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Bruins, Maple Leafs excited for rematch of top teams in Atlantic Division

Published

2 years ago

January 13, 2023

BOSTON — Halfway through the NHL season, the Boston Bruins have lost five games in regulation. One of those came against the Seattle Kraken at TD Garden on Thursday, their first regulation loss at home this season.

Another came Nov. 5, 2-1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, in the sole game between the two best teams in the Atlantic Division.

The Maple Leafs will get another crack at the top team in the Atlantic, and the NHL, at TD Garden on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, CBC, SNO, SNW, NESN, SN NOW).

And yet, as Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said Thursday, “It’s not much of a race at this point.”

The Bruins (32-5-4) are nine points ahead of the Maple Leafs (26-10-7) in the Atlantic, and as Keefe pointed out, Boston has been on a historic pace.

“They’re playing at a pace that’s the highest winning percentage in the history of the NHL,” Keefe said. “But we would like to make it so that they have to try to maintain that pace or we’re going to be right there. So that’s really it.”

That only means Toronto needs to make the most of its chances.

“They’ve been the class of the League, for sure,” defenseman Mark Giordano said. “We played them early in the year. It was a good game. They’re a fast team, back-and-forth sort of game, but [Saturday] it’s going to be an exciting game to play in. I think obviously we want to see where they’re at and where we’re at right now and it’ll be a good test.

“If we want to give ourselves a chance of catching them, we’ve got to chip away, chip away, throughout the next bunch of weeks.”

And it’s possible the Maple Leafs are catching the Bruins at a good time. There was the hoopla of Boston hosting the 2023 Discover NHL Winter Classic on Jan. 2, a 2-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Fenway Park, followed by a weeklong trip to the West Coast, where the Bruins defeated the Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks by a combined 16-5 score.

They’ll be two days removed from the 3-0 loss to the Kraken, which led coach Jim Montgomery to mention “mental fatigue” as a culprit.

Then again, the Bruins haven’t lost consecutive games all season.

“It’s a bigger game than the average regular-season game,” Montgomery said. “We need to get our game in order and tomorrow is a good opportunity against one of the teams … I would say Toronto, Carolina and ourselves have probably been the three teams that have been consistently the best so far this year. So it’s a good test for us.”

Complicating matters for the Maple Leafs is the potential absence of forward Auston Matthews, who has 47 points (20 goals, 27 assists) in 41 games this season. He has missed two games because of an undisclosed injury, and then Matthews woke up sick Thursday, Keefe said.

Video: Matthews’ 2 goals propel Maple Leafs to 2-1 victory

Matthews scored both goals when the teams played in November, but that game was more about what the Maple Leafs did defensively, limiting the Bruins to a season-low 21 shots on goal.

Montgomery believed the Kraken did some of the same things defensively that the Maple Leafs did, which the Bruins hope will better prepare them for Saturday.

“Very similar to what Seattle did,” Montgomery said. “They were five together. They were over top of us. They protected the middle of the ice really well in their own end. That game, coupled with the game last night, are learning opportunities for us. How to create more offense when we’re playing teams that play tight checking.”

But mostly, the Bruins and the Maple Leafs are looking forward to the challenge and to the opportunity. It’s a No. 1 vs. No. 2 scenario, with Toronto tied with the Carolina Hurricanes (26-9-7) for second in the NHL in points.

“That’ll be a really fun one,” Maple Leafs defenseman Rasmus Sandin said. “Those are the games you really enjoy playing. It’s going to be tough. They’ve been rolling. … I think we’ll be very, very pumped up for that game.”

The Bruins will be too. They came into practice Friday with what Montgomery called “an empty feeling in your stomach, and we haven’t had that.”

He said it’s something that could make a team angry, could annoy them just enough to rev up as yet another big opponent comes into a building where they’ve been dominant all season.

Which all aligns for a big night Saturday.

“We’ve kind of had that date circled on our calendar that that’s going to be a big one,” Maple Leafs forward Zach Aston-Reese said. “That gets us going into this little last bit of season we have left. We get the win there, I think it’ll be huge for our confidence.”

NHL.com columnist Nicholas J.Cotsonika contributed to this report

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Red Wings sign Moritz Seider to 7-year deal worth nearly $60M

Published

3 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.

The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.

Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.

He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.

Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.

Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.

Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.

The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.

Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.

Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.

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Veterans Tyson Beukeboom, Karen Paquin lead Canada’s team at WXV rugby tournament

Published

4 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

Veterans Tyson Beukeboom and Karen Paquin will lead Canada at the WXV 1 women’s rugby tournament starting later this month in the Vancouver area.

WXV 1 includes the top three teams from the Women’s Six Nations (England, France and Ireland) and the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series (Canada, New Zealand, and the United States).

Third-ranked Canada faces No. 4 France, No. 7 Ireland and No. 1 England in the elite division of the three-tiered WXV tournament that runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 12 in Vancouver and Langley, B.C. No. 2 New Zealand and the eighth-ranked U.S. make up the six-team WVX 1 field.

“Our preparation time was short but efficient. This will be a strong team,” Canada coach Kevin Rouet said in a statement. “All the players have worked very hard for the last couple of weeks to prepare for WXV and we are excited for these next three matches and for the chance to play on home soil here in Vancouver against the best rugby teams in the world.

“France, Ireland and England will each challenge us in different ways but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves and another step in our journey to the Rugby World Cup next year.”

Beukeboom serves as captain in the injury absence of Sophie de Goede. The 33-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont., earned her Canadian-record 68th international cap in Canada’s first-ever victory over New Zealand in May at the Pacific Four Series.

Twenty three of the 30 Canadian players selected for WXV 1 were part of that Pacific Four Series squad.

Rouet’s roster includes the uncapped Asia Hogan-Rochester, Caroline Crossley and Rori Wood.

Hogan-Rochester and Crossley were part of the Canadian team that won rugby sevens silver at the Paris Olympics, along with WXV teammates Fancy Bermudez, Olivia Apps, Alysha Corrigan and Taylor Perry. Wood is a veteran of five seasons at UBC.

The 37-year-old Paquin, who has 38 caps for Canada including the 2014 Rugby World Cup, returns to the team for the first time since the 2021 World Cup.

Canada opens the tournament Sept. 29 against France at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver before facing Ireland on Oct. 5 at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, and England on Oct. 12 at B.C. Place.

The second-tier WXV 2 and third-tier WXV 3 are slated to run Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, in South Africa and Dubai, respectively.

WXV 2 features Australia, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales while WXV 3 is made up of Fiji, Hong Kong, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Samoa and Spain.

The tournament has 2025 World Cup qualification implications, although Canada, New Zealand and France, like host England, had already qualified by reaching the semifinals of the last tournament.

Ireland, South Africa, the U.S., Japan, Fiji and Brazil have also booked their ticket, with the final six berths going to the highest-finishing WXV teams who have not yet qualified through regional tournaments.

Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team WXV 1 Squad

Forwards

Alexandria Ellis, Ottawa, Stade Français Paris (France); Brittany Kassil, Guelph, Ont., Guelph Goats; Caroline Crossley, Victoria, Castaway Wanderers; Courtney Holtkamp, Rimbey, Alta., Red Deer Titans Rugby; DaLeaka Menin, Vulcan, Alta., Exeter Chiefs (England); Emily Tuttosi, Souris, Man., Exeter Chiefs (England); Fabiola Forteza, Quebec City, Stade Bordelais (France); Gabrielle Senft, Regina, Saracens (England); Gillian Boag, Calgary, Gloucester-Hartpury (England); Julia Omokhuale, Calgary, Leicester Tigers (England); Karen Paquin, Quebec City, Club de rugby de Quebec; Laetitia Royer, Loretteville, Que., ASM Romagnat (France); McKinley Hunt, King City, Ont., Saracens (England); Pamphinette Buisa, Gatineau, Que., Ottawa Irish; Rori Wood, Sooke, B.C., College Rifles RFC; Sara Cline, Edmonton, Leprechaun Tigers; Tyson Beukeboom, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England);

Backs

Alexandra Tessier, Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, Que., Exeter Chiefs (England); Alysha Corrigan, Charlottetown, P.E.I., CRFC; Asia Hogan-Rochester, Toronto, Toronto Nomads; Claire Gallagher, Caledon, Ont., Leicester Tigers (England); Fancy Bermudez, Edmonton, Saracens (England); Julia Schell, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England); Justine Pelletier, Rivière-du-Loup, Que, Stade Bordelais (France); Mahalia Robinson, Fulford, Que., Town of Mount Royal RFC; Olivia Apps, Lindsay, Ont., Lindsay RFC; Paige Farries, Red Deer, Alta., Saracens (England); Sara Kaljuvee, Ajax, Ont., Westshore RFC; Shoshanah Seumanutafa, White Rock, B.C., Counties Manukau (New Zealand); Taylor Perry, Oakville, Ont., Exeter Chiefs (England).

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Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform, formerly known as Twitter

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.

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Vancouver Canucks star goalie Thatcher Demko working through rare muscle injury

Published

4 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.

The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.

He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.

Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.

He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.

Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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