CALGARY — Jay Woodcroft couldn’t say it enough times on Thursday, the day after the highest-scoring game in Battle of Alberta playoff history. The day after his two goalies let in nine.
“I was happy that we hung six goals on their starting goaltender on the road,” Woodcroft mentioned of the 9-6 loss. “We hung six goals on their starting goaltender in their building. That should be enough to win a game.”
Woodcroft might be facing a goaltending crisis. So, like any National Hockey League coach, he did what he could to shine the spotlight as far from his own crease as possible. Two hundred feet away, where Markstrom was well below average in Game 1.
But at least Markstrom lasted 60 minutes. And is anybody doubting that the Vezina candidate will regain his form in Game 2?
Then there’s Mike Smith, the modern-day Gump Worsley at 40 years old.
Smith whiffed on the first shot in Game 1, allowed a second goal at the 51-second mark, and by 6:05 of the first period he was pulling on a ball cap, yanked after allowing three goals on the Flames’ first 10 shots.
“It wasn’t an ideal start for our group,” said Smith. “We let each other down.”
Smith stunk in Game 1, but so did his team. He’s right — they did let each other down.
The team, we’ll expect, can put their defensive game back together. But what about the old goalie, who suddenly is being taxed unlike anything he has experienced in five seasons?
Here’s your salient stat of the day: The last time Smith started nine consecutive games was the opening of the 2017-18 season, ironically when he was a Calgary Flame.
This past season he did not start more than four in a row. Last season, no more than six. The season before that, four. The season before that, five.
In his eighth consecutive start in Game 1, Smith hit a wall.
Was it a one-off? Or is he tiring?
“No,” Smith declared Thursday. “It’s the playoffs. You want to play your best hockey of the year. It’s a long series. Stuff happens…”
Smith promises to bounce back in Game 2. Woodcroft went out of his way to announce Smith as his Game 2 starter, a vote of confidence to be sure.
Smith is the goalie here, for better or worse. But at age 40, he is being asked to play more hockey than he has played in years.
“It’s about staying the course and not letting games like that affect you mentally and physically,” said Smith, who did have most of the night off on Wednesday. “This is about as good as I’ve felt all season long. It’s getting the job done when you get the opportunity. There’s no panic in your game. We learn and move on.”
Look, everybody knew the Oilers were taking a chance when they went into the season with a goaltending tandem comprised of the 40-year-old Mike Smith and 33-year-old backup Mikko Koskinen.
Well, now is when we find out the answer to that plan.
General manager Ken Holland whiffed on free agents Markstrom and Darcy Kuemper, while Marc-Andre Fleury simply wasn’t interested in a trip to Oil Country. So, Holland went with the old two-goalie system, and when we say old, we mean old.
Edmonton’s goaltending has been just good enough this season, predicated on Koskinen spelling Smith off every three or four games. But because of injuries, since Smith’s arrival three seasons ago, Koskinen has actually had more regular season starts (102-94) and appeared in more games (109-99).
Suddenly, Smith is in uncharted territory, and the Oilers’ playoff hopes hinge on the 40-year-old recovering his game.
“The message from me is, I want to go out there and be the backbone,” Smith said. “Help this team stay calm, and show that with my play.”
The good news is, with age comes experience.
“I wasn’t very good earlier in my career (at recovering his game), which is why I probably bounced around a bit. Experience helps,” Smith said. “You can’t take back what happened in the past. I could sit here and boo-hoo myself, but there’s nothing I can do about it now. I have to think about what happens next.”
Same goes for his team, which rolled out a heinous defensive effort in Game 1. They got waxed 9-6 because the Oilers allowed 17 high danger scoring chances, a number that needs to get pared down by two-thirds.
Can Edmonton flush that effort?
“It’s probably easier actually just because we didn’t play well at all, right?” said Zach Hyman. “It’s wasn’t one of those games where it’s a tight one and you lose in overtime and think, ‘We should have won that game.’ This was just one you wash away. You’re down 1-0 get back to work.”
Back to work, with their fingers crossed that Smith’s game returns as well.
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
