out the deal was done.

Licht and his wife, Blair, were in attendance at a local charity event for Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper. The Bucs’ GM was having a conversation with Wayne Gretzky, the greatest player in hockey history, “without realizing it was Wayne Gretzky for the first two minutes,” Licht said.

He told “The Great One” he had to step away to take a phone call, and it was front-officec executives Mike Greenberg and Jackie Davidson on the phone, telling Licht that Evans’ camp had agreed to terms on the new deal.

Licht went back inside at the charity event “fist-pumping,” and told Gretzky they had just locked up Evans with a new contract.

“He’s a great one,” Gretzky said, according to Licht.

If anyone would know, it would be Wayne.

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Wayne Gretzky praised Connor Bedard’s lacrosse-style goal, and hockey fans loved to see it

“I couldn’t do what he did.”

Connor Bedard is having a standout rookie season for the Chicago Blackhawks, and he’s been scoring some truly jaw-dropping goals while being very casual about how impressive they actually are. It’s amazing.

The star center pulled off another incredible move Saturday in his team’s 7-5 loss to the St. Louis Blues. But forget about the loss because this lacrosse-style goal was mesmerizing and definitely the highlight of the game.

It was such a big deal that even the great Wayne Gretzky was in awe and praised Bedard’s stick skills. Bedard was alone behind Blues goalie Jordan Binnington, picked up the puck with his stick and wrapped around the net and tossed it in.

RELATED: Victor Wembanyama appears twice as tall as Connor Bedard in No. 1 pick jersey swap

Pretty amazing, and Gretzky thought so too, saying: “I couldn’t do what he did tonight.”

Gretzky continued:

“That just wasn’t in my repertoire. I didn’t have the right kind of curve. [Bobby Hull] could do it. I could never do what he did tonight. It was fun to watch. My daughter, Emma, is with me. And she goes, ‘Dad, did you ever do that?’ And I said ‘No, I could never do that.'”

This lacrosse-style goal is also known as a “Michigan goal,” and, according to NBC Sports Chicago, here’s how it originated:

The goal originated with Bill Armstrong, a minor league player for the Albany Devils. Trying it at practice, he wondered if he could use the move in a real game. He did. And he scored four goals with that trick.

Mike Legg, a winger for the Michigan Wolverines, heard about the move and used it himself in a 1996 NCAA Tournament game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. It was named the “Goal of the Year” by Swedish magazine Inside Hockey. The stick Legg used was later donated to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The goal is referred to by many names. The “Michigan,” the “high wrap,” the “Zorro.”

Hockey fans loved this compliment from The Great One:

Someone tried to teach Wayne Gretzky how to hold a hockey stick at the Hockey Hall of Fame

Offering Wayne Gretzky hockey advice is a choice.

Wayne Gretzky is one of the best hockey players of all time, if not the best hockey player of all time.

However, a visit to the Hockey Hall of Fame with his son once turned him into just another guy getting advice on how to hold a hockey stick while playing on a virtual hockey experience.

While talking with the NHL on TNT broadcast crew at the first intermission break of the Philadelphia Flyers and Carolina Hurricanes game on Wednesday night, Gretzky retold a hysterical anecdote about how a Hall of Fame visit once went awry in the best way possible.

It centered on a young kid working an attraction at the Hockey Hall of Fame who tried to give Gretzky advice on how to hold a hockey stick. Yes, really.

We’ll let Gretzky take it from here.

To be fair to that kid, Gretzky said he was wearing a hat while he was trying to play the virtual hockey game and wasn’t immediately recognizable.

However, what a humble brag to run and tell your friends that you gave Gretzky hockey advice while he was playing a virtual hockey game. That’s got to make you the stuff of legends with all of your hockey friends.

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14 athletes with incredible seasons (Connor McDavid!) who egregiously weren’t named unanimous MVP

A list of superstars who dominated but weirdly didn’t get universal MVP praise.

Winning a unanimous MVP in sports is one of those eccentric, niche milestones that seemingly only truly great superstars can achieve. But with these honors usually voted on by media members — who are fans of the sport they cover first — sometimes, perspective can be lost in the shuffle.

Because to be a unanimous MVP means you were the undisputed best player in the world in your respective league or sport. No questions asked. At least, that’s what a clean-sweep vote essentially dictates.

You were a cut above, and everyone else paled compared to your brilliance. (Never mind that all of these votes are inherently subjective.)

Despite a historic 2022-2023 NHL season, Connor McDavid wasn’t a unanimous MVP. It’s mind-boggling as to why. But McDavid certainly isn’t the first major sports star to lose out on this distinction that would probably only bother Hall of Famers. There’s a laundry list of athletes who put on an all-time show for an entire year, only for some people to say their excellence actually wasn’t the best.

Across four of the major American sports leagues — the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL — here’s a look at a few stars who probably should’ve received unanimous MVP honors. Note: This list is not a ranking of egregiousness. It is in chronological order by year from top to bottom.

Twitter had fun with a few player arrivals on Saturday at 2023 U.S. Open, including Dustin Johnson walking in with The Great One

Saturday at the U.S. Open is off to a great start.

The third round of the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club is underway and the leaders have arrived at the golf course.

The early noise is coming from Tom Kim, who posted a 6-under 29 on the front nine and birdied the par-4 10th to get to 7 under on his day. He may need a few more, but the golf course is only getting tougher as it dries out so he should be right in the mix Sunday if continues to play well.

Twitter had some fun with a few player entrances Saturday, including Sam Bennett arriving to the course with a freshly-shaven look.

U.S. OPEN: Leaderboard | How to watch

Here are some of the best entrances from players before the third round of the U.S. Open.

A salty Wayne Gretzky was the best thing about the Panthers-Hurricanes 4OT game

The GOAT was SALTY on the air.

Wayne Gretzky is obviously the GOAT of hockey, no doubt about it.

And there he was, sitting on the air for TNT’s hockey coverage, toughing it out with the rest of the crew as the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers played nearly FOUR full overtimes before Matthew Tkachuk ended the 3-2 game with a goal and walk-off celebration.

Gretzky was a little bit saltier than usual, which makes sense. Dude is 62 years old and this game just won’t end. It was late and he was probably tired. But it was fun to see him roast the hapless Toronto Maple Leafs a bit:

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Now that Alex Ovechkin has reached 800 goals (!), when will he catch Wayne Gretzky?

If Ovi keeps this up, it’s going to happen.

Alex Ovechkin continues to be an unreal goal-scorer, and age is nothing but a number for him.

He scored a hat trick on Tuesday night, and with goal No. 3 on the night against the Chicago Blackhawks, he notched 800 goals in his unbelievable career.

Next is Gordie Howe (801). And after that? He’s got his eyes set on Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record of 894 goals.

So when could he do that?

First, you have to assume that he stays healthy as his chase continues. Let’s use last year’s number of 77 games played (in which he scored 50 times!) as what he’ll play this year, which would put him around 49 goals (AT AGE 37!!). That gets him to 829.

Let’s do 77 games again and maybe guess that he takes a slight step back … how does 40 goals sound? We get to 869.

That means he’d need “just” 26 goals at age 39 to pass Gretzky in 2024-25.

That was extremely unscientific, but he’s 94 goals away. As long as he keeps playing at even 85 percent of the level he’s playing at right now, he’s got more than a shot.

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