Montreal Canadiens centre Christian Dvorak chases Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Mitch Marner along the boards during the first period at Bell Centre.David Kirouac/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
Growing up, like most any other hockey-playing teenager in Canada, Mitch Marner was a big fan of Sidney Crosby.
“He was the guy I always watched,” the Maple Leafs’ 25-year-old right wing said on Thursday. “He was always the guy you wanted to be on the ice against if you were lucky enough so it is always cool to line up against him. You know you are always going to have a challenging game.”
Marner will live out that dream again on Friday when the Pittsburgh Penguins pay a visit to Scotiabank Arena. The team is in a bit of a funk but Sid is still being Sid. The 35-year-old future Hall of Famer leads the Penguins with six goals and nine assists through 13 games.
He always seems to bring his best against Toronto: In 47 career games against the Maple Leafs, Crosby has 28 goals and 63 points. Only Alex Ovechkin has scored more often among active players, 41 times.
“He is pretty incredible,” said Auston Matthews, the reigning Rocket Richard Trophy winner. In 2021-22, Matthews became the first player in Toronto history to reach 60 goals. “He is the leader of that team and the guy that keeps it going.
“Even though he has gotten a little bit older, he has adjusted his game … no matter what the situation is. It is really impressive. He is a big guy who presents a challenge to opposing teams.”
The Penguins come in with a 5-6-2 record but are 3-6-1 over their past 10 games. They are currently in an unusual place for them – next-to-last in the Metropolitan Division. The Maple Leafs are 7-4-3, have won three of their past four and rank fourth in the Atlantic Division.
Pittsburgh has qualified for the playoffs 16 seasons in a row.
Erik Kallgren, 1-1-3 with an .890 save percentage, will get the start in Toronto’s net. If not for injury, Matt Murray would have likely got the call against his former team. Murray, who is recovering from an adductor strain, practised on Thursday and possibly could start on Saturday against Vancouver in the second of back-to-back games.
Murray won Stanley Cups with the Penguins in his first two seasons in the NHL but has been traded to Ottawa and Toronto in the past two years. He hopes to revive what looks like a waning career.
He has fond memories of the five seasons he spent with Pittsburgh.
“I was so lucky in my time there to spend time with so many great players, coaches and staff,” Murray said. He started in an opening-night loss in Montreal and has not played since. “It is where I started my career and a big part of who I am. I am very thankful for it.”
The Penguins have had many outstanding players since Crosby entered the league as an 18-year-old in 2005-06 but he is unquestionably the best.
“You can’t say enough about Sid,” Murray said. “He is always going to push himself to be better and lead the way. That is just the kind of person he is.”
Pittsburgh went 2-1 against Toronto last year and is 18-10-2 in the past 30 meetings. It is the first of three games between them in the span of nine days. The Penguins have a deep roster that also includes Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Jake Guentzel, Jeff Petry and Rickard Rakell.
There is only one Sid, however. In Yankees lexicon, he is the fellow that stirs Pittsburgh’s drink.
“I don’t know him that well, but from the outside you see how he trains, how he prepares, how seriously he takes his craft, and the ability he has and how competitive he is,” said Sheldon Keefe, the Maple Leafs coach. “All those things add up to a guy who can play forever and still be productive.”
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.
