TORONTO — Few people picked the Toronto Raptors to do much this season.
But despite a banged-up roster, and boasting no bona fide superstars, the Raptors are poised to set a franchise-best winning streak. And the adversity they’ve faced this season makes it that much sweeter.
“Even though we’ve won 11 in a row, there was quite a few games in there I’m not sure we played all that great but we found a way to win, which is a good characteristic that we have,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said.
A victory over the visiting Indiana Pacers on Wednesday would stretch the Raptors’ league-high win streak to 12 games — one of the longest in Toronto pro sports history.
The Raptors won 11 consecutive games twice before: Feb. 26 to March 16, 2018 and Jan. 6-30, 2016. The Toronto Blue Jays have won 11 in a row five times. The Maple Leafs’ longest win streak is 10 games in 1993. The Argonauts won 10 straight in 1997. And the Toronto Wolfpack, the city’s trans-Atlantic rugby league team, saw its 23-game win streak end last weekend.
The Raptors’ sizzling stretch came despite missing several key players, and the injury misery continues. Marc Gasol reaggravated his hamstring injury and could be out until after NBA all-star weekend. Norm Powell broke a finger last weekend, and had it heavily bandaged at Tuesday’s practice.
The only positive update was that Rondae Hollis-Jefferson could return from a sprained ankle Wednesday.
“We were healthy for like three, four games?” Pascal Siakam said. “It’s not funny, but it’s like man, we can’t catch a break. It’s tough but things like that happen and I think one of the things that we’ve been able to do is next man to step up and play at a high level.”
The Raptors could be in tough against an Indy team that’s flown under the radar in the Eastern Conference, sitting just five games behind Toronto.
Two-time all-star Victor Oladipo also returned last week after sitting out a calendar year with a major knee injury he suffered against the Raptors. Oladipo was chasing down Siakam when he fell awkwardly in January of 2019.
“It’s great to see him back,” said Raptors coach Nick Nurse. “He’s a great person, really great player in this league, great to see him back but we’ve got to do our work to get ourselves ready for him.”
Raptors guard Kyle Lowry texted Oladipo after his return last week — he scored a game-tying three-pointer in Indy’s win over Chicago — saying “welcome back.”
“He’s not in a rhythm yet, so that’s good. Hopefully he stays out of rhythm,” Lowry said of facing Oladipo. “But I’m happy any time a guy like that comes back, a good guy, a guy who worked so hard to become who he was. I’m happy for him, honestly.”
The Raptors face the Pacers in consecutive games, they travel to Indy on Friday a day after Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.
Raptors president Masai Ujiri was busy at this time last year, manoeuvring to pull the trigger on the deal that sent Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright and CJ Miles to Memphis for Gasol.
Are there immediate changes coming for Toronto?
Nurse, for one, said he believes in the group of players he has now.
“I think there’s guys that have certainly raised their own profile which has in turn raised the profile of our team. I think we’ve developed a bit of a bench, as well, which we can count on, right?” he said. “Some of those guys don’t even get to play now and we can still count on them when we need to.
“And the other thing I would say is I trust Masai, Bobby (general manager Bobby Webster) and the front office, if they see a move they think would help us, and they make it, we’re certainly behind them in that and we make the best we can to put the best team on the floor and put them in the best positions to succeed.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2020.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
