The Future of Hockey.
The San Jose Sharks lock up their star, the Blue Jays continue to slide, a young PGA star emerges, and McLaren returns to the podium.
Whiskey’s Garage
Sports Talk
Volume 9
29/07/2026
The Future Of Hockey
NHL
The San Jose Sharks have locked up the future face of their franchise, and possibly the future face of the NHL. Macklin Celebrini has taken the spot as the highest-paid player in the National Hockey League. This morning, 20-year-old Macklin Celebrini signed a 5-year contract worth $94 million, with an AAV (Average Annual Value) of $18.8 million. This beats out the recent contract that Leo Carlsson of the Anaheim Ducks signed, worth $90 million, with an AAV of $18 million. In only his 2nd season in the NHL, Celebrini has already broken the San Jose Sharks record for most points in a season, scoring 115 points last season, beating out Joe Thornton’s record of 114. With 45 goals and 70 assists, Celebrini led the Sharks to a 39-35 record, finishing 24th overall in the league, a step up from the prior season’s dead-last, 32nd- place finish with only 20 wins. Celebrini also shined last year during the 2026 Winter Olympics, leading the tournament in goals at 5 and second for most points at 10, only behind teammate Conor McDavid. It seems safe to say that Macklin Celebrini is the real deal. Although only 20 years old, he already has a resumé that many will never achieve; from the 100+ point season to leading the Olympics in scoring, the future is bright for this young star. The San Jose Sharks have also made significant moves this off-season, signing 2 veteran defenseman in Jacob Trouba and Darnell Nurse, along with picking up the 2nd-overall draft pick, Centerman Ivar Stenberg, and 9th-overall draft pick, Defenseman Keaton Verehoeff.
In other NHL news, Amazon Prime has signed a 12-year deal with the NHL for the broadcasting rights to Wednesday night games in Canada. The deal also carries 2 First-Round Playoff series, and 1 Second-Round Playoff series. Earlier this year, it was announced that Hockey Night in Canada, the 75-year-old broadcasting event from CBC, Rogers Sportsnet, and the NHL, would come to an end after the companies were unable to reach a sublicensing deal. Amazon Prime viewers can view NHL games at no additional cost, given you are a Prime member. The deal begins on September 30th, 2026, running through the 2037-2038 season.
MLB
The Toronto Blue Jays continue to slide farther away from playoff hopes, now sitting 14 games back of 1st place in the American League East. After a historic run last season, ultimately falling in Game 7 of the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers, hopes and expectations were sky high for the Blue Jays this year. Sadly, it has been nothing but disappointment and tough luck so far. From the loss of Bo Bichette in the off-season to the injuries that plagued the start of the year, the Blue Jays have only sat at .500 twice this season (aside from opening day), back in April when they fell from 4-1 to 4-4, and in June when they climbed back to 39-39. The Jays have had a positive record once this season, in the first 7 games. Not a lot of roster changes have happened since last season, aside from Bo Bichette, which makes it so much more confusing how they have fallen this far from the year prior. The offence has scored around 425 runs so far compared to the 490 runs at this point last season, and the defence has allowed about 439 runs so far compared to the 450 they had allowed at this point last season. The offence has been lacklustre in comparison, but the defence has actually allowed fewer runs. Yet the Jays' record has dropped from 59-44 to 50-59. The Blue Jays are well outside of any playoff spot right now, sitting about 6 games back of the final Wild Card spot, but with 54 games remaining, we will see and hope they can turn the back end of the season around. They host the St.Louis Cardinals for a 3-game series this weekend, playing Friday, July 31st at 4:07 PM, Saturday, August 1st at 12:07 PM, and Sunday, August 2nd at 10:37 AM (PST).
PGA
21-year-old Jackson Koivun already has his first win on the PGA Tour. After a record-breaking season at Auburn University, Jackson Koivun chose to turn professional in June instead of finishing his senior year, and just 24 days later, he has his first PGA win. Koivun just beat out World Number One Scottie Scheffler, to win the 3M Open in Minnesota. He finished atop the leaderboard at -25 under, with Scheffler in second at -22 under, and a 4-way tie for 3rd place at -20 under. Koivun carded a R1 of 64 (-7), R2 of 68 (-3), R3 of 61 (-10), and a R4 of 66 (-5) on Sunday to secure his first win. He put on an incredible display of poise, skill, and mental toughness through all 4 rounds. Presented with the option to turn Professional the year prior, Koivun ultimately chose to return to Auburn for another year. He stated he felt he wasn’t mentally ready for what the PGA Tour required, that he enjoyed the competitive nature at Auburn, and needed to mature further before competing in the PGA. A hard decision that turned out to be immensely beneficial for the young star. Koivun broke the record for the most wins in Auburn Golf history at 11, broke Tiger Woods' NCAA 36-hole (2 Rounds) record by shooting -10 back-to-back days, and became the first men’s golfer to sweep the Haskins Award, the Ben Hogan Award and the Jack Nicklaus Award twice (2024,2026). The San Jose-born player isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and is in line for many more wins in his future.
An interesting fact: Koivun always writes 3 words on his golf glove: Confidence, Trust, Dominate.
Formula 1:
Formula 1 racing was in Hungary this past weekend, where McLaren finally found a win. With their first podium since Barcelona-Catalunya, and their first win since the end of last season, Lando Norris has finally put them back in the winners' column. Beating out Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli. Lando Norris has now moved up to 5th in the World Champion standings. Mercedes’ 19-year-old Kimi Antonelli sits well ahead in first place, having a breakout year. Antonelli has won 6 of the 13 races and podiumed in 9 of them. He is 50 points ahead of 2nd-place veteran Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari, and 59 points ahead of Mercedes teammate George Russell, who’s in 3rd. Mercedes also sits in first place for the Constructors Championship (Team Award), at 379 points with 8 wins and 14 podiums, with Ferrari in second place at 307 points, 2 wins and 9 podiums, and McLaren in 3rd place at 220 points, with 1 win and 5 podiums. We are already halfway through the F1 season, with 12 races remaining. The next one takes place on August 23rd in the Netherlands, at the MASCOT Circuit Zandvoort.
The early odds have Kimi Antonelli as the favourite at +175, Lando Norris at +430, and Lewis Hamilton at +500. Max Verstappen may be someone to keep an eye out for. He is +1000 as of now, but this is his hometown race, and he has found success 3 times prior at this GP. Although Red Bull is having a very difficult year performance-wise, if anyone can pull it off, it would be Verstappen.
