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'An absolute rock': Little-used Halak comes up big for Canucks – Sportsnet.ca

Published

3 years ago

March 24, 2022

The Vancouver Canucks never had a problem with Jaroslav Halak. It is the bonus in his contract they couldn’t stand.

They tried for weeks to generate a trade market, ready to dump the goaltender in order to dump the $1.25-million bonus for Halak that will count against the Canucks’ salary cap next season — after his one-year contract has expired and he’s playing elsewhere.

But the appeal of Halak, awful in his only two starts in the seven weeks that preceded the National Hockey League’s trading deadline on Monday, was never enough to make up for dislike of his bonus.

And so, still with the Canucks, Halak on Wednesday played the first game of the end of his time in Vancouver and was brilliant during a 3-1 road win against the Colorado Avalanche.

The 36-year-old’s satisfaction with his performance, and the utter joy of teammates for him, was evident in the receiving line of hugs Halak received at the end of a win that was even more improbable than management’s failed trade mission.

Was it worth $1.25 million? Not yet.

Maybe a sad ending to the Canucks season can still be averted. Because if a team that looked as exhausted and unfocused as Vancouver did on a disappointing seven-game homestand that ended Sunday can go into Denver and justly beat the best team in NHL, holding Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar and the Avalanche without an even-strength goal, a playoff spot must still be at least possible.

Starting goalie Thatcher Demko, who had appeared in 19 straight games, will be back in the crease Thursday in Minnesota as the Canucks continue to try to beat odds and formidable opponents.

“Now that trade deadline is over, I don’t have to focus on anything else,” Halak told reporters after his first win since Jan. 31. “I’m here, and I just want to help the team because we are in a playoff push and we need to be playing playoff hockey from now on if we want to make it.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen, honestly. Am I going to be moved or am I going to remain a Canuck. Now that it’s done, I can focus on hockey and being here and try to do my best whenever I get a chance.”

Under the dire circumstances, it was probably Halak’s best game this season.

“It’s been (crappy), you know,” teammate J.T. Miller said of what Halak has endured the last couple of months. “We feel so good that he could play the way he did today. I mean, he was an absolute rock. He was on. You could just tell this morning. He had that aura about him that he was going to be a difference-maker today. And he played awesome.

“We’re all very happy for him and he deserves it. It’s been a long year. It feels like every time he goes in, we play like crap. So it’s nice to put a decent performance in front of him and then when stuff happened, he was there to shut the door. So it was awesome.”

The last of Halak’s 32 saves came in traffic against Mikko Rantanen with 30 seconds remaining and the Avalanche attacking 6-on-5. It allowed Bo Horvat to power his way to an empty-net goal that clinched it.

Brock Boeser broke a scoreless tie with a top-corner wrist shot 1:23 into the final period after Elias Pettersson forced a turnover, and Miller, who won a head-to-head matchup against MacKinnon at even strength, outbattled the Colorado superstar to sweep in the rebound from Tanner Pearson’s shot on a 2-on-1 at 3:15.

Colorado, which leads the NHL in points, is second in scoring and was 25-3-3 in Denver before Wednesday, generated its only goal on the power play at 6:15 of the final period when Nazem Kadri flipped a rebound over Halak.

MacKinnon took the initial shot, one of four he had on a night when the centre’s ice time of 25:36 was more than any Canuck defenceman.

“I was told I was going to match up against one of the best lines in hockey,” Miller said. “Like, that’s why I play. I want to be on against those guys. Being out there against them, I know it brings the best out of me. Not all the time are you going to hold that team to one goal. We just tried to rise to the occasion today. We needed a win. We’re still not out of it.”

Coach Bruce Boudreau said after the morning skate that the only people who believe the Canucks are finished in the playoff race are outside of the team.

After the game, he said it was the Canucks’ best performance since he became coach on Dec. 5. The team is 23-11-6 under Boudreau and is three points out of a playoff spot, although most of the teams it is chasing in the Western Conference have played fewer games.

“We used the word ‘committed’ before the game,” Boudreau said. “And every one of them was committed.”

“It seems like the harder our challenge, we play better sometimes,” Miller said. “That was the ballsiest effort we’ve had this season.

“We had everybody buy in today. When we do that, we win almost every single time. This is going to be an awesome road trip for us; I don’t think we’re done yet.”

After facing the Wild, the second half of the Canucks’ trip has stops in Dallas and St. Louis. Then Vancouver plays at home against the Blues, before home-and-away games against the Vegas Golden Knights.

The survival of the Canucks’ season hinges on these seven games.

“Nothing’s changed since Bruce came in,” Miller said. “We know we needed to win, you know, 70 per cent of our games or more the rest of the season to get in the playoffs. Nothing’s changed.

“Right when you start to think you’re out of it, you’re going to put yourself out of it. But there’s none of that in our room. We believe in there. It’s going to be hard, but it seems the harder it gets, the better we play and we kind of enjoy that.”

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Sports

Champions Trophy host Pakistan says it’s not been told India wants to play cricket games elsewhere

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.

“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”

Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.

The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.

Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.

“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”

Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup but all India games were played in Sri Lanka under a hybrid model for the tournament. Only months later Pakistan did travel to India for the 50-over World Cup.

Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.

“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”

The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.

“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”

Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.

“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.

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Dabrowski, Routlife into WTA doubles final with win over Melichar-Martinez, Perez

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.

Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.

The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.

The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.

Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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Winger Tajon Buchanan back with Canada after recovering from broken leg

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

Inter Milan winger Tajon Buchanan, recovered from a broken leg suffered in training at this summer’s Copa America, is back in Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname.

The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., underwent surgery July 3 to repair a fractured tibia in Texas.

Canada, ranked 35th in the world, plays No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg of the aggregate series is four days later at Toronto’s BMO Field.

There is also a return for veteran winger Junior Hoilett, who last played for Canada in June in a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Marsch’s debut at the Canadian helm. The 34-year-old from Brampton, now with Scotland’s Hibernian, has 15 goals in 63 senior appearances for Canada.

Midfielder Ismael Kone, recovered from an ankle injury sustained on club duty with France’s Marseille, also returns. He missed Canada’s last three matches since the fourth-place Copa America loss to Uruguay in July.

But Canada will be without centre back Derek Cornelius, who exited Marseille’s win Sunday over Nantes on a stretcher after suffering an apparent rib injury.

The Canadian men will prepare for Suriname next week at a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“We are looking forward to getting the group together again with the mindset that there is a trophy on the line,” Marsch said in a statement. “We want to end 2024 the right way with two excellent performances against a competitive Suriname squad and continue building on our tremendous growth this past summer.”

The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the two semifinals scheduled for March 20 and the final and third-place playoff March 23, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Thirteen of the 23 players on the Canadian roster are 25 or younger, with 19-year-old defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, currently playing for England’s Crewe Alexandra on loan from Bristol City, the youngest.

Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies captains the side with Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller adding veteran support.

Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Theo Bair are joined in attack by Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi.

Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old midfielder with Croatia’s Hadjuk Split, continues in the squad after making his debut in the September friendly against Mexico.

Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.

“A good team,” Osorio said of Suriname. “These games are always tricky and they’re not easy at all … Suriname is a (former) Dutch colony and they’ll have Dutch players playing at high levels.”

“They won’t be someone we overlook at all,” added the Toronto FC captain, who has 81 Canada caps to his credit.

Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands.

Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.

The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the United States and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF Nations League.

Canada, No. 2 in the CONCACAF rankings, drew Suriname as the best-placed runner-up from League A play.

Canada lost to Jamaica in last year’s Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament and finished fifth in 2019-20.

Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.

Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Joel Waterman, Laryea and Miller and Osorio took part in a pre-camp this week in Toronto for North America-based players.

Canada Roster

Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal (MLS); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United FC (MLS).

Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel. Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Bristol City (England); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).

Midfielders: Ali Ahmed. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Inter Milan (Italy); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Junior Hoilett, Hibernian FC (Scotland); Ismael Kone, Olympique Marseille (France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).

Forwards: Theo Bair, AJ Auxerre (France); Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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