Your favorite Boston sports fan needs a hug after the Panthers' Stanley Cup win

It's been one heck of a year for Boston sports fans. And not in a good way.

That town has only had positive sports news for so long. Tom Brady wins another championship, the Celtics trade for Kevin Garnett and win a championship, the Bruins win the Stanley Cup, Tom Brady wins a championship, they fleece the Brooklyn Nets by trading Garnett. Stop me if you've heard this before, but Tom Brady wins another championship. It's always been all good in Boston.

It seems like maybe luck is running out a bit? Whatever the opposite of a hot sports summer is, that's exactly what folks in Boston are experiencing right now.

It seems like Boston may have handed over the keys to a dynasty to the Panthers after trading Brad Marchand. The dude spent 13 years as a Bruin before being shockingly moved to Florida. It broke hearts in Boston everywhere. Ultimately, it was for the best. The Bruins stunk! Now, Marchand is a champ. Surely, he's happy.

But, man. These last four months have been rough in Boston, starting with the Marchand trade.

In the span of four months:

• The Marchand trade happens
• The Celtics lost to the Knicks and Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles, so their championship hopes for next year are crushed
• Rafael Devers pouted his way out of town to the Giants after everything was all good just a few years ago
• Marchand won a Stanley Cup as a key player for the Panthers

There's not enough there to say it's over for Boston sports, but it's certainly not looking great. Especially when you consider how bad the Patriots are these days.

This could be a blip on the radar. Given the recent history of Boston, it's likely that someone will bail out these teams at some point. We'll see how things unfold over time.

But if you see a Boston sports fan today, hug a Boston sports fan. They need it.

The Connor McDavid era is over?

After losing to the Panthers in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, the Oilers have tough decisions to make about their team. One of those decisions might be about Connor McDavid.

Charles Curtis gives us four reasons it might be time for the Oilers to trade him. He makes the argument that a change of scenery might just be necessary. Sometimes, that's just how it goes.

"There are just times when a star -- even of McDavid's caliber -- and a franchise just never get there together, and a change of scenery for both parties is necessary. That might be the case here, where McDavid doesn't want to spend his prime when the Oilers' Stanley Cup window closes and needs years to open again."

It's hard to imagine a world where the Oilers are ready to move on from McDavid. Regardless of the back-to-back cup losses, he's still generally regarded as the best player in the NHL. Being the team to move on from him would be a tough pill to swallow.

But he'll be a free agent next offseason. If the Oilers don't get it together, we could see a situation where he walks and Edmonton doesn't get anything in return for him. Surely, they don't want that.

Things are not great in Edmonton. Not great at all.

Another Indiana Fever scuffle

There's something about this Fever team, man. Things always get heated and chippy. The chippiness may have gone a bit too far on Tuesday, though.

This game turned into a dumpster fire by the end of it all. The Fever won, 88-71, but they surely didn't leave the night unscathed. There were six technical fouls, two flagrant fouls and three ejections in total in this one. It all started with Caitlin Clark and Jacy Sheldon. Marina Mabrey trucked Clark after she got tangled up with Sheldon and somehow didn't get ejected. Everything rolled downhill from there.

Stephanie White made the point that, once things got out of hand early, the officials never figured out how to reel the game back in.

"This is what happens. This is what happens. You've got competitive women who are the best in the world at what they do. And when you allow them to be physical and you allow these things to happen, they're going to compete," White said. "And they're going to have their teammates' backs. It's exactly what you'd expect. I started talking to the officials in the first quarter. We knew this was going to happen. You could tell this was going to happen. They've got to get control of it. They've got to be better."

She's absolutely right — the officiating needed to be better. The initial incident should've resulted in a Mabrey ejection. Would that have solved everything? Maybe not. But, at the very least, the initial incident was nipped in the bud and the tone was set.

Now, here we are, talking about ejections and confrontations again instead of talking about basketball. This can't keep happening.

Quick hits: Corey Perry's curse remains unbroken ... Matthew Tkachuk's gruesome injury ... and more

— Somebody please give Corey Perry a Stanley Cup Final. This is just cruel at this point. Mary Clarke has more on his curse.

— No idea how Matthew Tkachuk is even standing right now after this injury, but congrats to him and the Panthers.

— This timing for this Pacers trade is extremely weird, considering that they're in the middle of the NBA Finals. But it's a smart deal.

— The odds for a Pacers' comeback in the NBA Finals feel pretty slim right now. Prince Grimes has more.

— Here's Meg Hall with her latest WNBA Power Rankings. The Wings have been in a rut, but their win over the Valkyries may get them back on track.

— Caitlin Clark had a 10-word response to Jacy Sheldon that really set everything off on Tuesday. Sheesh.

That's a wrap, folks. Thanks for rocking with me today. Peace.

-Sykes ✌️

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