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Winnipeg Jets star, Barrie Colts head coach Dale Hawerchuk dead at 57 – Global News

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Dale Hawerchuk, former Winnipeg Jets superstar and longtime Barrie Colts head coach, has died. He was 57.

His son Eric Hawerchuk posted on social media Tuesday afternoon that his father had passed away after a battle with cancer.

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The Hall of Fame centre wore Winnipeg colours from ’81 through the 1989-90 season, and although he played his last game as a Jet 30 years ago, Hawerchuk has been on Manitobans’ minds in recent months due to his battle with stomach cancer.

On April 13, Hawerchuk finished his final round of chemotherapy in a Barrie, Ont., hospital, and at the time he told 680 CJOB it felt good to be on the other side of something he didn’t know he would survive.

Read more:
Former NHL star, longtime OHL coach, Dale Hawerchuk’s cancer returns

“It’s kind of nice that from my first diagnosis at the end of August, that this was the original plan and I’ve arrived at the end of it,” he said.

Hawerchuk had surgery to remove part of his colon and his entire stomach, and there were a number of points, he said, where he felt like he was on his deathbed.

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“At first, it really feels like a death sentence, and then you realize that this thing is beatable — a lot of people have beat cancer.

“My prognosis was not good. My surgeon was pretty blunt right at the start.”

Unfortunately, Hawerchuk’s family posted that his cancer had returned in July.

Former Winnipeg Jet Teemu Selanne said he had the chance to say goodbye Monday.

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The Winnipeg Jets said fans would miss Hawerchuk dearly.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman called Hawerchuk “one of the most decorated players in our game’s history.”

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Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister also expressed his condolences.

“Our thoughts and prayers to the Hawerchuk family during this difficult time. All Jets fans mourn the loss of one the NHLs all time greatest players,” he posted on social media.

The Montreal Canadiens and the Philadelphia Flyers observed a moment of silence for the hockey great before their playoff game Tuesday.

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“This is such sad news,” Morris Lukowich, who played with Hawerchuk on the Jets in the ’80s, told 680 CJOB Tuesday.

Lukowich described Hawerchuk as confident and with a “great energy.”

“He just loved a good laugh, and a good story.”

“He was so tough. He had an amazing wrist shot, an amazing slapshot, and incredible deking ability,” said Lukowich. “He was one of the top five players I ever played with.”

Former Winnipeg Jet Dale Hawerchuk leads his team as captain during a practice for the NHL Heritage Classic Alumni game in Winnipeg on Friday, October 21, 2016. Hockey Hall of Famer Dale Hawerchuk is fighting stomach cancer.


Former Winnipeg Jet Dale Hawerchuk leads his team as captain during a practice for the NHL Heritage Classic Alumni game in Winnipeg on Friday, October 21, 2016. Hockey Hall of Famer Dale Hawerchuk is fighting stomach cancer.


THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

Lukowich said Winnipeg should remember Hawerchuk as a player who “showed up to play, all the time. For me, there was never a question about, ‘Was Dale going to show up?’

“He gave his very, very best, his best always.”

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Broadcaster Curt Keilback, known as the radio voice of the Jets in the team’s original NHL incarnation, told 680 CJOB that Hawerchuk was beloved by Winnipeg.

“It seems like he grew up with this community,” Keilback said.

“He was only 18 years old when he came here. We witnessed the transition, the outstanding hockey that he played, and just all of a sudden, it ended so quickly.

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“He’ll always be remembered in favourable terms by a lot of people in the hockey community, and I think everybody who was around Winnipeg in the ’80s.”

Keilback called Hawerchuk an outstanding player, particularly given his young age and the rough shape the Jets were in the standings at the time.

“The second game he played was in Winnipeg, and he got four points against the New York Rangers. You knew from that point… ‘hey, this guy was ready’.

“It’s usually more difficult to come to a bad team, because you’re expected to do everything — but he did everything.”

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Keilback said Hawerchuk will be forever linked with Winnipeg, not only for his on-ice heroics, but for the way he embedded himself within the community, always making time for fans, spearheading charitable events, and acting as an unofficial ambassador for the city.

Career

A teenage star, Hawerchuk was drafted first overall by the Jets in 1981.

Hawerchuk went to Winnipeg as an 18-year-old and spent nine years there, saying he felt like he grew up in the Manitoba capital.

The Jets had finished last in the league prior to drafting Hawerchuk, who signed his first pro contract before a bevy of Manitoba notables, including the mayor at the corner of Portage and Main, after arriving in a Brinks truck.

He did not disappoint. The teenager scored 45 goals and collected 103 points, was named rookie of the year — the youngest recipient at the time — and led Winnipeg to a 48-point improvement, the largest single-season turnaround in the NHL.

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Winnipeg Jets’ Dale Hawerchuk tries a wraparound move on Edmonton Oilers’ Bill Ranford during NHL action in Edmonton on April 4, 1990. Longtime Winnipeg Jets star Dale Hawerchuk has died after a battle with cancer. He was 57.


Winnipeg Jets’ Dale Hawerchuk tries a wraparound move on Edmonton Oilers’ Bill Ranford during NHL action in Edmonton on April 4, 1990. Longtime Winnipeg Jets star Dale Hawerchuk has died after a battle with cancer. He was 57.


THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ray Giguere

He was the youngest player in NHL history to reach 100 points, a record broken by Sidney Crosby in 2006. No wonder his early career came with comparisons to Wayne Gretzky.

“He has the same instincts, that puck sense, of Gretzky,” said Mike Doran, Winnipeg’s director of player personnel in 1981.

He went on to play nine seasons in Winnipeg and five in Buffalo before finishing up his distinguished 16-year NHL career with stints in St. Louis and Philadelphia.

Slowed down by a hip issue, he retired at the age of 34.

Hockey Hall of Fame chairman Bill Hay, left, helps inductee Dale Hawerchuk into his jacket at the induction ceremony in Toronto on November 12, 2001. Longtime Winnipeg Jets star Dale Hawerchuk has died after a battle with cancer. He was 57. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn


Hockey Hall of Fame chairman Bill Hay, left, helps inductee Dale Hawerchuk into his jacket at the induction ceremony in Toronto on November 12, 2001. Longtime Winnipeg Jets star Dale Hawerchuk has died after a battle with cancer. He was 57. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn.


THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Hawerchuk recorded 518 goals and 1,409 points in 1,188 regular-season games (he added 30 more goals and 99 assists in 97 playoff games).

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“A low-maintenance superstar,” said Craig Heisinger, the Winnipeg Jets senior vice-president and director of hockey operations.

At five-foot-11 and 190 pounds, Hawerchuk wasn’t blessed with size or blistering speed. But the five-time all-star had a knack of getting to loose pucks and then creating something out of nothing. Hawerchuk could breeze past opponents and knew what to do when he neared the goal.

Hawerchuk, the longest-serving coach in Colts history, was going into his 10th season behind Barrie’s bench. He had led the Colts to the playoffs in six of his nine previous seasons.

At Barrie, Hawerchuk coached the likes of Aaron Ekblad, Mark Scheifele, Tanner Pearson and Ryan Suzuki.

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Born April 4, 1963, in Toronto, Hawerchuk grew up in nearby Oshawa, getting his first pair of skates at age two and playing competitively at four.

As a peewee, he broke Guy Lafleur’s record by scoring all eight goals in an 8-1 victory in the final of a tournament in Montreal.

At 15, he was offered a tryout by the Oshawa Generals. He ended up playing instead for the Oshawa Legionaires in the Metro Jr. B Hockey League in 1978-79.

Some 23 years later, he remembered his Oshawa days during his 2001 induction speech at the Hockey Hall of Fame.

“I started my career just down the road in Oshawa here, maybe a 45-minute drive — well maybe a little further now with the traffic,” he said.

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“I had many dreams and aspirations to make the National Hockey League. And I was very fortunate I got to live those dreams for 16 years in the National Hockey League.”

“I enjoyed every city and organization I played in,” he added.

Former Winnipeg Jet Dale Hawerchuk tosses a puck to the crowd during a practice for the NHL’s Heritage Classic Alumni game in Winnipeg on Friday, October 21, 2016.


Former Winnipeg Jet Dale Hawerchuk tosses a puck to the crowd during a practice for the NHL’s Heritage Classic Alumni game in Winnipeg on Friday, October 21, 2016.


John Woods/The Canadian Press

Hawerchuk was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001 along with Viacheslav Fetisov, Mike Gartner and Jari Kurri in the player category.

Hawerchuk was inducted into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame in November 2011.

Known as Ducky by his teammates, Hawerchuk was inducted into the Jets’ Hall of Fame prior to their game against the visiting Arizona Coyotes in November 2017.

“I’ve been to every part of (Manitoba), either golfing or playing (softball),” Hawerchuk said.

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“I’ve gotten to see Manitobans, seen their passion not only for their province and the game of hockey, but their passion for the Jets. I’m honoured and I’m very humbled.”

-With files from the Canadian Press

© 2020 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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Washington Capitals 3-2 win ends Dallas Stars’ winning streak

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome and Taylor Raddysh scored to help the Washington Capitals end the Dallas Stars’ season-opening winning streak at four with a 3-2 victory Thursday night.

Wilson’s goal was his third in three games, Strome his second of the season and Raddysh his first since joining the team in free agency last summer. Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves as the Capitals wrapped up this early homestand with back-to-back wins.

The Stars fell from the ranks of the league’s unbeaten teams despite a short-handed goal by Colin Blackwell and one at even strength from Jason Robertson. Rookie Oskar Bäck set up Blackwell for his first NHL point.

Casey DeSmith was screened on two of the three goals he allowed on 26 shots.

LIGHTNING 4, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored the winning goal with less than a minute to play just 1:27 after Brandon Hagel had tied it and Tampa Bay rallied to beat Vegas.

Kucherov’s second goal of the game with 55 seconds left was his sixth of the season.

Janis Moser had a goal and two assists for the Lightning, who remain unbeaten. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves.

Brayden McNabb, Pavel Dorofeyev and Ivan Barbashev had goals for Vegas. Adin Hill turned aside 21 shots.

Jack Eichel, with two assists on Thursday, now has 10 points this season in five games and reached reached double-digit points faster than any other player in Vegas history. He is the 10th U.S.-born player to accomplish the feat.

After Barbashev put Vegas up 3-2 early in the second, Hagel pulled Tampa Bay even at 3 with 2:22 remaining in the third.

BLUE JACKETS 6, SABRES 4

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kirill Marchenko and Mathieu Olivier each had a goal and an assist and Daniil Tarasov made 21 saves to help Columbus to a win over Buffalo.

Yegor Chinakhov, Adam Fantilli, Zachary Aston-Reese and Damon Severson also scored for Columbus, and Zach Werenski added two assists.

Ryan McLeod, Owen Power and JJ Peterka scored for Buffalo, and Jiri Kulich added his first NHL goal. Devon Lev stopped 19 shots for the Sabres (1-5-1), who have lost two straight road games and five of their first six overall.

CANUCKS 3, FLORIDA 2, OT

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — J.T. Miller scored 2:09 into overtime and Vancouver got their first win of the season, beating Florida.

Teddy Blueger and Quinn Hughes had goals for Vancouver, with Kevin Lankinen stopping 26 shots.

Anton Lundell got his fourth goal in the last three games for Florida and Jesper Boqvist also scored for the Panthers, who got 30 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky.

Florida remained without forwards Aleksander Barkov (lower body) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness).

DEVILS 3, SENATORS 1

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 shots and lost his shutout bid in the final minutes as New Jersey beat Ottawa.

Erik Haula, Nathan Bastian and Paul Cotter scored for the Devils, who won for the third time in four games and improved to 5-2-0.

The Senators, who were coming off an 8-7 overtime victory against Los Angeles on Monday, struggled to beat Markstrom.

Brady Tkachuk was the only scorer for the Senators, beating Markstrom, with a power-play goal with 65 seconds remaining in the third period.

Anton Forsberg, making his second straight start and hoping to rebound after getting pulled Monday, made 32 saves in the loss.

Haula opened the scoring early in the second period and Bastian added a short-handed goal, giving New Jersey a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes. Cotter scored midway through the third.

RANGERS 5, RED WING 2

DETROIT (AP) — Artemi Panarin had his eighth career hat trick and New York rolled to a victory over Detroit.

Panarin became the first Rangers player to have multiple points in the first four games of a season. He scored twice on the power play. Vincent Trocheck also had a power- play goal and assisted on all of Panarin’s goals.

Jonathan Quick made 29 saves in his season debut. Victor Mancini also scored.

The Rangers have won the last five meetings, including twice this week. New York had a 4-1 home victory over Detroit on Monday night.

Moritz Seider and J.T. Compher scored for Detroit. Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot was pulled in the second period after allowing five goals.

KINGS 4, CANADIENS 1

MONTREAL (AP) — David Rittich made 26 saves a night after being benched in the second period in Toronto, helping road-weary Los Angeles snap a three-game losing streak with a victory over Montreal.

Los Angeles improved to 2-1-2 on a season-opening, seven-game trip necessitated by arena renovations.

Rittich rebounded after allowing four goals on 14 shots in a 6-2 loss to the Maple Leafs. Alex Laferriere, Mikey Anderson, Andreas Englund and Adrian Kempe scored.

Justin Barron scored for Montreal (2-3-0). Sam Montembeault stopped 28 shots. He made a save on Kevin Fiala on a penalty shot.

BLUES 1, ISLANDERS 0, OT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Joel Hofer made 34 saves and assisted on Jake Neighbours’ goal at 2:04 of overtime in St. Louis victory over New York.

Hofer had his second career shutout in his and the team’s second overtime victory of the season.

Philip Broberg carried the puck into the New York zone and made a centering pass to Neighbours for the winner.

Islanders goalie Ilya Sorkin made 29 saves.

Blues defenseman Nick Leddy sat out because of a lower-body injury, the first game he has missed this season. Leddy played in all 82 games last season.

OILERS 4, PREDATORS 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Brett Kulak scored twice and Connor McDavid added his first goal of the season to lead Edmonton to a victory over reeling Nashville.

Jeff Skinner also scored and Calvin Pickard made 25 saves for the defending Western Conference champion Oilers, who have won consecutive games after beginning the season with a three-game skid.

Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault scored and Juuse Saros made 32 saves for Nashville (0-4).

Forsberg’s goal midway through the first period gave Nashville its first lead of the season. That lasted less than six minutes before Kulak tied it.

Kulak sealed it with an empty-netter in the final minute for the defenseman’s first career two-goal game.

BLACKHAWKS 4, SHARKS 2

CHICAGO (AP) — Tyler Bertuzzi and Nick Foligno each scored a power-play goal, and Chicago beat San Jose.

Taylor Hall and Jason Dickinson also scored for Chicago. Connor Bedard and Teuvo Teravainen each had two assists.

Hall, who missed most of last season because of right knee surgery, put the Blackhawks in front 4:20 into the first period. It was Hall’s first goal since Nov. 5 and No. 267 for his career.

Tyler Toffoli and Fabian Zetterlund scored for San Jose, which trailed 3-0 early in the second. William Eklund and Mikael Granlund had two assists each.

The Sharks dropped to 0-2-2 under Ryan Warsofsky, who was promoted to head coach in June.

Petr Mrazek had 20 saves for Chicago, and Vitek Vanecek made 23 stops for San Jose.

KRAKEN 6, FLYERS 4

SEATTLE (AP) — Eeli Tolvanen, Jordan Eberle, and Shane Wright scored three goals in less than three minutes in the second period and Seattle held off a Philadelphia rally in a victory.

Tolvanen’s goal broke a 2-2 tie at the 14:57 mark. Eberle made it a two-goal game with a goal at 17:44. Eight seconds later, Wright scored to give Seattle a three-goal lead.

Jared McCann tied the game at 2-2 with the first of Seattle’s four second-period goals.

Cam York and Jamie Drysdale scored to pull Philadelphia within 5-4 in the third period, but Oliver Bjorkstrand responded with a goal to push Seattle’s lead to two with just over five minutes left in the game.

Scott Laughton scored twice for the Flyers in the first period, while Brandon Montour scored one in for the Kraken.

Chandler Stephenson had an assist in his 500th NHL game. Seattle’s Philipp Grubauer had 21 saves.

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Canada’s Dabrowski, New Zealand’s Routliffe out of Japan Women’s Open after walkover

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OSAKA, Japan – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe are out of the Japan Women’s Open tennis tournament.

Spain’s Cristina Bucsa and Romania’s Monica Niculescu advanced to the final on Thursday by way of walkover.

The fourth seeds were supposed to play the top-seeded Dabrowski and Routliffe in the semifinals.

Bucsa and Niculescu will next face third-seeded Ena Shibahara of Japan and Laura Siegemund of Germany in the final.

Dabrowski and Routliffe defeated Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Eri Hozumi in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday to advance.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Mountain West commissioner says she’s heartbroken over turmoil surrounding San Jose State volleyball

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mountain West Conference Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said Thursday the forfeitures that volleyball teams are willing to take to avoid playing San Jose State is “not what we celebrate in college athletics” and that she is heartbroken over what has transpired this season surrounding the Spartans and their opponents.

Four teams have canceled games against San Jose State: Boise State, Southern Utah, Utah State and Wyoming, with none of the schools explicitly saying why they were forfeiting.

A group of Nevada players issued a statement saying they will not take the floor when the Wolf Pack are scheduled to host the Spartans on Oct. 26. They cited their “right to safety and fair competition,” though their school reaffirmed Thursday that the match is still planned and that state law bars forfeiture “for reasons related to gender identity or expression.”

All those schools, except Southern Utah, are in the Mountain West. New Mexico, also in the MWC, went ahead with its home match on Thursday night, which was won by the Spartans, 3-1, the team’s first victory since Sept. 24.

“It breaks my heart because they’re human beings, young people, student-athletes on both sides of this issue that are getting a lot of national negative attention,” Nevarez said in an interview with The Associated Press at Mountain West basketball media days. “It just doesn’t feel right to me.”

Republican governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have made public statements in support of the cancellations, citing a need for fairness in women’s sports. Former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee in this year’s presidential race, this week referenced an unidentified volleyball match when he was asked during a Fox News town hall about transgender athletes in women’s sports.

“I saw the slam, it was a slam. I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head,” Trump replied before he was asked what can be done. “You just ban it. The president bans it. You just don’t let it happen.”

After Trump’s comment, San Diego State issued a statement that said “it has been incorrectly reported that an San Diego State University student-athlete was hit in the face with a volleyball during match play with San Jose State University. The ball bounced off the shoulder of the student-athlete, and the athlete was uninjured and did not miss a play.”

San Jose State has not made any direct comments about the politicians’ “fairness” references, and Nevarez did not go into details.

“I’m learning a lot about the issue,” Nevarez said. “I don’t know a lot of the language yet or the science or the understanding nationally of how this issue plays out. The external influences are so far on either side. We have an election year. It’s political, so, yeah, it feels like a no-win based on all the external pressure.”

The cancellations could mean some teams will not qualify for the conference tournament Nov. 27-30 in Las Vegas, where the top six schools are slated to compete for the league championship.

“The student-athlete (in question) meets the eligibility standard, so if a team does not play them, it’s a forfeit, meaning they take a loss,” Nevarez said.

Ahead of the Oct. 26 match in Reno. Nevada released a statement acknowledging that “a majority of the Wolf Pack women’s volleyball team” had decided to forfeit against San Jose State. The school said only the university can take that step but any player who decides not to play would face no punishment.

___

AP college sports:

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