Iditarod: Holmes in the Lead

 

Shaktoolik (population 212) is located on Norton Sound on a barrier island at the mouth of the Shaktoolik River. On Cape Denbigh, 12 miles to the northwest, the 6,000- to 8,000-years-old Iyatayet site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

The town of Shaktoolik (Unaliq for "scattered things") was occupied as early as 1839 and first mapped in 1842 by the Imperial Russian Navy. Reindeer herds were managed in the area around 1905. The town was originally located some six miles up the Shaktoolik River and moved to the mouth of the River in 1933. That site was prone to severe storms and winds, however, and the village relocated to its present, more sheltered location in 1967. There are currently only two occupied dwellings at the old townsite.

Shaktoolik has served as a checkpoint (mile 754) for the Iditarod since the first race in 1973 and is known for being one of the windiest stretches of the trail, where mushers often encounter severe snowdrifts.  Jessie Holmes was the first to arrive there this year, and he had a big enough lead that he was able to take a 3½ break there and still be the first to leave. Baring a disaster, Holmes is winning the race again this year.

Paige Drobney was second to Shaktoolik,  arriving almost three hours after Holmes. She chose to take a 6 hour break there and while she was resting, Travis Beale, Mille Pirsild, and Wade Marrs all passed through the checkpoint before she finally left. That would seemingly put her back in fifth place, but one has to assume that Travis, Mille, and Wade are going to have to rest their dogs somewhere on the trail ahead, and Paige's well-rested team should be able to pass them and regain some of her standing. With only a little over 200 miles left to the race, it seems unlikely at this point that she can catch up to Holmes' well-rested team three hours up ahead, but this is the Iditarod and anything can happen.

Three teams are currently resting in Shaktoolik. Jeff Deeter arrived about a half hour before Paige left, and Riley Dyche and Matt Hall arrived after she left. Five more teams are back in Unalakleet (mile 714) and a whopping 15 are between Kaltag (mile 629) and Unalakleet. The last two teams are enroute to Kaltag from Nulato (mile 582). There still has been only one scratch so far this year, and this far in, I'd be surprised to see anyone else drop out.

From Shakatoolik, the trail proceeds north to Reindeer Cove, crosses the frozen Norton Sound to Koyuk (mile 804), and then proceeds along the northern shore of the sound to the finish line in Nome (mile 975). 

"Expedition" update: Steve Curtis, who's been listed at the McGrath checkpoint (mile 311) since last Thursday, has officially bowed out, as has Thomas Waerner, who made it to Unalakleet along with billionaire Kjell Rokke, but scratched when he saw symptoms of "kennel cough" among some of his dogs. Rokke has pressed on without his guide and was at White Mountain (mile 898), the penultimate checkpoint before the mandatory (for racers) stop at Safety and then the finish line in Nome.

Iditarod: From the River to the Sea

 

Sorry if the headline triggers you, but the Iditarod race has now proceeded from Kaltag, the last checkpoint on the (Yukon) River, down toward Unalakleet on the (Bering) Sea, and this is the only coverage of the race with balls enough to use the world's most obvious metaphor to describe this stretch.

As of 7:00 am Alaska time, nine teams have left Kaltag (mile 639). With the mandatory 24-hour and Yukon 8 rests now completed, it's a flat-out race to the finish line from this point forward.

Jessie Holmes was the first through Kaltag at around 4:30 pm, pausing at the checkpoint for only 15 minutes. Paige Drobney passed through some three hours later, followed by Millie Pirsild some 2½ hours after that at about 10 pm. 

Travis Beals was the next musher to arrive at Kaltag, but instead of passing straight through like the first three racers, he took a three-hour rest there and didn't leave until 1:26 pm, after Riley Dyche and Wade Marrs had passed through. So after Holmes, Drobney, and Pirsild, the order now is Dyche (4th place), Marrs (5th), and  Beals (6th).  

Michelle Phillips arrived in Kaltag after Beals had left. She took a 4½ hour rest before leaving at 6:34 this morning. Jeff Deeter passed through the checkpoint while Phillips was resting. Matt Hall arrived after Phillips left, took a three-hour rest, and still managed to leave before another team arrived.  So the next three teams, completing the nine out of Kaltag, are Deeter (7th place), Phillips (8th), and Hall (9th).

Three teams (Ryan Redington, Lauro Eklund, and Peter Kaiser) are still in Kaltag. 

Behind the first twelve, the race is finally starting to spread out a little. There are three teams still heading to Kaltag from the previous Nulato checkpoint (mile 582), four teams back at Galena (mile 545), five teams between Ruby (mile 495) and Galena, and two teams still in Ruby. "Expedition class" racer Steve Curtis remains all the way back in McGrath (mile 311), where he's been for the last three days - I guess he likes it there (I hope he likes it there). Billionaire Kjell Rokke is all the way up to Shaktoolik (mile 754), while his "assistant," Thomas Waerner, is now behind him at Unalakleet (mile 714).

One last dash to the finish line. This is it, folks, and last year's winner, Jessie Holmes, has a three-hour lead on the pack.

Bruins 3, Capitals 2 (SO)

 

While the Celtics were beating the Washington Wizards up in the Garden, the Bruins were down in Washington beating the Capitols. It took a shootout to win, but they got the job done.

Charlie McAvoy (BU, Class of '16) scored both of Boston's goals during regulation, his 8th and 9th of the season. Swayman made 25 saves on 27 shots (.926) in the net.

No one score in OT and it took nine rounds of shootout before Fraser Minten finally scored the only goal after regulation ended. The road win ends a seven-game road losing streak for the Bruins. 

Boston (37-23-6) still qualifies for a playoff spot by a single point ahead of Columbus, but are now tied with Detroit at 80 points each. However, since it took the Red Wings one more game to earn those points than the Bruins, the tiebreaker puts Boston ahead of Detroit in the Wild Card standings. 

The Bruins will head down to New Jersey to play the Devils (33-31-2) on Monday (7:00 pm).   

Celtics 111, Wizards 100

 

The boys are back in town and back on the court - the midwest road trip is over and Mr. Brown, Mr. White, and Mr. Tatum are all back in the lineup. Last night, they beat the Washington Wizards by 11, but then, the Wizards are the team that let Bam Adebayo score 80 points on them.  

The Celtics were more modest. Mr. Queta scored 24 points, while Mr. Tatum scored 20 and snagged 14 rebounds. Mr. Brown scored 16 points, and both Mr. White and Mr. Garza scored 15. Nobody hogged the ball like they were playing for a Miami Heat fighting for relevancy. The Celts were professionals - they took to the court, did what had to be done, and left with the victory. No showboating.

Boston remain 1½ games up on the Knicks in the division and 4½ back from the Pistons in the conference. With 15 games left to the season, it's looking more and more like that's how the final standings will look before the playoffs.

The Phoenix Suns (39-28) are coming to the Garden. They'll play the Celtics Monday night starting at 7:30 pm.    

UConn 5, BU 3

 

That's it. Season's over. The BU Terriers lose in the Hockey East quarterfinals and are eliminated from any further post-season consideration. 

Friendly reminder that they made it to the final game of the NCAA's Frozen Four tournament last year, and were ranked No. 1 in the country for at least one week early in this 2025/2026 season. 

This afternoon, the Terriers tied the game early in the second period with a Tynan Lawrence goal, and again last in the period with a Jack Murtagh goal. After UConn came back with two more goals early in the third, Ben Merrill made it competitive again with a goal midway through the final period. But that was it for the Terriers, and UConn hit an open-netter late in the game for the final score.

This team won the Red-Hot Hockey tournament in Madison Square Garden, beating No. 9 Cornell, and made it to the Beanpot title game. They avenged their loss to BC in the Beanpot finale with a sweep of the Eagles two weeks later, finishing the season 2-2 against arch-rival Boston College. 

Overall, this season's Terriers were 17-17-2 overall, and 12-12-0 in conference play. We had hoped for more and better, but .500 at the very least is not losing.      

Can't win 'em all. Better luck next year, Terriers. See you again this October.

P.S. One final note. I just heard on the Terriers' radio broadcast that The Dugout bar on Commonwealth Avenue closed this year. Heartbreaking news. Back in the 1970s, when I was at BU, The Dugout was the preferred hangout for three very distinct groups - the Terriers hockey team, the BU Geology Department, and administrative staff for the College of Liberal Arts. I was a geology student back then with a student job at the CLA, so I spent a lot of time at The Dugout (or "Doo-jow" as we called it), rubbing elbows with the hockey players. Good times. I'm sorrier to see The Dugout gone than I am about the end of this season.

Iditarod: The Further Adventures of Holmes and Drobney on the Yukon

 

Jessie Holmes has about a two-hour lead on Paige Drobney. Both have completed their mandatory Yukon 8-hour rest back in Ruby (mile 495), and both pulled out of Galena (mile 545) late last night. I was kind of surprised that Drobney chose to take her break when she did, rather than shoot ahead of Holmes when she had the chance to take the lead and put pressure on Holmes to catch back up. Shows what I know about mushing strategy. 

Riley Dyche, Travis Beals, and Wade Marrs pulled out of Galena after the leaders, but neither have completed their Yukon 8's yet. Mille Porsild, who has taken her mandatory rest, has been in Galena for about 4½ hours as of 6:00 am Alaska time, but will probably leave soon. 

Six other teams (Michelle Phillips, Peter Kaiser, Jeff Deeter, Matt Hall, Jessie Royer, and Ryan Redington) are also in Galena. Ryan's the only one of those six to have taken his Yukon 8, so strategically he's in fourth place behind Jessie, Paige, and Mille. Phillips, Kaiser, and Deeter have been in Galena for a little over four hours now, so it's hard to tell yet if they're on their Yukon 8's or just resting up before their next push, like Mille.

It's currently -6° F in Ruby, but expected to "warm" up to 7° today. Surprisingly, that's considered "too warm" for some of the teams, and some have said that the trail prior to Ruby was slow because it was so warm out. Generally, they seem to prefer to rest in the "heat" of the day and do their running during the long, cold nights. Or maybe it's better to run and keep warm during the coldest hours of the night. In any event, teams arriving at Galena now at the start of the day might choose to take their break there during the day, and start again in eight hours as the temperatures start dropping again.

Rounding out the field, four teams have left Ruby, seven more are still in Ruby, and the last ten have left Cripple (mile 425). There still has been only one scratch so far.

There are two more checkpoints ahead on the Yukon - Nulato (mile 582) and Kaltag (mile 629). After Kaltag, the trail leaves the Yukon and drops through the Kaltag Portage down to Unalakleet (mile 714) on the shore of the Bering Sea. 

One final note: billionaire "expedition class" racers Kjell Rokke and Thomas Waerner, who aren't required to take mandatory rests and can get unlimited assistance, including fresh sled dogs, are way ahead of the field and have already left Kaltag. Meanwhile, the third "expedition" racer, Steve Curtis, is still all the way back in McGrath (mile 311). This puts the vets and checkpoint assistants at unnecessary risk, as they have to be at the often remote and inhospitable checkpoints ahead of Rokke and Waerner and then wait around long enough for Curtis to eventually make his leisurely appearance. Curtis should scratch now, IMHO, even if he's having the time of his life and "paid for" the privilege, for the sake of the health and safety of the volunteers.    

   

Iditarod: Holmes and Drobney on the Yukon

 

Jessie Holmes and Paige Drobney have both reached Ruby (mile 495), the first checkpoint on the Yukon River. Holmes is in the lead, arriving at Ruby a little over two hours before Drobney. Paige had left Cripple (mile 425) some 2½ hours before Jessie, but Holmes, who had taken a 5-hour rest at Cripple, still arrived at Ruby sooner that Paige, who had blown through Cripple with only a 16-minute break. One assumes that Drobney must have rested somewhere along the trail between the two checkpoints, and Jessie had passed her enroute. 

Both are currently resting in Ruby while 14 other teams have left Cripple and are presently enroute to Ruby.

The race looks like it will come down to a showdown between 2025 champion Holmes and contender Drobney. Both still have nearly-full teams of dogs (Holmes 15 and Drobney 14) and the win may come down to time/rest management and strategy more than speed and power. At this point, I'm pulling for Team Squid - nothing against Holmes, but he's had his championship and Drobney has been a close contender for years now and is due her win.    

After Drobney, Ryan Reddington led the next team out of Cripple. Mille Porsild and Matt Hall left about 3½ to 4 hours after Redington, and four other teams (Jeff Deeter, Riley Dyche, Travis Beals, and Michelle Phillips) about an hour or so after Hall. Six teams are still in Cripple, and the last 11 are somewhere between Ophir (mile 352) and Cripple. All teams have taken their mandatory 24-hour rests. That's pretty close for this stage of the race, and so far there's still been only one scratch.

Ruby (population 131) is a former gold-rush town on the Yukon River which became an Athabaskan village. From Ruby, the trail follows the Yukon, the longest river in Alaska, for the next 234 miles to the Kaltag checkpoint (mile 629). The stretch of trail along the river is swept by strong winds which can wipe out the trail and drop the windchill to below −100° F. It's currently -9° in Ruby, and the Accuweather forecast is for mostly sunny skies but very cold, with a low of -18° by Tuesday night. However, an even greater hazard is the uniformity of the trail along the Yukon, as the mushers, suffering at this point from sleep deprivation, have report hallucinations along this long stretch. 

With an 8-hour rest required along the Yukon, it will be interesting to see when and where Jessie and Paige choose take their breaks as they try to out-maneuver one another for the lead. As of 9:30 am Alaska time, Holmes has been at Ruby for 4½ hours - will he rest another 3½ and complete his mandatory 8? Paige, fresh off her rest on the trail, has been in Ruby for 2½ hours - will she leave there before Jessie to regain the lead and then take her mandatory later? 

You've heard of 3D chess. This is -0° chess.

Sharks 4, Bruins 2

 

Nineteen-year-old Macklin Celibrini (BU, Class of 2025) didn't score a goal last night in his first pro game in Boston, but had an assist, five shots on goal, one block, four giveaways, and was 5-8 on faceoffs (38.5%). 

His team, the San Jose Sharks, won the game, 4-2. They actually ran up a 4-0 lead before Fraser Minten hit a goal for the Bruins midway through the third, assisted by Pastrnak and Khusnutdinov, and then Pastrnak scored in the last minute of play, assisted by McAvoy (BU, Class of 2016) and Mittelstadt.

The Bruins (36-23-6) are now clinging to the last Wild Card berth by a single point, one point ahead of contender Columbus.

Saturday, the Bruins will skate down to D.C. to play the Washington Capitals (33-27-7) in an afternoon (3:00 pm) game on ABC.

Thunder 104, Celtics 102

 

Last night in Oklahoma City, the Boston Celtics took on the Thunder, the  team with the best record in the entire NBA. They did it without their returning superstar, Jayson Tatum, who was ordered to rest his healing Achilles tendon as he returns to gameplay. Derrick White, another all-star caliber player, was out as well. 

And they almost won. They led by three at the half, and again after three quarters, and it took a pair of free throws with 0.8 seconds left in the game to avoid OT, and even then, Payton Pritchard still almost won the game for the C's with a 33-foot three-point attempt at 0.3 seconds.

So on a three-game road trip that included two of the top teams in the league, the Celtics finish 1-2. It really changes nothing. They're still in first place in their division and still trail Detroit in the East by 4½ games. And to those who claim the losses show that while good, the Celtics still can't beat the elite, I say that losing a single game by two points in the last second of play on the opposing team's court without two of your star players proves nothing. To which I'll also add, fuck you.

With Tatum and White out, Jaylen Brown led the team with 34 points. SGA had 35 for the Thunder and the press can't get over themselves for his performance. Pritchard had 14 points, and both Scheierman and González scored 11. At 104-102, it was a low-scoring, defensive game, mainly a showcase for Brown and SGA, and no one else had eye-popping numbers.

God, I hate Oklahoma. I hate Oklahoma City. I hate the Thunder. Hate their fans. I'm so glad the Celtics are getting out of that smelly-ass town. Saturday night, the Celtics are back home and will play the hapless Washington Wizards (16-49). The Celtics will win.

Iditarod: Holmes Back in Front

 

2025 Iditarod champion Jessie Holmes, fresh off his 24-hour rest in Takotna, has pulled out of Ophir checkpoint (mile 352) at 2:00 am Alaska time, and is in the lead in this year's race. 

(Technically, "expedition class" racers  Kjell Rokke  and Thomas Waerner are ahead of him, and have already left the Cripple checkpoint (mile 425). "Expedition class" racers aren't eligible for placement or prizes in the race, aren't required to take mandatory rests, and can swap fresh sled dogs in and out at their convenience, so Rokke and Waerner's lead is more due to advantages from the rules than their mushing prowess.)

Paige Drobney, Mille Porsild, Michelle Phillips, Ryan Redington, and Travis Beals all left Ophir 1½ to 2 hours after Holmes. For some reason, the official Iditarod standings indicate Drobney, Williams, and Beals haven't yet completed their mandatory 24s, although it also shows that both spent over 24 hours in Takotna. I'm assuming it's an oversight or an error on the part of the committee and will be corrected soon. 

I understand Takotna wasn't the preferred spot for many teams to take their break, but many mushers got thoroughly soaked after Rohn (mile 188), where the trail follows the south fork of the Kuskokwim River and freezing water flowing over a layer of ice can be a hazard. Fearful of the predicted low temperatures overnight, many decided to stop in Takotna (mile 329) to dry out the dogs, boots, clothes, etc. Several mushers reported having their pants frozen on and not being able to get them off until they got indoors. 

Porsild's sled took a full-on plunge into the river, resulting in a soaked sleeping bag, mukluks, and sled bag. With temperatures dropping to -40 to -50° F, all her gear froze instantly. To add to the adventure, her sled then took off on a glacier and into a section of trees were it got stuck. It took her 45 minutes to get the sled back on the trail, but at the cost of her mittens. Fortunately, "expedition class" musher Thomas Waerner came along and kindly lent her a pair of his so she could make it to Takotna without frostbite. 

Bailey Vitello wasn't so lucky. He frost-bit the bottom of his foot and had to pour hot water over his frozen boots to get them off. However, he's still in the race at 11th place, and as of this moment was the last musher to leave Ophir. 

Rookie Jodi Potts-Joseph encountered a bison somewhere on the trail before McGrath (mile 311); fortunately, Jodi, her dogs, and the bison were all unharmed, but she's still back at McGrath in last place (second from last if you include "expedition class" racer Steven Curtis, who's still back in Rainy Pass (mile 153), 200 miles back from the lead).

In summary, as of 8:30 am Alaska time, 11 teams (Jessie Holmes, Paige Drobny, Mille Porsild, Michelle Phillips, Ryan Redington, Travis Beals, Peter Kaiser, Jessie Royer, Riley Dyche, Wade Marrs, and Bailey Vitello) have left Ophir and have completed their 24-hour rest, even if the standings don't yet recognize their breaks.  Seven other teams, including Matt Hall and Jeff Deeter, are currently taking their mandatory 24 in Ophir, and four more have left Takotna after completing their 24. 

After Ophir, the trail diverges into the northern and southern routes and rejoin at Kaltag (mile 629). This year follows the northern route through Cripple (mile 425) and then through the Sulatna Crossing to Ruby (mile 495) on the Yukon River. 

BU 4, Vermont 1

 

The sixth-seeded BU Terriers won the opening round of the Hockey East tournament last night with a 4-1 decision over 11-seed Vermont. This was the Terriers' 16th straight tournament win at Agganis Arena.

Cole Eiserman opened the scoring with a power-play goal in the first period. Vermont got their only goal of the game in the second, but then Eiserman tied it up with another goal in the third. Cole Hutson scored on another power play later that period, and Jack Harvey knocked in an open-netter late in the game to seal the win.

And with that, the Terriers (17-16-2) keep their post-season hopes alive and advance to the semifinals, where they'll face No. 3-seed UConn (18-11-5) on Saturday (1:00 pm). BU and UConn split a home-and-away series back in October, with both teams winning on the other team's ice. Saturday's game will be played at UConn's mafia-sounding Toscano Family Ice Forum.

Go, Terriers! 

Iditarod: Riley Dyche Takes the Lead

 

At 5:16 am this morning (Alaska time), Riley Dyche arrived at Ophir, 352 miles from the starting line, the first and only musher so far to reach the checkpoint. Ophir, a former gold-rush town, has been abandoned since the 1950s and was destroyed in a fire started by a camper in the 1970s. The original Iditarod Trail ran down the valley of the nearby Innoko valley, although the current trail goes through the old town site. 

Matt Hall and Lauro Eklund trail Dyche and are currently between Ophir and Takotna, the previous checkpoint. Eleven other teams, including Jessie Holmes, Paige Drobny, Ryan Redington, Mille Porsild, Travis Beals, and Michelle Phillips, are currently resting in Takotna.

After Ophir, the race will finally turn to the official northern route. The next checkpoint, Cripple, is 100 miles past Ophir at mile 425. Cripple is the middlemost checkpoint on the Iditarod trail, although the unofficial halfway point is somewhere between Cripple and the next checkpoint, Ruby, situated on the Yukon River.  

Billionaire Kjell Rokke is back in 16th place between McGrath (mile 311) and Takotna (mile 329), and fellow "Expedition class" racer Steve Curtis is still dead last between Rainy Pass (mile 153) and Nikolai (mile 263), nearly 100 miles back from the lead. 

No one has yet completed their mandatory 24-hour rest but as the teams approach the halfway mark, we should start to see some do so starting today.  Jessie Holmes has been in Takotna for some 10 hours now, and is probably on his mandatory 24. Ditto Drobney (9 hours and counting), Reddington and Porsild (8 hours), and Beals and Phillips (7 hours). Although it's not unusual to see teams take voluntary four-hour rests, longer rests, especially at checkpoints, are usually part of the mandatory 8- and 24-hour breaks.   

Jessie Holmes has led most of the race, and in 14 hours or so when his rest is complete and he's back on the trail, we will probably see him pass Dyche and return to the lead as Riley takes his 24.