TORONTO — “Not your typical exhibition game,” comes the prediction from Sheldon Keefe, and he’s preaching to the choir.
The Toronto Maple Leafs head coach is looking forward to Tuesday night’s 8 p.m. ET puck drop against the Montreal Canadiens almost as much as you are.
Has a meaningless hockey match ever been packed with so much meaning, so much anticipation, so much mystery?
“The biggest question of all is, what is it going to feel like being on the ice or on the bench in the game environment within the arena?” Keefe says. “We’re excited for that and then, of course, just really starting to focus in on our opponent in Columbus. That’s an exciting process in itself.”
The Maple Leafs will be visitors in their own home Tuesday, as they make the five-minute walk south from their cave in Royal York Fairmont to Scotiabank Arena.
“We’re really hungry to start this thing up. We’re hungry to prove ourselves out here. We want to make sure we’re ready to go,” Mitch Marner says. “It starts (tonight) here against Montreal.”
Here are seven things for Maple Leafs fans to keep an eye on as hockey finally, joyfully, cautiously — but actually! — returns.
Livestream the Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, plus every game of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sportsnet NOW.
Nick Robertson Mania runs wild
Every shift will be a referendum on the 18-year-old’s readiness for the showtime lineup.
Robertson practised again Monday on the left flank of the third line, centred by Alexander Kerfoot, with camp standout Kasperi Kapanen chugging down his preferred right side.
So, what does Robertson need to accomplish in his first-ever taste of pro hockey to boot Pierre Engvall or Frederik Gauthier off the Game 1 roster?
“He needs to look comfortable. He needs to make an impact on the game, be it through his work ethic and enthusiasm and his ability to create offence and capitalize when he gets chances,” Keefe says. “Really looking to see can he look like himself and play what I suspect is going at the highest calibre of game that he’s played in.”
Keefe insists he won’t be catering his lineup to his opponent (yet) and wants to throw the best units available over the boards, but he also wants to do what’s best for Robertson’s development.
Conversely, Columbus coach John Tortorella will tell you he absolutely is looking to insert some of his faster talent, particularly up front, so the Jackets can keep pace with their speedy foes.
Toronto’s Engvall dropped to Line 4 and Gauthier was the odd man out in Monday’s line rushes, but don’t read too much into that.
The Leafs will be permitted to dress 13 forwards and seven defencemen (Martin Marincin gets the nod over Rasmus Sandin) Tuesday night to help with the coaches’ decisions. Make no mistake: Robertson’s fate is the biggie.
“Hopefully brings a little kick to our team and a boost with his energy,” Marner said Monday.
Injury watch on high alert
Mike Tyson vs. Shark will be the next time we witness an exhibition as fierce as the ones the NHL has on tap this week.
Shrewdly pitting archrivals against each other to amplify these one-off tune-up games — Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia, Edmonton vs. Calgary, Tampa Bay vs. Florida, New York vs. New York, Dallas vs. Nashville, St. Louis vs. Chicago, et al. — we are finally given a Montreal-Toronto match that (kinda sorta) has some playoff implications.
“All these exhibition games are gonna be pretty intense and pretty up-tempo,” Zach Hyman says. “I don’t think anybody’s gonna be holding back.”
Compared to the usual late-September yawners, these intrasquad scrimmages will be rammed with A-list rosters and could serve as tone-setters for future matchups.
With the actual play-in series starting a mere four days hence, players will try to show their benches they’re already in go mode, while praying to avoid a dislocated shoulder or reaggravating an ailment they’ve been protecting in camp.
“That the game itself is going to happen on the eve of the playoffs in essence, the on-ice game itself might be difficult to get through. Of course, nobody on either team is going to want to be getting hurt. So, you have the balance of trying to get your game better and get your game right,” said Keefe, who sees value in his club getting a trial run as visitors in their own building Tuesday.
Different dressing room, different bench and penalty box, no last-change advantage, no Hall & Oates serenade after each goal scored by the Blue and White….
“All those types of things,” Keefe said. “There’s a lot of stuff happening there that it’s important for us to live that one time before we do it for real.”
How’s the goalie lookin’?
Much like Montreal and unlike Columbus, there is no intrigue surrounding the Leafs’ starter of choice.
That said, Frederik Andersen is a notoriously slow starter. Every goal against will get dissected like a Grade 10 biology class frog.
Keefe has had to juggle netminders in past best-of-five series with the AHL Marlies. He is taking a one-game-at-a-time approach this week and doesn’t want to publicly discuss the length of Andersen’s leash.
“Anytime you go into a series with any sort of strategy on what to do if things don’t work out for your goalie, you’re not setting yourself up for success,” Keefe says. “Our goalie is going to be ready to go.”
Andersen, a Bauer guy throughout 2019-20, experimented with an unlabelled brand’s pads in camp and commissioned a fancy new mask design for his return to play (note the Lego-themed nod to his homeland of Denmark). He says feeling comfortable in one’s gear means “everything” to a goaltender.
How clean are the breakouts?
Trusting their creativity in the offensive zone, Keefe & Co. devoted camp’s focus to implementing defensive tweaks to their systems. The hope is they’ll be more responsible without the puck and exit their own zone quick and with control before the deadly Columbus forecheck takes grasp of the series.
“In terms of picking up the concepts and things like that we’ve seen pretty steady progress through the scrimmages and practice sessions,” Keefe says. “We think we are inching closer to what we would like that to look like. We’re anxious to see it in an exhibition environment against another opponent — that will help us as well.”
Boston’s Brad Marchand has predicted some sloppy hockey. Toronto, one of the most turnover-prone clubs standing, will only get torched by the counterattack if they fall prey to that sort of messiness.
The quest for the ultimate fourth line
In terms of evaluation, Keefe has consistently reminded “there’s more happening here”; despite the headlines, not all lineup spots revolve around Robertson.
While the top-six personnel have been etched in stone (for now), the fourth line is very much up in the air and has been a work-in-progress all season long. Pay attention to ice times and combinations in the bottom six.
“One decision might affect another, so we’re just trying to keep all our options open,” says Keefe, whose latest trial is Engvall between veterans Jason Spezza and Kyle Clifford.
“Engvall and Spezza, we wanted to get them some reps at centre ice and playing low in the defensive zone and those types of responsibilities that come with it. We want to remain as flexible as possible and remain as prepared as possible for any decision that we might make or anything that might happen outside our control that might force us to make a lineup change.”
Matthews and the conditioning question
The quotes out of all 24 camps promote hunger, positivity and fine fitness.
But that can’t really be the truth?
Surely a few of the 700 or so players about to engage in high-stakes hockey indulged in a few too many Miss Vickie’s over the fourth-month hiatus. We’ll get a sense of who’s flying and who’s wheezing in these test drives.
“I don’t expect perfection. Every team will be rusty when you don’t play for four months,” Montreal coach Claude Julien warns. “(The NHL) has tried to create some real interest by putting us against (our eldest rival). That does better let us prepare. Toronto is a little like Pittsburgh — a lot of depth and skill up front. They’ll attack us hard.”
Missing a chunk of Phase 2 due to his positive COVID-19 test and mandated quarantine, attacker Auston Matthews needed to play a little catch-up in Phase 3 but impressed with daily improvement.
“I’ve seen the progression with his conditioning and being able to sustain his play for longer,” Keefe said. “He’s made a ton of plays, he’s won the puck back with his skillset and his body; a lot of the things that I was hoping to see from him in this camp, I’ve seen. He’s the least of my worries at this stage.”
The challenge for the bench will be giving the Leafs stars heavy minutes to prepare them for a playoff-like workload (see: bump-up shifts for the “All-Star Game line”) but not overdoing it to the point of unnecessary exhaustion.
“And then just what it’s going to feel like in that environment in terms of not having fans,” Keefe said. “Those are important questions to get answered and we’re fortunate to be able to have at least that one game to get that sorted out.”
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
