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.
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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.”
VANCOUVER – As the Major League Soccer season ticks down, Vanni Sartini wants his Vancouver Whitecaps to make a declaration — the team is ready to compete.
“The time of hiding ourselves, I think it’s over,” the coach said after the ‘Caps earned a 2-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday.
“We need to really say that we are here to try to be at the ball until the end and trying to shoot for the highest position. That doesn’t mean that we’re going to make it, but we have the quality to do it.”
With seven games left on their regular-season schedule, the ‘Caps (13-8-6) sit in fifth spot in the congested Western Conference, just two points out of fourth.
Saturday’s loss officially eliminated the last-place Earthquakes (5-21-2) from post-season action.
Vancouver has been on a hot streak since returning from the Leagues Cup break and is unbeaten (3-0-1) in its last four outings across all competitions. The team has not allowed a goal in those matches.
“It’s the fact that we play really well,” Sartini said of the clean sheets. “We have the ball a lot, we finish our attack most of the time in their box. So it’s really hard for the other team to attack us. And then when they attack us, in the rare times that they arrive in the final third, we’re very solid.”
Recent additions have bolstered the team’s ranks, including the club’s newest designated player, Stuart Armstrong. The 32-year-old Scottish midfielder scored his first MLS goal Saturday.
Three minutes after coming on as a substitute for Alessandro Schopf, Armstrong gave Vancouver a two-goal cushion in the 87th minute.
Midfielder Pedro Vite dished a short pass to ‘Caps captain Ryan Gauld, who tapped it toward Armstrong. The former Southampton FC player then blasted a shot into the top of the net for his first strike in a Whitecaps’ jersey.
He was mobbed by teammates in the corner of the field.
“I think everyone was happy. Also for the first goal, but also that it was an important three points,” said Armstrong, who signed with the ‘Caps on Sept. 3.
“It kind of felt a little bit like last week, when we had a lot of chances and we didn’t get the three points. So today, I think everyone was just relieved to have that two-goal cushion.”
Vancouver was the dominant team from the outset Saturday and did not relent, outshooting the visitors 19-5 and controlling 54.1 per cent of possession.
Fafa Picault also found the back of the net for Vancouver, while Gauld contributed a pair of assists.
Whitecaps goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka stopped both shots he faced to collect his seventh clean sheet of the year, while Daniel made nine saves for the Quakes.
Gauld and Picault teamed up in the 22nd minute when Gauld curled a cross in and the Haitian striker headed it down toward the net, only to see Daniel catch a piece of the shot with his forearm and redirect it out of harm’s way.
The duo connected again in the 35th minute on a Vancouver corner. Gauld swung a ball in and Picault jumped up from the pack to send a glancing header in past Daniel for his ninth MLS goal of the season.
San Jose briefly appeared to level the score in the 68th minute when an unmarked Ousseni Bouda collected the ball, froze Takaoka and tapped a shot into the Vancouver net. An official quickly raised the offside flag and waved off the tally.
Daniel kept San Jose’s deficit to a single goal with a pair of solid stops in the 82nd minute.
First, the Brazilian ‘keeper dove sideways on his line to tip away a bomb from Alessandro Schopf. He was tested again on the ensuing corner and jumped up to send a header from Picault over the crossbar.
“I think we created a lot of chances again,” Gauld said.
“We probably should have put the game out of their reach sooner. But we’d be more worried if we weren’t creating the chances. Three clean sheets in a row in the league, I think it’s a big thing for us. And it gives us a good platform to go forward.”
NOTES
Vancouver played without leading scorer Brian White for a third consecutive game as the American striker works his way back from a concussion. … Gauld’s second assist marked his 15th goal contribution (six goals, nine assists) in his last 15 Whitecaps games across all competitions. … An announced crowd of 21,309 took in the game at B.C. Place.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps kick off a two-game road swing Wednesday against the Houston Dynamo. The Earthquakes host the Seattle Sounders the same night.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Not good enough. That was Arne Slot’s verdict after his first defeat as Liverpool manager on Saturday.
A shock 1-0 loss at home to Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League ended Slot’s perfect record since succeeding Jurgen Klopp at Anfield at the end of last season.
“We had a lot of ball possession but only managed to create three (or) four quite good chances, so that is by far not enough if you have so much ball possession,” said the Dutchman, who suggested his team should not be losing to the likes of Forest.
“If you lose a home game it’s always a setback, especially if you face a team … we never know, maybe they will go all the way to fight for Champions League tickets, but normally this team is not ending up in the top 10, so if you lose a game against them that’s a big disappointment.”
Slot won his first three games in charge, including a memorable 3-0 victory against Manchester United before the international break.
But that run came to an end after Callum Hudson-Odoi struck in the 72nd with a curling effort from the edge of the box and beyond goalkeeper Alisson.
Liverpool’s defeat leaves Manchester City as the only team with a 100% record in the league after a 2-1 win against Brentford kept the defending champion at the top of the table.
United won at Southampton 3-0 to end its two-game losing streak.
Unstoppable Haaland
Erling Haaland moved to 99 goals for City after scoring twice against Brentford.
The Norwegian’s double came after Yoane Wissa fired Brentford ahead with just 22 seconds on the clock.
Haaland scored his 98th and 99th goals in his 103rd City appearance in all competitions. And he was the width of the post away from his third consecutive hat trick after trebles against Ipswich and West Ham.
“He’s been really, really good. Yeah, I would say he’s the best (he’s been), but it’s only four fixtures (this season),” City manager Pep Guardiola said.
Haaland, who has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or, has nine goals in four league games. He has topped the league scoring charts in each of his two seasons at City since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2022 for $63 million.
Haaland’s first goal after 19 minutes evened the game following Wissa’s opener, which stunned the Etihad Stadium crowd. Haaland turned and swept a shot past goalkeeper Mark Flekken after a slight deflection off Ethan Pinnock.
He was then too strong for Pinnock when shaking off the defender and running through for his second in the 32nd.
He was inches away in the 81st; the shot came back off the post after beating the keeper.
Rashford snaps run
Marcus Rashford snapped a 12-game barren run in front of goal as United beat Southampton.
Rashford doubled United’s lead at Saint Mary’s after Matthijs de Ligt’s scored his first for the club. Substitute Alejandro Garnacho scored a third in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
The win came after back-to-back defeats for United.
Rashford hadn’t scored since March in United’s win over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarterfinals. He curled in a shot from the edge of the area to put Erik ten Hag’s team 2-0 up at Southampton in the 41st minute.
Ten Hag said it could be a turning point for the forward.
“For every striker, they want to be on the scoring list. Once the first is in, more is coming. Like a ketchup bottle, once it’s going, it’s coming more,” he said.
De Ligt, who joined United from Bayern Munich in the offseason, headed in from Bruno Fernandes’ cross in the 35th.
It could have been a different story if Cameron Archer converted a penalty for Southampton in the 33rd. Instead, his effort was saved by goalkeeper Andre Onana.
Newly promoted Southampton was reduced to 10 men when Jack Stephens was sent off in the 79th for a high challenge on Garnacho.
Villa comeback
After three straight defeats to start the league, Everton looked set for its first win when leading Aston Villa 2-0.
Goals from Dwight McNeil and Dominic Calvert-Lewin put Sean Dyche’s team in control until Ollie Watkins struck twice to even the game.
Jhon Duran completed Villa’s comeback and sealed a 3-2 win in the 76th to leave Everton rooted to the bottom of the table and the only top flight team without a point.
Late drama
Jean-Philippe Mateta converted a stoppage time penalty to salvage a 2-2 draw for Crystal Palace against Leicester.
Leicester led 2-0 at Selhurst Park after goals from Jamie Vardy and Stephy Mavididi.
But Mateta sparked Palace’s response with a goal in the 47th, a minute after Mavididi doubled Leicester’s advantage.
Conor Coady fouled Ismaili Sarr in the box right near fulltime and Mateta was cool enough to convert.
West Ham left it even later to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw at Fulham.
Danny Ings struck in the fifth minute of added time after Raul Jimenez’s goal looked like earning Fulham the win.
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, the manager of the month for August, was frustrated as his team was held to 0-0 at home by Ipswich.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
