WINNIPEG — For a guy who sees himself at the Last Chance Cafe, Saku Maenalanen is doing everything in his power to earn a seat at the table — or at the very least, extend his reservation for a longer look.
Maenalanen came into Winnipeg Jets training camp as mostly an unknown, a forward who had a brief cup of coffee during the 2018-19 season, appearing in 34 games for Rod Brind’Amour’s Carolina Hurricanes, notching four goals and four assists while splitting the season in the American Hockey League with the Charlotte Checkers.
After spending the past three seasons playing overseas, Maenalanen returned to North America on a one-year, two-way deal with the Jets and a distinct goal in mind.
“I wanted to play in the NHL. This is my last chance,” Maenalanen said before suiting up in his second preseason game, a 5-3 win for the Jets over the Ottawa Senators. “I’m 28 years old. That’s why I’m here. I’m a much better player. That’s why I went back to Europe to play games, and now I’m ready.
“This is a good chance for me.”
Originally chosen in the fifth round of the 2013 NHL Draft by the Nashville Predators, Maenalanen believes his game has matured and that he’s ready to take the next step.
Only time will tell if he can convince Jets head coach Rick Bowness and the rest of the coaching staff that he’s ready to beat out one of the incumbents for the job or can vault himself past one of the prospects vying for a spot on the opening-day roster.
Maenalanen has been noticeable throughout training camp and had a solid debut against the Oilers in the 4-0 loss on Sunday night, doing enough to earn an unplanned second look on Tuesday.
“He’s a big, strong guy. He’s not afraid,” said Bowness. “He’s around the net. He did a good job on the penalty kill, so we tried to get him some more minutes.”
Maenalanen, who noted he’s often been used on the penalty kill when suiting up for the Finnish national team, seemed to take advantage of those roughly three additional minutes (moving him to 14:18 on Tuesday), producing two shots on goal and four shot attempts while being credited with two hits.
“The first thing that jumps out is he’s very skilled and has a great release,” said Jets forward hopeful Mikey Eyssimont, who meshed well on a line with Maenalanen on Tuesday. “You saw that on that toe-drag shot (in the third period). But he can put a little bit of grit into his game, as well. He’s (got) a big body and he uses it well.”
Eyssimont has also shown well through two games and was rewarded with a power-play goal on Tuesday, tipping home a one-timer from Kyle Connor.
Although Eyssimont is drawing attention for his pain-in-the-you-know-where style and dogged determination, he was filling in for Pierre-Luc Dubois on the Jets’ top power play unit against the Senators and made his opportunity count.
While Maenalanen is trying to force his way into the discussion for a roster spot, Eyssimont is likely battling to be one of the first call-ups, though his tenacity is sure to have caught the attention of the coaching staff so far.
Speaking of forwards leaving an impression, 2020 second-rounder Daniel Torgersson also had a night to remember, scoring twice and rattling a chance off the post as he attempted to complete the hat trick — sparking memories of Hannu Jarvenpaa’s preseason highlight pack from the Jets 1.0 era.
Torgersson got a taste of the North American game late last season, suiting up in four games with the Manitoba Moose to help get him ready for his first NHL training camp.
Suiting up for Sweden and capturing a bronze medal at the World Junior Hockey Championship in August also helped Torgersson get in the right frame of mind.
On Tuesday, Torgersson showed off some smarts in finding a soft spot in the slot, allowing Connor (who paced the offensive attack with a goal and three points) to find him for a perfect one-timer that opened the scoring, just 22 seconds after serving a minor penalty for tripping.
“I took a stupid penalty in the offensive zone and then the team had a pretty good PK. We killed the PK and then I don’t really know,” said Torgersson. “I just came into the offensive zone and (Kyle) Connor just passed me the puck and I thought, (expletive), I need to hit the net’ and I did it.”
Torgersson converted a pass from Alex Limoges on the doorstep for his other goal, then nearly wrapped up his first three-goal outing in recent memory.
“I hoped so, sometimes you get lucky, but other times you don’t have luck with you,” said Torgersson, asked if he thought the third-period chance was going in. “So next time.”
When you’re destined for the Moose like Torgersson is, doing enough to get that next game and survive the next round of cuts is all you can really focus on.
The blue line battle has been a topic of conversation and will continue to be throughout training camp as the jockeying for position continues.
It was an up-and-down showing for Ville Heinola, who got caught pinching on a goal by Tyler Motte on an odd-man rush, but also converted a perfect pass from Adam Lowry after a smart zone entry by Cole Perfetti.
Heinola showed some offensive flair, recording three shots on goal and six shot attempts to go along with two hits and three blocked shots.
Heinola, who played 17:34, is trying to make an impact but must show Bowness and associate coach Scott Arniel that his risk/reward quotient is at the right level.
Dylan Samberg, another candidate for a job on the back end, was mostly solid in his preseason debut.
Former Brandon Wheat Kings forward and Roblin, MB. product Jayce Hawryluk chipped a puck past Samberg on the Senators first goal from Cole Reinhardt, but that marker had more to do with Neal Pionk being caught out of position on the play.
Samberg ended up with four shot attempts, three hits and a blocked shot in just under 20 minutes of work, often looking like the player that was comfortable in his first taste of NHL action last season — when he overcame an injury on the opening day of training camp.
For those vying for a spot on the blue line or on the fringes of the forward group, the next step is to start separating yourself from the competition — something that hasn’t happened yet in the eyes of the head coach.
Bowness was unhappy with the Jets puck management and shift length during the first two periods.
“For a lot of guys, that was their first game but that being said, we have to play a lot faster than that,” said Bowness. “The two things that slow you up are long shifts and turnovers, and we were guilty of both tonight. Take out the Xs and Os and everything. If you want to stay out there for 55 seconds and you’re going to turn pucks over, you’re going to play very, very slow, which we did.
“In the third, we shortened the shifts up, we started going north and we looked a lot better. There’s a right way to play and it took us until the third to figure that out.”
The Jets are back in action on Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre, before returning home to host the Edmonton Oilers on the day they unveil Dale Hawerchuk’s statue.
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.
