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Tickets still available as ‘Messi Mania’ visits CF Montreal; club expects sellout

Fri, 05/10/2024 - 15:48

Tickets are still available for “Messi Mania” in Montreal — if you’re willing to pay up.

Montreal hosts Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami CF in Major League Soccer action Saturday at Stade Saputo as the global icon makes his first professional trip to Canada.

As of late Friday afternoon multiple sections at the 19,619-capacity venue had more than 40 seats remaining (not including resale tickets) and one section had more than 75.

The cheapest ticket available was a single seat at $325, otherwise tickets were priced at $495 and higher, going up to $729. There is no guarantee Messi plays, but the 36-year-old Argentine superstar is healthy and expected to feature in the match.

“I’m not surprised to see the fact that there are still tickets left a day before the event,” Jonah Presser, director of communications for CF Montreal supporters’ group 1642MTL, said Friday.

“It shows that CF Montreal overestimated their market in terms of being able to sell out the venue at the prices that they sold the tickets.”

CF Montreal president Gabriel Gervais said Friday, however, that he expects a sellout come Saturday.

“In normal times, we usually sell a large percentage of individual tickets 48 hours before the match,” Gervais said. “We are confident we’ll see a full house.”

Resale company Vivid Seats said Saturday’s match was trending as the “hottest” Miami ticket this season with an average cost of $465.

Messi — widely considered one of the greatest players of all time — took the North American soccer scene by storm when he left Europe to join Miami last year, filling stadiums despite the astronomical prices wherever he went.

In February, two CF Montreal supporters’ groups — 1642MTL and Collectif Impact Montréal — took issue with the rise in ticket prices for the Inter Miami match. The groups stated the club intended to charge $449 plus taxes in the designated supporters’ section, a departure from the usual $30 to $35 pricing.

“The prices haven’t budged and we’ve said since the beginning that price has been the main detractor for people to be able to come to the game,” Presser said. “It’s not going to change day to day that a normal person is going to have $450 to spend from one day to another unless they win the lottery.”

CF Montreal announced on Jan. 18 that it had sold out 15,000 season tickets — starting at $444 — for the first time since the club joined MLS in 2012. The club then released a six-game bundle — which included Inter Miami’s visit — starting at $750. That package sold out on Feb. 14.

Elsewhere in Canada, tickets start at $329, including taxes and fees, for Miami’s meeting with the Vancouver Whitecaps on May 25. Toronto FC only had resale tickets available on Ticketmaster for Miami’s BMO Field visit on Oct. 5, starting at $333.

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Canadian Tajon Buchanan scores first goal with Inter Milan in win over Frosinone

Fri, 05/10/2024 - 15:27

FROSINONE, Italy — Serie A champion Inter Milan beat up Frosinone 5-0 and left the lowly home side sweating over possible relegation on Friday.

With two weeks of the season remaining, six teams are still hoping to avoid joining Salernitana in the second tier.

Frosinone is 16th on the 20-team table, two points above the relegation zone. It has two games left, while teams above and below it have three. The result ended Frosinone’s six-game unbeaten run.

Davide Frattesi scored Inter’s first-half opener and Marko Arnautovic made it 2-0 after an hour. Canadian midfielder Tajon Buchanan got the third with his first goal for the club. Lautaro Martinez’s left-foot shot was his 24th goal of the league. Marcus Thuram completed the rout with a nice lob.

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

Will Tavares remain as captain in last year of his contract?

Fri, 05/10/2024 - 15:23

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Canadian Tajon Buchanan scores first Serie A goal for Inter Milan

Fri, 05/10/2024 - 15:18

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Vancouver Canucks recall 13 players from AHL Abbotsford

Fri, 05/10/2024 - 15:16

The Vancouver Canucks recalled 13 players from their American Hockey League affiliate in Abbotsford ahead of Game 2 Friday against the Edmonton Oilers.

Abbotsford was swept in three games during its best-of-five series against the Ontario Reign in the Pacific Division semifinals of the Calder Cup.

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Among those called up include Linus Karlsson, who led Abbotsford in scoring this season with 60 points in 60 games, and Arshdeep Bains, who finished second with 55 points in 59 games.

Danila Klimovich, Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Vasily Podkolzin, Aatu Raty and Max Sasson were the other forwards recalled alongside defencemen Nick Cicek, Matt Irwin, Cole McWard, Elias Pettersson and Christian Wolanin, plus goaltender Zach Sawchenko.

The Canucks completed a 5-4 comeback victory Wednesday night to take Game 1 in their second-round series against the Oilers.

Watch Game 2 live on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+, starting at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.

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

Carlos Brathwaite enjoying Blue Jays experience on Cricket Night

Fri, 05/10/2024 - 14:43

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Djokovic needs medical attention after getting knocked on head by water bottle

Fri, 05/10/2024 - 14:38

ROME — Novak Djokovic said he was “fine” after accidentally getting knocked on the head by a water bottle after a win at the Italian Open on Friday.

A man was leaning over the railing to hand Djokovic a notebook for a signature and an aluminum-type water bottle fell out of his backpack and hit the top-ranked player on the top of his head.

“Thank you for the messages of concern. This was an accident and I am fine resting at the hotel with an ice pack,” Djokovic posted on X. “See you all on Sunday.”

After getting hit, Djokovic placed both of his hands on his head and then curled up on the ground as a security guard shielded him. Then he was helped down the tunnel into the locker room.

Djokovic had a bump on his head and he was checked by doctors, tournament organizers said. He did not hold his usual post-match news conference.

“While leaving center court after his match, Novak Djokovic was hit on the head by a water bottle while signing autographs. He received medical attention and has already left the Foro Italico to return to his hotel. His condition is not a cause for concern,” organizers said in a statement.

Djokovic had a bit of blood on his head but did not require stitches, Italian Tennis Federation spokesman Alessandro Catapano said.

“He was upset, but he seems OK,” Catapano said. “We’re also very upset about what happened and we are trying to figure out who it was and understand the dynamics.

“The police came and asked for information but the person who did it had already left,” Catapano added. “We’re going through all of the video and camera angles to see if we can determine what exactly happened.”

The incident occurred shortly after Djokovic’s 6-3, 6-1 win over French qualifier Corentin Moutet in his opening match. The 24-time Grand Slam champion was returning after nearly a month off.

Djokovic has a day off before his next scheduled match at the clay-court tournament on Sunday.

The 36-year-old Serb is preparing to defend his title at the French Open, which starts May 26.

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Blue Jays’ Springer out due to sickness, Schneider to bat leadoff vs. Twins

Fri, 05/10/2024 - 14:15

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder George Springer is dealing with an illness and will not be in the starting lineup Friday against the Minnesota Twins.

The Blue Jays have moved Davis Schneider into Springer’s leadoff spot with Cavan Biggio handling duties in right field.

Manager John Schneider appeared on Blair & Barker ahead of the game and discussed the changes to the order.

“We’re at the point in the year, I think, with everyone, not just George, where we have to find ways to score more runs consistently and whoever that shakes out is how it shakes out,” he said. “So, I think right now, George, he’s not in the lineup tonight. He’s still kind of battling some sickness like a lot of guys are, myself included. We’re going to give Schneider a go at the one hole and see how it unfolds tonight against a good pitcher.

“I’ve been saying it for a long time, there’s nothing set in stone. You’re just trying to adjust and use your eyes and try to see how we can get more runs on the board consistently.”

Springer, 34, has struggled to start the season with a .206/.278/.298 slash line including a .125 batting average with runners on base. Schneider doesn’t see a difference with the way Springer has been hitting with or without runners on, though, and believes he’s “been a little bit unlucky.”

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“I think we can all say that, whether it’s with guys on or not, and we’re talking about a really good player,” he said. “We get the fact that, yeah, sure, he’s getting older. He and we hear the outside noise, but I don’t think his at-bats are drastically different whether our guys are on. He just hasn’t gotten the production either he or we hoped for at this point.

“Counting on him to continue to work on it, continue to understand how pitchers are attacking him right now and make the proper adjustments.”

Meanwhile, Davis Schneider has avoided the sophomore jinx, getting out to a solid start with a .275/.383/.475 slash line, three home runs and 13 RBIs.

John Schneider gives credit to the 25-year-old for re-inventing himself year after year and not being afraid of making adjustments that continue to this day.

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“He’s still doing it right now at the big-league level, whether it’s with his pitch selection, whether it’s with his stance, his setup, he’s still evolving with what he’s seeing right now,” he said. “When you look at him, he’s a guy that came over to some big-league games in spring and we joked with him all camp this was the first big-league camp he got invited to officially. You love hearing, you love seeing those stories unfold, and then from that you love watching a player, a young player, really, trying to keep evolving with what’s happening in real time.”

The Blue Jays will also get a boost to their bullpen as Yimi Garcia is expected to return from a back injury.

Garcia, who last pitched April 28, holds a 0.68 ERA with 16 strikeouts and has two saves over 13.1 innings in 13 games.

Toronto (17-20) hosts Minnesota (22-15) in the opener of a three-game series. Yusei Kikuchi (2-2, 2.72 ERA) will start on the mound for the Blue Jays while the Twins are sending Joe Ryan (1-2, 3.54) to the hill.

Watch live on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet+, starting at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT.

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

Oilers-Canucks Notebook: Will Draisaitl play? Can McDavid rebound?

Fri, 05/10/2024 - 14:06

VANCOUVER — Leon Draisaitl will be a “game-time decision” for Game 2, according to both the Oilers centre and head coach Kris Knoblauch.

“I’m feeling a bit better today. We’ll see how I feel tonight,” Draisaitl told reporters after an optional Oilers morning skate, in which he did not take part.

Knoblauch added Adam Henrique (ankle) into the conversation, when asked about his Game 2 lineup.

“Game-time decisions,” he said. “They will be coming to the rink and probably both partake in the warmup, then we’ll make a decision.”

Sam Carrick will take the warmup in case Draisaitl cannot play. We’ll assume that if Henrique can play, Connor Brown may fall out of the Edmonton lineup, but that is not certain.

Television editors have been scouring the Game 1 video to see where Draisaitl incurred what is believed to be a back injury of some sort. There was a small cross check from Nikita Zadorov, an awkward collision with an official, but nothing definitive that had Draisaitl in the Edmonton dressing room for the back half of Period 2.

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“It certainly was not a big play, because otherwise anyone … would have seen it,” said Draisaitl, who would not reveal anymore than that.

He says his team will be much better tonight than they were Wednesday.

“There’s lots of room for improvement,” the Oilers assistant captain said. “We had spurts where we were okay. Maybe early on was probably our best little time of the game. But I think we all have a lot more, and we know that.”

Arty Lover

There really wasn’t much doubt about which Canuck goalie would play, but coach Rick Tocchet confirmed that minor-league callup Arturs Silovs will get his fifth straight start despite his poorest game of the playoffs during Vancouver’s Game 1 win.

After building a .938 save percentage in Round 1 against the Nashville Predators, whom Silovs closed out with a 1-0 road shutout one week ago, the 23-year-old was beaten four times on 18 shots by the Oilers and looked awful on Zach Hyman’s dribbler through his pads.

But the Canucks did rally to win and Silovs, after going 22 minutes without a shot, made four saves in the final four minutes, the best of them on a back-side one-timer by Draisaitl in the final seconds.

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Canuck veteran Casey DeSmith did nothing to lose the starting job except suffer a minor injury in Game 3 against Nashville, but has been healthy since Game 5 and is now watching from the bench.

“I thought he hung in there for us,” Tocchet said of his decision to stick with Silovs. “Goalies aren’t always going to be perfect. And I thought, you know, he’s a good choice. Casey could have easily started today, too, so they’re tough decisions. Really tough.”

Lining ‘Em up

The Canucks Game 2 lineup is expected to be identical to Game 1, while Edmonton has the aforementioned injuries to worry about. Judging by Thursday’s practice, Warren Foegele will jump up to the top line on Connor McDavid’s left side — assuming Henrique does not return to his former spot, of course.

If Draisaitl does not play, and we suspect he will, Carrick draws in.

Here’s how the Oilers are expected line up:

Foegele-McDavid-Hyman

RNH-Draisaitl-Kane

Holloway-McLeod-Perry

Janmark-Ryan-Brown

Ekholm-Bouchard

Nurse-Ceci

Kulak-Desharnais

Skinner

These are Vancouver’s lines:

Suter-Miller-Boeser

Joshua-Lindholm-Garland

Hoglander-Pettersson-Mikheyev

DiGiuseppe-Blueger-Lafferty

Hughes-Hronek

Soucy-Myers

Zadorov-Cole

Silovs

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Hit And Miss

Of the many elements the Oilers see as missing from their Game 1 performance, physicality is somewhere near the top of the list.

Off-ice officials credited Edmonton with 33 hits to Vancouver’s 36 in Game 1, but the guys — starting with Darnell Nurse — expected to be the most physical in fact were the least.

Should Edmonton be throwing more hits?

“If it presents itself,” Nurse said. “I don’t think we should go out of our way searching for it, looking for it. But as a group, we have to be harder in the corner, in our battles. That would probably eliminate some of the D-zone time we had (in Game 1).”

Between he, Cody Ceci, Vincent Desharnais and Brett Kulak, only one hit was registered on the Game 1 event summary. Does that need to change in Game 2?

“Yeah. I would say, for sure,” Nurse admitted. “Personally, I probably wasn’t taking the physical advantage when I could. That’s part of this time of the year.”

Desharnais leads this defence corps in hits-per-60 (9.75) in these playoffs. He had one hit in 17:50 of ice time in Game 1.

“I don’t think physicality is just shown in hits,” Desharnais began. “Box-outs, little cross checks, net front (presence), little slashes, they go a long way too. But we can definitely be a little more physical on their forwards. Create space for our goalie to see the puck better.”

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The McDavid Rebound

Great players don’t stack up poor games. They don’t allow themselves to struggle for long or fall into “slumps.”

If Sidney Crosby is quiet one game, he is likely to be deafening the next. The same applies to Connor McDavid.

And since the Oiler superstar was held Wednesday to a single, second assist and zero shots on goal for the first time in his playoff career, the Canucks are bracing themselves for Game 2.

“He’s one of the best players — is the best player,” Vancouver centre J.T. Miller, who frequently went head-to-head against McDavid, told reporters after the morning skate. “He’s going to play a strong game today. We understand that. I just think. . . don’t turn the puck over, and when they have it, you’ve got to be above him (on the defensive side). It’s not super confusing for us.”

Including three regular-season games when the Oilers were awful pre-coaching change, McDavid has just one goal and three assists in four games against the Canucks this season. In 10:58 of five-on-five ice time of McDavid versus Miller on Wednesday, shot attempts with 11-4 for Vancouver and expected-goals-for were 74 per cent for the Canucks.

“Honestly, you never really feel comfortable when you’re playing against him,” Miller said. “I said I didn’t want to look too much on the regular season, but I think we’ve had a little bit of success just because we’re sticking to the game plan. I thought last game was a good test where they’re up by three (4-1) and we could have got away from the game plan a little bit to try to get more (offence). And we stayed with it and were patient and got paid off.

“We know he bounces back better than anybody. We expect him to play a really strong game, so we have our hands full today.”

Anti-Embellishment

Tocchet has been crusading for weeks for the National Hockey League to crack down on embellishment as players try to dupe referees into calling penalties. There have been several embellishment calls in the playoffs, including two on Thursday when Dallas Star Mason Marchment and Carolina Hurricane Andrei Svechnikov were whistled for exaggerating contact, negating what would have been power plays for their teams.

“You’ve got to stamp it out,” Tocchet reiterated. “I don’t think a $1,000 fine or anything helps. I have a tough time telling guys to fake stuff. I really do. When I played, there’s certain guys who would embellish and, back in the day, I know some of the old-style refs back then, they would just say, ‘I’m not going to call a penalty (for) that guy again.’ I like that. That’ll stop it. I think it cheapens the game when you embellish.”

Amen.

More from Sportsnet

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

‘It’s a long series’: Oilers’ Kulak on preparing for Game 2

Fri, 05/10/2024 - 13:35

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

Shanahan considers changes to Maple Leafs core with own job in jeopardy

Fri, 05/10/2024 - 13:20

TORONTO — Surely, this was not the first time president Brendan Shanahan failed to be the most forthcoming man on the Toronto Maple Leafs dais, trying to soothe a furious fanbase.

This was, however, the first time Shanahan was not the most powerful man up there.

So, with his own job finally in real jeopardy, with a flesh-and-bones boss to report to, the Shanaplan has been mercifully crumpled up and tossed into the blue bin in favour of a much more dramatic and complicated blueprint. One that is being drafted on the fly and, perhaps, too late.

And yet, the man himself has miraculously survived another Game 7 blown lead.

His once-unwavering faith, his stubborn dream and his original vision have not.

“We will look at everything this summer, and we will consider everything this summer,” Shanahan said Friday, during his annual post-season post-mortem.

“Everything is on the table.”

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This signals a new, if unspecific, tone, an about-turn from an architect who has octupled down on a supremely talented quintet of players that has delivered all of one playoff series victory over Shanahan’s 10-season tenure.

A man who has routinely believed that some injection of mystical “killer instinct” or the right combination of inexpensive role players — some other team’s castoff captain or confident Cup champ — could push the chosen ones over the hump.

You think they’re treated like gods now? Just wait for the parades and statues and the confetti guns when they go the distance.

Trust us: One more pebble, and they’ll bust the door down. You’ll see.

The cavern between expectations and results begs a question: If Shanahan wasn’t such a shrewd politician and wonderful hockey player — one who casually name-dropped some of his Hall of Fame Detroit Red Wings teammates during today’s Leafs debrief — would he still be getting an 11th chance?

Of the few tangible truths we did learn from the brass’s 45-minute state of the union, Shanahan’s tepid return is one.

“Brendan Shanahan is the president of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s a champion. He’s a three-time Stanley Cup winner,” asserted Maple Leaf Sport & Entertainment CEO Keith Pelley, just four weeks onto the gig and sitting close enough to peer directly over his employee’s right shoulder.

Pelley is still poking around under the hood, and Shanahan is still under contract.

Whether the 55-year-old’s position gets renewed is up for debate and, it sounds, actually depends on the outcome of Leafs hockey games this time.

Kyle Dubas failed upwards, and Sheldon Keefe was severance-packaged out to sea.

You don’t need to be a proficient reader of tea leaves to understand that Shanahan is down to his last gasp.

We’re running out of scapegoats in these parts.

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“Good is simply not good enough: I can assure you, that is the collective position of ownership,” Pelley announced, with the kind of conviction that earns a man such a prestigious post.

“We need to win. Nothing else matters. No doubt, you’ve heard that before. But I am 1,000 per cent committed to it.”

In case there was any doubt that win means four rounds, not one, Pelley said a Stanley Cup was the “undeniable” goal — yet was smart not to box himself in by placing a timeline on that objective.

“The fans here not only deserve but demand a championship. And there’s no complacency,” Shanahan’s new boss said.

“We’re not here to sell jerseys. We’re here to win.”

To that end, there is now a realization that the status quo of Leafs roster construction — split between the all-stars and next fall’s recruitment of one-and-done hired guns — will no longer cut it.

“We’ve got really good players, but it hasn’t worked, right? It hasn’t worked,” said GM Brad Treliving, who did hit the right notes. “Everybody has to feel important.

“Winning teams have the unique ability for everybody to feel if they weren’t a part of it, they wouldn’t accomplish their goal. Regardless of minutes played, dollars earned, everybody’s important. And that is what is going to happen here.

“Forget about, on the first and the 15th, what you’re cashing. We are not going to have success here [unless] the guy at the top of the food chain or No. 23 on the list is important.”

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The obvious next step, aside from hiring a head coach (yep, Craig Berube keeps popping up as the rumoured front-runner), is broaching Mitch Marner and captain John Tavares about the uncomfortable idea of waving their no-move clauses heading into the final year of their deals.

Toronto must spread the wealth, share some of those “important” feels, and build a Cup-contending blue line, bottom six, and goalie tandem.

Shanahan was asked specifically about Marner and Tavares. His answer was slick and elusive and vague, but the bottom line is that everything will be considered.

He was asked if he still believes his core — Marner, Tavares, Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Morgan Rielly — can hang a banner.

Shanahan’s 63-second verbal tap dance around this straightforward yes-or-no query did not include the word yes.

How does one expect the players to drive directly to the net when their unctuous leader is so content to stickhandle around the perimeter?

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There is rich irony in Shanahan saying, “The ultimate responsibility is on me. The accountability is on me,” when the sword is falling on everyone but him.

And there is an element of self-preservation at work when the urgency to modify the approach only sets in when you’re the only suit left in the crosshairs.

One league source watching Toronto’s theatre from afar praised Pelley’s clarity and called Shanahan’s podium performance “a disaster.”

No matter. The president’s next actions will speak louder than any rehearsed soundbite or outside outrage.

So, we’ll see if the president can Gordie Howe hat-trick his way out of this mess, if he and Treliving — still relatively fresh to the curse’s sting, still excited to shape a more complete, grittier group — can mould an offensive roster into one that scores when it matters most.

“We seem to be turning the other team’s goalie into the first star every night,” Treliving said. “We’ve got to find a way to do the hard, unsexy things longer — and those things don’t require skill.

“We’ve got to dive into this thing.”

Shanahan was asked point-blank if he has only one season left on his contract, as has been reported. He didn’t answer. He likes secrets.

“My contract status will not be a distraction to me or the team,” Shanahan said.

The last Maple Leafs executive to make such a declaration is now working in Pittsburgh.

In Pelley’s meetings with the Maple Leafs ownership board, composed of Larry Tanenbaum and various people at Rogers and Bell, surely the subject of retaining Shanahan came up.

One owner emphatically told Pelley: “Just win.”

Shanahan is grasping his final stone.

For his own sake, he better knock that wall down.

More from Sportsnet

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

Maple Leafs management on Woll’s future, playoff injuries and coaching search

Fri, 05/10/2024 - 13:15

Change is coming to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

After a Friday press conference held by team management, delayed to allow for the first of those changes to drop — the firing of head coach Sheldon Keefe earlier this week — of that much, we can be sure. But with another Maple Leafs campaign lost, relegated to being simply another in a growing sum of post-season disappointments, the question now is what changes will be made, exactly. How significant the surgery will be on this annually underwhelming machine.

Taking to the podium Friday, the three central decision-makers now at the helm of this project — Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment president and CEO Keith Pelley, Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving, and team president Brendan Shanahan — offered the blue-and-white faithful a familiar cadre of off-season slogans: They will assess and evaluate, they won’t rush the process, they’re here to win.

Still, the trio did reveal some clues as to the direction the franchise intends to go this off-season, and beyond. As the club’s search for solutions gets underway, here’s a closer look at the key takeaways from the team’s address Friday.

WOLL REMAINS A KEY PART OF TORONTO’S GOALTENDING PLANS

The 2024 post-season served as something of a microcosm of netminder Joseph Woll’s Maple Leafs tenure: When the 25-year-old was in the cage, he was exceptional, but in the end, injuries prevented him from being in the crease for the most important game of the season.

It wasn’t the first time injuries have held Woll back from reaching his full potential. A third-overall pick who’s impressed in the AHL and NHL on numerous occasions — and, for a spell, took over as the big club’s No. 1 option this season — Woll’s injury history has some among the Leafs faithful questioning whether he can be relied upon as the team’s starter moving forward.

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On Friday, Treliving suggested the club still sees Woll — who has one year remaining on his current deal, set to pay him $775,000 next season — as the club’s starting netminder heading into next season.

“As far as our goaltending, I’ve got faith in Joe,” the general manager said. “Now, like everybody else, there are questions. The biggest question with Joe is he’s gotten injured a lot. We have to dig into that. Sometimes that happens, sometimes bad luck happens. Is there a training issue that we have to deal with? Do we need to change something in his off-ice routine? All those things are what we have to dig into.”

As for impending UFA Ilya Samsonov — who struggled this season after a standout debut in Toronto a year prior, but ultimately wound up as the club’s No. 1 again due to Woll’s injuries — Treliving stopped short of throwing his support behind the 27-year-old returning.

“I believe in Joe as a goaltender. We have to support Joe,” Treliving said. “Ilya’s contract is up, but we certainly have to try to put ourselves in a position where we don’t have the second-best goaltender in each of these series.”

While there may not be many signficiant changes in net, both Treliving and Shanahan suggested Friday that more crucial alterations could be coming to the Maple Leafs core. With Auston Matthews and William Nylander on the cusp of the first seasons of their recently-signed extensions, all focus has shifted to Mitch Marner and John Tavares, who will count a combined $21.9 million against the cap next season, before becoming UFA’s themselves.

“I believe that there are times where you talk about patience, and I still believe that there are times when patience is the suitable call. However, when you see patterns persist and the results don’t change, you have to adjust the way that you think about things,” Shanahan said Friday. “We will look at everything this summer, and we will consider everything this summer. All with the intention of the one thing that we are here for, which is to make the Maple Leafs better, and to win.”

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That said, Treliving made clear that making drastic changes to the club’s lineup won’t be a simple process.

“We’ve got really good players. But it hasn’t worked,” he said. “You can have the viewpoint and say, ‘We’ve invested in four players, we’ve got X amount of our salary cap tied up there, and if we spread it all around we’re going to have more depth,’ all these types of things — we are where we are, okay? This is the situation we’re in right now. Those are really good players.

“We’ve got to dig into why we’re ending up with the same result year after year after year, and adjust accordingly.”

TRELIVING SHEDS LIGHT ON ILLNESS, INJURY THAT SIDELINED MATTHEWS

Among the familiar issues that have consistently led to the Maple Leafs’ playoff downfall — a sputtering post-season offence and an ineffective post-season power play — key injuries made matters much worse for the club this time around, with Matthews, Nylander and Woll all missing significant time over the course of the seven-game series.

While the club made a point to keep details of said injuries quiet while the series was ongoing, Treliving revealed the details Friday:

Of Matthews, the GM said a potential head injury was the cause of No. 34’s absence from the lineup: “After Game 2, Auston became real sick. Our initial thought, with as sick as he was, was that it was food poisoning of some description. It was a virus that stuck with him throughout Game 3. He suffered a hit in Game 4 — and we don’t know if it was a combination of the sickness, the hit — but he was presenting head injury issues. So, we pulled him, and we weren’t going to clear him until those things cleared, which they did on the afternoon of Game 7.”

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As for Woll, it was a back injury that took him out of the lineup ahead of Game 7: “Joe Woll suffered an SI joint sprain, a sprained back, at the completion of Game 6, which made him unavailable for Game 7.”

Bobby McMann, who came alive for the Leafs down the home stretch of the regular season but wound up sidelined in the final few games of the campaign, missing the playoffs entirely, was dealing with a knee injury: “Bobby McMann suffered an MCL sprain during the home game against Detroit. … If the team had made it to the second round, McMann would have been available.”

Treliving added that depth forward Connor Dewar underwent shoulder surgery Friday, and is expected back in time for training camp.

PELLEY EXPLAINS RATIONALE FOR KEEPING SHANAHAN AS TEAM PRESIDENT

In the wake of Toronto’s Game 7 loss six days ago, speculation has swirled regarding the future of the decision-makers who have overseen the past near-decade of disappointment. With longtime GM Kyle Dubas ousted from the organization last year, and Keefe’s tenure coming to an end this week, all eyes shifted to Shanahan, who’s led this Maple Leafs project since 2014.

While many among the fanbase questioned whether Shanahan, too, should be removed from his position given the continued string of underwhelming playoff performances, the club president was on hand Friday to once again speak about the team’s plans moving forward.

According to Pelley, who began his tenure as president and CEO of MLSE four weeks ago, it was Shanahan’s history of success over the entirety of his big-league career, and his connection with Treliving, that allowed him to remain.

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“Brendan Shanahan is the president of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s a champion. He’s a three-time Cup winner,” Pelley said Friday. “What I saw in my four weeks with the two gentlemen beside me showed me that chemistry and unity is being built at the highest levels.”

Later comments from Shanahan himself hinted at further reasoning for him remaining as part of the Maple Leafs brain trust, as his history with the team’s current core may be useful in evaluating how to alter it moving forward.

“Brad and Keith are relatively new here, but I am not,” Shanahan said. “And I have seen some of these things over the years. I do believe there’s a time for preaching patience, and I do believe there’s a time where you have to examine some of the patterns that persist. So, everything will be on the table.”

Asked about his contract status, and whether he’s entering the final season of his current deal, as has been reported, Shanahan said simply it will not be a distraction for the team.

“I’m not going to get into the details of my contract. … It’s not a focus for me,” he said. “My last contract with the Maple Leafs was not addressed or renewed until a month before it expired — it was not a distraction to me then, and my contract status will not be a distraction to me or the team now.”

TRELIVING SAYS TEAM WILL NOT RUSH SEARCH FOR NEW HEAD COACH

Before any changes are made to the roster that Toronto will send over the boards come 2024-25, a decision must first be made on the coach that will lead them.

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In the wake of Keefe’s dismissal earlier this week, a number of candidates have been floated — top among those options seems to be former St. Louis Blues coach Craig Berube. However, with multiple NHL clubs sitting with vacant head coaching positions, the pressure is on for Treliving and Co. to make a move sooner than later, to avoid missing out on their preferred choice.

Speaking of the coaching search Friday, though, the general manager said the team must balance acting quickly with doing their due diligence.

“Listen, there are some good coaching candidates out there. We intend to explore them. I’m not going to get into specific individuals,” Treliving said Friday. “As far as the timeline, we want to be thorough, but we also understand there are other openings.”

Treliving also noted that the club’s coaching-search process began only Thursday, with the team’s focus having been on the post-season and Keefe’s future.

“I didn’t want to make emotional decisions, and it’s been emotional — it still is. I wanted to deal with Sheldon properly, and really be clear and think that process through, spend some quality time with him, and then once that decision was made, get onto the next step. We began that yesterday,” he said. “We’re not waiting, we’re going to be thorough — this isn’t something that’s going to be hastily done. But we certainly know that there are some quality candidates out there, and we want to get to them as fast as we possibly can.”

While team management didn’t offer any further information on the kind of coach they will be seeking out, Shanahan did speak to what he felt were key flaws in the way his team played this past season, hinting at what the club needs moving forward.

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“There are regular-season goals and then there are playoff goals, and I’m a firm believer that sometimes playoff goals come from playoff structure and defensive structure, limiting opportunities against, forcing teams to open things up against you,” Shanahan said while speaking of Toronto’s continued offensive struggles in the post-season. “It’s a question of coaching, it’s a question of messaging, and it’s also a question of personnel. When the playoffs come, we don’t get the goals that we’ve been getting in the regular season, so how do we change that?”

“It isn’t total goals, it’s how the goals are scored in the playoffs,” Treliving added. “You score differently in the playoffs than you do in the regular season. So, is it systematic? Is it personnel? It’s more difficult, you’re defended harder, you’re played against harder in the playoffs.

“We haven’t scored enough, our special teams haven’t been good enough, and we seem to be turning the other team’s goalie into the first star every night. So, I think it’s twofold. We’ve got to find a way — systematically, personnel-wise — to find a way to score more in the playoffs, and score those goals that are scored in the playoffs.”

In terms of how personnel decisions figure into that equation, Shanahan added the club’s next head coach will “have an important voice” in conversations of what needs to be done with the team’s current core.

PELLEY LAYS OUT HIS VISION, OWNERSHIP’S FOCUS FOR MAPLE LEAFS

Friday’s press conference also marked the first team address from Pelley since assuming his role at the helm of MLSE and the Maple Leafs in early April.

While he offered praise for Shanahan and Treliving, and for the potential of this current group finding success moving forward, Pelley made clear his position that the team has underperformed, and improvement in 2024-25 is a must.

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“Good is simply not good enough. I can assure you that is the collective position of ownership,” Pelley said Friday. “When I asked during the interview stage what was the definition of success to the owners, one of them said, immediately and emphatically: ‘Just win.’”

While Pelley stopped short of putting a timeline on this current group lifting the Stanley Cup, he maintained that the organization is focused on bringing a championship to Toronto.

“I’ve always believed that the formula for success is great skill combined with chemistry and unity,” he said. “In the midst of facing adversity in the first series, down 3-1, I got a full glimpse of the chemistry and unity that Brad and Brendan have. … Skill, chemistry and unity are what I believe the recipe for success is. And for me, ‘success’ is winning the Stanley Cup. Nothing else matters.

“There’s no complacency. We’re not here to sell jerseys — we’re here to win. And we’re going to do everything we possibly can to do that.”

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Korda shoots 66 to keep bid alive for sixth straight win, trails Zhang, Sagstom

Fri, 05/10/2024 - 12:58

CLIFTON, N.J. (AP) — Nelly Korda has no intention of letting anyone run away with the Cognizant Founders Cup and end her bid to become the first player to win six straight LPGA Tour tournaments.

Hear that Rose Zhang and Madelene Sagstrom.

Faced with a 10-stroke deficit starting her second round Friday in the event that honors the tour’s founding members, Korda shot a bogey-free 6-under 66 in cold, damp conditions to move into third place, four shots behind leaders Zhang and Sagstrom with 36 holes to play.

The round matched the best of the day, which Sagstrom established less than an hour earlier in the afternoon. Zhang, who tied Sagstrom’s tournament record with a 63 on Thursday, had a 68 playing in the morning.

The 20-year-old Zhang and the 31-year-old Swede, who are tied at 13-under 131 on the Upper Montclair Country Club, each have won once on the LPGA Tour. After failing to win in in first start, the 25-year-old Korda has done nothing but win, with her current run of five tying Hall of Famers Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam for the tour record.

Korda had six birdies, capped with a roughly 6-footer at the par-4 18th. Her four-shot deficit at the halfway point isn’t bad. She trailed by five shots at the Seri Pak Championship, by four at the Ford Championship and six strokes in the T-Mobile Match Play where the field was cut after the third round.

“I putted really well today,” said Korda, who started when Zhang finished and didn’t know how much ground she had to make up. “Even when I didn’t hit it close my putts just scared the hole. Overall very pleased with how I played today and hopefully I can take that into the next 36 holes.”

Zhang followed a tournament record-tying opening round of 63 with a morning-best 68 Friday. The two-time NCAA champion has not won since capturing the Mizuho Americas Open in her professional debut a year ago last year.

“”It’s really just me trying to stay as composed as possible,” said Zhang, who had five birdies and her first bogey. “I’m really enjoying it and for the most part I think there is always learning curves. So no matter what happens the next two days I’m going to take it all in.”

Zhang, who finished her college degree after playing in the first tournament of the season, is playing in her seventh event of the year. She has missed two cuts and and finished no better than fifth in the other four.

Sagstrom, who finished third here two years ago and 10th last year, had seven birdies, an eagle, a bogey and a double bogey in tying for the lead. Despite her success here, the Swede has to be considered the long shot among the leaders.

This the position everyone wants to be in,” she said. You want to be up on the leaderboard. You want to play against the best players. You want your game to be the best every week. If not, be considered one of the best players in the world. These are the reasons I play. This is what everyone is trying to do. It’s a good position to be in.”

Yan Liu of China was fourth at 138, one shot ahead of Mel Reid of England was at minus 5. Lydia Ko, who needs a win to qualify for the Hall of Fame, was 4 under along with a group that 2022 winner Minjee Lee and Hannah Green, a two-time winner this year. Defending champion Jin Young Ko was at 3 under.

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Sheldon Keefe’s end in Toronto is his chance at a new beginning

Fri, 05/10/2024 - 12:55

I was maybe a couple months removed from my days working shoulder-to-shoulder with Sheldon Keefe in the American Hockey League when I got one of the few texts he ever sent about my work in the media. Something to the effect of “Do you need to reference your time with us in every article? Shouldn’t your analysis be good enough to stand on its own?”

I recognize the irony of cashing in that chip one more time here, and to Keefe’s point, it wasn’t always necessary. But by then I knew enough about the media business to have some sense for what can make work stand out, and my direct involvement with the Leafs organization was certainly a unique angle I have no regrets about highlighting. It offered legitimate insight, and gave my analysis credibility after I left the Toronto Marlies staff to get back into the media side of the hockey business.

Both our communication about my work and my references to our time together faded as Keefe became the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, growing more comfortable in his own skin. He started caring less what was being said about himself and his teams, and more about just finding ways to win. He seemed to get a better handle on what he could and couldn’t control.

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That part about “growing more comfortable in his own skin” is at the heart of Keefe’s story as the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. You can’t talk about the man without talking about where he came from, and make no mistake, the early chapters of his story are tangled and dimly lit. By the time an injury cut his NHL career short, there weren’t a lot of open doors, so Keefe had to carve himself a window.

He used the money he made in just three partial NHL seasons to buy a Tier 2 team in Pembroke, where he made himself head coach and GM, and damned if he didn’t win and win and win until a path back to the OHL appeared.

Everyone was ready to look away from Keefe until he won so much they had to pay attention. He won five straight CCHL titles and eventually got hired by Kyle Dubas in the OHL to coach Sault Ste. Marie. He had success there too, and when Dubas got a quick opportunity with the Leafs/Marlies he brought Keefe along. And after more winning, it wasn’t long before Keefe was thrust into the national spotlight.

When I first got to know Keefe, he was still growing comfortable, not so much as a coach — he was very good at that — but at everything that came with it, particularly in Toronto.

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Old players would come by the coaches offices and want to slap hands and gossip and have a laugh, but Keefe was still pretty guarded at that time. Dealing with the media was still fairly new, and it was unlikely he’d had much experience with them treating him well. The AHL also comes with a very particular age group — boys becoming men — and that in itself was probably challenging.

But all along, what I learned about Keefe was that he tried his butt off. Yes, he was going to put the hours in on video and numbers and scouting and all those coaching things. But what I mean is how he worked on himself.

One summer I came back to learn he had been to several conferences, not on how to be a better coach, but how to better communicate and connect with people so he could be better at running a staff. In my second year, he documented how regularly he had personal conversations with individuals simply to make sure nobody was being overlooked.

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When Dubas hired Keefe to be head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, he was fully equipped to handle an NHL team as a head coach. On top of his professional diligence, Keefe’s a hockey diehard who lives immersed in the sport, a sharp guy fully capable of running a bench amidst the chaos. But I bet even he looks back at his opening months with the Leafs and acknowledges how hard it was to do some of the other parts of being the head coach. The sponsor handshakes and the carefulness in press conferences and the chummy conversations with former players and small talk with a huge staff…those weren’t strengths he arrived with, but he worked to get those skills where they needed to be.

Now leaving the Maple Leafs, you can’t help but notice how many people you hear say that Keefe was “not just a good coach, but a good man.” On our radio show, Nick Kypreos has talked about having seen the Leafs’ now-former head coach grow, and I see it too. He seemed more like himself more often, and that comes from a place of comfort and confidence.

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Keefe will get another job coaching in the NHL, and whoever gets him is likely going to get the best version of himself yet. Away from the pressure of his home province, with all the tools he developed and honed managing a complicated team in a churning, careening news market, he should be fully equipped to be the person he wants to be.

Maybe that means he wasn’t quite ready for all he was handed when he took over the Leafs, and maybe that’s part of the reason they fell short. Maybe that same reason, more broadly applied, is a major culprit for the lack of playoff success over the past five years. A first-time president in Brendan Shanahan ended up with a young GM in Dubas who handed the keys to a young coach trying to get a team with a young core to handle the NHL’s heaviest moments.

The lift was too big an ask.

Whatever the broader reasons for the Maple Leafs’ failings may be, I haven’t heard anyone say it’s solely Keefe to blame for how they fell short. But while he wasn’t the problem, he wasn’t able to be the solution either, and for that sin, the Leafs have gone searching for their next head coach.

It’s tough to guess what comes next, but all I know is that when Mike Babcock left Toronto, it felt heavy, like the end.

In his final statement video, Keefe was somewhere peaceful and serene, and he looked calm, as if a weight had been lifted.

Sheldon Keefe’s end in Toronto feels like his chance at a new beginning.

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Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl a game-time decision for Game 2 vs. Canucks

Fri, 05/10/2024 - 12:49

Edmonton Oilers star Leon Draisaitl is questionable for Game 2 against the Vancouver Canucks on Friday.

The 28-year-old German forward appeared to be in pain late in Edmonton’s dramatic 5-4 loss to the Canucks Wednesday. He didn’t participate in practice on Thursday or in the Oilers’ optional pre-game skate on Friday.

Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said Draisaitl was dealing with “cramping and equipment issues.”

“I’m feeling a little better today. Just see how I feel tonight. Leave it at that,” Draisaitl told reporters Friday morning.

“We all want to be out there and be playing. We love being in these moments. Obviously, it would take a lot (to keep me out). But we’ll see tonight.”

Knoblauch said Draisaitl and Edmonton forward Adam Henrique — who missed Game 1 with an ankle injury — would likely both take part in warmups before Friday’s game at Rogers Arena.

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The team has to balance a number of long- and short-term factors in deciding whether Draisaitl will play, Knoblauch said.

“One, you have to consider his career. And then also whereabouts we are in the series. It’s a Game 2 as opposed to a Game 7, he said. “There’s a lot of things to factor in right now.”

Draisaitl had two assists in Game 1 but was limited to 16 minutes and 43 seconds of ice time, well below the 20:41 he averaged per game in the regular season.

He has points in each of Edmonton’s six playoff games this year, with five goals and seven assists across the stretch.

Winger Connor Brown slotted into Henrique’s spot in the lineup Wednesday. Knoblauch said forward Sam Carrick will also warm up on Friday.

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Arturs Silovs to start in net for Canucks in Game 2 vs. Oilers

Fri, 05/10/2024 - 12:46

The Vancouver Canucks are sticking with goaltender Arturs Silovs for Game 2 Friday night against the Edmonton Oilers.

Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet confirmed S i l o v s w i l l s t a r t following the morning skate.

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Silovs allowed four goals on 18 shots during Game 1 Wednesday as the Canucks rallied from a three-goal deficit to win 5-4.

The 23-year-old from Riga, Latvia, holds a 3-1 record, 2.28 goals-against average and .908 in four games during the playoffs with all-star goaltender and Vezina finalist Thomas Demko out due to an undisclosed injury.

Watch the Canucks host the Oilers in Game 2 live on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ starting at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.

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Kylian Mbappe to leave PSG at end of season

Fri, 05/10/2024 - 12:19

PARIS — Kylian Mbappé confirmed what the soccer world was long expecting to hear, announcing on Friday he is leaving Paris Saint-Germain ahead of a widely expected move to Real Madrid.

Mbappé said on X that his final home game for PSG will be on Sunday against Toulouse.

“I never thought it would be this difficult to leave my country,” he said in the video post. “I think I needed this, a new challenge after seven years.”

An emotional-looking Mbappé gulped and paused for breath as he addressed PSG’s fans.

“It’s a club I will keep in my mind for my entire life. I will tell everybody I had the chance to play here.” He added, “You will stay in my heart forever,” then winked and raised a thumb.

According to sports daily L’Equipe, Mbappé went to meet and dine with PSG ultras known as CUP (Paris Ultras Collective) shortly after making his announcement. They were set to discuss tributes to him at Parc des Princes on Sunday night.

After that game, French champion PSG has league games to follow at Nice and Metz. He is once more the French league top scorer, with 26 goals.

The 25-year-old Mbappé now captains France and won the World Cup in 2018, becoming the second teenager, after Pelé, to score in a World Cup final. He top-scored at the 2022 World Cup, including a rare hat trick in the final.

Mbappé joined PSG in 2017 from Monaco in a deal worth 180 million euros ($194 million). He is expected to be bought by 14-time Champions League winner Real Madrid.

In 2021, PSG turned down a bid of 180 million euros from Madrid for Mbappé. He renewed his contract with PSG but didn’t take up the option for an extra year. Earlier this year, he told PSG he’s leaving at the end of the season.

On Friday, he confirmed it.

“I wanted to announce to you all that it’s my last year (season) with Paris Saint-Germain. I will not extend (my contract) and the adventure will come to an end in a few weeks,” he said. “First of all, I want to thank my teammates, all the teammates I had, all the coaches: Unai Emery, Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino, Christophe Galtier and Luis Enrique.”

He has 255 goals for PSG, many of them featuring his trademark move: Sprinting down the left wing, cutting inside a wrong-footed defender and curling the ball into the right corner with speed and precision.

While his prolific output helped to deliver six league titles in seven years, it also often masked glaring deficiencies that were exposed at the highest level in the Champions League.

On Tuesday night, he trudged off the field when PSG went out of the semifinals of the Champions League after losing to Borussia Dortmund 1-0 in each leg.

Mbappé’s departure will end the superstar era at PSG.

He arrived at the club along with Neymar, who cost a world record 222 million euros ($239 million). PSG was also a stop for Zlatan Ibrahimovic (156 goals for the club), Edinson Cavani (200 goals for PSG) and Lionel Messi (won his seventh of eight Ballon d’Ors).

None could win the Champions League with PSG, which has spent more than 2 billion euros ($2.15 billion) in transfer fees and paid massive wages. The fact Mbappé played under so many coaches also underlined the hire-and-fire attitude of the club’s cash-rich Qatari owner QSI, which took over the club in June 2011.

Mbappé starred for Monaco as an 18-year-old sensation when it reached the semifinals of the Champions League seven years ago. PSG beat Madrid to his signature then, but things seem to have come full circle, and he will leave as a free transfer.

By the time Madrid likely signs him, the Spanish powerhouse may have clinched a record-extending 15th Champions League title.

Madrid plays Dortmund in the final on June 1 at Wembley, one week after Mbappé’s last ever game for PSG in the French Cup final against Lyon.

It wasn’t the way he hoped to bow out of French club soccer.

But joining a massive club like Madrid surely gives him a better shot at winning the Ballon d’Or he so craves.

PSG has to find a new leader.

After Mbappé wears the No. 7 jersey for the last time, PSG will face a huge rebuilding task without him.

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All eyes on Shanahan, now feeling pressure he’s never felt before

Fri, 05/10/2024 - 12:05

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Friedman on Maple Leafs (home and NHL)

Fri, 05/10/2024 - 12:00

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Why contract clock is ticking for Maple Leafs and Marner

Fri, 05/10/2024 - 11:49

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