Ontario Sports News

Record-chasing Korda two back at first LPGA major

SportsNets - Thu, 04/18/2024 - 19:15

THE WOODLANDS, Texas (AP) — Nelly Korda, who is looking to tie an LPGA Tour record with her fifth straight win, shot a 4-under 68 on Thursday in the opening round of the Chevron Championship, leaving her two shots behind leader Lauren Coughlin in the year’s first major.

Coughlin shot a bogey-free 66 in windy conditions at Carlton Woods, which is hosting the event for the second time.

The top-ranked Korda is seeking her second major after winning the Women’s PGA Championship in 2021. She could join Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sorenstam (2004-05) as the only players to win five consecutive LPGA events.

Korda said she was battling fatigue from recent tournaments at the beginning of her round. She bogeyed her first hole, the par-4 10th.

“I (could) definitely still feel maybe a little bit of tiredness, so it took me a while to get going,” she said. “I felt the nerves definitely at the start of the round. Once I made the turn, I was just playing free golf.”

She made her first birdie on the par-4 14th hole, something she half-jokingly credited to a snack.

“I actually had an apple on 13, and that gave me actually a nice boost,” she said. “I felt a lot better after that. Maybe I should have apples more often.”

The 25-year-old finished with six birdies, including four in the final six holes.

“Two of them were par 5s, so I got to take advantage of that with my length,” she said. “Hit a really good tee shot, and then I was just on the front of the green on 17, and the other one I was just on the fringe, too. I two-putted pretty much for birdie on those. Then I had wedge shots in on the other two, too. Taking advantage of my length and hitting good tee shots.”

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont. is five shots back at 1 under, while Savannah Grewal of Mississauga, Ont. is at 4 over.

Marina Alex and Japan’s Minami Katsu also shot 68. Lydia Ko was one of five players at 69.

The 31-year-old Coughlin, who played in college at Virginia and has never won on the LPGA Tour, made three birdies in a four-hole span from Nos. 2-5. She believes her game has benefited from her recent decision to make husband John Pond her full-time caddie.

“He’s really good at talking through everything when I want to get really fast and make a decision really quickly,” Coughlin said. “He is really good at putting all the work in, all the extra work, all the extra walking … making sure the strategy is really good and double checking everything. But … he’s always been really good with how he talks to me and communicates what he thinks I need to do and how I need to do it.”

Defending champion and world No. 2 Lilia Vu withdrew because of a back injury. She issued a statement on Instagram saying she had “severe discomfort” in her back during warmups.

“I have been dealing with a back injury for a while now,” Vu said in the statement. “Some days are better than others, and today was unfortunately not a good day. During my normal warmup routine, I had severe discomfort in my back and I felt that I could not compete up to my standards and made the decision to withdraw from the tournament ahead of my tee time.”

She added that she was returning home to see her doctors and determine the next steps.

Later in the day, last year’s runner-up Angel Yin withdrew because of an injury after shooting 78.

A win by Ko would put her in the LPGA Hall of Fame. She won the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in January for her 20th LPGA title.

The 26-year-old New Zealander admitted that she still gets nervous before tournaments despite all her experience and success.

“It doesn’t matter what event we’re playing or what circumstances, when you’re younger you want to get away from the nerves,” Ko said. “To some extent as long as you can control it the nerves are good for you and you’re able to excel and get the adrenaline to hit some shots that you may not be able to execute when you’re just practicing.”

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Coyotes owner adamant he’ll bring NHL back to Arizona

SportsNets - Thu, 04/18/2024 - 18:54

Alex Meruelo may have lost this version of the Arizona Coyotes, but he’s convinced the team isn’t gone for good.

Appearing on The Burns and Gambo Show on Arizona Sports on the same day the NHL’s board of governors approved the team’s move to Salt Lake City, the Coyotes owner stressed he plans to use the entirety of his five-year window granted to him by the league to ensure there is a Coyotes 2.0 in the state.

Meruelo also repeated several times he remains the owner of the Coyotes, apart from hockey operations, albeit as an inactive team.

“I didn’t just sell off the team, I’m here, I’m fully committed to moving forward with the process of reactivating the team, which begins June 27 when I purchase the land (he hopes to win at a land auction for an arena in Phoenix),” Meruelo said.

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So why did he agree to sell the team in a $1.2-billion deal brokered by the league?

Meruelo, whose team has played in a 4,600-seat college rink the past two years, said it stemmed from a March 6 meeting with commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly.

“(They said) can you look your players in the eyes and tell them when they can expect to have a new arena built,” Meruelo said. “And I looked at them and stared and said ‘No, it’s not fair to the players, their families and hockey operations not knowing how long it would take to build a new arena.’”

Meruelo said Bettman believes in him and in hockey in Arizona.

“He is extremely committed. As far as me, he knows I am the only one who can get this project done,” Meruelo said. “He’s told me before and on a couple of occasions, if it doesn’t work with me, it won’t work with anybody.”

Meruelo will retain the Coyotes’ name, logo and trademark. He also retains ownership of the Tucson Roadrunners, the franchise’s AHL affiliate, and hopes to move them to Mullett Arena, the Coyotes’ temporary home shared with Arizona State University the past two seasons.

Hosts Dave Burns and John Gambadoro pressed Meruelo several times on if he feels bad for the fans. They noted that even if the Coyotes return, the current players will not be part of the team.

“It’s horrible. I apologize,” Meruelo said. “It’s something I tried at every cost to avoid. What I take solace in is understanding that more importantly, it’s the career of these players. To keep them here in a campus facility for another three or four years is not right.”

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The hosts also asked Meruelo why he was not in attendance for the team’s final game on Wednesday.

“I didn’t choose (not to show up. Until Thursday) morning, I was still working on the deal, getting all the logistics and all the paperwork done,” he said. “It was a process that went all the way through this morning. I watched the game on TV. It was gut-wrenching. (There) was just so much enthusiasm and confirmed what I already know, that hockey belongs in the desert. That’s what we plan on doing in the near future.”

Meruelo said a win in the June 27 land auction would be a game-changer for the future of hockey in Arizona.

“From here on out, what you have to understand is that I have not sold the actual team,” he said. “June 27 will be the start of a new beginning for the Coyotes and what we want to do.”

“I also understand believing (an owner requires) actions,” Meruelo added. “It’s not words, it’s actions.”

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Categories: Canada Sports News, Ontario Sports News, Pro Sports News

Gary Bettman says there are plans to increase capacity at Delta Center in Utah to 17,000

SportsNets - Thu, 04/18/2024 - 18:52

The ink is barely dry on the Coyotes’ relocation to Utah and plans to increase capacity at their arena are already underway.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman told NHL Network’s Adnan Virk on Thursday that the team is working on increasing the number of unobstructed seats at Delta Center to 17,000 from 12,000 within two seasons.

“There are plans, which I’ve seen. It’ll take two summers to do it, after this summer,” Bettman said. “The unobstructed capacity will be 17,000 when they’re done. And while it’s 12,000 unobstructed now, there’s still another 4,000 obstructed seats for the temporary part of this.”

The jump to 12,000 in the first year is still a big step up for the team, as the former rink at Mullet Arena on Arizona State University’s campus only seated 4,600 for NHL games.

“What really was underlying all this was what we thought would be a temporary facility, meaning Mullet … We were looking under a best-case of three to five years,” Bettman told Virk. “It wasn’t appropriate for the league, it’s not a major league building, and it wasn’t fair to the players.”

The Utah hockey team will share the Delta Center with the Utah Jazz until a new rink is built. That project is in the early stages of development ahead of Salt Lake City likely hosting the 2034 Winter Olympics.

The team is already putting that higher capacity to good use, as owner Ryan Smith took to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday to announce that 11,000 and counting season ticket deposits had already made.

The NHL announced the move Thursday, following an emotional final game at Mullett Arena on Wednesday night. The move, which has been an open secret for a week, was officially approved by the NHL Board of Governors after a vote on Thursday afternoon.

The team will be purchased by Ryan and Ashley Smith in a $1.2-billion deal brokered by the league. The Smiths are owners of Smith Entertainment Group, whose portfolio includes the NBA’s Jazz and MLS’s Real Salt Lake.

— With files from the Associated Press

Categories: Canada Sports News, Ontario Sports News, Pro Sports News

Flames on Sportsnet: Calgary vs. San Jose

SportsNets - Thu, 04/18/2024 - 18:45

The San Jose Sharks head to the Calgary Flames in Pacific Division play on Thursday. Catch the game on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ starting at 7:00 p.m. MT / 9:00 p.m. ET.

Categories: Canada Sports News, Ontario Sports News, Pro Sports News

Canucks’ Garland scores his 20th off bad clear from DeMelo

SportsNets - Thu, 04/18/2024 - 18:41

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Categories: Canada Sports News, Ontario Sports News, Pro Sports News

Oilers to rest top seven scorers vs. Avalanche

SportsNets - Thu, 04/18/2024 - 18:38

There will be plenty of new faces on the ice for the Edmonton Oilers when they take on the Colorado Avalanche Thursday.

The Oilers will rest their seven top scorers for their final game of the season, per head coach Kris Knoblauch.

Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Mattias Ekholm and Evander Kane will all get the night off as the Oilers play it safe ahead of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Edmonton is already locked in as the Pacific Division’s No. 2 seed, but its opponent is still to be decided. The Oilers will face either the Vegas Golden Knights or the Los Angeles Kings depending on which team finishes third in the Pacific.

Both teams will take the ice Thursday, with the Golden Knights hosting the Anaheim Ducks and the Kings facing the Chicago Blackhawks.

Per the NHL, the clinching scenarios for the No. 3 seed in the Pacific are as follows:

• Vegas will clinch if they defeat the Ducks in any fashion.

• Vegas will clinch if they earn one point against the Ducks and the Kings lose to the Blackhawks in regulation.

• Vegas will clinch if the Kings lose to the Blackhawks in regulation.

• Los Angeles will clinch if they defeat the Blackhawks in any fashion and the Golden Knights lose to the Ducks in any fashion.

• Los Angeles will clinch if they get one point against the Blackhawks and the Golden Knights lose to the Ducks in regulation.

The standings currently see the Kings sitting one point back of the Golden Knights, though Los Angeles holds the first tiebreaker due to having more regulation wins this season.

You can watch the Oilers’ regular season finale live on Sportsnet and Sportsnet + starting at 9:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. MT.

Categories: Canada Sports News, Ontario Sports News, Pro Sports News

MLB Roundup: Leiter makes Rangers debut in win over Tigers

SportsNets - Thu, 04/18/2024 - 17:57

DETROIT — Leody Taveras scored the winning run on a fielder’s choice in the eighth inning and added an RBI single in the ninth to lead the Texas Rangers to a 9-7 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Thursday.

Taveras doubled with one out advanced to third on Marcus Semien’s fielder’s choice grounder and scored on Corey Seager’s grounder that broke a 7-all tie. Taveras added an insurance run with a two-out hit in the ninth.

Jose Leclerc (1-2) got the win in relief for Texas, which won three out of four games in Detroit. Kirby Yates, who picked up the win on Wednesday, earned his second save with a perfect ninth inning.

Shelby Miller (3-2), the fifth of six Detroit pitchers, took the loss for the second day in a row.

The game marked the major league debut of Texas starter Jack Leiter, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft. He was brought up from triple-A Round Rock, where he was 1-1 with 25 strikeouts and three walks in 14 innings over three appearances.

He is the son of Al Leiter, who won 162 games in 19 major league seasons.

Jack Leiter got off to a strong start, catching leadoff hitter Riley Greene looking for his first strikeout.

RAYS 2, ANGELS 1

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Ryan Pepiot allowed one run and three hits in six strong innings, Amed Rosario hit an RBI triple in Tampa Bay’s two-run first as Tampa Bay beat the LA Angels on Thursday to split their four-game series.

Pepiot (2-2) struck out seven and walked three. He was acquired in a trade in which Rays ace Tyler Glasnow was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Colin Poche, the third Rays reliever, worked out of a jam with two on and two outs in the ninth for his second save in three chances. Struggling closer Pete Fairbanks, who has a 9.00 ERA, pitched in the previous two games.

Rosario extended his hitting streak to 10 games with his RBI triple that made it 1-0 in the Rays’ opening inning against Griffin Canning (0-3). He has nine RBIs over the stretch.

Harold Ramírez’s sacrifice fly to right drove in Rosario to make it 2-0.

The Angels got within 2-1 in the sixth when Mike Trout walked, stole second and third and scored on Miguel Sanó’s sacrifice fly. Trout has five steals this year after having just a combined six over the previous four seasons.

GUARDIANS 5, RED SOX 4

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BOSTON – Carlos Carrasco gave up two runs in 5 2/3 solid innings and Andrés Giménez had two RBIs to lead Cleveland over Boston on Thursday.

Ramón Laureano, Josh Naylor and José Ramírez also drove in runs for Cleveland, which took three of four from Boston and improved to a Central Division-best 13-6.

Carrasco (1-1) threw 56 of his 89 pitches for strikes and allowed two hits while striking out five and walking three. He left after allowing a two-out single to Reese McGuire in the sixth with Cleveland leading 5-1.

Emmanuel Clase pitched a scoreless ninth for his fifth save.

After starting the season with seven wins in 10 road games, the Red Sox went 3-7 on their first homestand of the season.

Trailing 5-1, Boston cut into Cleveland’s lead behind Jarren Duran’s two-run triple in the Red Sox’s three-run sixth inning.

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Canucks on Sportsnet: Vancouver vs. Winnipeg

SportsNets - Thu, 04/18/2024 - 17:46

The Winnipeg Jets host the Vancouver Canucks as each team wraps up their regular season. Catch the game on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ starting at 5:00 p.m. PT / 7:00 p.m. CT.

Categories: Canada Sports News, Ontario Sports News, Pro Sports News

PWHL Live Tracker: Montreal vs. Minnesota

SportsNets - Thu, 04/18/2024 - 17:14

The PWHL returns to action after the Women’s Worlds, with Montreal and Minnesota set to meet in one of the two games Thursday. Follow along with the PWHL’s live tracker starting at 7 p.m. ET.

Categories: Canada Sports News, Ontario Sports News, Pro Sports News

PWHL Live Tracker: Toronto vs. Boston

SportsNets - Thu, 04/18/2024 - 17:13

The PWHL returns to action after the Women’s Worlds, with Toronto and Boston set to meet in one of the two games Thursday. Follow along with the PWHL’s live tracker starting at 7 p.m. ET.

Categories: Canada Sports News, Ontario Sports News, Pro Sports News

Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard fighting ‘stubborn inflammation,’ questionable for Game 1

SportsNets - Thu, 04/18/2024 - 17:11

LOS ANGELES — Kawhi Leonard has been fighting “very, very stubborn inflammation” in his surgically repaired right knee for nearly three weeks and he’ll be listed as questionable for the Los Angeles Clippers‘ playoff opener against the Dallas Mavericks.

The fourth-seeded Clippers host Luka Doncic and the fifth-seeded Mavs on Sunday.

“Progress has been made but the inflammation needs to continue to reduce so he can do functional basketball movements,” Lawrence Frank, president of basketball operations, said Thursday. “We’re hopeful he’s going to get there.”

Leonard missed the final eight games of the regular season and hasn’t played since March 31.

He had an injection in his knee earlier this month, The Athletic reported Thursday, citing unspecified league sources.

“We don’t comment on any specific treatments,” Frank said. “He’s doing everything he can and we’re doing everything we can medically.”

Leonard has participated in film sessions and reviews of the Mavs’ personnel, but he hasn’t been able to have any contact on the court, Frank said.

The Clippers sent Frank to speak with reporters a day after coach Tyronn Lue apologized for getting visibly frustrated Wednesday by repeated questions about Leonard, who hasn’t been made available to media.

“I’m trying to be as transparent as possible,” Frank said. “It’s just very unpredictable. If things continue to get better and better, there’s a chance (he’ll play).”

Leonard had his healthiest regular season yet in four years with the Clippers, playing in 68 games. The All-Star forward averaged 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists.

“This guy lives for these moments. He prepares himself to be his best when his best is needed,” Frank said. “If he’s not healthy to play at a certain moment, he won’t be out there. When Kawhi is healthy, he plays.”

Frank said Leonard’s current inflammation is unrelated to his previous medical issues with the same knee.

Last season, Leonard played in the first game of the playoffs against the Phoenix Suns before missing the final three games with a torn meniscus in his right knee.

In the 2021 playoffs, Leonard sprained his knee against Utah in the Western Conference semifinals. The Clippers beat the Jazz and advanced to the Conference finals for the first time, losing to Phoenix in six games.

He then missed all of the 2021-22 season after recovering from a partial tear of the ACL in his right knee.

In January, Leonard signed a contract extension with the Clippers that will pay him $153 million over the next three years.

Categories: Canada Sports News, Ontario Sports News, Pro Sports News

Ryan Smith on acquiring NHL franchise from Arizona

SportsNets - Thu, 04/18/2024 - 17:09

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Why it was appealing for Bettman to bring NHL team to Utah

SportsNets - Thu, 04/18/2024 - 16:53

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Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes opens with 66 at RBC Heritage, trails JT Poston by three shots

SportsNets - Thu, 04/18/2024 - 16:49

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Scottie Scheffler is running on fumes after an exhausting Masters victory just four days ago. He hit a shank from a bunker. He nearly lost his mind from mud on his golf ball. And he still managed a 2-under 69 at the RBC Heritage on Thursday.

J.T. Poston set the pace on an idyllic day on Hilton Head Island with nine birdies — six of them in a seven-hole stretch — for a 63 that gave him a two-shot lead over Collin Morikawa and Seamus Power.

Mackenzie Hughes of Hamilton, Ontario, is three shots back of Poston and tied for fourth. Adam Hadwin, of Abbotsford, B.C., is tied for 10th at 4-under.

Ludvig Aberg, the runner-up at Augusta, was in the group with Hughes at 5-under. Rory McIlroy birdied his last two holes to salvage a scrappy day with the irons for a 67.

Thousands of fans lined the fairways of Harbour Town to see Scheffler, the Masters champion who is going for his fourth win in his last five tournaments. There were times Scheffler didn’t look like the No. 1 player in the world, and he figured that would be the case with very little time to prepare.

“That’s why I tried to give myself an extra little bit of grace on the course today, just because yeah, emotionally a little drained. Mentally, definitely a bit drained,” he said.

“I feel like I have more energy now than I did at the beginning of the day, waking up to go play golf,” he said. “I think getting into the tournament, hitting some shots, getting a bit frustrated, getting a bit excited about my finish there, all good emotions to feel. It’s nice to be kind of back into tournament mode.”

All but 16 players in the 69-man field were at the Masters, at least for part of the week. Poston closed with a 70 at Augusta National and arrived at Hilton Head Island with a little excitement away from golf. This is the first time travelling with his month-old daughter, Katherine Scott.

They’re calling her Scottie, a family name from both sides of the family.

“Good time to be called Scottie,” Poston said with a smile.

Poston chipped in from 65 feet on the par-3 fourth hole to begin a remarkable run — three straight birdies from the 10-foot range followed, and then a 15-foot birdie putt on the short par-4 ninth and another birdie from 10 feet to start the back nine.

For Morikawa, it was more validation he’s on the right track. The two-time major winner was among those who had a share of the lead Sunday at the Masters until he took a pair of double bogeys around the turn. He wound up in a tie for third.

“A lot of swing thoughts I’ve kind of been flipping the book through worked for one day or two days and then it’s gone,” Morikawa said. “But look, it lasted all the way through the Masters. It’s lasted through here. What I’m doing, it’s working. I’ve just got to stick to that and understand why it’s working and just go out there and play golf.”

Scheffler and Jordan Spieth were in the group behind Poston getting all the attention — Scheffler as the dominant player in golf, Spieth because his entertainment level is high. The fans probably weren’t expecting a shank, and neither was Scheffler.

It happened on the third hole. He was in a bunker right of the green and hit it off the hosel of the club at a 45-degree angle away from the pin, over the green. He chipped to 6 feet and missed the putt, making double bogey.

“I shank it a decent amount, but never in competition,” Scheffler said. “I tried to give myself a little bit of grace there. It clearly was just a mental lapse and I wasn’t quite into it yet. I had a much better back nine.”

That had its moments, too, all on one hole. The 11th gives him fits off the tee, and he finally drilled one, only to see a clump of mud on his ball. His approach headed left and kept going as Scheffler shouted, “MUD BALL!” And the frustration was evident.

He talked to himself harshly down the fairway, especially seeing the ball carom off a slope into the bunker, leaving him an impossible shot. Scheffler did well to blast out to the fringe, and then he holed the putt for par.

“I was obviously frustrated with that type of break, and then to get up there and knock the putt in was a nice feeling,” he said. “Used it as some good momentum for the closing stretch.”

He hit wedge to 4 feet for birdie on the 16th, made a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th and ended the day with another round below par. Scheffler now has 37 consecutive rounds at par or better dating to the Tour Championship last August.

Justin Thomas missed the cut at the Masters in horrific fashion by playing the final four holes in 7 over to miss by one. He had only one glitch Thursday — a double bogey when he chipped into the bunker on the par-3 14th — that spoiled an otherwise decent round of 69.

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Ryan Smith says Salt Lake City team sold 6,000 season tickets in first two hours

SportsNets - Thu, 04/18/2024 - 16:43

Hockey fans in Utah already are embracing their new team.

After the NHL officially announced the relocation of the Arizona Coyotes to Salt Lake City on Thursday afternoon, new owner Ryan Smith said that business is already booming.

Smith posted on his personal X account that 6,000 season ticket deposits were made in the first two hours they were available. “Utah is amazing!” Smith added.

Later on in the day, Smith updated the number, saying that 11,000 deposits had been made for season tickets.

Smith and his wife Ashley purchased the team in a $1.2-billion deal brokered by the league. The Smiths are owners of Smith Entertainment Group, whose portfolio includes the NBA’s Utah Jazz and MLS’s Real Salt Lake.

Utah’s new hockey team will share the Delta Center with the Jazz until a new rink is built. That project is in the early stages of development ahead of Salt Lake City likely hosting the 2034 Winter Olympics.

The 6,000 season ticket holders may have to wait on an official team name and logo, as their new owner wants to make sure they don’t rush the rebranding process.

“We’ll start with Utah on the jersey and we’ll figure out the logo and everything else, and what it is that we are, but that’s a one-way door,” Ryan Smith said. “You’ve got to do it once. And with this timeline, I think both the league feels better and we feel better to just run the process and then we’ll drop it when we drop it.”

Arizona Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo, who sold the team to the Smiths, will retain the Coyotes’ name, logo and trademark, which is why the Smiths’ group will have to rename the team.

— with files from The Associated Press

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Wild curling week features plenty of changes

SportsNets - Thu, 04/18/2024 - 16:09

The so-called free agency period at the start of an Olympic quadrennial is typically the high-water mark for curling team adjustments and player movement.

Surprise announcements in recent days and speculation on what’s to come has created a Roaring Game version of a mid-quad trade deadline. Teams want to strike before it’s too late so they can prepare for the final 18-month push to the Canadian Curling Trials.

With some big names on the move and a couple of curling legends calling it quits to boot, it has been a week to remember in the sport.

“Curling fans are getting their fair share of drama and news and that’s good,” veteran skip Brad Jacobs said Thursday.

Jacobs was right in the middle of the news cycle as he left Reid Carruthers’ side to join Brendan Bottcher’s previous team.

His new teammates — Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert — had delivered a stunner on Tuesday with word they were making a change at the skip position.

Bottcher was out and instantly became a top free agent. The Jacobs jump was finalized Wednesday evening while Carruthers was left to mull options with his front end.

“I just didn’t see another opportunity like this coming my way,” Jacobs said from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. “To me, it was an opportunity that I couldn’t refuse.

“I think what I like about it the most is it’s going to be a difficult challenge for me and I welcome that very much.”

On the retirement front, Jennifer Jones played her last game on Friday at the Players’ Championship in Toronto. Considered by many to be the greatest women’s skip of all time, she announced plans last February to leave the team game at the end of the season.

Four-time world men’s champion Glenn Howard, who has battled knee problems in recent years, announced his retirement this week, ending a career that lasted over 40 years.

“Wayne Middaugh had a saying that, ‘To skip, you’ve got to hit-and-stay and draw the eight-foot,’” former teammate Brent Laing said from Barrie, Ont. ‘ I think that Glenn Howard is the best ever to do that.”

There have been many other changes in recent days across the country. After Karsten Sturmay’s team disbanded, Kyle Doering — who was a fifth for Brad Gushue’s team at the recent world championship — joined Aaron Sluchinski’s rink.

John Epping will skip a new team that includes Jacob and Tanner Horgan. And Kate Cameron’s vice Meghan Walter is stepping away to concentrate on her studies.

The Canadian Curling Trials are set for late November 2025 in Halifax. The winners will represent Canada at the 2026 Milan Olympics.

If things weren’t quite working over the first half of the quad, the end of the second year can be a popular time to make changes. It allows the new foursome to get a full season together in the push to qualify for the Trials.

“There’s nobody that’s safe it seems, for better or for worse,” said Laing, who played at the 2018 Olympics with Kevin Koe and coached Mike McEwen’s side this past season. “We talk about how everybody makes the commitment for four years but that’s just not true, as we’ve seen this week. I’ll say that it’s interesting.”

Bottcher, meanwhile, said via email that he had nothing to add to his statement from this week when he wished his former teammates well and said he was excited about the “next iteration of Team Bottcher.”

Bottcher was 53-21 on the season but didn’t win any major titles. The squad finished just behind Gushue in the Canadian rankings.

“For what we wanted to do with Team Bottcher, we didn’t achieve what we set out to do in terms of winning big events,” team coach Paul Webster said from Calgary.

“The timeline was such that the boys decided they wanted to make a change because they didn’t want to wait to see if that was possible.”

Jacobs, who won Olympic gold in 2014, played with Kennedy from 2019-22. Kennedy and Hebert won Olympic gold with skip Kevin Martin in 2010 while Gallant took bronze with Gushue at the 2022 Games.

Carruthers, meanwhile, finished the campaign ranked sixth in Canada and 11th in the world.

“It has been an unbelievable week,” he said from Winnipeg. “Our team has been put in a situation we weren’t really expecting. But it’s like the nature of curling. It has become a bit of a business.”

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What Vladdy has to do consistently to go from ‘good hitter to great’

SportsNets - Thu, 04/18/2024 - 16:08

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Crosby has ‘year-to-year’ outlook, will talk extension with Penguins

SportsNets - Thu, 04/18/2024 - 15:06

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Heat’s Jimmy Butler out for play-in game vs. Bulls with MCL sprain

SportsNets - Thu, 04/18/2024 - 15:03

Jimmy Butler has been officially ruled out with an MCL sprain for the Miami Heat‘s Play-In Tournament clash against the Chicago Bulls, the team announced Thursday.

Butler sustained the injury in the 7-8 play-in game against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday after landing awkwardly on his leg in the first quarter. He stayed in the game and played 39 minutes, finishing with 19 points, four rebounds and five assists in the loss.

“I fell, he landed and my knee just didn’t do well, I guess,” Butler said after the game. “I don’t know. It’s not a good feeling, I can tell you that.”

The 34-year-old underwent an MRI on Thursday that revealed the right MCL sprain. The Athletic‘s Shams Charania reported earlier in the day that Butler could be out multiple weeks.

In the same injury report, the Heat also announced that guard Terry Rozier, who missed the game against Philadelphia, has also been ruled out with a neck injury. Rozier has missed the team’s last five games due to neck spasms.

Miami’s play-in game against the Bulls is an elimination game, with the winner securing the eighth-seed in the playoffs and a first-round series against the Boston Celtics.

You can watch the Heat and Bulls go head-to-head on Sportsnet One or Sportsnet+ at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT on Friday.

Categories: Canada Sports News, Ontario Sports News, Pro Sports News

NHL team moving from Arizona to Salt Lake City will have a name starting with Utah

SportsNets - Thu, 04/18/2024 - 14:59

The NHL team moving from Arizona to Salt Lake City will be known as Utah, at least initially, until a long-term name is determined.

“We’ll start with Utah on the jersey and we’ll figure out the logo and everything else and what it is that we are,” new owner Ryan Smith told The Associated Press. “We’re going to be Utah either way. We have the first part of the name. We don’t have the last.”

Smith Entertainment Group, which bought the franchise formerly known as the Coyotes in a deal unanimously approved Thursday by the league’s Board of Governors, has already contracted ad agency Doubleday & Cartwright for rebranding efforts. Former owner Alex Meruelo keeps the Coyotes name and has the chance to reactivate the franchise if he’s able to build an arena.

The short timeline of relocating the club could mean it has a placeholder name for the first season like the Professional Women’s Hockey League did for year one or Washington’s NFL team had in 2020 and ’21 before becoming the Commanders.

“It’ll be Utah something, obviously,” Smith said. “It’s really important that we’re not saying, ‘Hey, this has to be ready by the fall,’ especially when it’s going to be Utah something. I think both the league feels better and we feel better to just run the process and then we’ll drop it when we drop it.”

While working on that process, Smith’s first priority is physically moving players and staff to Utah and getting them set up in the state.

“There’s a good roster and a lot of young talent and we’ve got to onboard those people into Smith Entertainment Group and show them what that means and what that’s like,” Smith said. “I think that’s a good opportunity for us and introduce them to the state of Utah and also bring the community together to receive them.”

Then it’ll be “full speed ahead” with the infrastructure, including potential renovations to Delta Center, home of the NBA’s Utah Jazz also owned by SEG, which has 12,000 unobstructed view seats for hockey. The plan is to expand that number to roughly 17,500.

“We want to actually use our arena and really spend time creating the best dual-sport arena that exists out there because we want to keep people as close as we possibly can or as vertical as we possibly can to watch both games,” Smith said. “It’s super fun and challenging, but we’re going to do it.”

Clark Rasmussen of Detroit Hockey.net reported Thursday that trademarks for five names were filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday: Utah Blizzard, Utah Venom, Utah Fury, Utah HC, and Utah Hockey Club.

They are under “type: ice hockey exhibitions.”

It’s also a challenge to make Utah a hockey market, though 17 sheets of ice already in place and a youth hockey program give ownership a head start. Smith plans to build more rinks to make it easier for people of all ages to play the sport.

Former NHL player Ken Sabourin, who played in the minors for the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the International Hockey League from 1987-91 and then again in ’92-93, raves about the city but thinks success will be determined by how the team plays.

“If they put a winning product out there, it’s going to help, obviously, and maybe (Smith’s group is) dedicated to do that,” Sabourin said Thursday. “It’s a good hockey market, it’s a good sports market — there’s no doubt about it. I think they have the fans. It’s whether they’ll come out or not. They’ll watch it for sure. It’ll be not a problem on TV. The first year in the building I’m sure it won’t be an issue no matter how good they are.”

Smith, who can skate a little and played mostly roller hockey, isn’t worried about that. He points to the sold-out NCAA Tournament men’s basketball games at Delta Center as evidence that fans will fill the building to watch NHL hockey.

“The one thing I do know about Utah is people show up,” he said. “It’s just different here. We’ve got 291 straight sellout games at the Delta Center (for the Jazz). I think every concert that’s come to town has sold out. It’s just what we do. We show up, and I have a lot of faith in the people in Utah.”

That faith was rewarded right away, as Smith said the organization had received 6,000 season-ticket deposits in two hours after the sale was announced.

— with files from Sportsnet.

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