Normally the NHL is coming out of the dog days of the regular season in late February as teams begin the final push for a playoff berth. However, most are hoping after a thrilling 4 Nations Face-Off that hockey can continue its momentum.

One of the first tests will be Saturday night when ESPN carries the Stadium Series matchup between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings from Ohio Stadium.

“The season feels very different to me this year,” said ESPN’s Steve Levy, who will host the outdoor game. “I think the players that were involved or those not involved were energized by watching. The NHL has a ton of momentum really at a perfect time, and it has kick started the final quarter of the season.”

It also doesn’t hurt that the league has plenty of storylines coming off 4 Nations. Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin needs 12 goals to surpass Wayne Gretzky’s career NHL record of 894 while the league’s trade deadline is one week away.

ESPN announced this week that it has added seven additional games, including two featuring Ovechkin and the Capitals.

“That keeps the hockey interest going overall, and that helps motivate us internally as well as externally. So 4 Nations into Ovechkin into Stadium Series, that’s a great position for all of us to be in right now,” said Linda Schulz, who oversees ESPN’s NHL production.

The Stadium Series usually has significance due to the location, but it carries huge implications in the Eastern Conference playoff race. After Thursday night’s 5-2 victory, Columbus is tied with Detroit for the first wild-card spot. Both have 66 points, and are four points clear of Ottawa, Boston and the New York Rangers.

The Red Wings haven’t been to the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2016 while the Blue Jackets are in contention even while mourning the deaths of Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew in August.

Besides the Ohio-Michigan rivalry being manifested on ice, Ohio Stadium should provide a great backdrop because college stadiums seem to be more conducive to NHL Stadium Series games with not a lot of sideline room. The fans are also more on top of the rink and closer to the ice compared to when the outdoor games have taken place in baseball parks.

“The NHL does a really good job of finding these iconic settings. And ‘The Horseshoe’ just screams that,” Levy said. “If you’re naming five iconic college football stadiums, this is one. Just like ‘The Big House’ in Michigan (which has also hosted a Stadium Series game) is on that list.”

With the game being outdoors, ESPN will use a drone to capture some of the views as well as testing some new virtual graphics.

While Canada’s 4-3 overtime victory over the United States in the 4 Nations championship averaged a record 9.3 million viewers, Levy and ESPN are hoping that some stick around the rest of the season and going into the playoffs.

“We’re not going to keep them all. But what percentage of those same fans who were wowed by 4 Nations an we keep a little longer? Because everybody in this sport knows once we get to the Stanley Cup playoffs, you can get them to that point. They’re going to stick around regardless of what teams are in just because the postseason so intense and crazy,” Levy said.

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The mayor hopes to wrap up the arena negotiations this summer.

It appears that the National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver has one less arena problem that needs his lobbying expertise. In Memphis, Mayor Paul Young thinks an agreement to renovate the city’s arena which is the home of the Memphis Grizzlies franchise, will be reached by the end of the summer and that the $550 million needed to modernize the facility will be available. However, that $550 million price tag may be going up due to American tariffs on steel. “We’re working toward getting to an agreement on the principals that go in a lease by the end of the summer,” Young stated.

Young said that there was a multi-layer approach in the lease process. “Getting the dollar amount was certainly the first hurdle that we wanted to overcome, making sure that we have all of the dollars to actually execute the project. Then it was a matter of really working through what the lease is actually going to look like and what the terms are going to look like, and our attorneys are continuing to work hard at getting all of those parameters in place.” The Grizzlies ownership deal with the city of Memphis ends in 2029, so time is becoming a factor in the negotiations. Part of the $550 million in funding could come from an increase to the Shelby County hotel-motel tax after the Tennessee legislature approved a bill in 2024 that will allow the county to increase it. There is no word on how much money that the Grizzlies’ ownership might kick into the renovation cost. In 2000, Vancouver Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley decided to look for a new home for his business and kicked the tires in six cities, Las Vegas, Anaheim, St. Louis,  New Orleans, Louisville and Memphis. Heisley choose Memphis. The Memphis arena opened in 2004 and is considered outdated.

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Mayor Paul Young

WTSP Tampa Bay the top news site in the area,

Businesses in the area are preparing for the influx of some 200,000 people, including staff at the new Parisian brasserie, Cognac.

“After the hurricanes, the restaurant industry kind of took a little dip,” lead server Paul Harris said. “A lot of people didn’t have the extra money to go out and eat, so that’s another reason why when they come here and spend that money that we deliver for them in all aspects.”

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Others, such as the Dalí Museum, plan to close from Friday through Sunday due to the Grand Prix.

You can learn more about parking, tickets and the race schedule on our Grand Prix guide..

The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will put the city on an international stage, and with that, an economic boost to local businesses.

The twenty-year tradition that takes over part of downtown is anticipated to generate revenue in the same ballpark as the previous annual event: more than $60 million. 

Last year, Tampa Bay took a one-two punch from storms. Inflation also edged up slightly at the start of 2025.

Chris Steinocher, the president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, said the weekend of racing means more now than ever to some.

“I really do believe it could not have come at a better time for us,” Steinocher said. “The economic impact alone is $66 million, so that’s one weekend’s worth of work. That helps us with what we’ve been through.”