TSN Hockey Reporter Mark Masters reports on the World Junior Hockey Championship. Team Canada held an off-ice workout on Thursday morning ahead of the final intra-squad scrimmage of selection camp.
Team Canada has named its three World Junior goalies. Prince George’s Taylor Gauthier, Kamloops’ Dylan Garand and Northeastern University’s Devon Levi will accompany the group into the bubble on Sunday.
London’s Brett Brochu and Saginaw’s Tristan Lennox were released on Thursday.
In this strange pandemic year, Hockey Canada found a creative way to deliver the the good news to Gauthier, Garand and Levi. It started with a phone call.
”I was asleep,” said Gauthier. “So, that was kind of scary to begin with and then the first words you hear are, ‘Coaches want to talk to you.’ You kind of get that pit in your stomach.”
“Wasn’t quite sure that they were going to get down to the final three today,” said Garand, “so getting called down to meet with the coaches, I was a bit nervous that I was getting sent home.”
“I walked in and the computer was on with my parents on Zoom,” said Levi, “coaches were all around and then my parents told me. It was a huge relief and a dream come true. Hearing that from my parents, who have been supporting me since I was kid, it was awesome.”
In a video posted by Hockey Canada, Levi is seen leaping up from his seat in excitement when parents Laurent and Eta broke the news.
The camp opened on Nov. 16, which means players who crack the roster will be away from home for 51 days. With the tournament taking place in a bubble there will be no chance to visit with loved ones during the holiday season. So, this family moment was both magical and extra meaningful.
“Hearing that one of your dreams has come true from your family that’s been with you right from the start … it was a really special moment,” said Garand, whose father Loren teared up during the announcement.
“It was definitely pretty emotional and such a special moment that I’ll never forget,” said Gauthier, who sat back and seemed to exhale in relief after getting the news from parents Keith and Susan. “They’re such a big part of it and it’s every much their accomplishment.”
Who better to share the good news than their #1 fans?
The decision to get down to the final three guys with one scrimmage still remaining is a sign of the urgency the staff feels to get the goalies in a rhythm.
“Every day counts,” said head coach Andre Tourigny. “We could not wait for games. We don’t play enough games. Everything has to count and the background and the history of the player has to as well.”
Levi started the camp in a cohort quarantine with the other NCAA players so Wednesday was his first scrimmage and he played just 30 minutes. Garand, meanwhile, has played about 50 minutes in the scrimmages so far. Of the three goalies left standing, only Gauthier has played a full game at the camp. But Tourigny said these are the three goalies the staff felt most comfortable with and nothing that happened at camp has changed that.
“We feel they developed more skill than the people give them credit for,” Tourigny said. “Goats has a lot of athleticism. He’s a big goalie as well. He has good size. Garand has really good hands, is really quick and same thing for Levi. He’s really fast. Side to side his legs are really quick. So, they all bring something a little bit different.”
Levi will play a full game tonight while Gauthier and Garand split time at the other end.
With two goalies cut Thursday, Canada is all set in the crease
Hockey Canada made seven more cuts to its selection camp roster in preparation for the upcoming World Junior Championship. Among them were two goaltenders, Brett Brochu and Tristan Lennox. As Mark Masters reports, Team Canada is now all set in the crease.
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Gauthier has been passed over in the last two National Hockey League drafts.
“Going through the draft for the first time and not getting selected it was definitely a little heartbreaking,” the right-catching Calgary native said. “I didn’t really know how to deal with that adversity. Growing up every time I would try out for a team I’d make it and that was the first time I had to deal with the fact that I didn’t reach a goal that I set.”
It was a wake-up call that Gauthier said ultimately made him mentally stronger.
“I learned to focus on the little things that you can control and not worry about the other variables such as the draft or even making this team. It just gave me a little more peace of mind and made things a little easier. It helped me find the love of the game again and just prioritizing going out there working hard and having fun.”
The hard work paid off as Gauthier led the Western Hockey League in minutes played last season while posting a .917 save percentage for a Cougars team that was on the outside of the playoff picture. Tourigny listed Gauthier as the goalie who impressed him most in Wednesday’s scrimmage.
“I really liked his presence,” Tourigny said. “He made key saves and he was really sharp right from the get go.”
Tourigny was behind the bench at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup when Gauthier got the win in the gold medal game in a relief appearance.
“Not playing much in the tournament and coming into the gold medal game halfway through the first period, it kind of showed me that no matter what, you got to be ready,” Gauthier said. “Going in there and seeing the team battle in front of me and coming out with a gold medal at the end of the game, it definitely proved to me that I’m a good goalie and I can give the team a chance to win.”
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Levi also raised his level of play thanks to international experience. He was named MVP at the 2019 World Junior A Challenge in Dawson Creek, B.C., where he backstopped Canada East to a silver medal.
“Playing on the international stage for the first time was unbelievable,” the Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que. native said. “I definitely took the next step in my game. I found something within me. I look at my performance in the semis and the finals, I found a new gear and I think I’ll be able to hopefully tap into that for this tournament.”
Levi posted a .941 save percentage in 37 games with the Carleton Place Canadians last season and was named MVP of the Central Canada Hockey League. He was drafted in the seventh round by the Florida Panthers in October.
“I’m a smart goalie,” Levi said. “I read the play well and I get to where I need to be. I get in front of the shot and I’m rarely out of position. I use my speed to help me with that. A change that I brought to my game is patience. I feel like I was a bit all over the place last year and I’ve toned that down a bit. I’m a bit more in control. I’m waiting to read plays and read releases before I react and I think that’s helped me at this camp.”
Who’s the frontrunner for Canada’s starting gig?
With five goalies in the mix for Team Canada’s starting gig, Bob McKenzie tries to handicap the race for the No. 1 job, and explains how formidable the Canadian blueline is shaping up to be.
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Garand, who was picked in the fourth round by the New York Rangers in October, feels like he took a big step during the pandemic pause.
“I did a good job of gaining strength and putting on weight,” the Victoria native said.
In an interview before the camp opened, Hockey Canada goalie coach Jason LaBarbera said he liked what he saw on the video Garand had sent in.
“His pace has gotten up and you can tell he’s a lot stronger,” LaBarbera observed. “He just looks stronger. His foot pushes and his edge work just look sharper and there’s not as much excess movement when he’s moving around the crease. He looks like he’s getting to his spots on his feet a lot better than he had in the past … you can tell he trusts his feet a lot more.”
While Gauthier, Garand and Levi celebrated some good news on Thursday, seven other World Junior hopefuls saw their dreams dashed. Along with Brochu and Lennox, Hockey Canada released five forwards: Spokane’s Adam Beckman, Barrie’s Tyson Foerster, Chicoutimi’s Hendrix Lapierre, Mississauga’s Cole Schwindt and Kingston’s Shane Wright.
Wright was trying to become a rare 16-year-old to make it to the World Juniors.
“I saw a lot of intensity from Shane,” Tourigny said. “I saw a lot of desire to get better, to learn, to do what we ask. He was a blessing to coach and no problem there … The quality of our players up front is special so that is what played a little bit against him. Nothing that he did disappointed us or wasn’t at the level we were expecting.”
There are 20 forwards left at camp, which means six more still need to go with one final intra-squad game on Thursday night.
“We wanted to shorten the lineup to have 10 forwards on each team and more reps for everybody,” Tourigny said. “You could see yesterday at some point the cardio and the stamina of the players is something we need to keep working at.”
Wright among seven cut from Canadian juniors camp
Shane Wright, a 16-year-old highly touted prospect, was one of seven players cut from Team Canada’s world junior selection camp on Thursday, Hockey Canada announced.
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The line of Connor McMichael, Dylan Cozens and Kirby Dach made a strong debut during Wednesday’s game leading Team White to a 6-4 win over Team Red. Dach finished with two goals and two assists while Cozens and McMichael had two assists each.
“They had a really good night, especially on the power play,” said Tourigny. “They were really productive. That was obviously the best line on Team White.”
Safe to say, Tourigny plans to run the D.M.C line again.
“They made it tough for us to break them up,” the coach said Wednesday night. “That’s something we envision can be a really good line moving forward.”
But on Thursday night they will be breaking up that trio in order to get a look at McMichael at centre.
Tourigny: Cozens-McMichael-Dach making it tough for us to break them up
With the line of Dylan Cozens, Connor McMichael and Kirby Dach impressing in Team White’s instrasquad win over Team Red, Canada coach André Tourigny commented on using the trio moving forward, and discussed the identity of the team this year.
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Tourigny listed Wisconsin University’s Dylan Holloway, Boston College’s Alex Newhook and Val d’Or’s Jakob Pelletier as the best line for Team Red.
“One of our more reliable, solid lines on both sides of the puck,” Tourigny observed.
During his post-game Zoom session, the coach took time to heap praise on all three guys.
Tourigny noted that Newhook “has a lot of speed. He’s strong as well. A strong skater with good balance, strong in his battles. He has a really good shot. He played a two-way role and he played really solid. I like a lot of things Alex can do.”
Tourigny highlighted Holloway’s strength noting that the Oilers prospect is “so powerful, strong, strong on the puck. His skating is outstanding. His effort is always there. He brings a lot of intangibles.”
Tourigny described Pelletier, a Flames prospect, as “the kind of player who makes others better. He was really reliable, bringing a lot of energy. He has a good presence on the bench. He does a lot of good things.”
Newhook and Holloway were among Canada’s final cuts at last year’s selection camp, which Pelletier missed due to injury.
“I played with Newy and Hollo at the U18 championship in Sweden so we had some chemistry there,” said Pelletier. “But, to be honest, they’re just two great players and it’s easy to play with them.”
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
PITTSBURGH – Sidney Crosby plans to remain a Pittsburgh Penguin for at least three more years.
The Penguins announced on Monday that they re-signed the 37-year-old from Cole Harbour, N.S., to a two-year contract extension that has an average annual value of US$8.7 million. The deal runs through the 2026-27 season.
Crosby was eligible to sign an extension on July 1 with him entering the final season of a 12-year, $104.4-million deal that carries an $8.7-million salary cap hit.
At the NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas last Monday, he said things were positive and he was optimistic about a deal getting done.
The three-time Stanley Cup champion is coming off a 42-goal, 94-point campaign that saw him finish tied for 12th in the league scoring race.
Crosby has spent all 19 of his NHL seasons in Pittsburgh, amassing 592 goals and 1,004 assists in 1,272 career games.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Tadej Pogacar was so dominant on Sunday, Canada’s Michael Woods called it a race for second.
Pogacar, a three-time Tour de France champion from Slovenia, pedalled to a resounding victory at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal.
The UAE Team Emirates leader crossed the finish line 24 seconds ahead of Spain’s Pello Bilbao of Bahrain — Victorious to win the demanding 209.1-kilometre race on a sunny, 28 C day in Montreal. France’s Julian Alaphilippe of Soudal Quick-Step was third.
“He’s the greatest rider of all time, he’s a formidable opponent,” said Woods, who finished 45 seconds behind the leader in eighth. “If you’re not at your very, very best, then you can forget racing with him, and today was kind of representative of that.
“He’s at such a different level that if you follow him, it can be lights out.”
Pogacar slowed down before the last turn to celebrate with the crowd, high-five fans on Avenue du Parc and cruise past the finish line with his arms in the air after more than five hours on the bike.
The 25-year-old joined Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet as the only multi-time winners in Montreal after claiming the race in 2022. He also redeemed a seventh-place finish at the Quebec City Grand Prix on Friday.
“I was disappointed, because I had such good legs that I didn’t do better than seventh,” Pogacar said. “To bounce back after seventh to victory here, it’s just an incredible feeling.”
It’s Pogacar’s latest win in a dominant year that includes victories at the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia.
Ottawa’s Woods (Israel Premier-Tech) tied a career-best in front of the home crowd in Montreal, but hoped for more after claiming a stage at the Spanish Vuelta two weeks ago.
“I wanted a better result,” the 37-year-old rider said. “My goal was a podium, but at the same time I’m happy with the performance. In bike racing, you can’t always get the result you want and I felt like I raced really well, I animated the race, I felt like I was up there.”
Pogacar completed the 17 climbs up and down Mount Royal near downtown in five hours 28 minutes 15 seconds.
He made his move with 23.3 kilometres to go, leaving the peloton in his dust as he pedalled into the lead — one he never relinquished.
Bilbao, Alaphilippe, Alex Aranburu (Movistar Team) and Bart Lemmen (Visma–Lease) chased in a group behind him, with Bilbao ultimately separating himself from the pack. But he never came close to catching Pogacar, who built a 35-second lead with one lap left to go.
“It was still a really hard race today, but the team was on point,” Pogacar said. “We did really how we planned, and the race situation was good for us. We make it hard in the last final laps, and they set me up for a (takeover) two laps to go, and it was all perfect.”
Ottawa’s Derek Gee, who placed ninth in this year’s Tour de France, finished 48th in Montreal, and called it a “hard day” in the heat.
“I think everyone knows when you see Tadej on the start line that it’s just going to be full gas,” Gee said.
Israel Premier-Tech teammate Hugo Houle of Sainte-Perpétue, Que., was 51st.
Houle said he heard Pogacar inform his teammates on the radio that he was ready to attack with two laps left in the race.
“I said then, well, clearly it’s over for me,” Houle said. “You see, cycling isn’t that complicated.”
Australia’s Michael Matthews won the Quebec City GP for a record third time on Friday, but did not finish in Montreal. The two races are the only North American events on the UCI World Tour.
Michael Leonard of Oakville, Ont., and Gil Gelders and Dries De Bondt of Belgium broke away from the peloton during the second lap. Leonard led the majority of the race before losing pace with 45 kilometres to go.
Only 89 of 169 riders from 24 teams — including the Canadian national team — completed the gruelling race that features 4,573 metres in total altitude.
Next up, the riders will head to the world championships in Zurich, Switzerland from Sept. 21 to 29.
Pogacar will try to join Eddy Merckx (1974) and Stephen Roche (1987) as the only men to win three major titles in a season — known as the Triple Crown.
“Today gave me a lot of confidence, motivation,” Pogacar said. “I think we are ready for world championships.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2024.
