If Blue Bombers receiver Nic Demski scores his sixth touchdown of the season against the Montreal Alouettes on Thursday, he will have to come up with a different way of celebrating — or it will cost him.
Sports
Computer chip in CFL balls means Demski’s TD celebration is a no-go
Not on Thursday.
The teams will be using footballs with computer chips inserted, part of the CFL’s effort to broaden its statistical data.
The Bombers and Alouettes have been told they can’t keep any balls as souvenirs, and shouldn’t throw them to fans, either.
“So I just want to say I’m sorry to the fans right now,” Demski said. “Hopefully the fans can appreciate the reason why. That’s installed in my mind, when I score. Hopefully I can think twice before I do that.”
“It’s a big fine,” receiver Kenny Lawler said. “I’ll have to run up to him (Demski) and tell him. If you want to see a game cheque this week, don’t throw that ball.”
In the euphoria of the touchdown moment, it might be a hard habit to break.
“I was joking with Demski, I guarantee that at some point he’s just going to subconsciously score and toss that thing in the stands,” fellow receiver Dalton Schoen said. “So we’ll see what happens with that.”
Schoen is under the impression it’s not just a one-week thing.
“I’ve never thrown one in the stands, and I guess I’ll never get to,” he said. “I was going to try that at some point.”
Schoen has already held onto two from this season: his first touchdown and another one that meant a lot to him in Montreal.
“A double-move, in the rain, tough catch,” he said. “I like to keep a couple, just to give to people back home who’ve been supporting me, family and stuff like that.”
On the relatively rare occasion that Jefferson intercepts a pass or picks up a fumble and goes to the house (he has done it five times in his career), he brings the ball home.
“I give them to my wife and my daughters,” he said.
This week, at least, they’ll have to settle for a replacement ball from equipment manager Brad Fotty.
All this raises a question nobody seems able to answer.
NOT GREEN WITH ENVY
Ask Deatrick Nichols if opposing quarterbacks are throwing his way much, and he breaks into a grin.
“No, not at all,” the Bombers defensive back said. “It’s part of the game. You can’t let that distract you or feel like you’re having an off or bad game, or you think you should do more. But that’s why I like this team. It really doesn’t matter who gets the credit.”
The man playing right next to him is getting a ton of it these days.
Demerio Houston leads the CFL with seven interceptions, returning the last one for a touchdown.
Earlier this week, head coach Mike O’Shea gave some of the credit to Nichols, who in his third CFL season is getting the ultimate compliment: Teams staying away from him.
Nichols just calls his year “solid.”
“We’re 8-2,” he said. “I’m feeling great. I can’t ask for any more.”
Not even a little more action?
“Not at all. That’s my teammate. We work with each other, we grind, we sweat, tears and everything together. It’s just his time to shine.”
On Nichols’ other side, safety Brandon Alexander is expected to play, despite missing practice all week.
“He should be fine,” O’Shea said. “He’s just under the weather.”
SPECIAL APPRECIATION
Winnipeg’s punt-return game has been lacking since the injury to Janarion Grant.
O’Shea says it’s a combination of his team’s blocking and a trend to really good punt cover teams.
“We’re at a point in the CFL now where the punters are phenomenal, the placement, the distance, the hang,” O’Shea said. “Team are getting creative with how they cover, who they cover with. I don’t know that too many fans are specifically watching the punt game and punt cover teams … usually you’re probably off getting a beer at that point.
“It’s too bad. Because it’s a pretty neat time in the CFL right now for punt teams.”
You can take the man out of special teams, but you can’t take special teams out of the man.
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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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The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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.
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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