
Edmonton Oilers (12-9-2, in the Pacific Division) vs. Colorado Avalanche (13-11, in the Central Division) Denver; Saturday, 10 p.m. EST BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Avalanche -124, Oilers +103; over/under is 6.5 BOTTOM LINE: The Colorado Avalanche host the Edmonton Oilers after the Oilers knocked off the Utah Hockey Club 4-3 in overtime. Colorado has a 7-6-0 record in home games and a 13-11 record overall. The Avalanche rank eighth in the league with 79 total goals (averaging 3.3 per game). Edmonton has a 7-3-1 record in road games and a 12-9-2 record overall. The Oilers have a 2-3-1 record in games they serve more penalty minutes than their opponents. Saturday's game is the first meeting between these teams this season. TOP PERFORMERS: Cale Makar has eight goals and 24 assists for the Avalanche. Mikko Rantanen has nine goals and eight assists over the past 10 games. Connor McDavid has 12 goals and 18 assists for the Oilers. Leon Draisaitl has scored eight goals with eight assists over the past 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Avalanche: 7-3-0, averaging 3.3 goals, 5.3 assists, 2.8 penalties and 5.6 penalty minutes while giving up 3.2 goals per game. Oilers: 6-3-1, averaging 3.7 goals, 6.3 assists, 2.5 penalties and 5.6 penalty minutes while giving up 2.9 goals per game. INJURIES: Avalanche: None listed. Oilers: None listed. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .
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Gus Malzahn is resigning as Central Florida’s head coach to become Florida State ‘s offensive coordinator, a person familiar with the hire told The Associated Press on Saturday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Seminoles have not confirmed Malzahn’s move, which is pending a state background check. ESPN first reported the decision. The Knights made official that Malzahn is leaving in a statement released a day after UCF (4-8) concluded its season with to Utah. “We would like to thank Coach Malzahn for his contributions to our football program over the past four seasons, including our transition into the Big 12 Conference,” the school said. “We appreciate his professionalism and dedication to our student-athletes throughout his tenure at UCF and wish he and his wife, Kristi, the very best in their future endeavors.” Malzahn finished with a 28-24 mark in four years at UCF, the last two ending with losing records after joining the Big 12. He coached at Auburn for eight seasons in 2020. Malzahn replaces offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Alex Atkins, who was fired Nov. 10 following a 52-3 loss at Notre Dame. The Seminoles rank 131st out of 134 in total offense and scoring offense, averaging 15.8 points a game heading into Saturday night’s rivalry game against Florida. The Seminoles (2-9) have dropped significantly since going 13-1 last season and winning the Atlantic Coast Conference championship. The Knights, meanwhile, struggled mightily in Malzahn’s fourth season — most of it because of quarterback issues. Four players took snaps from center as the Knights finished 2-7 in conference play. It was the program’s worst record since going 0-12 in former coach George O’Leary’s final season in 2015. Florida State coach Mike Norvell fired Atkins, defensive coordinator Adam Fuller and receivers coach Ron Dugans amid the Seminoles’ season-long skid. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up . AP college football: andViant Technology (NASDAQ:DSP) Shares Down 5.5% – Here’s WhyA VoIP quality test measures the performance of your network connection. The test simulates a set number of calls on your network and uses key metrics to determine how calls would sound in different situations. It can help you understand whether your connection is strong enough before implementing a VoIP system and alert you to potential post deployment issues as well. Mean opinion score (MOS) is an industry standard metric for VoIP call quality — it’s a simple 1-5 rating system with 1 being the worst and 5 being the best. Anything above a 4 is sufficient and scores below 3.5 should be considered unacceptable. Below that range, users are more likely to experience mic echo, dropped calls, choppy or robotic sounds, and cutting out. This guide covers everything you need to know to perform VoIP tests and tweak settings to optimize for MOS. What a VoIP quality test measures Before we dive into how to run a VoIP quality test, it’s important to understand what metrics you’ll get back and what they mean. Every VoIP test is different, but most measure things like: Upload and download speed — Measures how fast data packets can move through your network. In general, the higher the speed, the better the quality. Bandwidth — The maximum amount of data that can be transmitted across your network. It directly impacts the number of simultaneous calls you can have before quality takes a nose dive. Jitter — Variations between sent and received data packets. If these variations are significant, users might miss entire words or sentences during the call. Latency (or ping) — Measures the delay from one caller to another. High latency is often caused by network congestion and results in echoing. Packet loss — Refers to data packets that never reach their final destination. If it exceeds 1%, calls will likely have choppy audio and other distortions. Many will also let you simulate calls with different VoIP codecs . This is a parameter that defines how much compression happens during a call. More compression makes packets smaller, resulting in faster transmissions and reduced network congestion. But too much compression can lower audio quality to the point it’s unrecognizable. The key is finding a good balance that works for your team. Lastly, some of the better VoIP quality tests calculate your MOS by factoring in all of these elements and metrics. It’s also worth noting that some tools let you run tests for different numbers of simultaneous calls, and you may even be able to change the origin location of the call. As you adjust different parameters and variables, you may get a different MOS. For example, you might have a perfect score right next to your router but a lower score if you’re on the other side of the building. SEE: Learn how to optimize your VoIP network . How to run a VoIP quality test There are dozens of tools that let you test VoIP quality. To keep it simple, I’ll show you how to do it in just a few minutes for free, and what to use if you’re a developer or need more granular insights. Free online VoIP quality tests Many business phone providers have their own online VoIP quality tests you can use for free. They’re very easy and quick, making them perfect if you’re not quite sure what’s going on and just need a simple way to tell if your network is stable enough. Most measure latency, jitter, upload speed, and download speed. Some (but not all) also measure packet loss and calculate your MOS. RingCentral’s quality of service test is one of the best free options I’ve seen. The best part about this test is that it gives you MOS. It also measures packet loss, latency, and jitter in your audit summary. Another standout of RingCentral’s test is the ability to adjust your codec. You can also test up to 50 simultaneous calls and run the test for up to five minutes — the longer you test, the better chance you have of finding an issue. Once the test is finished, it does a good job of explaining what all the numbers mean and whether or not your connection passes. It’s also about as easy as it gets to run. All you have to do is select your preferred number of concurrent calls, adjust the duration, and tweak the codec if you want. While RingCentral’s is one of the most detailed free options, there are others you can use to validate your results if you’d like. There are other VoIP quality tests on the market that you can use, and it might be a good idea to try multiple to see if you get consistent results across the board. Here are some others worth checking out: Nextiva’s test — Simple option for testing up to 200 simultaneous calls. Ooma’s test — Easy way to check latency, jitter, upload, and download speed. 8×8’s test — Similar to Ooma, but lets you change the host. Overall, RingCentral’s is the most detailed, but these other free VoIP quality tests can give you more data points to ensure accuracy. SEE: Learn more about our favorite VoIP providers: RingCentral review | Nextiva review | Ooma review | 8×8 review . Network monitoring software (paid with a free trial) Network monitoring software is typically used by IT network administrators to ensure their network is running smoothly. It’s also useful for identifying issues with various components (routers, servers, firewalls, switches, etc.). You can also use them for testing VoIP network quality, and they provide far more detailed information than any of the free tools out there. SolarWinds VoIP network quality manager is one of the best. Instead of one-off tests every now and then, it runs continuously in the background. Although SolarWinds isn’t free, there is a 30-day free trial. You can test your network for a full month to see how its performance changes over time. From there, you can decide if you want to keep using it. Beyond basic VoIP quality stats, it also provides WAN performance metrics. It also provides contextual information related to performance issues. For example, you can see the specific IP addresses of devices that are causing jitter, latency, or packet loss. This will help you determine if call quality issues are related to hardware on your network or something else. The software does a whole lot more than that, but it’s a great alternative if you need real-time data or more data points to understand and improve your MOS.
Article content Stop the presses; Chrysler has major news! Well, okay, that may be a bit dramatic. However, if you’re a lover of all things minivan , then you’ve probably been impatiently waiting for an electric minivan. Sure, maybe the Volkswagen ID.Buzz was a good start, but it’s not really and truly a minivan in the sense of a “soccer mom” equivalent, right? Chrysler brought us the first plug-in hybrid minivan via the Pacifica , and it’s still the only PHEV minivan in the North American market. (Note: The Toyota Sienna lineup is fully hybrid, and Kia recently added hybrid variants to its 2025 Carnival .) Now, if Toyota, Kia, and Honda don’t try to pull any fast moves with their minivan lineups, Chrysler will be the first to introduce an all-electric minivan in this segment. At the 2024 L.A. Auto Show , Chrysler CEO Christine Feuell confirmed to Green Car Reports that its upcoming electric minivan will also come in the form of the Pacifica , which makes the most sense, considering the only other vehicle in Chrysler’s current lineup is the Grand Caravan that comes in only one trim, and adding an all-new player to produce a lineup of three minivans would be extremely uncalled for in today’s market. “Consumers have a favorable opinion about Pacifica and very high awareness. I see no reason at this point to change the name,” Feuell told GCR , who also confirmed the Pacifica will receive a refresh for 2026, with the electric Pacifica likely to follow a year later. Details on whether the PHEV will continue to be offered, or if there might be a range extender, are still unknown. While nothing is set in stone just yet, Feuell also noted Chrysler is working on keeping the well-known Stow ‘N Go seats in the electric minivan, with a few ideas on the table. Meanwhile, design cues may come from the Halcyon concept , which could prove to be very interesting. Can you imagine a Chrysler Pacifica Pinnacle EV with Halcyon styling? What do you think? Is an all-electric minivan just what we need? Sign up for our newsletter Blind-Spot Monitor and follow our social channels on Instagram , Facebook and X to stay up to date on the latest automotive news, reviews, car culture, and vehicle shopping advice.HOUSTON, Dec. 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Talen Energy Corporation (“Talen” or the “Company”) ( NASDAQ: TLN ) announced today that the Company has closed on its previously announced $850 million incremental Term Loan B credit facility (the “Financing”) and the repurchase (the “Repurchase”) of an equivalent value of shares of Talen’s outstanding Talen common stock, par value $0.001 per share (“Common Stock”) from affiliates of Rubric Capital Management LP (collectively, “Rubric”). The Company previously announced it would use the proceeds from the Financing to repurchase an equivalent value of shares of Common Stock held by Rubric. Upon the successful upsizing of the Financing from $600 million to $850 million, the Company determined it would use cash on hand to further increase the value of the Repurchase from $850 million to $1 billion in aggregate purchase price. Shares repurchased using the proceeds from the Financing are incremental to the Company’s previously announced share repurchase program. The additional shares repurchased with $150 million of cash on hand utilized capacity under the existing share repurchase program, leaving approximately $1.08 billion of remaining capacity available under the program through 2026. “Demonstrating our commitment to shareholder returns, we have now repurchased more than 20% of our outstanding Common Stock in the past year and, through these repurchases, have bought back nearly 75% of our market capitalization as of our emergence from bankruptcy in May 2023,” said Mac McFarland, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We will continue to deliver value to all our stakeholders, including Rubric, which remains a valued and substantial owner of Talen stock.” The Repurchase was priced at a 4% discount to a 15-day VWAP prior to the closing of the Repurchase, resulting in the repurchase of 4,893,507 total shares at a price of $204.35 per share. Following the Repurchase, 45,961,910 shares of the Company’s Common Stock remain outstanding. This press release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any state or jurisdiction in which the offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. About Talen Talen Energy ( NASDAQ: TLN ) is a leading independent power producer and energy infrastructure company dedicated to powering the future. We own and operate approximately 10.7 gigawatts of power infrastructure in the United States, including 2.2 gigawatts of nuclear power and a significant dispatchable fossil fleet. We produce and sell electricity, capacity, and ancillary services into wholesale U.S. power markets, with our generation fleet principally located in the Mid-Atlantic and Montana. Our team is committed to generating power safely and reliably, delivering the most value per megawatt produced and driving the energy transition. Talen is also powering the digital infrastructure revolution. We are well-positioned to capture this significant growth opportunity, as data centers serving artificial intelligence increasingly demand more reliable, clean power. Talen is headquartered in Houston, Texas. For more information, visit https://www.talenenergy.com/. Investor Relations: Ellen Liu Senior Director, Investor Relations InvestorRelations@talenenergy.com Media: Taryne Williams Director, Corporate Communications Taryne.Williams@talenenergy.com Forward-Looking Statements This communication contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, which statements are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this communication, or incorporated by reference into this communication, are forward-looking statements. Throughout this communication, we have attempted to identify forward-looking statements by using words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecasts,” “goal,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” or other forms of these words or similar words or expressions or the negative thereof, although not all forward-looking statements contain these terms. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions concerning, among other things, capital expenditures, earnings, litigation, regulatory matters, hedging, liquidity and capital resources and accounting matters. Forward-looking statements are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause our future business, financial condition, results of operations or performance to differ materially from our historical results or those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement contained in this communication. All of our forward-looking statements include assumptions underlying or relating to such statements that may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations, and are subject to numerous factors that present considerable risks and uncertainties.
BOISE, Idaho, Dec. 20, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As the official credit union of the Boise State Broncos, Mountain America Credit Union continues its support of BroncoLife through the First Down donation program. Through this unique program, the credit union committed a donation to BroncoLife for every first down completed by the BSU football team in 2024. This year, those first downs added up to $15,000, which will help BroncoLife continue its mission of empowering student-athletes to reach their full potential both in school and on their future career paths. A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available by clicking on this link. “Community service is integral to our core values, and Mountain America is proud to participate in the First Down donation program,” said Nathan Anderson, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Mountain America. “We value the lasting contributions BroncoLife makes to the lives of families and students in the Treasure Valley and beyond.” During the November 29, 2024, game, Mountain America presented a check for $15,000 to Associate Athletic Director Sara Whiles, Buster Bronco, and fellow Boise State Athletics associates. Since 2019, Mountain America has donated over $90,000 to BroncoLife. "We are so grateful Mountain America Credit Union continues to recognize and support the BroncoLife program,” Whiles said. “With investments like theirs we can provide opportunities that assist in the development of student-athletes and ultimately prepare them for life after sports.” For more information about Mountain America’s community involvement activities, visit macu.com/newsroom . About Mountain America Credit Union With more than 1 million members and $20 billion in assets, Mountain America Credit Union helps its members define and achieve their financial dreams. Mountain America provides consumers and businesses with a variety of convenient, flexible products and services, as well as sound, timely advice. Members enjoy access to secure, cutting-edge mobile banking technology, over 100 branches across multiple states, and more than 50,000 surcharge-free ATMs. Mountain America—guiding you forward. Learn more at macu.com . Contact: publicrelations@macu.com , macu.com/newsroomBlues host the Flyers after Holloway's 2-goal gameNORAD's Santa tracker was a Cold War morale boost. Now it attracts millions of kids
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The performance Northwestern Lehigh senior Eli Zimmerman put together on Friday night would be remembered for a long time no matter when the game was played. But what made the incredible showing of 346 yards and a touchdown on 35 rushes and a game-changing 80-yard interception return for a score by Zimmerman even more impressive was that it happened in a state semifinal. The Tigers clinched a return trip to the PIAA Class 3A championship game with a 31-14 victory over previously undefeated Danville on Friday night at Berwick’s Crispin Field. “Up front, I have to wait a little bit for the holes to be created sometimes,” Zimmerman said of being patient on his rushes. “Even if they’re the littlest things when they’re open, it’s easy for me to burst and go through them. I think that’s been the recipe of success this season. Finding little gaps, getting in between them and getting 8, 9 yards a clip and breaking some eventually.” “Honestly, tonight it was just a little bit one, two. It was a little bit of our line taking over, it was a lot of Eli’s determination and grit. Finding seams, breaking tackles, bursting out it into the open and busting the game open multiple times,” Tigers coach Josh Snyder said. Northwestern, which improved to 15-0 on the season, will play District 7 champion Avonworth in the state championship game at 1 p.m. next Saturday at Cumberland Valley High School. Avonworth (12-3) beat District 6 champion Penn Cambria 16-6 on Friday night in the other semifinal. The Tigers will be hoping for a much different result in the state final next week as they fell to Belle Vernon 38-7 in the 3A championship game last season. Zimmerman broke his own school record for single-game rushing yards (271 yards vs. North Schuylkill on Sept. 27). The senior also established a new single-season rushing mark for Northwestern with 2,557 yards, eclipsing the 2,376 yards by legendary Brett Snyder in 1995. With his 95-yard rushing touchdown and his 80-yard interception return for a score, Zimmerman also tied the program’s single-season touchdown record (Dalton Clymer, 35, 2023). “He’s just a dawg. He’s a straight dawg. He just goes out there with the same mentality each and every game,” Northwestern sophomore linebacker Brady Zimmerman said of his older brother Eli. “He’s obviously our star player. He’s a great leader, too. Just a great guy out there on the field.” The Tigers drove down the field on the game’s opening drive to take a 7-0 lead. After Zimmerman ran for 36 yards on six carries on the first drive, junior quarterback Shane Leh went around the right side of the line and then broke a tackle for a 17-yard touchdown rush with 9:23 remaining in the first quarter. Then, with Northwestern backed up in the shadows of its own end zone, Zimmerman showed off his special running ability. The senior started a run to the right side of the field and was able to work his way all the way across the field to the left pylon on a 95-yard touchdown run with 6:46 remaining in the first quarter. The dazzling sprint made it 14-0 Tigers early in the game. “I want to shout all the boys up front who blocked for me,” Zimmerman said. “Going untouched 95 yards doesn’t happen often. That all goes to the guys who blocked for me. You just have to find the seams. The rest is just running ball.” As Danville marched down the field on the opening drive of the third quarter in an attempt to cut Northwestern’s lead to one possession, Zimmerman stepped in front of a receiver to intercept a pass and ran it back for an 80-yard score to change the momentum of the game and give the Tigers a 24-7 lead with 9:50 remaining in the third quarter. “All week in practice, that was a play we saw on film,” Zimmerman said. “They actually ran it on that one. So, I saw it coming. I kind of waited a bit to see if the quarterback would throw it. I just saw the ball go in the air. Then, all the boys made that wall down the sideline let me go untouched. It was awesome.” Northwestern then made a pair of stops deep in its own territory to preserve the 17-point lead. Danville went for a fake field goal, but the rush by Ironmen senior quarterback Madden Patrick was stopped at the Tigers' 1-yard line by senior linebacker Josh Wambold with 5:39 remaining in the third quarter. Brady Zimmerman recovered a Danville fumble at the Northwestern 3-yard line with 11:25 left in the fourth quarter to keep the score 24-7. “Those are two huge turning points for our defense,” said Snyder, who injured his leg when he was celebrating Zimmerman’s pick-six. “You need big plays to happen. Your team needs to make more plays than the other team. I think that’s what happened tonight, especially those two particular ones on defense.” “Our defense has been the key of our team this year,” Brady Zimmerman said. “Posting a shutout last week (31-14 win over Scranton Prep). Holding them to 14 points this week. It was just a great outing for us.” The Tigers went on a final drive to punch another ticket to the state championship game. Northwestern picked up a first down on a fourth-and-2 when junior Mason Bollinger rushed for five yards at the Tigers' 35-yard line with 8:16 remaining in the fourth quarter. Zimmerman then had a 45-yard run to get Northwestern to the 2-yard line. Senior Seth Kern rushed for a 2-yard score that stretched the Tigers' lead to 31-7 with 4:35 on the clock in the fourth quarter. Bollinger rushed for 27 yards and Leh gained 26 yards on the ground for the Tigers. “It all starts up front,” Bollinger said. “Shane Hulmes at tight end. Jerry (Jeremiah Gornicz), Colton (Popp), Jackson Bailey, Bryer (Reichard), Jared (Meck). They’re big guys and they can make holes for Eli and anyone who is at the quarterback position or running back position. They just open everything up and allow our guys to run through the hole.” Senior wide receiver Cole Duffy caught six passes for 112 yards and a pair of scores for Danville, which finished the season with a 13-1 record. The Tigers are back in the state final for the second consecutive year and are hoping to leave Cumberland Valley with gold on this trip. “It’s not easy to get there the first time,” Snyder said. “Even tougher the second time when you have high expectations. But I’d be lying if I told you that I didn’t sincerely think it was a mission and our destiny to get back there again this year.” “We didn’t talk a lot about getting back there,” the Northwestern coach continued. “But we talked a lot about playing one game at a time. If we do that enough times, the possibility is there. We were injury free again this year. Different guys step up in multiple different games and different spots. You need that to happen. You need to practice hard. You need great leaders, which we have.” Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting lehighvalleylive.com with a subscription. Josh Folck may be reached at jfolck@lehighvalleylive.com . ©2024 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit lehighvalleylive.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Hornets pick up three superlatives after 2024 season