TSN Hockey Insiders Darren Dreger, Pierre LeBrun and Bob McKenzie joined host James Duthie via videoconference to discuss the play-in format, the border closures and why they shouldn’t impact any return to play scenarios and why there is still lots of uncertainty when it comes to the draft.
It seems this 24-team tournament, widdled down to a 16-team playoff, is the favourite format right now. But Dregs, how concerned is the NHL right now about fairness? That one of these teams at the bottom that just gets in may be able to pull off an upset in a short series?
Dreger: Well it’s an important issue, no doubt about that. The NHL knows this. So does the NHL Players’ Association. Perhaps (it’s) more contentious if you’re an NHL general manager and you’re a general manager on a better club. You wouldn’t want equal footing across the 24-team format. So part of what has been a daunting task with the return-to-play committee, the PA and the NHL is trying to determine appropriate value from where a club was sitting in regular season play and then transferring that into the field of 24. If you look at what some of the NHL matchups might look like, Montreal, a non-playoff team by regular season standards, faces the Pittsburgh Penguins, a pretty good team in the Eastern Conference. Should they be at an equal position starting at the play-in of the 24-team format? Or Edmonton, or Chicago for that matter. I’ll tell ya there’s been a ton of discussion on this. As I said, an important issue. And before they sign off on a return-to-play scenario, this is going to have to be resolved.
LeBrun: Well, in the meantime news from the Canadian government that the border will remain closed for non-essential travel right to June 21. Of course, immediately in our world, you think about how that impacts pro sports. And in particular, the National Hockey League in its efforts to reopen at some point. What we’re told, without any real specifics, is that neither the NHL or the NHLPA feels that that will impact what they are working on right now in terms of return-to-play protocol. There’s a couple of reasons for that.
Of course, they don’t think they’re going to be playing actual games until mid-to-late July at the earliest.
Phase 2, which is small group workouts is voluntary. The players don’t have to come back for Phase 2. Obviously, a lot of them are going to want to so they can finally skate. But, it is voluntary.
Bob, you reported last week that this idea that the early-June draft before play resumes is not dead, but close to dead. As we move on here, why haven’t they just announced that it’s not happening?
McKenzie: Well, if you came looking for clarity in terms of when the draft is going to be, you came to the wrong place. I talked to a number of NHL general managers this morning. And they said, no clue. They’ve not heard anything about the draft. We don’t know anything about the draft. Your guess is as good as ours. And right now there’s still a very strong sense that it’s less likely prior to the resumption of [the] 2019-20 season. But it’s not completely kyboshed just yet. And it seems to me that the entire focus for the NHL and the NHLPA is on these return-to-play protocols, figuring out what the format for return to play would look like, and then figuring out whether to slot the draft before or after. The decision doesn’t need to be made now. It won’t be made anytime soon.
Pierre, the players’ final paycheque issued over a month ago, but they still haven’t decided what they want to do with it?
LeBrun: That’s right. You remember it was due on April 15 and they decided at the time to defer and continue to debate right into May 15 what to do with that final paycheque. Well, they voted over the weekend to further defer again to the end of May. And we’re talking about $120 million at play here, overall for all the paycheques. And there is no good answer. Either the players don’t collect this paycheque and decide to start paying on some of the escrow payments that they’re going to owe bigtime over the next year or two. But there’s also a faction that says ‘hey, take the cash now and figure out the rest later. You can see both sides of this argument. But certainly, I think part of this is waiting to see is there clarity on return to play. Is there some hints on what a new CBA will look like before the players made a decision on the last paycheque.
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.
