This just in, news that NHL Player Safety has suspended Las Vegas Golden Knights d-man Alex Pietrangelo for one game for his violent hacking of Edmonton Oiler’s ace Leon Draisaitl.
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"What a joke": Twitter reacts to Alex Pietrangelo suspension for slash on Leon Draisaitl
The commentator added that Pietrangelo has neither been fined nor suspended before in his 952 game NHL career.
A two-game suspension would have represented a massive suspension in a playoff series, said Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on Oilers Now.
Hockey Youtuber Steve “Dangle” Glynn @Steve_Dangle
Pietrangelo and Nurse suspensions offset each other. Bad league. ????♂️
Writer Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic ???? @domluszczyszyn
embarrassing, but what else is new!
Oilers fan McLovin97 @DJRoss_72
One??? A vicious slash. Intent to injure is the same punishment ad Nurse skating up to a player that wanted to fight? What a joke
ESPN hockey reporter Kristen Shilton @kristen_shilton
Alex Pietrangelo gets a one-game suspension for a two-handed slash on Leon Draisaitl
It’s something, I guess
Oilers fan and hockey coach Tyson Munro @Tys35
Absolutely pathetic
Oilers fan Paul Almeida @AzorcanGlobal
Total joke of a league.
Basically open season on stars in the playoffs. Chop away… Had he known he would get only one game Pietrangelo could have chopped McDavid on the same play in the corner as well.
Draisaitl’s fine, so one game is appropriate. If he was hurt then it’s more than a one-game suspension. But he isn’t, and that matters (as it should).
Still a dumb play by Pietrangelo tho
Harman Dayal @harmandayal2 Canucks & NHL reporter for TheAthletic NHL
Nurse instigator/one-game suspension should have been rescinded OR Pietrangelo should have gotten more than one game.
What Pietrangelo and Nurse did should not be punished equally
Oilers fan Goodfella @DhillonSteve
Way to grow the game you f*cking clowns.. And Bunting got 3.
Kyle Keefe @kylekeefetv Studio Anchor for the Colorado @Avalanche on AltitudeTV
Pietrangelo gets a 1 game suspension for slashing on the wrist.
Eberle didn’t even get a phone call for breaking Cogliano’s neck.
Let that simmer-
Only in the NHL would a two-handed slash on the best playoff player in the league over the last 2 seasons…merit the same suspension as a dubious instigator penalty given in a scrap between two willing and able combatants.
And NO one is surprised!
Spittin’ Chiclets podcaster Ryan Whitney @ryanwhitney6
This is an absolute joke. I was fine with 1 game if Nurse instigator was rescinded. The fact they have the same suspension is a disgrace
Oiler Alert @OilerAlert
Hacking someone’s wrist by using your stick as a weapon: 1 game suspension
Instigating a fight with a willing opponent : 1 game suspension and a $10K fine.
Senior NHL writer at ESPN Greg Wyshynski @wyshynski
I don’t think the NHL Dept. of Player Safety got this one right.
Alex Pietrangelo deserved at least 2 games for his slash on Leon Draisaitl. When intent is that clear — late in the 3rd, in a losing effort — and the target is the other team’s leading scorer? C’mon.
Eberle breaks Cogliano’s neck on a hit from behind. No suspension.
Nurse instigates a fight with a combatant he’s been talking for four games with. 1 game suspension.
Pietrangelo with a 12-6, over-the-head slash to a superstar’s wrists, away from the play. 1 game suspension.
Hockey commentator Pete Blackburn @PeteBlackburn
I know Nurse’s suspension was by the book but it’s kind of insane he gets the same punishment as Pietrangelo trying to chop a guy’s hands off 30 feet away from the puck
Oilers fan Den Polland @oilersgm2
I’m not sure the @NHL realizes the message they just sent. ANYONE can now take a liberty on a star player and only get one game. The Devils for example could send Lazar with an axe after Aho. Lazar will only get one game…Aho could be done for the series.
This will do nothing to cool down the anger/animosity in this series, and could make it worse even… NHL had a chance to cool it down a bit, and didn’t this series could get ugly
Legendary Edmonton sports writer Terry Jones @byterryjones
Sorry. Pietreangelo one game. Nurse one game plus $10,000 fine for coach. That doesn’t balance on my scales of justice.
My take
1. When the brutal slash first happened I had two thoughts: first, one of relief when it became clear that Draisaitl was OK, that somehow no bone had been broken (the stick must have hit his solid elbow pad); second, that it’s little wonder Pietranglo had gone after some Oilers player, given the way the Oilers had tormented the Vegas d-men with at least five thundering body checks, one by Nick Bjugstad, one by Warren Foegele and three by Evander Kane, including one where Kane used his stick to propel Pietrangelo into the boards. I could understand the Vegas d-man’s anger.
3. After reading commentary from around the league, including many writers outside of Edmonton, including in Las Vegas, expecting a much longer suspension for Pietrangelo, I started Pietrangelo hope he might get two games.
5. What would have been a fair suspension for Pietrangelo? Given its the playoffs, where every game is far more precious, I think two games would have sufficed, but three games would have sent a strong message that the NHL does not tolerate intent to injury infractions.
6. If I’m completely honest, I think the Oilers have had as many favourable calls against Vegas as the other way around this series. I’ve seen iffy calls on both teams and I’ve seen both teams get away with things that should have been penalized. The Pietrangelo hit was penalized properly on-ice, but the NHL’s decision leaves me cold. Their number one job is to keep the players safe with the deterrence of a lengthy suspension for violent and illegal plays. They failed the players in that duty today.
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Canada’s Marina Stakusic falls in Guadalajara Open quarterfinals
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.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Kirk’s walk-off single in 11th inning lifts Blue Jays past Cardinals 4-3
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.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Stampeders return to Maier at QB eyeing chance to get on track against Alouettes
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.
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