Tampa is looking to sweep the four-game season series with Habs, but has been struggling recently with a 1-5-0 record in its last six games.
Sports
Canadiens at Lighting: Five things you should know – Montreal Gazette
TAMPA, Fla. — Here are five things you should know about Thursday’s game between the Canadiens (31-28-9) and the Tampa Bay Lightning (41-20-5) at Amalie Arena (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).
Habs on a roll: The Canadiens are on a two-game winning streak and are 4-1-1 in their last six games following Tuesday’s 6-2 road win over the New York Islanders. “We’ve got a Montreal team that’s buzzing right now, has a lot of confidence going, especially after the game against the Islanders,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said after his team practised Wednesday at Amalie Arena. The Canadiens are fifth in the Atlantic Division, two points behind the fourth-place Florida Panthers and seven points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for the third and final playoff spot. The Panthers have two games in hand and the Leafs have one. Sportsclubstats.com has the Canadiens’ chances of making the playoffs listed at 1.7 per cent.
Fun in the sun: The Canadiens had a practice scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday at Amalie Arena, but coach Claude Julien decided to cancel it and gave his players the day off in 28C sunshine. The Canadiens had a morning skate Thursday at Amalie Arena and Julien announced afterward that Tomas Tatar was returning to Montreal to have an upper-body injury he suffered in the first period of Tuesday night’s game evaluated and that he won’t play against the Lightning. Montreal recalled forward Lukas Vejdemo from the Laval Rocket on Wednesday to take Tatar’s spot in the lineup.
Lightning struggling: The Lightning are 1-5-0 in their last six games following a 2-1 home loss to the Boston Bruins Tuesday night. The Bruins are first in the Atlantic Division and moved nine points ahead of the Lightning. Before this six-game slide, the Lighting had won 11 straight games. “You’re running into a lot of teams that are making pushes and all of a sudden they find themselves a point or two behind Florida and not that far behind Toronto,” Cooper said about facing the Canadiens. “So these teams are coming in with some hunger. What we had going before this … this is no time to take a breath and relax. So I think it’s good. It’s good we’re playing these teams that have something to play for, to push. It should be good for us.”
Going for the sweep: This will be the fourth and final meeting between these teams this season and the Lightning won the first three games. The last time they met at the Bell Centre on Jan. 2, the Canadiens outshot the Lightning 39-23 but lost 2-1 as goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy improved his career record against Montreal to 10-1-2. The Lightning won the first two games 3-1 at the Bell Centre on Oct. 15 and 5-4 in Tampa on Dec. 28.
No Stamkos: Lightning star Steven Stamkos had surgery Monday for a core muscle injury and is expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks. Stamkos has 29-37-66 totals to rank second on the Lightning in scoring behind Nikita Kucherov with 31-49-80.
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Sports
Red Wings sign Moritz Seider to 7-year deal worth nearly $60M
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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AP NHL:
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Sports
Veterans Tyson Beukeboom, Karen Paquin lead Canada’s team at WXV rugby tournament
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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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
Sports
Vancouver Canucks star goalie Thatcher Demko working through rare muscle injury
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.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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