For now, the 17-year-old center — he turns 18 on Thursday — coming off a celebrated freshman season at Boston University isn’t in a rush to get there, yet.

“There’s never really shame or there’s nothing wrong with just taking your time and just improving a little bit more,” Celebrini said at the NHL pre-draft scouting combine on Friday, in reiterating he’s not yet determined whether he’ll return to BU for a second season. “So I feel like in those ways, another year would benefit me just to get more physically ready, and just make sure I’m very fit and strong when I try to make that jump.”

Other than who gets chosen second overall, with the consensus split between Michigan State defenseman Artyom Levshunov and Medicine Hat center Cayden Lindstrom, Celebrini’s plans for next season represent the biggest question mark entering the two-day draft, which opens on June 28 at The Sphere in Las Vegas.

Not only is Celebrini the projected No. 1 pick by NHL Central Scouting, San Jose general manager Mike Grier expressed his intention to select the Terriers player immediately after the Sharks won the NHL draft lottery last month.

“It’s a big hockey moment for the organization and the fans here to have the opportunity to draft someone like Macklin,” Grier said at the time. And the second-year GM hasn’t cooled on his beliefs in praising the player when asked about Celebrini earlier in the week at the combine.

As college hockey’s youngest player last season, the 6-foot, 190-pound Celebrini won the Hobey Baker as the nation’s top player, as well as Hockey East player and rookie of the year honors. He finished second in the nation with 32 goals and third with 64 points in 38 games.

Another bonus for Grier’s rebuilding plans for a team that finished last in the overall standings is Celebrini’s ties to the Bay Area. Though from North Vancouver, British Columbia, Celebrini’s father, Rick, is vice president of player health and performance for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, and the youngster spent a year playing for the Sharks’ junior team.

Celebrini enjoyed his interview with the Sharks, as well as dinner with Grier, who also played at Boston University.

Despite the ties and the talk, Celebrini isn’t taking anything for granted.

“At the end of the day, you never know what’s going to happen, and I don’t think I’m getting too ahead of myself,” he said. “So, for right now, I’m just going to enjoy the last couple days of the combine and enjoy this experience.”

The Chicago Blackhawks are scheduled to pick second, followed by Anaheim, Columbus and Montreal.

Who will the Chicago Blackhawks draft with the No. 2 pick? A closer look at 5 potential options.

In a switch from last year’s top-heavy forward draft class headed by Connor Bedard going No. 1 to the Hawks, this year’s crop of prospects features four defensemen among the top seven-ranked North American skaters on Central Scouting’s list. The group is headed by Levshunov, who is from Belarus, and includes Zeev Buium, who is from San Diego.

Buium had the distinction of helping the U.S. win gold at the world junior championships this year, and then helping Denver win an NCAA title in April.

“I was obviously very fortunate to be on two really good teams and meet a lot of great guys,” said the 6-foot, 183-pound Buium. “It was two awesome experiences.”

At 6-foot-2 and 203 pounds, Levshunov was the Big Ten rookie and defensive player of the year, and finished eighth in the nation among blue liners with 35 points (nine goals, 26 assists) in 38 games.

Central Scouting’s top-ranked international player is also a defenseman in Russian Anton Silayev. Listed at 6-foot-7 and 211 pounds, the 18-year-old had three goals and 11 points in 63 games during his rookie season with the Novgorod Torpedo of the Kontinental Hockey League.

Celebrini spent last season playing with his older brother, Aiden, who is also a defenseman and was selected by Vancouver in the sixth round of the draft last year. At BU, he’s coached by former NHL forward Jay Pandolfo.

Celebrini drew a laugh when discussing playing against Boston College’s Will Smith last season — “Every time we went up against him, he lit us up,” he said. The two will likely be teammates after the Sharks selected Smith with the No. 4 pick in the draft last year.

As for the best advice he’s ever received, Celebrini didn’t hesitate.

“Probably, stay present. I’ve been told that time flies by,” Celebrini said. “Before you know it, like, it’s five years later.”

The Bills list the 24-year-old Steveson as a defensive lineman in hopes his leverage techniques and agility can translate to football.

Listed at 5-foot-11 and 266 pounds, Steveson, at 21, became the youngest freestyle wrestler to win gold as a super heavyweight at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. He then went on to win two college national titles at Minnesota in 2021 and ’22, and twice was named the Dan Hodge Trophy winner as the nation’s best college wrestler.

After his second college championship, Steveson left his shoes in the center of the mat, symbolizing his retirement from amateur wrestling.

In Buffalo, Steveson joins a team with a head coach in Sean McDermott who was a two-time high school national wrestling champion growing up in Pennsylvania. And while McDermott went on to pursue football after high school, he credits wrestling for helping shape his life.

Although Steveson’s contract with Buffalo spans three years, it is not guaranteed unless he makes the team.

Steveson won gold at the Tokyo Games by scoring a dramatic last-second win against Geno Petriashvili. He had numerous options after the victory, and chose to return to college for a year and cash in on the new name, image and likeness rules that allowed college athletes to make money.

He signed an NIL deal with World Wrestling Entertainment before his final college season and later joined the company.

After joining WWE, Steveson briefly returned to amateur wrestling last year. He competed at the U.S. Open and Final X and won both in dominant fashion. That qualified him for the world championships, but he chose not to compete.

Steveson initially joined the WWE with much fanfare. He was mostly part of its developmental brand, NXT, before being released in May.

Steveson is from Minnesota, and his mother named him Gable in honor of wrestler Don Gable, who won gold at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

AP Sports Writer Cliff Brunt in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.

It could not be happening at a better time.

The PWHL’s launch finally brings together the best players in the world on a regular basis and beyond the annual world championships or Olympics every four years. And it has placed the game firmly on the map at a time of heightened interest in women’s sports, led by the Caitlin Clark effect in basketball and a quarter-century since Brandi Chastain and the U.S. soccer team rose to international prominence.

While it will still take time to catch up in a crowded landscape, the PWHL is off to a blazing beginning after decades of frustration, featuring fitful starts and stops, by putting it all together on the ice with a chance to capitalize on a growing appetite for elite women’s sports.

“We all wanted things to happen faster, and it felt really difficult and challenging at times,” Hall of Famer and PWHL senior VP of hockey operations Jayna Hefford told The Associated Press. “But now when you look back on it, you have to wonder if everything happened like it should have been and at the right time to allow us to see the success that we’ve seen to date.”

That success is still in its infancy, though the first four-plus months of the PWHL has raised expectations of how fast and how much it can grow beyond the current six-team structure based in Boston, New York, Minnesota, Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. A total of 392,259 fans attended games during the regular season at venues that included various NHL rinks and highlighted by a women’s hockey record crowd of 21,105 turning out at the Canadiens’ Bell Centre for a Montreal-Toronto showdown last month.

Television broadcasts nationally in Canada and regionally in the U.S. markets have also attracted even more viewers to women’s hockey in following the same path of progress the WNBA and the various pro women’s soccer league incarnations previously enjoyed since the late 1990s and early 2000s.

“This has been in the works for quite a long time,” said Amy Scheer, the PWHL’s senior VP of business operations, who has also worked in the WNBA and NBA and for the NFL. “This has not happened overnight, and it continues to be a movement and it will have to continue to be a movement. There’s no time where we can take our foot off the pedal and feel complacent or feel comfortable. This is hard work every single day.”

As the puck drops on the playoffs this week, with an innovative format that allowed league-leading Toronto to pick its first-round opponent, there’s still plenty of work to be done.

Internally, advisory board member Stan Kasten acknowledged, “We still have a long way to go till we are an economic success,” and an expert in women’s sports is skeptical of the long term based on hockey’s place behind football and other sports in the U.S., and until there are more teams and big-name stars to capture mainstream attention.

“You’ve got the kind of barrier of overcoming just the sort of marginalization of hockey in American culture and then on top of that added in this additional layer of the marginalization of women’s sports in American culture,” said Cheryl Cooky, professor of women’s gender and sexuality studies at Purdue University. “Adding those together, it creates this sort of double jeopardy for women’s hockey.”

How Kendall Coyne Schofield and the PWHL aim to ‘change the landscape of women’s hockey forever’

Cooky pointed to Chastain, Clark and others becoming the face of her sport to people beyond the fanbase as something women’s hockey needs. American Hilary Knight and Canadian Marie-Philip Poulin are the biggest stars at the moment, including Knight making an appearance on “Saturday Night Live” in 2018. But there’s also the inherent challenge of playing in helmets with cages that basketball and soccer do not have to overcome in building a pop culture following off the ice, court or field.

But that process is ongoing, placing the emphasis on the next generation, led by Sarah Nurse, Caroline Harvey, Laila Edwards and others, of building a loyal following around the continent.

“These kinds of role models that show women that they can be fierce, serious athletes, I can’t think of anything better,” Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman said. “The strength of the fan support speaks to the fact that there was something missing, that there was something that was needed.”

Speaking steps away from Hillman at a PWHL watch party at the Canadian Embassy in Washington last month, Bauer VP of marketing Mary-Kay Messier called the inaugural season “a watershed moment” for hockey in general because of the growth opportunity of getting more girls and women involved.

“It’s a reflection of the passion of the people, and they’re demanding to see the games and they’re turning out in droves and breaking records is no longer a milestone — it’s a track record,” Messier said. “For brands that want to stay relevant, want to develop new audiences, you’ve got to get involved with girls and women’s sports because that’s a difference-maker.”

The PWHL has deals with companies running the gamut from equipment manufacturers like Bauer and CCM to Canadian Tire, Molson, Tim Hortons and Barbie. More agreements are coming soon, as is eventual expansion, though that will have to wait, as will increased salaries for players and other modifications.

“We tried to be careful and conservative so that when we finally got going, we had a chance to succeed and that’s the place we’re at now,” said Kasten, one of the people running the PWHL show for Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter and women’s tennis icon Billie Jean King.

Kasten said the league’s “manifest destiny” is competitions in Europe, and an influx of talent outside the U.S. and Canada is one reason to think, as Scheer does, that “there’s no limits” on what the PWHL can do.

“It’s great that you have different pathways,” said Lara Stalder, captain of Switzerland’s national team who credited countrywoman Alina Muller for carving a path for Europeans in the PWHL. “In the end, you need good pathways and good structures that we have more depth, that more and more girls play hockey.”

A person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press the stake in the team the Pegulas would be preparing to sell would be about 25%. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because that detail was not announced by the team. It was first reported by The Athletic.

The Bills announced the Pegulas have hired Allen & Company to oversee the process, while stressing no sale would take place without the Pegulas maintaining a controlling interest in the franchise.

The Bills also announced the sale is limited only to the Bills, and not any of the Pegulas’ other holdings, which include the NHL Buffalo Sabres, the American Hockey League Rochester Americans and National Lacrosse League franchises in Buffalo and Rochester.

The prospect of selling shares of the Bills comes at a time the franchise is facing a cash crunch with rising construction costs of the team’s new stadium being built across the street from its current facility, and scheduled to open in 2026.

The initial cost of the stadium was pegged at $1.4 billion when a preliminary agreement was struck with the state and county in March 2022. That number jumped to $1.54 billion months later and was last projected to be approaching $1.7 billion in August.

The Bills are responsible to cover any cost over-runs beyond $1.4 billion, according to terms of the agreement, which locked in the public share at $850 million.

In August, Terry Pegula chose to have the Bills and Sabres operate as separate entities by dissolving their parent company, Pegula Sports and Entertainment, in what was called a move to streamline both operations.

The sale of Bills’ shares also comes at a time when speculation continues to rise over whether the Pegulas are interested in selling the Sabres. A second person with direct knowledge of the Pegulas’ plans told the AP the Sabres are not for sale.

The Pegulas, who made their fortune in the natural gas industry, have a reported net worth of $6.8 billion. They purchased the Bills for a then-NFL record $1.4 billion in 2014. Last year, Forbes listed the Bills as being valued at $3.7 billion.

Kim Pegula has been unable to fulfill her duties while dealing with significant language and memory issues after going into cardiac arrest in June 2022.

That moment came on Sunday, with Poulin scoring twice in a breathtaking 6-5 overtime win over the United States that has the gold medal returning to Canada for a tournament-record 13th time.

“I hate to say you’re not trying to rely on it, expect it, but I know I’ve grown to expect it,” Canada coach Troy Ryan said. “Tonight was just a whole other level. I could see in her eyes every time we called her name that she was ready to go. It’s just special.”

In an outing sealed by Danielle Serdachny converting a rebound 5:16 into the extra period for a power-play goal, Poulin was the difference-maker in settling Canada in an outing filled with momentum shifts, three lead changes and with neither team able to build more than a one-goal lead.

With the U.S. surging in the second period by scoring twice less than six minutes apart to build a 3-2 lead, Poulin tied the game by roofing a shot off the crossbar with 1:02 left in the period.

“Happy it happened today,” said Poulin, who missed the final three games with her PWHL Montreal team leading up to the world championship break. “You want to win and I’m competitive and that’s part of it.”

The 33-year-old Poulin earned her nickname with gold medal-clinching goals in two Winter Games and the 2021 world championships — each time against the U.S.

Canada got payback by beating the Americans on home soil in central New York a year after a 6-3 loss to the U.S., who won their 10th tournament outside of Toronto.

What also stood out was the relentless pace and back-and-forth intensity that was once again on display in the 36th tournament meeting between the world’s top powers.

Poulin went so far as to search out U.S. captain Hilary Knight and give her a hug on the ice.

“We just said ‘that was unbelievable,'” Poulin said.

And heart-breaking, from a U.S. perspective.

Though American defenseman Caroline Harvey had a goal and assist, she also had two pucks go in off her.
“No emotion. I mean, it’s not the result we wanted,” Harvey said. “Not what we came here for. Definitely very motivational. Pretty speechless at this point.”

Aside from losing on home soil, the game ended with Serdachny’s power-play goal coming with 2 seconds left on a too-many-players penalty. Erin Ambrose’s shot from the left circle was stopped by Aerin Frankel, before Serdachny swept the loose puck into the net.

“Let me regroup after that one,” U.S. coach John Wroblewski said, following a three-second pause. “Instead of talking about the isolated events of tonight’s game, I think that normally that’s an interesting storyline,. But I think the entity of an amazing 6-5 game is an amazing hockey game that took place.”

There’s much a young and somewhat untested team, featuring four players making their tournament debuts, the Americans can learn from in building toward the future.

“We were served a lesson tonight on that. And we’ll see if we can bank it and make our players appreciate what they what that lesson was,” Wroblewski said.

Julia Gosling, Erin Ambrose and Emily Clark also scored for Canada. Ann-Renee Desbiens finished with 19 saves, including kicking out her left skate to stop Harvey’s wrap-around attempt 2:40 into the overtime.

Knight, Laila Edwards, Megan Keller and Alex Carpenter also scored for the U.S. who finished the tournament 6-1.
Frankel, who set the single tournament record with four shutouts, finished with 24 saves.

The neighboring nations and women’s global powers showed once again why their rivalry is regarded as the fiercest and most intense in sports.

This marked the 10th time in 36 world championship meetings the teams played beyond regulation, and first in a gold-medal game since Poulin sealed a 3-2 OT victory in 2021. It also marked the highest-scoring game between the U.S. and Canada in any meeting since the Americans’ 7-5 win in the 2015 world championship gold-medal game.

The rivalry is so tight, both teams are 18-18 in world championship meetings, with Canada now holding a 104-103 edge in goals scored.

They went from a low-scoring, but fast-paced and riveting preliminary round meeting on Monday, which the Americans won 1-0 on Kirsten Simms’ overtime goal, to an offensive eruption.

Just when it appeared Canada had taken control with Poulin’s second goal, which she took four whacks at the puck from in close before tapping it in with 7:41 remaining, Harvey scored 2:39 later to tie the game at 5. Lacey Eden set up the goal from behind the net, where she fed Harvey for a one-timer from the left circle.

Canada’s Ella Shelton made a key stop with 3:21 left in regulation, when Edwards’ shot from the right of the net deflected off someone in front. The puck was dribbling toward the open left side, before Shelton reached out with her stick to deflect it just wide.

The pace of play and intensity was so high, even Harvey acknowledged having difficulty catching her breath.

“I was just on the edge of my seat myself and excited for what was to come, and at the end was devastating,” Harvey said.

Earlier in the day, Petra Nieminen scored the decisive shootout goal, and Finland defeated the Czech Republic 3-2 to win its 14th bronze medal — and first since 2021.

The International Ice Hockey Federation announced next year’s world championships will be played at Ceske Budejovice in the Czech Republic, the first time the nation has hosted the tournament.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the trade has not been announced. ESPN.com first reported the deal.

As part of the deal, the source said, the Bills will receive the Texans’ second-round pick in the 2025 draft, which Houston acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Vikings. The Texans also will acquire the Bills’ sixth-round pick this year and a fifth-rounder in 2025, the person said.

Diggs’ departure from Buffalo leaves quarterback Josh Allen without his favorite target and breaks up a tandem that has rewritten the team’s passing records since Diggs’ arrival in a trade with the Vikings in March 2020. Together they transformed the Bills offense into one of the NFL’s most potent while helping Buffalo win four straight AFC East titles.

Diggs gives the Texans offense another playmaker to team with Nico Collins and Tank Dell. Collins led the team with 80 receptions for 1,297 yards and eight touchdowns last season, when the Texans went from worst to first in the AFC South under first-year coach DeMeco Ryans and AP Offensive Rookie of the Year C.J. Stroud.

The Texans also traded for running back Joe Mixon along with a host of improvements on defense. After the Diggs deal, they were 15-1 to win the Super Bowl next season on FanDuel Sportsbook.

The 30-year-old Diggs has nine years of NFL experience and topped 1,000 yards in each of the last six seasons. In his first season in Buffalo, he became the first Bills player to lead the league in both receiving yards (1,535) and catches (127).

Diggs’ production began slipping in the second half of last season, which coincided with the Bills firing offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and promoting Joe Brady, who placed a renewed emphasis on the running attack. Diggs finished the season with 107 catches and 1,183 yards — both lows during his tenure with the Bills — and eight touchdowns.

He finished his time in Buffalo with 445 catches for 5,372 yards and 37 touchdowns to rank fourth on the team’s all-time list. Diggs holds the top four spots on the franchise list for single-season receptions and the top two for receiving yards.

Overall he has 1,178 catches for 9,995 yards and 67 touchdowns since the Vikings selected him in the fifth round of the 2015 draft out of Maryland.

Raiders Bills Football

Diggs, however, also carried over his mercurial personality that led the Vikings to trade him to Buffalo. Though voted a Bills team captain in each of the last two seasons, Diggs caused occasional stirs with several sideline outbursts and the frustration he showed after the Bills’ 2022 season ended with a 27-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional playoff round.

Diggs left the locker room before coach Sean McDermott had a chance to address the team and had to be coaxed back by teammate Duke Williams. Diggs then spent the offseason posting cryptic messages on his social media accounts while declining to take part in the Bills’ voluntary offseason programs.

Confusion then arose when Diggs wasn’t present for the Bills’ first mandatory practice and McDermott said he was “concerned” about Diggs’ absence.

A day later, McDermott corrected himself by saying Diggs was excused from practice but was present at the facility to discuss lingering issues that stemmed from the previous season.

The dustups led to Diggs having to reiterate several times his loyalty to the Bills, including saying he wanted to finish his career in Buffalo.

“I take my job seriously. You can see how I play. You can see how I practice,” Diggs said in November. “They’ve never questioned me as a player and as a man of what I bring to the table. So me being fully invested has never really been in question.”

Diggs has four seasons left on his contract as part of a four-year, $96 million extension he signed in August 2022.

Though trading Diggs won’t provide the Bills much salary-cap relief, his departure continues an offseason overhaul of the roster that was forced by the team having to slash payroll for cap reasons. Among the players cut were center Mitch Morse, cornerback Tre’Davious White and safety Jordan Poyer. The Bills also lost No. 2 receiver Gabriel Davis to free agency.

They do return second-year wide receiver Khalil Shakir, who is coming off a promising season in which he started 10 games. The Bills also signed wide receivers Curtis Samuel and Mack Hollins in free agency.

Minus Diggs, the Bills are now expected to target a receiver high in this month’s draft. They have the 28th pick in the first round.

LONDON, Ontario (AP) — The police chief of London, Ontario, issued a public apology on Monday to a woman who says she was sexually assaulted by five hockey players on Canada’s 2018 world junior team — including four now currently in the NHL — for the length of time it took to complete an investigation of a case that has rocked the sport for years.

It will, however, take much longer for Chief Thai Truong to provide any specifics as to why it took nearly six years for charges to be filed, and what led to the initial investigation to be closed in 2019 before being reopened in 2022.

“I want to extend on behalf of the London Police service my sincerest apology to the victim, to her family for the amount of time that it has taken to reach this point,” Truong said at a news conference with dozens of reporters on hand.

“This should not take this long. It shouldn’t take years and years for us to arrive to the outcome of today,” he added. “But I can assure you, I am confident, confident that this will not happen again.”

As for what caused the delay and how it reflects on his department, Truong repeatedly said he was unable to get into the details because they have the potential of compromising prosecution of the case; that could include having those involved in the initial and second investigation being called as witnesses.

The 45-minute news conference marked the first time police in Ontario’s fifth-largest city, about halfway between Toronto and Detroit, have commented on the case since filing charges against the players accused of assaulting the woman in a downtown hotel room.

The players charged with one count each of sexual assault are Philadelphia Flyers goalie Carter Hart, Michael McLeod and Cal Foote of the New Jersey Devils, Dillon Dube of the Calgary Flames and former NHL player Alex Formenton. McLeod also faces a charge of “being a party to the offense,” which police said was for aiding someone else in committing the offense.

Attorneys for all five players have said their clients are not guilty and will defend themselves against the allegations. The players — who are all on leave from their teams — surrendered to London police over the past week and were released on unspecified conditions.

During a brief video hearing Monday with only attorneys present, prosecutors obtained an order protecting the identity of the woman, which is standard in sexual assault cases, as well as that of two witnesses. Prosecutor Heather Donkers also said defense attorneys would receive “substantial” evidence in the next few days. The next hearing was scheduled for April 30.

Detective Sgt. Katherine Dann of the Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Section said the reopened investigation found reasonable and probable grounds to bring the charges, which could bring jail time if there are convictions.

Dann oversaw the investigation once it was reopened under now-retired police chief Steve Williams, and was not part of the initial investigation. She said some of the evidence uncovered “was not available when the investigation concluded in 2019.”

Like Truong, Dann was unable to answer many specifics, including whether others might be charged. T here were 22 players on the 2018 team

The case has shadowed Canadian hockey for years.

A woman sued Hockey Canada in 2022, alleging she was sexually assaulted in a hotel room by eight members of the gold medal-winning world junior team after a fundraising gala in London in June 2018. Hockey Canada settled the lawsuit, and then an investigation revealed the organization had two secret slush funds to pay out settlements on claims of sexual assault and abuse.

London police dropped their investigation in 2019 but began an internal investigation in July 2022. Around the same time, the NHL launched its own investigation, though the results of that likely will not be released until the legal case is resolved.

“At this stage, the most responsible and prudent thing for us to do is await the conclusion of the judicial proceedings, at which point we will respond as appropriate at the time,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said Friday at All-Star Weekend in Toronto. Players on leave will continue to be paid through the rest of the season, though their respective clubs will get salary cap relief for them.

Bettman said the league found out about the allegations on May 26, 2022. He said the NHL interviewed every player from that team, adding the woman involved declined to take part in the investigation.

Hockey Canada said it has cooperated fully with London Police throughout its investigation.

“Hockey Canada recognizes that in the past we have been too slow to act and that in order to deliver the meaningful change that Canadians expect of us, we must work diligently and urgently to ensure that we are putting in place the necessary measures to regain their trust, and provide all participants with a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment on and off the ice,” said Katherine Henderson, who was named Hockey Canada president and CEO in July.

___

Whyno reported from Ashburn, Virginia. The Canadian Press contributed.

___

AP hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/hockey

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and the NFL cited public safety concerns as the reason for the postponement, with up to 2 feet of snow projected to fall on the region over a 24-hour period starting Saturday night.

“The decision to move the game to Monday was made in consultation with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in the best interest of public safety, and with the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers, as the region prepares for the storm,” the NFL and Bills said in a joint statement.

Hochul said she started talking with the NFL on Thursday about the possibility of having to reschedule the game because of what she called a “dangerous storm.” Hochul, who is from just outside of Buffalo, closed her news conference by saying, “Go Bills.”

“We want our Bills to win, but we don’t want 60,000 to 70,000 people traveling to the football game in what’s going to be horrible conditions,” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said at a news conference in the Buffalo suburbs.

Officials advised residents to stay off the roads starting at nightfall Saturday, with a driving ban taking effect at 9 p.m. The game will now be played at Highmark Stadium at 4:30 p.m. Monday instead of 1 p.m. Sunday.

The forecast for the Buffalo area called for heavy snow and winds gusting as high as 65 mph Saturday, with 1 to 2 feet or more of snow eventually piling up. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning lasting through 7 a.m. Monday, saying that “travel will be very difficult to impossible at times,” with the combination of snow and very strong wind causing near-zero visibility.

Much of the storm was expected to be concentrated in a narrow band of lake-effect snow hovering over Buffalo’s southern suburbs, which includes the Bills’ home in Orchard Park.

Postponing the game frees up sheriff’s deputies, who are usually assigned to Bills game-related duties, to deal with storm-related emergencies, Poloncarz said. Officials were concerned about Steelers fans making the trip to Buffalo through treacherous conditions.

The Steelers have pushed back their travel plans and will now head to Buffalo on Sunday.

The Bills are familiar with weather-related schedule changes. In 2022, a lake effect storm led to their home game against the Cleveland Browns being moved to Detroit in November. A month later, a massive blizzard caused the Bills to delay their trip home, forcing them to stay overnight in Chicago on Christmas Eve.

Though NFL playoff games have been shifted in the past for various scheduling reasons or to add games to determine tiebreakers, this marks just the third time weather has been a direct factor.

In January 2017, wintry weather in Kansas City, Mo., led to the NFL pushing back the start of an AFC divisional playoff game between the Steelers and the Chiefs from 1 p.m. to 8:20 p.m.

In 1932, the league added a “playoff” game to break a tie in the standings between the Portsmouth Spartans and Chicago Bears. Extreme cold temperatures and heavy snowfall led to the game being played inside Chicago Stadium, with the Bears winning 9-0 on an 80-yard field.

Peltz reported from New York. AP reporter Will Graves in Pittsburgh contributed.

The donation he made to Buffalo’s Roswell Park Cancer Institute to open the day was special. The two standing ovations he received from Bills fans before the preseason game were chilling.

And Dalton was able to keep his emotions in check on the first snap from scrimmage to hit John Ross for a 57-yard touchdown pass in leading the Bengals to a 26-13 victory.

“It was a good day. I think the way it started was the best part,” Dalton said. “The game went well, too.”

The Bills could not say the same about their offense, and a three-way quarterback competition that remains unsettled.

Rookie Josh Allen struggled in his first preseason start , while getting little protection from an offensive line that allowed five sacks in the first half alone. He finished 6 of 12 and was sacked for more yards (39) than he had passing (34).

“I didn’t do a good enough job getting the ball out on time,” the first-round pick said. “I’ve got to do a better job, but there’s a lot to learn from.”

Dalton eased whatever concerns the starters raised with their sputters in last week’s 21-13 win at Dallas by producing three scoring drives — two touchdowns and a field goal — over five series against the Bills.

Dalton finished 11 of 16 for 180 yards and two touchdowns — including a 14-yarder to A.J. Green — to celebrate the warm reception he received in Buffalo nine months after playing a key role in the Bills making the playoffs and ending a 17-year playoff drought.

It happened in the final minute of the season finale against Baltimore on New Year’s Eve. Dalton’s 49-yard touchdown pass on fourth down to Tyler Boyd sent the Bengals to a 31-27 win, and eliminated the Ravens from playoff contention.

Bills fans responded immediately by making over $450,000 to Dalton’s charitable foundation.

“It’s a crazy story, and it’s been fun to be on this side of it,” Dalton said. “The best part is all the money that was raised.”

Buffalo’s offense continues to raise concerns two weeks before opening the regular season at Baltimore.

Allen generated just three first downs before being forced out of the game in the final minute of the first half. He was escorted off the field to be evaluated for a possible concussion after being tackled by Carlos Dunlap in the end zone.

Though Allen was cleared to return, he stayed on the sideline while Nathan Peterman finished the game.

This was a week after the starters went three-and-out in four series and starter AJ McCarron was sacked once and hit several other times before being sidelined with an injury to his right throwing shoulder in a 19-17 win at Cleveland.

“It’s disappointing,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “We’re going to make sure we’re helping him with protection and catching the football and not beating ourselves with penalties. Let’s just start there.”