Ontario Sports News

Arman Tsarukyan says he turned down UFC 302 title shot vs. Islam Makhachev

SportsNets - Tue, 04/16/2024 - 10:36

Arman Tsarukyan says he was offered a lightweight title fight at UFC 302, however the ascending 155-pound star turned it down following his split decision win over Charles Oliveira at UFC 300.

Tsarukyan revealed Monday during an appearance on The MMA Hour that he and his team declined a June 1 main event matchup with Islam Makhachev due to Tsarukyan not feeling there was enough time to prepare for a championship bout against a fighter he has previously faced.

The 27-year-old from Armenia made his UFC debut four years ago against Makhachev, the reigning lightweight champion, and did so without going through a full training camp.

Tsarukyan gave Makhachev the toughest test of the champ’s current 13-fight winning streak and the contest earned both men a Fight of the Night bonus. Makhachev won a three-round unanimous decision and both fighters have continued improving since that first meeting.

Tsarukyan explained that had the offer been for a late June fight he would’ve likely taken it. That way, instead of a seven-week camp with no rest after preparing for and beating a former champion like Oliveira, he would be able to rest for a couple weeks then complete a full eight-week camp to prepare for what would be an anticipated five-round rematch.

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“Why I gotta take the same risk like I did first fight? It’s the same thing, short notice,” Tsarukyan explained. “I want to be ready and I want to have full training camp and why, if I’m No. 1 contender, why I gotta take a risk?

“It was hard to say no but I know I’m going to fight next for the title with the winner of that fight,” Tsarukyan added.

With only seven weeks until UFC 302, the organization instead awarded Dustin Poirier the next title shot.

Poirier is coming off a memorable knockout win over Benoit Saint Denis in March at UFC 299 to position himself for another crack at UFC gold. UFC 302 will be Poirier’s third attempt to win the undisputed lightweight title. He was previously submitted by Makhachev’s teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2019 and by Oliveira in 2021.

Makhachev is coming off back-to-back title defences against Alexander Volkanovski, the second of which was a highlight knockout at UFC 294 this past October.

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Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog dead at 92

SportsNets - Tue, 04/16/2024 - 10:12

NEW YORK (AP) — Whitey Herzog, the gruff and ingenious Hall of Fame manager who guided the St. Louis Cardinals to three pennants and a World Series title in the 1980s and perfected an intricate, nail-biting strategy known as “Whiteyball,” has died. He was 92.

Cardinals spokesman Brian Bartow said Tuesday the team had been informed of his death by Herzog’s family. The team was not yet sure whether it happened Monday night or Tuesday. Herzog had been at Busch Stadium on April 4 for the Cardinals’ home opener.

A crew-cut, pot-bellied tobacco chewer who had no patience for the “buddy-buddy” school of management, Herzog joined the Cardinals in 1980 and helped end the team’s decade-plus pennant drought by adapting it to the artificial surface and distant fences of Busch Memorial Stadium. A typical Cardinals victory under Herzog was a low-scoring, 1-run game, sealed in the final innings by a “bullpen by committee,” relievers who might be replaced after a single pitch, or temporarily shifted to the outfield, then brought back to the mound.

The Cardinals had power hitters in George Hendrick and Jack Clark, but they mostly relied on the speed and resourcefulness of switch-hitters Vince Coleman and Willie McGee, the acrobat fielding of shortstop and future Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith and the effective pitching of starters such as John Tudor and Danny Cox and relievers Todd Worrell, Ken Dayley and Jeff Lahti. For the ’82 champions, Herzog didn’t bother rotating relievers, but simply brought in future Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter to finish the job.

“They (the media) seemed to think there was something wrong with the way we played baseball, with speed and defense and line-drive hitters,” Herzog wrote in his memoir “White Rat: A Life in Baseball,” published in 1987. “They called it ‘Whiteyball’ and said it couldn’t last.”

Under Herzog, the Cards won pennants in 1982, 1985 and 1987, and the World Series in 1982, when they edged the Milwaukee Brewers in seven games. Herzog managed the Kansas City Royals to division titles in 1976-78, but they lost each time in the league championship to the New York Yankees.

Overall, Herzog was a manager for 18 seasons, compiling a record of 1,281 wins and 1,125 losses. He was named Manager of the Year in 1985 and voted into the Hall by the Veterans Committee in 2010, his plaque noting his “stern, yet good-natured style,” and his emphasis on speed, pitching and defense. Just before he formally entered the Hall, the Cardinals retired his uniform number, 24.

When asked about the secrets of managing, he would reply a sense of humor and a good bullpen.

Dorrel Norman Elvert Herzog was born in New Athens, Illinois, a blue-collar community that would shape him long after he left. He excelled in baseball and basketball and was open to skipping the occasional class to take in a Cardinals game. Signed up by the Yankees, he was a center fielder who discovered that he had competition from a prospect born just weeks before him, Mickey Mantle.

Herzog never played for the Yankees, but he did get to know manager Casey Stengel, another master shuffler of players who became a key influence. The light-haired Herzog was named “The White Rat” because of his resemblance to Yankees pitcher Bob “The White Rat” Kuzava.

Like so many successful managers, Herzog was a mediocre player, batting just .257 over eight seasons and playing several positions. His best year was with Baltimore in 1961, when he hit .291. He also played for the Washington Senators, Kansas City Athletics and Detroit Tigers, with whom he ended his playing career, in 1963.

“Baseball has been good to me since I quit trying to play it,” he liked to say.

After working as a scout and coach, Herzog was hired in 1967 by the New York Mets as director of player development, with Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan among the future stars he helped bring along. The Mets liked him well enough to designate him the successor to Gil Hodges, but when the manager died suddenly in 1972 the job went to Yogi Berra. Herzog instead debuted with the Texas Rangers the following season, finishing just 47-91 before being replaced by Billy Martin. He managed the Angels for a few games in 1974 and joined the Royals the following season, his time with Kansas City peaking in 1977 when the team finished 102-60.

Many players spoke warmly of Herzog, but he didn’t hesitate to rid his teams of those he no longer wanted, dumping such Cardinals stars as outfielder Lonnie Smith and starting pitcher Joaquin Andujar. One trade worked out brilliantly: Before the 1982 season, he exchanged .300 hitting shortstop Garry Templeton, whom Herzog had chastised for not hustling, for the Padres’ light-hitting Ozzie Smith, now widely regarded as the best defensive shortstop in history. Another deal was less far successful: Gold Glove first baseman Keith Hernandez, with whom Herzog had feuded, to the Mets in the middle of 1983 for pitchers Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey. Hernandez led New York to the World Series title in 1986, while Allen and Ownbey were soon forgotten.

Herzog was just as tough on himself, resigning in the middle of 1990 because he was “embarrassed” by the team’s 33-47 record. He served as a consultant and general manager for the Angels in the early ’90s and briefly considered managing the Red Sox before the 1997 season.

If the ’82 championship was the highlight of his career, his greatest blow was the ’85 series. The Cardinals were up 3 games to 2 against his former team, the Royals, and in Game 6 led 1-0 going into the bottom of the ninth, with Worrell brought in to finish the job.

Jorge Orta led off and grounded a 0-2 pitch between the mound and first base. In one of the most famous blown calls in baseball history, he was ruled safe by umpire Don Denkinger, even though replays showed first baseman Jack Clark’s toss to Worrell was in time. The Cardinals never recovered. Kansas City rallied for two runs to tie the series and crushed the Cards 11-0 in Game 7.

“No, I’m not bitter at Denkinger,” Herzog told the AP years later. “He’s a good guy, he knows he made a mistake, and he’s a human being. It happened at an inopportune time but I do think they ought to have instant replay in the playoffs and World Series.”

As if testing Herzog’s humor, the Hall inducted him alongside an umpire, Doug Harvey.

“I don’t know why he should get in,” Herzog joked at the time. “Doug kicked me out of more games than any other umpire.”

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

Why building relationships with players is so important for Rajakovic

SportsNets - Tue, 04/16/2024 - 09:58

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Skip Brendan Bottcher splits with team after two seasons

SportsNets - Tue, 04/16/2024 - 09:51

Skip Brendan Bottcher has parted ways with his Calgary-based club.

Third Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant, lead Ben Hebert and coach Paul Webster announced Tuesday they are going in a new direction for next season.

“We have decided to make a change at the skip position and will be considering our options in the coming days,” the team said in a statement.

Bottcher also released a statement saying he was no longer teammates with the group and wished them all the best on and off the ice.

“I am more passionate about the future of curling and my future than ever before,” Bottcher said in the statement. “As our sport continues to evolve and grow with increased interest from fans across Canada and around the world, generating extraordinary ratings as well as club and elite level expansions, curling is entering its golden era.”

Although Bottcher did not say his future plans, he ended the statement saying he’s “excited for what comes next for curling in Canada and the next iteration of Team Bottcher” with more news to come.

The 32-year-old from Spruce Grove, Alta., formed the powerhouse team with Kennedy, Gallant and Hebert — all former Olympians and world champions — for the start of the quadrennial in 2022. They captured two Grand Slam of Curling titles winning the Co-op Canadian Open and Champions Cup in their first season together.

Bottcher reached two Grand Slam finals during the 2023-24 campaign finishing runner-up in the HearingLife Tour Challenge and Co-op Canadian Open. The team also won three tour events early in the season and was ranked No. 1 in the world for four weeks during the fall.

His team wrapped up its year this past weekend at the Princess Auto Players’ Championship missing the playoffs with a 2-3 record and secured a pre-qualifier spot for next year’s Montana’s Brier.

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Macklin Celebrini, Anton Silayev top NHL Central Scouting final rankings for 2024 draft

SportsNets - Tue, 04/16/2024 - 09:32

Macklin Celebrini finished No. 1 among North American skaters on the NHL Central Scouting Bureau’s rankings, the league announced Tuesday in its final release ahead of the 2024 NHL Draft.

The 17-year-old centre from North Vancouver, B.C., became the youngest player to win the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as the NCAA’s most outstanding male player with 64 points (32 goals and 32 assists) in 38 games for Boston University this season.

Celebrini, who also topped the mid-season draft rankings, is just the fourth freshman to earn the Hobey Baker award after Paul Kariya (1993), Jack Eichel (2015) and Adam Fantilli (2023).

“Macklin Celebrini has had a remarkable freshman season at Boston University accumulating the NCAA Hobey Baker and Hockey East Player and Freshman of the Year award,” Dan Marr, vice president of NHL Central Scouting, said in a release.

“He possesses that rare, elite ability to thrive with his skills and smarts while competing with a consistent passion to face every challenge head-on and generate results, all the while making himself a better player.”

Celebrini is one of three NCAA players ranked within the top four alongside Belarusian defenceman Artyom Levshunov (Michigan State) at No. 2 and American defenceman Zeev Buium (Denver University).

Canadian centre Cayden Lidstrom from the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers is the top-ranked player from the CHL at No. 3.

The top 10 also includes Tij Iginla, who moved up two spots from the mid-season rankings to finish at No. 9. The son of Hall-of-Famer Jarome Iginla had 84 points (47 goals and 37 assists) in 64 games during the regular season with the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets.

Russian defenceman Anton Silayev is the top-ranked international skater. Silayev, who turned 18 on April 11, spent the season playing professional hockey with the KHL’s Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo and registered 11 points (three goals and eight assists) in 63 games.

“It’s not often that there is a 6-foot-7, 211-pound defenceman who is a fluid skater and has the puck skills, attributes, and intangibles to be considered a franchise-type prospect,” Marr said. “He has quick smarts, instincts, and composure to read and react on the play and has a very efficient transition and puck movement game.

“His play this year displayed a level of compete and maturity that will transcend to the NHL game and his ceiling is projected to be the highest of any player on our international ranking.”

The 2024 NHL Draft is scheduled for June 28–29 at the Sphere in Las Vegas.

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NHL Playoff Push: How four teams still have chance at one spot

SportsNets - Tue, 04/16/2024 - 09:30

We’re coming right down to it folks.

Four teams have already reached 82 games and finished their regular seasons. The Presidents’ Trophy has been clinched, and now the New York Rangers will have to contend with that curse. And two playoff series — Colorado-Winnipeg and Carolina-NY Islanders — have already been locked in.

And soon, we’ll know the rest.

For the most part, it’s playoff seedings and matchups that need to be resolved, but with just three nights left on the regular season schedule the Eastern Conference still has one playoff spot up for grabs. Four teams are in contention for it and we’ll know who comes out the winner either tonight, or possibly not until tomorrow.

And that’s where our focus is in today’s Playoff Push, where we take a closer look at all the variables at play in the turtle race for the East’s final wild-card spot.

Washington Capitals: After everything to get to this point, they have the most direct path in and are the team in control of its own destiny. The formula is simple: Win and get in. Washington travels to Philadelphia where they’ll take on the Flyers Tuesday night and if the Caps are able to walk away with two points, in any fashion, they will wake up on Wednesday with an ‘x’ beside their name in the standings.

Anything less than two points, though, and the Capitals will be opening up the door for the other teams in this race. While it is possible for Washington to clinch tonight, if they lose in regulation or extra time, it’s also possible they’ll wake up on Wednesday eliminated from contention.

Games left: Tuesday at Philadelphia

Detroit Red Wings: No matter what the Wings do in their last game Tuesday night, they’ll be eliminated if Washington defeats Philadelphia. They’ll also be eliminated if they lose in regulation, or if they lose in extra time and the Capitals get at least one point against Philadelphia. The problem the Red Wings have at the moment is that with only 27 regulation wins, they don’t have the tiebreaker advantage on anyone.

They could still clinch on Tuesday, though. If Detroit is able to beat Montreal — after orchestrating a 4-1 comeback Monday night for a 5-4 win — they’ll get the last wild card spot in the East as long as the Capitals come out of their game with one or zero points.

Games left: Tuesday at Montreal

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Pittsburgh Penguins: The only team still in the running that does not play on Tuesday night is the Penguins, who could either watch their playoff chances vanish, or still see a sliver of an opening on Wednesday. It’s simple: If Detroit or Washington win on Tuesday, the Penguins are out. Anything less than that, and they’ll be in control of their own destiny.

With 32 regulation wins, the Penguins will hold the tie-breaker advantage over anyone they could be tied with for the final playoff spot. So, if Detroit and Washington both came away with a single point on Tuesday, they’d have 90 points to Pittsburgh’s 88, meaning the Penguins would clinch a spot Wednesday with a win. If Detroit and Washington both lose in regulation on Tuesday, the Penguins would only need one point to clinch (and thus break what would be a four-way tie at 89 points).

Games left: Wednesday at NY Islanders

Philadelphia Flyers: A weak finish has put the Flyers on the brink, but winning their past two in a row has at least kept them alive for Game 82. Philadelphia has the most difficult path to a playoff spot, but to even have a shot they first have to beat Washington in regulation on Tuesday night. But even that wouldn’t be enough to outright clinch, as the Penguins could still pass the Flyers with a win or extra time loss on Wednesday, and the Wings would pass them if they could get just a single point on Tuesday.

Basically, the Flyers have one path to the playoffs: Washington, Detroit and Pittsburgh all have to lose their final game in regulation. If that were to happen, the Flyers, Red Wings and Capitals would all be at 89 points, and the Penguins at 88. In that scenario, the Flyers would hold the tie-breaker over Detroit in regulation wins.

They’d also get in over Washington by way of the fifth tiebreaker. If tied at 89 points, the Flyers and Caps would also be tied in regulation wins (first tiebreaker), regulation or overtime wins (second tie-breaker) and total wins (third tiebreaker). The season series is the fourth tie-breaker, but since the two teams will have played an odd number of times, that first game in Philadelphia (a Flyers shootout win) will be dropped and only the last two games in each city would count. So, if Philadelphia beats Washington in regulation on Tuesday, they’d even be tied in the fourth tiebreaker, since the Caps won in the head-to-head game on their ice. That brings us to the fifth tiebreaker, goal differential, which would finally come back to bite the Capitals. The Flyers currently have a goal differential of minus-25, while the Caps are at minus-38.

So, again, the Flyers need all these other teams to lose in regulation to get in. And whoever gets this final wild card spot would draw the New York Rangers in Round 1.

Games left: Tuesday versus Washington

Other clinching considerations in the East:

• Boston will clinch first in the Atlantic if they beat Ottawa on Tuesday, or if they get a point and the Panthers lose to the Maple Leafs. If that happens, we’ll know Boston-Tampa Bay and Florida-Toronto will be first-round series.

• The Panthers could clinch the Atlantic title if they beat the Maple Leafs on Tuesday and the Bruins lose to Ottawa in any fashion. They could also get it with a point against Toronto if Boston loses to Ottawa in regulation. If either of these results occur, Florida would draw Tampa Bay and Boston would meet Toronto in Round 1.

The West’s eight playoff teams are all clinched, so the interesting things left to figure out here are playoff matchups.

We know the Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche will meet in Round 1, and the Jets can clinch home ice advantage if they get at least one point against the Kraken today, or they’ll have another chance to get that point Thursday when they wrap their regular season against Vancouver.

The Canucks, meantime, can officially clinch the Pacific Division if they get a single point against either Calgary on Tuesday night or Winnipeg on Thursday. The Canucks could still even track down the Dallas Stars for first in the West if they win their last two games and Dallas loses in regulation to St. Louis on Wednesday. The Canucks have the regulation wins tiebreaker over the Stars, but anything shy of two wins by Vancouver will hand first in the West to Dallas.

There is still some positional wrestling to do between Vegas and Los Angeles for third in the Pacific, but if the Golden Knights lose in any fashion to Chicago on Tuesday night, at least we’ll know that Nashville will finish in the first wild card spot in the West. Interestingly, though Los Angeles is currently ahead of Vegas in the standings, only the Golden Knights can still catch Nashville — whose regular season is finished — for that first wild card spot. That’s because the Predators would hold the tiebreaker over Los Angeles (they have more ROW, the second tiebreaker). And though the Predators would also hold the first tiebreaker over Vegas, the Golden Knights could pass them in points with two wins in their last two games (vs. Chicago and Anaheim).

So, if the Canucks get one or zero points Tuesday against Calgary, and the Golden Knights lose to Chicago, a Vancouver-Nashville first-round series would be locked in.

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Canadian men get another high-profile test this summer with friendly in France

SportsNets - Tue, 04/16/2024 - 09:15

The Canadian men are getting another high-profile test in advance of this summer’s Copa America.

Canada Soccer has confirmed the 49th-ranked Canadians will play No. 2 France on June 9 at the Matmut Atlantique in Bordeaux, a 42,115-capacity stadium that is home to Ligue 2’s FC Girondins de Bordeaux. The France game comes three days after a previously announced friendly with the seventh-ranked Netherlands at Stadion Feijenoord in Rotterdam.

“It’s by playing against the best teams, like Les Bleus, that we’ll grow as a soccer nation. France is a nation we want to have strong links with for cultural, historical, and sporting reasons,” Canada Soccer COO Mathieu Chamberland said in a statement.

Canada is preparing for Copa America, where it is one of six CONCACAF guest teams at the South American championship that runs June 20 to July 14 in 14 U.S. cities. France and the Netherlands are gearing up for Euro 24, which kicks off June 14 in Germany.

“It’s amazing,” said Toronto FC midfielder Jonathan Osorio, who has won 71 caps for Canada. “These are top top teams in the world. As a competitor, it what’s you want. It’s the only way to get better. It’s the only way to improve and to really reach your potential level.

“This is what this team needs. This team needs to battle against the best, so that we can really get a taste for how it feels to be in games like that.”

L’Equipe, the French sports daily, reported earlier this month that a France-Canada friendly was in the works as the last test for Didier Deschamps’ squad ahead of its Euro Group D opener against No. 25 Austria on June 17.

The Canadian men have faced France just once before, in their first-ever game at the FIFA World Cup in 1986 in Mexico. A star-studded French side needed a 79th-minute goal by Jean-Pierre Papin to win 1-0.

The June games represent Canada’s highest-ranked opponents since the 2022 World Cup when the Canadian men lost 1-0 to then-second-ranked Belgium.

With Canada opening Copa America against No. 1 Argentina on June 20 in Atlanta, the Canadian men will face three top-10 teams in two weeks.

Canada also faces No. 32 Peru and No. 42 Chile in Group A play at Copa America.

After Copa America, the Canadians are set to face No. 14 Mexico during the September international window with the Sept. 10 game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Canada Soccer says the Argentina, France and Netherlands games will bring the number of current top-20 opponents Canada will have faced to nine in a little more than 18 months, joining Belgium (No. 3), Croatia (No. 10), the U.S. (No. 11), Morocco (No. 13), Uruguay (No. 15) and Japan (No. 18).

Canada was beaten 2-0 by Uruguay and edged Japan 2-1 in warm-up matches for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar where it lost to Belgium (1-0), Croatia (4-1) and Morocco (2-1) in group play. The Canadians faced the U.S. twice in that time period, losing a penalty shootout in the 2023 Gold Cup quarterfinal and 2-0 in the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal.

Canada has become a more attractive opponent because of its role as 2026 World Cup co-host and the men’s impressive run in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.

“At the end of the day, however it got done is great,” Osorio said of the star-studded fixture list. “What matters is they’re happening.”

The summer schedule evokes memories of the buildup to the 1994 World Cup in the U.S. Canada, which did not qualify for the soccer showcase but was an attractive pre-tournament opponent due to geography if nothing else, hosted Brazil, German, Spain and the Netherlands over eight days.

It tied Brazil 1-1 in Edmonton and lost to Germany (2-0) and the Netherlands (3-0) in Toronto and Spain (2-0) in Montreal. The Canadians went into the Brazil match ranked 58th in the world, climbing to No. 54 in advance of the other three games.

Brazil went on to win the ’94 World Cup, defeating Italy in a storied penalty shootout in the final before 94,000-plus at the Rose Bowl. Germany, the Netherlands and Spain lost in the quarterfinals.

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Who would be more valuable to Canucks between Lindholm and Kuzmenko?

SportsNets - Tue, 04/16/2024 - 09:05

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Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime wins opening match at BMW Open

SportsNets - Tue, 04/16/2024 - 08:58

Canada’s Félix Auger-Aliassime needed to rally from down a set and go the distance to solve Germany’s Maximilian Marterer in the opening round of the BMW Open.

The 23-year-old from Montreal topped Marterer 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 7-6(3) on Tuesday in Munich.

Auger-Aliassime, who is the fifth seed in the tournament, fired 11 aces, won 78 per cent of first-serve points and converted two of eight break point opportunities. He also committed five double faults.

Marterer made four aces with two double faults.

Auger-Aliassime will now face Japan’s Taro Daniel in the second round Wednesday.

Daniel advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Australia’s Christopher O’Connell.

Auger-Aliassime is the lone Canadian in the men’s singles tournament.

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Amid Senators speculation, Gruden focused on Marlies’ next game

SportsNets - Tue, 04/16/2024 - 08:00

TORONTO — When it comes to handling professional turbulence with grace, John Gruden has pretty unique experience. In November 2015, his single, truncated season as coach of the Flint Firebirds was briefly interrupted when owner Rolf Nilsen axed him. While no clear explanation was ever offered up, Nilsen was believed to be upset that his son — Firebirds defenceman Hakon Nilsen — was not receiving as much ice time under Gruden as the Sr. Nilsen thought he should.

Whatever the case, a wild few days ensued in Flint, as players — including Hakon Nilsen — walked out on the team in protest. Gruden was re-installed behind the bench after less than a week of unemployment. The Firebirds hosted the Sarnia Sting on a Friday night and, after screaming out to a 4-0 first-period lead, the players hung on for a 4-3 win to hand Gruden the victory they so clearly wanted to deliver.

After the contest, Gruden — who had just been given his big head coaching break that year and won his OHL debut to start that season — met with a couple reporters in bowels of the Dort Federal Event Center. When asked how it felt to get that first win after the unimaginable craziness of the preceding days, Gruden didn’t miss his pitch.

“So I’m back to 1-0 again?” he said with a grin.

Nilsen eventually fired him for good in February 2016, and since that bizarre start Gruden has enjoyed plenty of success and much more stability. He celebrated an OHL title shortly after departing Flint and spent half a decade beside a couple of the best coaches in the world as an NHL assistant. Today, he’s the first-year head coach of a Toronto Marlies team trying to nail down an AHL playoff spot. Naturally, he’s had to learn and adapt over time, but at his core, he remains a coach players are still plenty happy to go to bat for. “Our relationship grew a lot throughout the year,” says Marlies captain Logan Shaw, “and I have nothing but good things to say about him.”

Shaw was speaking after a late-morning practice at Toronto’s Coca-Cola Coliseum during one of the final Fridays of the regular season. Minutes later, Gruden — in the same Marlies cap and track suit he wore on the ice, with Nike slides replacing his skates — stood outside the team dressing room and discussed the switch from serving as an assistant with a New York Islanders squad that made the NHL’s final four in consecutive years and a Boston Bruins team that recorded a record 135 points last season to being the guy running the show for the Marlies.

“When you’re an assistant in the National Hockey League, you’re clear-cut on what your responsibilities are,” he says. “The head coach gives you a job description and that’s what you do. You stay in your lane, you do your job.”

That, of course, is a different mandate than the one he had for two years as head coach of the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs, and certainly differs from what he’s doing as the top man for an AHL club. At the highest level of the minors, Gruden notes, players are at very different arcs in their careers. Many are young guys with big NHL dreams; some are hanging in, trying to get even a cup of coffee in the show; and still others are veterans just looking to live the pro hockey life as long as possible. Wrapped up with his duty to provide wins for the Marlies, Gruden believes his responsibility is to connect with everyone on the team regardless of their big-picture goals at the rink.

“It’s your job to put everyone in that environment where they all can succeed, they all can show what they have and they all can grow,” he says.

According to Shaw, Gruden achieves that largely by giving players set structure, along with a good amount of space. “He’s the kind of coach who holds everyone accountable,” says the veteran forward, who got ringing endorsements of Gruden from Boston’s Brad Marchand and New York’s Noah Dobson when he reached out after the coach was hired. “But he lets you play your game, he wants you to play your game, he wants you to play with the puck.”

Of course, Gruden also understands — even if you’re going to give players a wide berth — guardrails must be implemented. That’s something the 53-year-old learned not only from coaching, but from raising three children. “I do give rope, but then you have to know when to tighten it up,” he says.

When someone crosses a line with Gruden, there’s no mistaking it. “When he gets mad, you know he’s mad,” Shaw says.

Those moments are the exception to the rule, though. Gruden — who actually coached against his son in the AHL this year — is just not the type to stretch his suit gesturing angrily at referees, and that’s certainly by design. “If I’m acting out of control, I’m guessing our team is going to play out of control,” he says. “It’s not a good way to go about it.”

Maintaining a level head certainly served him well all those years ago in Flint. Going back even further, though, Gruden — who saw 92 games as an NHL defenceman and a whole lot more in the minors during a 10-year career — had no notion during his playing days he’d eventually be one of the guys making line changes and drawing up plays.

“Absolutely not,” he says. “But once my career was done and it was time to do what I needed to do to support a family, everything drew me back to the ice rink.”

The transition started with being an assistant on his son’s youth teams in Michigan. That grew to coaching a high-school squad, opening up a training facility and eventually becoming an assistant coach with the U.S. National Team Development Program. In 2015, Flint came calling and even though he could never have imagined how things would play out (for context, Nilsen was suspended for five years for his outlandish actions), Gruden’s measured response in trying circumstances wound up telling the hockey world something about his character.

“Every situation is different. You might not like it, but you have to handle it with class and do it right,” he says. “Sometimes it’s not how you [enter] a door, it’s how you go out. Being a good person and understanding that is important. That’s what I did. I still learned a lot from it. Without that opportunity in Flint, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I still see some of the guys [from that Firebirds team] and what they did was impressive, and I greatly appreciated that.”

What Gruden and the Bulldogs achieved just two years later was remarkable, too. In his second OHL stop, Gruden guided the Dogs to a league championship in Year 2 behind the bench.

“Adaptability is so important,” says Gruden, when asked what he learned from winning a major junior title. “You always have a blueprint of what you think should work, but I think it’s being able to handle the adversity.”

That Bulldogs squad was and is owned by Michael Andlauer. The fact Andlauer now also owns the Ottawa Senators has prompted some to underline the connection between a coach who’s built quite a resume at a variety of levels and a team that will be looking for a new full-time bench boss shortly. Gruden — who worked beside two Jack Adams winners in Barry Trotz in New York and Jim Montgomery in Boston — naturally aspires to ply his craft at the highest level, but is not spending his days planning his next move.

“I’m all about, at the end of the day, just doing my job to the best of my ability,” he says. “It’s like a player; if you go out, you do your job, you know you’ll get another contract. I just want to continue being a better version of myself because there are always things to learn. If that time ever comes, of course that’s something I’d like to do. But I’m not in any hurry for that to happen. I’m just here trying to help the Marlies get in the playoffs and then win from there.”

Always moving forward, but never looking past the next victory.

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

Sabres fire head coach Don Granato after playoff drought hits 13 years

SportsNets - Tue, 04/16/2024 - 07:27

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres fired head coach Don Granato on Tuesday, making him the seventh coach to be ousted during what’s grown into an NHL-record 13-season playoff drought.

The move was announced by the team a day after the Sabres closed their season with a 4-2 win at Tampa Bay. They finished with a 39-27-6 record and had been eliminated from playoff contention last week.

Granato completed his third full season in Buffalo after taking over on an interim basis in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened 2021 season after Ralph Krueger was fired. And the move comes with the 56-year-old Granato still having two seasons left on his contract, which featured an extension that kicked in to start next season.

He finishes with a record of 122-125-27 in Buffalo.

The team also announced the firing of assistant coach Jason Christie and video coordinator Matt Smith.

The Sabres stumbled through a season in which the team won three straight games just twice and were too often unable to overcome slow starts.

This was not the expectation for a team that opened the season with GM Kevyn Adams declaring the window of contention as being open. The blossoming hopes were generated by the Sabres missing the playoffs by two points last season.

The Sabres’ playoff drought is tied with the New York Jets as being the longest active drought in North America’s four major professional sports.

This season, the Sabres were undone by injuries to key players, goaltending inconsistencies, a front-office decision to add more youth to what was already the NHL’s youngest roster and Granato making the questionable change in coaching philosophy to have the Sabres switch to a more defensive style.

A season after the free-wheeling Sabres finished third in the NHL with 293 goals, Buffalo’s production dropped to currently rank 22nd with 244 with two days left in the regular season. After finishing 26th in allowing 297 goals last season, the Sabres currently rank 11th in allowing 243.

Poor starts played a key factor in sinking Buffalo’s season. The Sabres have allowed a league-worst 97 goals in the first period, while scoring just 67, which ranks 22nd.

Granato declined to address his status following the game at Tampa Bay, by saying he wanted to focus on the outing.

Last week, Granato said, his sole focus every season was improving the Sabres.

“I have to do my job every day. And it’s to help this team and this franchise get better every day. That’s my focus every day. That’s my drive every day,” he said. So I don’t know, you know, any other way to do things. When I first got in this position, even as the interim, I wasn’t trying to become the next head coach. There’s a job that needs to be done. My focus is on that. It has to be on that.”

The Sabres now find themselves in an all-too familiar position in launching yet another coaching search. Granato was the team’s sixth coach since Lindy Ruff was fired two months into the lockout-shortened 2012 season.

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Western Conference Play-In Preview: Can Warriors and Lakers survive to make playoffs?

SportsNets - Tue, 04/16/2024 - 07:26

In what has become a tremendous appetizer before the main course that is the playoffs, the NBA Play-In tournament is here and the 2024 edition features the likes of LeBron James, Steph Curry, Zion Williamson and De’Aaron Fox.

That’s right, it’s a sign of the times that both James and Curry are duking it out in elimination games just to make the playoffs (again) and they’ll be going up against the generation that’s trying to put them to bed.

With the Lakers and Pelicans, these are two veteran teams when it comes to the Play-In, both clubs taking the scenic route to the post-season for a third time. The Warriors are in this position for a second time, while the Kings are making their Play-In debut.

Does that mean much in terms of how things will play out over the next few days? Probably not, but below is everything that should:

Western Conference: (7) New Orleans Pelicans vs. (8) L.A. Lakers @ 7:30 p.m. ET.
Season series: Lakers won 3-1.

Dec. 7, 2023: Lakers won 133-89 (In-Season Tournament Semifinal)
Dec. 31, 2023: Pelicans won 129-109
Feb. 9, 2024: Lakers won 139-122
Apr. 14, 2024: Lakers won 124-108

Betting line: Lakers +1.0 | Pelicans -1.0. O/U: 223.5.

PULSE ON PELICANS (49-33)

After posting a 26-21 record through the first half of the season, the Pelicans looked phenomenal over the next couple months with a 19-7 stretch that included 12 wins by double-digits. Look a little closer, though, and nine of those wins came against sub-.500 teams. Faced with a tough stretch at the end of March and early April, New Orleans lost five of six, including losses against the Thunder, Celtics, Suns, and Magic. The Pelicans also lost to the Spurs and the lone win came against a Bucks team that has been up and down since the hiring of Doc Rivers.

One of the intriguing changes the Pelicans made midway through the season was embracing ‘Point Zion’ and employing Williamson as the team’s defacto point guard while surrounding him with shooting. It left opposing defences with very few good decisions to make. The possibility of Williamson getting downhill courtesy screens up top or being able to find open shooters if there was too much help proved to be lighter fluid for the offence. Trey Murphy struggled through the all-star break but came to life thereafter, averaging 17.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.1 steals while making 3.5 threes a game at a 39.7 per cent clip.

In terms of vitals, the Pelicans finished ninth in offensive rating and fifth in defensive rating after the trade deadline. If you’re in the top 10 in both heading into the playoffs, you’re usually in good shape. That top-five defence is largely due to the team’s versatility, courtesy of rangy, switchable defenders like Herb Jones, Murphy, Naji Marshall, and a bit surprisingly, Williamson. He has generally struggled on the defensive end throughout his career but as his fitness has ramped up over the course of the season, so has his impact on that end of the floor.

PULSE ON LAKERS (47-35)

James said it best when he felt the Lakers were capable of beating anyone or losing to anyone on any given night. The Lakers looked locked in when winning the In-Season Tournament, have faded in and out otherwise including losing 10 of 15 games between December and January, and ramped up for the playoffs by winning 11 of its final 14 games.

You know what you’re getting with the Lakers. This is a team that looks to dominate inside, whether it’s Anthony Davis and James feasting in the paint on the offensive end or Davis protecting the rim on the other. D’Angelo Russell flipped the script on his season once his name became a fixture in trade rumours, rebounding from averaging just 10.2 points in December (including 32.7 per cent shooting from deep) to 22.7 points with 45.9 per cent three-point shooting in January and mostly sustaining that form the rest of the way.

Los Angeles ranked third in offence and 21st in defence after the trade deadline, the defence indicative of a team that has struggled for consistency in its habits all season. This is a team that went from the Play-In to the West Finals a year ago and so this may just be a group that knows how to flip a switch if and only when it wants to.

X-FACTORS

Brandon Ingram (Pelicans): It feels a bit strange to list a borderline all-star as an X-Factor, but Ingram has just returned from a 12-game absence due to a left-knee contusion and his reacquaintance with the Pelicans lineup in such a high-stakes scenario will be interesting to monitor. Averaging 20.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.7 assists, there’s no debating his value to this team but his potential rust and reintegration may be coming at the wrong time.

Rui Hachimura (Lakers): Hachimura has quietly been very good for the Lakers as a starter. He has averaged 16.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game since the all-star break while shooting 56.4 per cent from the field including an eye-popping 45.1 per cent on threes. With him in the starting lineup alongside Russell, James, Austin Reaves, and Davis, the team has posted a plus-6.6 net rating. That may not jump off the page, but consider that the two previous most used lineups (one with Taurean Prince and another with Cam Reddish) were both net negatives.

KEY TO VICTORY

The one game the Pelicans won in this matchup during the regular season was with Russell injured and Reaves coming off the bench. The manner in which the Lakers won each of its three games suggests a near-perfect performance from New Orleans will be required, and that starts with neutralizing the battle at the rim while making a tonne of threes.

Williamson is yet to make his playoff debut while James is seeking to add to his legacy. How that matchup shakes out will also have a huge bearing on this contest.

Western Conference: (9) Sacramento Kings vs. (10) Golden State Warriors @ 22:00 p.m. ET
Season series: Tied 2-2.

Oct. 27, 2023: Warriors won 122-114
Nov. 1, 2023: Warriors won 102-101
Nov. 28, 2023: Kings won 124-123
Jan. 25, 2024: Kings won 134-133

Betting line: Warriors -2.5 | Kings +2.5. O/U: 223.5

PULSE ON KINGS (46-36)

Sacramento is in a sophomore slump as far as success is concerned. A year ago, they were the darlings of the NBA and lighting the beam was a league-wide celebration as the Kings came within one win of knocking off the then-defending champ Warriors in the first round. This season’s 46-win team is considered a disappointment after winning 48 games and clinching the third seed a year ago.

Such was the disregard for the Kings this season that both Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox were overlooked for all-star spots despite the former averaging 19.4 points, 13.7 rebounds, and 8.2 rebounds and registering 77 double-doubles in a season. He became the seventh player in league history to accomplish the feat and the first since Moses Malone in 1978-79. Sabonis also had a staggering stretch of 61 straight double-doubles.

The biggest sour spot on the Kings’ season are the injuries to Sixth Man of the Year candidate Malik Monk (ruled out until at least May 1 due to sprained MCL) and Kevin Huerter (out for play-in/playoffs due to shoulder surgery). The league’s best offence a year ago has dropped to 13th this season (post-trade deadline) though the defence has improved from 25th to 12th (post-trade deadline).

PULSE ON WARRIORS (46-36)

It’s a season that has tested the mental fortitude of Steph Curry like no other. Between Draymond Green’s tantrums, Klay Thompson’s decline, and Andrew Wiggins’ struggles, he has had to carry way too heavy a load for far too long this season. It resulted in some of the worst shooting slumps of his career and now he’s left having to extend himself further just to get into the playoffs.

While the stuff that’s gone wrong is easy to go on about, what has helped paper over the cracks is the play of Jonathan Kuminga, Brandon Podziemski, and Trayce Jackson-Davis. The answer to who leads the Warriors in plus/minus this season is not Curry or Green, it’s Podziemski. The rookie has an uncanny nose for the ball and just knows where to be on both ends of the floor. Jackson-Davis has made the struggles of Kevon Looney more muted while Kuminga’s rise to being a 20-point-per-game scorer has been desperately needed in the absence of vintage Thompson.

Coming back to the vitals, Golden State boasts the league’s eighth-best offence since the trade deadline and 11th-best defence. Those numbers aren’t reflective of your regular 10th seed and so this is a team that the Kings will be in tough against.

X-FACTORS

Draymond Green (Warriors): Green can always impact the game in special ways but he only played in 55 games this season largely due to a 12-game suspension for violently swinging at Jusuf Nurkic’s face. Instead of maturing with age, Green has only become increasingly volatile over time and his ability to stay on the court will be crucial to the Warriors’ chances of coming out of the Play-In.

Keegan Murray (Kings): One of the reasons the Kings haven’t continued from where they left off last season is because there’s been a sophomore slump within a sophomore slump. Despite averaging three more points per game, Murray is also taking three more shots as well while his three-point shooting has dipped from 41.1 per cent last season to 35.8 per cent this season. With the absences of Monk and Huerter, Murray needs to have a big night.

KEY TO VICTORY

In last season’s playoff battle, Sabonis averaged just 16.4 points while shooting less than 50 per cent from the field and 57 per cent from the free-throw line. If the Kings want to win this do-or-die battle, he must take the fight to Green. On the Warriors’ side of things, it comes down to Green, Thompson, and Wiggins being the best versions of themselves.

All signs from last year’s truly epic seven-game series and three games this season being decided by one point each suggest that this should be a classic. What could take away from it are the aforementioned injuries for the Kings, but ultimately the biggest key here may just come down to who has final possession of the basketball.

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NHL business booming ahead of Stanley Cup playoffs

SportsNets - Tue, 04/16/2024 - 06:36

NEW YORK (AP) — Arenas are full, the NHL is a fixture on TV screens across North America, highlight-reel goals are talking points on a near-daily basis and “The Pat McAfee Show” even has a segment called “Hockey is Awesome.”

Piece it all together, and more eyes are on the puck than ever before with the playoffs beginning this weekend.

Business is booming for the NHL, which has bounced back in a major way from the pandemic. Backstopped by new media rights deals, digital dasher boards and helmet and jersey ads, and buoyed by an overlap of generational stars, ratings are up, attendance is on track for a record and revenue is at an all-time high — an estimated $6.2 billion annually.

“The league is going through a bit of a renaissance,” said Tom Gargiulo, chief marketing officer at Bodyarmor, whose deal to be the NHL’s official sports drink is the latest sponsorship agreement inked in recent years. “This sport is moving into the next phase of its evolution and is on a tremendous trajectory.”

Commissioner Gary Bettman says it starts with the game on the ice, which he believes has “never been more exciting, more competitive, more skillful, never been faster.” There are nearly six goals a game on average, and while Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin are still producing, Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews and Nathan MacKinnon are in their prime with another wave of talent led by the likes of Connor Bedard not far behind.

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Livestream Hockey Night in Canada, Scotiabank Wednesday Night Hockey, the Oilers, Flames, Canucks, out-of-market matchups, the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the NHL Draft.

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NEW FANS

Showcasing star players better than before in the team-first sport has helped, and 22.5 million fans have filled arenas to 97% capacity. League officials are quick to credit ESPN and Turner for buying in, and viewership is up 7% for the most-watched NHL season on cable in 30 years.

“We’ve seen an influx and a growth of female fans, diverse fans,” senior VP of North American business development Kyle McMann said. “They’re finding our product, they’re falling in love with it, they’re starting to watch more.”

Trying new things, including puck and player tracking and cartoon versions of games to draw in younger fans, has set the table for this success. Decades since the experiment of the glowing puck, experts credited the league for attracting and retaining a bigger audience in a crowded sports marketplace.

“They keep doing stuff that’s innovative to keep their audience engaged,” said Lauren Anderson, director of the Warsaw Sports Business Center at the University of Oregon. “The NHL could’ve fallen back on being pretty traditional, and I think they haven’t been afraid to try some things and pivot even when it didn’t work.”

Salvatore Galatioto, who runs a sports finance and advisory firm and is a marketing professor at Columbia, said the league has done a good job reaching beyond traditional markets, overcoming some of the unavoidable shortcomings of being expensive to play.

“It’s not rocket science: It’s the number of eyeballs watching your product,” he said. “They have done a really good job of expanding their fanbase, and that’s the key.”

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SELLING THE GAME

Chief NHL Content Officer Steve Mayer has made that his life’s work since joining in 2016, coming up with new and different ways to present a more-than-century-old sport, from the 2020 playoff bubble to outdoor games and a reimagined All-Star weekend.

“We’re not here to change the game,” Mayer said. “We’re here to enhance what is out there and to get it in front of more people because we know that if people watch our game, they’re going to fall in love with it.”

Central to the game are the players, and none of this would be possible without a constructive working relationship with the NHL Players’ Association, which may be at its most cooperative stage in decades. The league and union found common ground in extending the collective bargaining agreement through 2026, getting back to the Olympics and launching another international competition next year featuring the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Finland.

“It’s a key to moving forward,” union executive director Marty Walsh said. “When I first started, I had a conversation with Gary Bettman, and our teams talked about working together and growing hockey-related revenue, growing the sport. … We’re all vested in one direction.”

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WORK TO DO

The NHL still has work to do to catch up with the NFL ($18.6 billion in revenue in 2022), NBA ($10.6 billion) and Major League Baseball ($11.6 billion), but it’s not unrealistic to think $10 billion is attainable before the end of the decade.

“We plan on getting there — how and when, obviously, will take some time,” chief business officer Keith Wachtel said. “Looking at hockey a bit differently than perhaps it was looked at a decade ago. It’s still the ultimate team sport, but we have such great players and personalities.”

One challenge is getting fans who are focused on their own team to watch others. There’s evidence that is also starting to turn, with Bedard (Chicago) and Artemi Panarin (New York Rangers) jerseys the highest-selling this season and good ratings even when Canadian teams are on national television in the U.S.

Executive VP Marketing Brian Jennings, who has been at the NHL for 33 years, said there is no shortage of people “knocking on the door” to get in on the boom.

“The constellation of those stars have aligned,” Jennings said. “When we look at our glide path and say, ‘Hey, how bright is the future?’ It’s really bright.”

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Oilers rout Sharks, McDavid joins exclusive 100-assist club

SportsNets - Mon, 04/15/2024 - 22:23

EDMONTON — Connor McDavid achieved a rare feat as his team was administering a rare beating.

McDavid had a goal and added his 100th assist of the season as the Edmonton Oilers closed out the home portion of their regular-season schedule with some panache, squashing the San Jose Sharks 9-2 on Monday.

The Oilers captain is just the fourth player in NHL history to hit the 100-assist milestone behind Wayne Gretzky (11 times), Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr, and the first since 1990-1991.

“It means a lot. Those three are obviously three of the greatest players to ever play. To share a little something with them, it means a lot to me,” McDavid said. “It has been a different type of year, but everybody stuck with it, and we’ve put ourselves in a good spot heading into when it matters most.”

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Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said McDavid always seems to be able to set a higher bar.

“It is probably the hardest one that he has accomplished,” he said. “You can’t really be surprised with the things he does every year. It is an amazing accomplishment. You probably didn’t think it was possible for it to happen in this day and age, but he keeps surprising you. I am very proud of him.”

Warren Foegele had two goals and Adam Henrique and Dylan Holloway each had a goal and two assists. Corey Perry, Cody Ceci, Evan Bouchard and Zach Hyman also scored for the Oilers (49-25-6) who snapped a two-game losing streak. Edmonton has gone 11-1-2 in its last 14 home games.

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Danil Gushkin and Fabian Zetterlund replied for the Sharks (19-53-9) who have lost four of their last five.

“You throw away the tape,” Sharks head coach David Quinn said when asked what his squad should do after a game like that.

“We never looked like we really thought we had a chance, is kind of what it felt like. We were slow, very slow in what we were doing and we were losing a lot of battles. There was a lot of hesitation in our game.”

McDavid made an instant impact in his return from injury, scoring his 32nd just 53 seconds into the opening period on the game’s first shot as he turned on the jets and then banked a passing attempt off of defender Marc-Edouard Vlasic and past San Jose goalie Devin Cooley.

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Edmonton took a 2-0 lead four minutes into the first period as the rebound from a Brett Kulak shot came out front to Henrique and he netted his 24th of the season and sixth as an Oiler.

The Oilers kept their foot on the gas with another goal coming midway through the first when Foegele elected to shoot on a two-on-one and recorded his career-high 18th of the campaign.

Henrique picked up his second point of the period with 25 seconds left in the first as he fed it in front to Holloway who redirected it through Cooley’s legs for his fifth.

The Sharks got on the board two minutes into the middle frame as Gushkin somehow snuck a backhand shot between Oilers starter Stuart Skinner and the post for his first of the season and second goal in five career NHL appearances.

Edmonton got that back less than three minutes later as Foegele made a diving lunge to poke in a loose puck that was lying in the crease for his second of the contest.

Bouchard made a perfect pass to Perry at the side of the net to give the veteran forward his 12th of the year. With the assist Bouchard became just the second defenceman in Edmonton franchise history to hit the 80-point mark.

Edmonton made it 7-1 with seven minutes left in the second period as Henrique passed it ahead to a hard-driving Ceci and he deflected in his fifth.

Just 31 seconds later the Oilers added yet another goal as Perry elected to dish it to Bouchard on a two-on one and the young Oilers blueliner notched his 18th.

Georgi Romanov came into the Sharks net to make his NHL debut, replacing Cooley, who allowed eight goals on 22 shots.

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The moment that fans had been waiting for came with 4:25 to play in the second period as McDavid hit the century mark for assists as he sent it to Hyman at the side of the net for an easy tap-in and his 54th of the season.

Edmonton seemed to back off somewhat for the third and the Sharks got one back as a result as Zetterlund swatted in his 23rd during a mad scramble in front with 4:25 to play.

NOTES

It was the third and final meeting between the two teams. The Sharks won the first game 3-2 on Nov. 9, leading to the dismissal of Edmonton head coach Jay Woodcroft. The Oilers won the second game 5-0 on Dec. 28. … The Oilers had nine players with multiple points in a game for the first time since Nov. 8, 1985 against Vancouver. … Oilers forward Evander Kane missed the game with an undisclosed injury. … Among those out for the Sharks were Alexander Barbanov (lower-body injury), Jacob MacDonald (undisclosed) and Filip Zadina (lower-body injury). … Edmonton is expected to finish second in the Pacific Division and will have home ice to start the playoffs. The Sharks will finish last in the NHL.

UP NEXT

Sharks: Visit the Calgary Flames on Thursday.

Oilers: Visit the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday.

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Reports: White Sox sign OF Tommy Pham to minor-league contract

SportsNets - Mon, 04/15/2024 - 22:00

The Chicago White Sox are turning to one of the last remaining impact bats on the free-agent market to counteract their slow start.

According to multiple reports, the White Sox have agreed to a one-year contract with outfielder Tommy Pham.

The Athletic‘s Ken Rosenthal reported Monday night that the agreement is a minor-league deal, and that Pham will earn $3 million in the majors with up to $1.5 million in incentives. The White Sox have until April 25 to add him to their MLB roster or else he can request his release. Pham will also receive $500,000 if he is traded.

After a slow developing off-season, Pham was one of the major-league quality players left without a place to play when Opening Day rolled around.

The 36-year-old right-handed hitter played in 129 games in 2023, splitting time between the New York Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks. He slashed .256/.328/.446 with 16 home runs and 68 RBI over 481 plate appearances during the season.

With the National League champion Diamondbacks, Pham proved a boost in the World Series, smacking a home run and posting a 1.165 OPS against the Texas Rangers.

Pham has played in 10 MLB seasons, spending time with the St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox, Mets and Diamondbacks.

He has been extremely successful against lefties in his career, slashing .271/.381/.453 with 42 career home runs in off-handed matchups.

Overall, Pham has a career .786 OPS with 130 home runs in 1005 career games.

After Monday’s 2-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals, the White Sox dropped to 2-14 to open the 2024 season. They have scored an MLB-worst 34 runs — the next lowest is the Oakland Athletics with 47 — and according to MLB.com’s Mike Petriello, became the first team since 1907 to get shutout in six of their first 16 games.

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Canadiens’ Lane Hutson takes step to establish floor, flashes ceiling in NHL debut

SportsNets - Mon, 04/15/2024 - 21:57

Lane Hutson was already moving when the pass came to him from David Savard.

He swiftly changed directions as it hit his stick, danced across the blue line with it tethered to his pallet, crossed over swiftly from strong side to weak side, and then made a sleek move to cross up Detroit’s J.T. Compher and make his way into a more threatening spot to shoot from.

Hutson then let the puck go and circled around the net for a rebound that never came because Brendan Gallagher had corralled Hutson’s shot and scored on one of his own to make it 1-0 Canadiens.

Just like that, the 62nd overall pick in 2022 had his first NHL assist. It was registered as the product of his very first offensive-zone touch in the league, manufactured in the exact same manner that saw him put up so many of his 97 points in 77 games as a phenom with the Boston University Terriers over the last two seasons in the NCAA, and it was the first of several dynamic sequences he’d predictably author in the game.

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But it was the other stuff Hutson did in this debut — the less predictable, little stuff you’d barely notice if you weren’t paying close attention — that offered the biggest evidence he was in the right place. To see the five-foot-10, 162-pound Hutson win nearly all his battles in his own zone, to see him close the gap on Robbi Fabbri and Dylan Larkin to turn dangerous rushes into muted ones, to see him box out Lucas Raymond, Alex DeBrincat, Andrew Copp and Christian Fischer in front of Samuel Montembeault, and to see him successfully execute 14 of 16 controlled breakouts with precision was to see him begin to establish a floor at this level.

Nothing could be more important than that at this stage because, without it, Hutson will never be trusted enough to be placed in proper position to reach his incredibly high ceiling.

The test for him is to print in black and white before colouring the canvas in ways he and so few others can, and he took a vital first step in passing it.

“I felt pretty good,” Hutson told reporters at Little Caesars Arena after the game ended.

Never mind that he was caught helpless on the play that saw Raymond complete the comeback win for the Red Wings.

Hutson tried to intercept the perfect pass from Larkin that Raymond one-timed for his second goal and the 5-4 outcome Detroit so desperately needed, but he couldn’t and that’s how it goes sometimes in the end-to-end circus of three-on-three overtime.

Hutson was also inches from ending the Red Wings’ season right before that on another heady play up ice that saw him put his first NHL shot into a place that forced Alex Lyon to make his biggest save of the night.

“Wish it would’ve went in,” he said. “That would’ve been pretty cool, but it didn’t.”

It’s a game of inches.

Hutson couldn’t get caught up in missing by one to stop Compher’s first of two goals on the night.

He tried desperately to recover on the first period play that left the Canadiens down a man — with Joel Armia heading to their bench to replace a broken stick while the puck was cycling through their zone — but he wasn’t able to.

But that never appeared to weigh Hutson down.

Nor should it have.

According to Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis, that whole sequence couldn’t even be considered a blemish on Hutson’s record.

“He was fine in his own zone,” he said. “I wasn’t going to get caught up in that (goal) tonight. How we play in the d-zone has been something we’ve been talking about together for over 80 games, and he’s jumping into that. He wasn’t perfect, but his intentions were there. I didn’t feel he was exposed when we were in the defensive zone.

“He played a good game.”

St. Louis first used the word “excellent” to describe Hutson’s game, and it was particularly noteworthy considering the 20-year-old had to be nervous it in front of a mix of 15-20 family members in his home state and against a Red Wings team playing with its playoff hopes hanging in the balance.

They took advantage of Montreal’s other defencemen to claw their way back from down 4-1 and resuscitate their chances before Raymond officially saved their season. It was an onslaught for the entire third period, which easily could’ve overwhelmed Hutson but never did.

He made steady plays without the puck from beginning to end, and tantalizing ones with it — including one right after notching his assist to Gallagher that saw him set up Jake Evans with a perfect one-timer opportunity off an offensive-zone faceoff.

“I gotta execute on that one,” Evans said. “I don’t think he knows me yet — I’m not the shooter on the team.”

Hutson will learn who’s who in time, of which he’s got plenty of to continue proving how he’ll translate the dominant game he played at every other level to the world’s highest one.

Hutson’s next opportunity to do so comes Tuesday, against the Red Wings again, but this time at the Bell Centre for the Canadiens’ season finale.

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

WNBA-ready Aaliyah Edwards ready to expand game with Mystics

SportsNets - Mon, 04/15/2024 - 21:41

When it comes to blue bloods in women’s college basketball, three schools come to mind for most.

Pat Summitt’s Tennessee Lady Vols won eight national titles during her tenure, and more recently, South Carolina has won three titles since 2017 under Dawn Staley.

But one school stands alone.

UConn’s women’s team has won 11 NCAA championships, and Geno Auriemma is one of the winningest coaches in the sport. So when Kingston, Ont., native Aaliyah Edwards chose to play for the Huskies, representing Canada at one of the top schools in women’s basketball, more attention came with the territory.

Edwards, who was picked No. 6 overall by the Washington Mystics in Monday’s WNBA Draft, was no stranger to stepping up on the big stage. She led her Toronto high school, Crestwood Preparatory College, to three championships and was named the 2019-20 OSBA MVP and Defensive Player of the Year.

She appeared in 29 games her freshman year, averaging 10.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, earning honours such as the 2021 BIG EAST Sixth-Woman of the Year and making the 2021 BIG EAST All-Freshman Team.

Throughout her collegiate career, Edwards would go on to make it to the 2022 NCAA Women’s National Championship, playing 38 minutes in a loss to South Carolina, and also made it to the Final Four three times out of her four years of college.

Other accolades included being named the Big East Most Improved Player and Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player in 2023, averaging 16.6 points and 9.1 rebounds per game during the 2022-23 season.

It was Edwards’ final year in Storrs that saw her notch career-high averages of 18.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game, and be named to the WBCA All-America, Wooden Award All-America, NCAA Tournament Portland 3 Region All-Tournament Team and All-Big East First Team in 2024.

While the ultimate goal of winning a national title with the Huskies never happened, thanks partially to the team dealing with major injuries to star players like Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd and Edwards herself, her time at UConn developed her into a WNBA-ready product who showed she not only can score and be physical on the glass, but is a high-IQ player who will fit the needs of the Mystics well.

Washington lost Natasha Cloud to the Phoenix Mercury while also having Elena Delle Donne sit out the 2024 season, but Edwards will fit in with the returning core of Ariel Atkins, Shakira Austin, Brittney Sykes and Myisha Hines-Allen.

When her name was called with the sixth overall pick, Edwards was filled with emotion knowing that the next chapter in her journey was only beginning.

“The moment, man, it was the moment for me. Right before the commissioner said my name, I just looked down and thought to myself and said a little prayer like, it’s your time, it’s God’s timing,” said Edwards.

“She said my name, and that’s when the waterworks started happening. So, just super grateful for this moment and opportunity.”

After being selected No. 6, Edwards is now Canada’s second-highest draft pick in WNBA history, behind only Stacey Dales who was drafted third overall in 2002 by none other than the Mystics.

Previously, the second-highest pick for a Canadian was seventh overall, where Shona Thorburn was drafted in 2006 by the Minnesota Lynx.

With already high standards for herself, Edwards wants to grow her skillset and become an even better player, something she will certainly be able to do under Eric Thibault.

“I think one of the things going into this league that I want to do is just expand my game. Might be asked to play a different role, but I’m open to it. I see myself as a versatile player and impacting in any position that I’m asked to play,” said Edwards. “It’s going to be a tough league, tough first year. But, I’m pumped and I’m ready for the challenge.”

Expectations have been high for Edwards since she made waves in high school, and has done the same representing Canada on the national stage, making her Olympic debut in Tokyo as the youngest member of the Canadian women’s basketball team, and taking Canada to a Bronze medal at the 2023 FIBA AmeriCup.

Now she continues to raise the bar as she joins Natalie Achonwa, Kia Nurse, Bridget Carleton and Laeticia Amihere representing Canada in the WNBA.

“Just to have a dream like this and to actually walk through it… It’s just amazing. A lot of people have dreams, but a lot of people aren’t able to achieve it. So for me to be fortunate enough to say that and to keep going and to keep pushing my dreams, it’s just amazing,” said Edwards.

The moment was not lost on the 21-year-old, who has been looked up to by young girls since she stepped foot on campus in Storrs, and will continue to do in Washington.

As Canada looks to secure a medal finish in Paris after a disappointing Games in Tokyo with Edwards part of the squad, and the six-foot-three forward also looks to establish herself and her career in the WNBA, her focus remains on basketball. However, she’s also determined to continue uplifting other Canadian women who are following in her footsteps.

“My message for the younger girls is just be confident, be who you are, but know your worth. Coming from Canada, I wasn’t given as many opportunities as, say, my fellow draftees, but I made the best out of it,” said Edwards.

“I earned everything that I was given. So, stay humble, but let them know.”

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

Report: Nets prepared to hire Jordi Fernandez as next head coach

SportsNets - Mon, 04/15/2024 - 21:22

The Brooklyn Nets are prepared to hire Sacramento Kings assistant and Canada’s men’s national team coach Jordi Fernandez as the franchise’s next head coach, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Monday.

According to Wojnarowski, Fernandez separated himself from other candidates during the Nets’ month-long search for a new bench boss.

Fernandez has been with the Kings since August 2022 and had previous stints with the Denver Nuggets and Cleveland Cavaliers. He was on the Cavaliers staff during the 2016 championship season.

Canada Basketball remains hopeful Fernandez will stay onboard through the upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris, according to Sportsnet’s Michael Grange.

Fernandez took over coaching duties for the men’s national team last June, replacing former Toronto Raptors and current Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse.

Should the Nets hire Fernandez and he continues on with Canada Basketball, arrangements will need to be made for him to miss the NBA Summer League, which takes place July 12-22 in Las Vegas.

The men’s national team is scheduled to open camp in late June in Toronto, head to Las Vegas on July 8 and then leave for Europe after playing the United States on July 10. The Summer Olympics basketball schedule runs July 27 to Aug. 10.

The Kings’ playoff run could add further complications to the timeline. Sacramento is ninth in the Western Conference and has clinched a play-in berth.

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

Canadiens recall defenceman Logan Mailloux from AHL

SportsNets - Mon, 04/15/2024 - 20:45

Editor’s Note: The following story deals with sexual assault, and may be distressing for some readers.

If you or someone you know is in need of support, those in Canada can find province-specific centres, crisis lines and services here. For readers in America, a list of resources and references for survivors and their loved ones can be found here.

The Montreal Canadiens have recalled defenceman Logan Mailloux from the AHL’s Laval Rocket, the team announced Monday.

The Canadiens play their regular-season finale on Tuesday when they host the Detroit Red Wings.

The Canadiens’ selection of Mailloux in the first round (31st overall) of the NHL Draft in 2021 received backlash because he had been convicted in Sweden in 2020 for sharing, without consent, a photo of a woman performing a sex act.

Prior to being chosen, Mailloux had said he didn’t deserve the honour or privilege of being an NHL draft pick and removed himself from the draft. His comments came after news emerged that — while playing in Sweden in late 2020 — he secretly photographed an 18-year-old woman who was engaged in a sexual act with him, and then shared the image with his teammates without her consent. Mailloux was charged under Swedish law with defamation and offensive photography, and fined the equivalent to $1,650.

Mailloux had his eligibility to play in the NHL restored on Aug. 23 of last year.

In a statement Tuesday, the NHL reconfirmed Mailloux is eligible to play.

“We have met with Logan Mailloux multiple times over the course of the last eight to 10 months,” the statement reads. “We are comfortable that he recognizes the gravity of his prior conduct and is committed to making better and more responsible decisions in the future.”

In 70 AHL games this season, Mailloux had 14 goals and 47 points to rank among the league leaders in defence scoring.

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

NHL Roundup: Four teams still fighting for final playoff spot in East

SportsNets - Mon, 04/15/2024 - 20:18

PITTSBURGH — Sidney Crosby scored his 42nd goal and added an assist as the Pittsburgh Penguins preserved their playoff hopes with a 4-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Monday night.

Erik Karlsson also had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, and Reilly Smith and Emil Bemstrom also scored. Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves while making his 12th straight start for Pittsburgh, which remains one point behind Washington and Detroit for the Eastern Conference’s second wild card.

Filip Forsberg scored his franchise-record 48th goal and Gustav Nyquist added his 23rd but playoff-bound Nashville let a chance to lock up the Western Conference’s top wild card get away. Juuse Saros stopped 34 shots but the Predators finished just shy of the seventh 100-point season in the franchise’s 25 seasons. Vegas can pass Nashville for the seventh seed in the West by winning its final two games against Chicago and Anaheim later this week.

CAPITALS 2, BRUINS 0

John Carlson scored another big goal, Charlie Lindgren stopped all 16 shots he faced and the Washington Capitals moved another step closer to the playoffs by beating the Boston Bruins 2-0 on Monday night.

Nic Dowd sealed it with an empty-netter with 11.7 seconds left, and now a win at Philadelphia on Tuesday night would put Washington back in the playoffs, regardless of other results around the NHL. The Capitals, if they make it, would be the second wild card in the Eastern Conference after the New York Islanders clinched third place in the Metropolitan Division.

Boston also still has something to play for in its regular-season finale Tuesday night at home against Ottawa: the Atlantic Division title, with Florida just one point back in the standings. The Bruins could have wrapped it up by beating the Caps, but couldn’t match the urgency of an opponent fighting to for its playoff life.

ISLANDERS 4, DEVILS 1

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NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Kyle Palmieri and Brock Nelson each had a goal and an assist and the Patrick Roy-led New York Islanders clinched one of the two remaining playoff berths in the Eastern Conference with a victory over New Jersey.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Kyle MacLean also scored as the Islanders secured third place in the Metropolitan Division and earned their fifth postseason berth in the six seasons. Semyon Varamov made 23 saves for his fifth straight win and helped New York extend its point streak to eight games (7-0-1).

Timo Meier scored for the Devils, who missed the playoffs a year after posting a franchise-record 112 points. Jake Allen had 14 saves in New Jersey’s final game of the season.

SABRES 4, LIGHTNING 2

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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Dylan Cozens scored twice and Buffalo concluded another disappointing season with a win over the playoff-bound Tampa Bay.

Jordan Greenway and Zach Benson also scored for the Sabres, who will miss the playoffs for an NHL-record 13th consecutive season.

Lightning captain Steven Stamkos reached the 40-goal mark for the seventh time in his NHL career, Erik Cernak scored midway through the third period and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 31 saves for Tampa Bay, which is assured of finishing as the first wild card in the Eastern Conference.

RED WINGS 5, CANADIENS 4, OT

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Lucas Raymond scored 4:35 into overtime after he tallied a game-tying goal with 1:17 left in regulation, lifting Detroit to a comeback win over Montreal.

Detroit drew iron on two shots in overtime before Raymond’s shot from the right circle got past Sam Montembeault.

Brendan Gallagher scored two goals and Montembeault stopped 30 shots for the Canadiens, who scored two early goals and were ahead 4-1 late in the second period.

RANGERS 4, SENATORS 0

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NEW YORK (AP) — Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist, Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, and the New York Rangers beat Ottawa on Monday night to clinch the Presidents’ Trophy for the NHL’s best regular-season record.

Jack Roslovic, Adam Fox and Alexis Lafreniere also scored, and Chris Kreider had two assists as the Rangers won their league-best 55th game and finished with 114 points — both franchise records — and will have home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

New York won for the fifth time in seven games and went 26-7-1 in their last 34 games. They previously won the Presidents’ Trophy in 1991-92, 1993-94 — when they won the Stanley Cup for only time since 1940 — and 2014-15.

WILD 3 KINGS 1

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist, and Minnesota beat Los Angeles.

Matt Boldy and Ryan Hartman also scored for the Wild, who had been outscored 13-3 in their previous two games against the Kings. Filip Gustavsson made 28 saves.

Blake Lizotte scored and Cam Talbot allowed three goals on 25 shots as the Kings lost firm control of their path to third place in the Pacific Division. They are one point ahead of Vegas, which has a game in hand.

—

OILERS 9 SHARKS 2

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EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Warren Foegele scored twice and Adam Henrique and Dylan Holloway each had a goal and two assists as Edmonton beat San Jose Sharks.

Connor McDavid had a goal and added his 100th assist of the season, becoming just the fourth player in NHL history to hit the milestone behind Wayne Gretzky (11 times), Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr.

Corey Perry, Cody Ceci, Evan Bouchard and Zach Hyman all scored to help the Oilers snap a two-game losing streak. Edmonton has gone 11-1-2 in its last 14 home games. Stuart Skinner finished with 19 saves.

Danil Gushkin and Fabian Zetterlund scored for the Sharks, who have lost four of their last five. Devin Cooley was pulled with 6:11 left in the second period after giving up eight goals on 22 shots. Georgi Romanov came on and stopped 16 of the 17 shots he faced.

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