Canada Sports News

1. Canelo Alvarez vs. Jaime Munguia fight card  MMA Fighting
2. Canelo Alvarez vs. Jaime Munguia - Floyd Mayweather team member makes his prediction  dazn.com
3. Jaime Munguia: "I'm Coming For Canelo's Belts"  Boxing News 24
4. Canelo Álvarez vs. Jaime Munguia: Predictions and odds  USA TODAY
5. Canelo Alvarez vs Jaime Munguia: Date, fight time, undercard, latest odds, prediction and ring walks  Yahoo News Canada

1. Séries LNH : Alexandre Carrier force la tenue d'un 6e match dans la série Predators-Canucks  RDS
2. Séries LNH : Predators 2 - Canucks 1 | Vidéo  RDS
3. En vie grâce à Carrier!  Le Journal de Montréal
4. Predators 2 – Canucks 1 | Nashville n'a pas dit son dernier mot  La Presse
5. Les gros canons des Predators leur ont permis de rester en vie | LNH.com  NHL.com

1. CH: les dessous des chicanes les plus mémorables  TVA Sports
2. Sortie de zone, saison 5 | Épisode 57 : Zizanie à Toronto  La Presse
3. «Arrête de pleurer!», semble crier Nylander à Marner  Le Journal de Montréal
4. Une autre énorme proposition d'échange circule impliquant Mitch Marner  HabsolumentFan
5. Sortie de zone | Zizanie à Toronto: des changements à prévoir?  98.5 Montréal

1. "He's a small little guy": Oilers' Kane mocks Lizotte while arguing with refs | Offside  Daily Hive
2. Tough Oilers Forward Calls Out Refs  The Hockey News
3. Doughty: It's our responsibility to intervene when they have guys going up to the refs - Video  TSN
4. Video Surfaces of Exchange Between Referee, Kane & Doughty  The Hockey News
5. Evander Kane Has Words With Referees  The Hockey News

Relay stars like Andre De Grasse and Aaron Brown will be on hand for Canada at the World Athletics Relays in Bahamas May 4-5, but outside of the big names is Canada lacking depth? Host Devin Heroux and Certified Track Nerd Morgan Campbell get into on this episode of Athletics North.

1. Paul Byron : Owen Beck, l'une de ses « belles réalisations » cette année  DansLesCoulisses
2. OHL : Owen Beck le Spirit de Saginaw gagnent le match no 3 contre les Knights de London  RDS
3. OHL : Owen Beck et le Spirit en demi-finales des séries de la Ligue de l'Ontario  RDS

Organizers of the seven FIFA World Cup soccer matches coming to Vancouver in 2026 say the estimated cost of hosting the event has more than doubled in the last two years. 

The latest estimates put the price tag at between $483 million and $581 million, including costs for the city, the province and stadium upgrades.

However, the B.C. government says the event is expected to generate enough revenue to result in a net cost of between $100 million and $145 million.

Minister of Tourism Lana Popham said the event will bring about 350,000 fans to the province and generate more than a billion dollars for tourism in the five years following the games.

Documents say the fresh numbers include updated hosting, operating and capital requirements following FIFA site visits, increased inflation assumptions, and provincial costs, such as public sector essential services.

The original cost estimate of $260 million released in March 2022 was for five matches and was before Vancouver was chosen as a host. 

An updated figure, released by the B.C. government at the end of January 2023, put the cost of hosting five matches in Vancouver at $230 million without including stadium improvements, and since then FIFA has added two more games.

Popham said the initial estimate was before officials had a full understanding of the requirements to host, which includes the need for training sites and fan festivals.

“It was interesting because obviously we originally said no, but there’s been more opportunities that have been brought to us. FIFA has added in more revenue-generating opportunities for the province,” she said.

“And so when you look at all of that, we believe that this investment is a good deal for British Columbians. We are looking at the return on this dollar as something that is extremely positive.”

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said hosting the games is a “no-brainer.”

“Sure, there’s going to be more costs and revenue, but if you stretch it over the long term, the benefits are massive, and they will more than pay for that deficit,” he said. 

Toronto and Vancouver are the two Canadian cities that will host matches during the 2026 World Cup, which will also be played in the United States and Mexico.

The City of Toronto released a new estimate in February for its games of $380 million, an increase of $80 million compared with a 2022 forecast, partly because of the addition of another match to the schedule.

FIFA announced last year that it had approved a bigger group stage in 2023. By retaining groups of four teams instead of three, 24 games were added to the 80 already set out for the tournament. 

Todd Stone, the Opposition BC United house leader, said B.C. residents would get a more complete picture of the cost of hosting the event if the government released the agreements the province signed with FIFA.

“Six hundred million dollars, that’s double what the original budget was as of a year ago,” said Stone at the B.C. legislature. “We’re going to continue to press the government for what accounts for the cost escalation. Is that as high as the numbers will be?”

More from Sportsnet

U.S. and Mexico drop bid to host 2027 Women’s World Cup, Brazil and joint German-Dutch-Belgian bids remain

Report: City of Toronto approves BMO Field expansion for 2026 World Cup

1. MLB : Mike Trout opéré au genou gauche; sa saison 2024 ne serait pas en péril  RDS
2. La carrière de Mike Trout a été assombrie par les blessures  La Presse
3. MLB: Mike Trout devra subir une opération au genou  Le Journal de Montréal
4. Kevin Pillar pour remplacer Mike Trout : les Angels sont dans le trouble  Passion MLB
5. Mike Trout doit être opéré, les Angels espèrent un retour d'ici à la fin de la saison  La Presse

1. Kent Hughes a manqué le bateau avec Artturi Lehkonen  TVA Sports
2. Kent Hughes ne voulait pas donner 3,75 millions à Artturi Lehkonen  Hockey30
3. Lehkonen à son meilleur en séries, encore une fois | LNH.com  NHL.com
4. MSN  MSN
5. Séries : Artturi Lehkonen a marqué dans les quatre premiers matchs  DansLesCoulisses

In January 2023, the province figured it would cost about $230 million, but at the time, Vancouver was expected to host just five games. The cost estimate has more than doubled with an additional two games, as the province now expects costs could be anywhere from $483 million to $581 million.

1. Sleeper Picks: THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson - PGA TOUR  PGA TOUR
2. Jordan Spieth, inspired by Scottie Scheffler, hits 'reset button'  ESPN
3. Power Rankings: THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson - PGA TOUR  PGA TOUR
4. 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson predictions, expert picks, odds, field rankings, golf best bets at TPC Craig Ranch  CBS Sports
5. Defending champ Day, hometown favourite Spieth headline Byron Nelson  Sportsnet.ca

1. Sondage : 59 % des partisans veulent voir le CH viser les séries l'an prochain  DansLesCoulisses
2. Cinq choses qui manquent au Canadien | La Presse  La Presse
3. Le public veut les séries dès la saison prochaine  TVA Sports
4. Non, Logan Mailloux ne doit pas accélérer la reconstruction du CH, Paul  DansLesCoulisses
5. Paul Byron affirme que le Canadien a réalisé un véritable vol avec Logan Mailloux  HabsolumentFan

LNH : T.J. Oshie espère que son dos lui permettra de jouer la saison prochaine  RDS

1. Daniel Cormier gives advice to Ilia Topuria after 'not coming off great' in booking first title defense  MMA Fighting
2. UFC’s Volkanovski predicts ‘easy’ win for Holloway over Topuria  MMA Junkie
3. Alex Volkanovski slams Ilia Topuria for 'saying no to everyone,' expects UFC to 'make him' fight  MMA Mania
4. Ilia Topuria says he wants to fight 16-3 UFC featherweight should Max Holloway refuse to meet his demands  Bloody Elbow
5. Daniel Cormier doesn't think Ilia Topuria 'has as much say as he thinks he does'  MMAWeekly

EDMONTON — Cody Ceci plays the piano “most days” when he’s at home, wavering from classical to rock, depending on his mood.

His grandmother taught him how to play, and unlike all those Ceci critics with access to the stats sites, Grandma Ceci knew what she was talking about.

If only she’d have given him some advice on buying pianos, not just playing them.

“I ended up with three somehow,” he said Tuesday. “One at my cottage, one at a friend’s place in Ottawa, and I’ve got one here. I’ve got to cut down.

“I wasn’t moving one out here to Edmonton, that’s for sure. But the store I got it from said they’d sell it for me when I’m done.”

Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1: Oilers vs. Kings

Keep up with the latest news and analysis as the Edmonton Oilers take on the Los Angeles Kings in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Full coverage

Meet Cody Ceci, The Piano Man by day, Edmonton’s whipping boy the rest of the time.

As a stay-at-home defenceman, today’s analytics environment meets Ceci’s game like a Steinway thrown off a third floor balcony. The internet experts would trade him to Allentown for a bag of metronomes, until one night in the playoffs when the Oilers get outshot 33-13 in Los Angeles — win 1-0 — and Ceci leads the Oilers in ice time.

The next day one of the local voices was asking aloud on Twitter, “Why did we want to run out of town Edmonton Oilers‘ second most reliable playoff d-man?”

Darnell Nurse has the answer: “Who cares?!?”

Ceci, you see, is that rare player today whose numbers and style set him up as a target for those who see the game through a computer screen, while at the same time being one of the favourite teammates of every player who has sat alongside him in an NHL dressing room.

He is 2024’s Kris Russell, a defenceman for whom hockey analytics have not yet evolved to the point where they can quantify the subtle positives of his game as accurately (and punishingly) as they do the negatives.

“A lot of time when he’s out there, it’s not an easy matchup,” Nurse said. “He’s a guy who, most nights, plays a full, clean 60 minutes. You don’t really notice him because of how well he reads the game.

“When you’re out there against top competition, sometimes … it ends up in the back of your net. Sometimes that’s all that’s highlighted.”

To Nurse’s point, Ceci played 79 games this season — 20 minutes per night against the other team’s top units — and took just seven minor penalties all season. He sees zero power-play time and leads the D-corps in penalty-killing minutes.

A stay at home defenceman in a run ‘n’ gun town, Ceci wasn’t always this guy.

He had 60 points in 64 games for the Ottawa 67’s one year in junior, then 40 points in just 42 games the next season, before turning pro with the Senators, a 15th-overall pick in the 2012  draft.

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“Early on in my career, coming into Ottawa, Erik Karlsson was the guy,” said Ceci. “I wasn’t going to beat him out offensively, so I kind of shifted my game.

“I always thought the game pretty well, so I just kind of shifted that into being a little more defensive-minded — because those were the minutes that were available. If I didn’t, I don’t think I would have played as much as I did in Ottawa when I started my career. I wasn’t going to beat out Karlsson for that job.”

From Zach Bogosian, to Rob Scuderi, to Brad Stuart, to Ken Daneyko, every successful team has had a Cody Ceci. They don’t get any ink all season long, and they don’t want any.

But ask the goalie about them, and he won’t shut up.

“He’s always clearing rebounds away, always boxing out for me,” said backup Calvin Pickard. “He’s easy to talk to on the ice, he’s a low maintenance guy, and he’s got an undercover bomb of a shot. I feel like he’s always got a chance to score from up top — he’s got a really hard shot.

“And the biggest thing is he’s an outstanding guy. Everybody wants to be around. He’s got great charisma.”

Of Edmonton’s Top 4 defencemen, none spent less time on the ice with Connor McDavid this season than Ceci. He has a worse seat to watch this power play than the guy in the 15th row, and god forbid the Oilers are down a couple of goals, Ceci’s name barely crosses his coach’s lips.

“I tend to play a little less if we’re chasing the game,” he said by way of understatement. “If we’re up a goal, trying to play a little more defensive, then I might get more minutes. If we’re not on the power play a bunch, and we’re killing penalties, then I’ll get more minutes.”

On a playoff run that is likely to have his team protecting some third period leads, Ceci will no doubt be busy in a role that promises to feature less shots for than against, more time in the defensive zone, and is likely not to produce the greatest plus-minus.

Some people will care about those things. None of them will have a stall in this Oilers dressing room.

“I’m a pretty low key guy — not very high maintenance. So I’m good with whatever role they put me in, as long as they fit me in on the team and I can help us win games,” said the 30-year-old, who is closing in on 800 career NHL games.

“On a team, you can’t have all guys that are just going for it and trying to pump up their analytic numbers. You’ve got to have a little bit of both — that’s key in winning games. I don’t spend a whole lot of time analytics.”

Ceci doesn’t need sheet music to know how to play. He can read a room.

“I’m more of a just-feel-it-out kind of guy.”

More from Sportsnet

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Ceci’s style of play is music to the Oilers’ ears, no matter what analytics say  Sportsnet.caView Full Coverage on Google News

Andre De Grasse has his fastest 200m season-opener yet in his 2 win weekend, while Sarah Mitton threw to a 2nd place finish at Diamond League Suzhou. All this and more in Athletics North.

1. Canucks coach Tocchet hints Podkolzin may be headed to AHL | Offside  Daily Hive
2. Vancouver Canucks assign Vasily Podkolzin to AHL Abbotsford for Calder Cup playoff run  Canucks Army
3. Canucks Assign Vasily Podkolzin To Abbotsford Ahead Of Second-Round Matchup With Ontario  The Hockey News
4. MSN  MSN
5. Canucks send Podkolzin to AHL after healthy scratching him again | Offside  Daily Hive

Garrioch: Senators' defenceman Thomas Chabot expected to have wrist surgery  Ottawa CitizenView Full Coverage on Google News

1. Boxe : Erik Bazinyan juge que Shakeel Phinn n'est pas dans la même ligue que lui  RDS
2. Pas d'amis dans le ring  Le Journal de Montréal
3. Bazinyan et Phinn font le poids  Radio-Canada.ca
4. Combat Bazinyan-Phinn | Une deuxième ceinture s'ajoute à l'enjeu près de 24 h avant l'événement  La Presse
5. Boxe : Une ceinture de plus à l'enjeu pour Erik Bazinyan et Shakeel Phinn, qui font le poids  RDS