Here’s what you need to know right now from the world of sports:
The U.S. might have Canada’s number at the world juniors
For the third time in 12 years, the U.S. beat Canada in a world junior hockey championship final on Canadian ice. Last night’s 2-0 win by the underdog Americans in Edmonton shocked many Canadian hockey fans who had seen their boys roll into the gold-medal game with a 6-0 record while outscoring their opponents 41-4.
Maybe it shouldn’t have been such a surprise, though. The U.S. came in with a 34-10 goal margin and, in Trevor Zegras, a superstar forward to match Canada’s Dylan Cozens. Zegras scored the second goal last night and assisted on the first to steal both the tournament points title and MVP honours from the guy picked two spots ahead of him in the 2019 NHL draft. And, despite the eye-popping stats posted by Canada’s Devon Levi leading up to the final, the U.S. had the more talented goalie. Spencer Knight, who matched Levi by earning his third shutout of the tournament last night, was a first-round pick in 2019. Levi went in the seventh last year.
Last night’s result also solidifies a trend that Canadian hockey fans might not want to hear. Since Canada’s run of five straight world junior titles from 2005-09, the U.S. has become the best country in this event. The Americans have captured four of the past 12 titles — one more than both Canada and Finland — and won all three gold-medal-game meetings with Canada. The Canadians have the edge in silver medals (4-1) but the U.S. has more bronze (3-1).
The rise of American hockey is also reflected in the women’s game. Canada won four straight Olympic gold medals from 2002-2014, but the U.S. took the title back in 2018. The Americans have also won the past five world championships. At the most recent worlds, in 2019, Canada became the first of the two countries to fail to make the final.
Even though today’s junior stars can become tomorrow’s NHL standouts, the United States’ success at the world juniors still hasn’t bubbled up to Olympic men’s hockey. From 1998 to 2014 (when the tournament allowed NHL players), Canada won three of the five gold medals. The U.S. had only two silvers to show and hasn’t won gold since the 1980 Miracle on Ice.
Could that drought end soon? We’ll see. But a country with that many people and that much wealth can, when it decides to care about something, become a force of nature.
Players from the United States celebrate following their 2-0 win over Canada in the gold-medal game at the world juniors on Tuesday. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)
WNBA players may have helped shift the course of U.S. politics
They’re still counting the votes (oh boy) but the respectable American networks are projecting that Atlanta Dream co-owner and U.S. Senator from Georgia Kelly Loeffler has lost her high-profile run-off election to Democrat Raphael Warnock. If that result holds up, control of the Senate (and, essentially, control of federal lawmaking) comes down to the other Georgia run-off — between incumbent Republican David Perdue and Democrat Jon Ossoff. Ossoff declared victory today, but has not yet been projected as the winner.
Should both Ossoff and Warnock seal victory, each party will control 50 Senate seats. The tiebreaking vote belongs to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, and the Democrats also have a majority in the House of Representatives. Controlling both chambers of Congress would give Democrats the power to actually pass laws they want once President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20.
That’s why the stakes were so high in these two Georgia races, and a group of WNBA players grasped this earlier than most. At a time when most people were focused on the presidential election, they began publicly denouncing Loeffler. Some — including Atlanta players — even showed up to games wearing “Vote Warnock” shirts in support of the Black Atlanta church pastor running against her.
Those players despise Loeffler for several reasons. Besides her support of Trump and Trump-adjacent causes (both deeply unpopular in WNBA circles), Loeffler angered many players by criticizing the league’s embrace of the Black Lives Matter movement because she felt it “undermines the potential of the sport and sends a message of exclusion.”
As the WNBA made sure to let everyone know, Loeffler had already given up day-to-day operations of the Dream. But still, it took guts for the players to call out an owner like that.
It’s tough to say how much of a difference this made at the polls. But ESPN noted today that Warnock was polling at nine per cent in August when the WNBA endorsed him, and Loeffler at 26 per cent. In the November election, Loeffler held steady by getting 25.9 per cent of the vote on the 20-person ballot, while Warnock shot up to 32.9 per cent. The run-off was triggered because no one received at least 50 per cent.
Both parties poured hundreds of millions of dollars and a ton of work into the run-offs. And Trump’s deepening unpopularity may have influenced turnout. In the end, that stuff probably made the most impact. But, if the two Democrats end up being declared the winners as expected, the WNBA players who spoke out against Loeffler can say they made a difference too. A share of the victory belongs to them.
Quickly…
Tennis is back. The women’s season opened today at the Abu Dhabi Open. Due to pandemic-related cancellations, this is one of the few chances for players to tune up for the delayed Australian Open, which starts Feb. 8. From here, players can head straight to Melbourne to quarantine and then participate in a warmup tournament there starting Feb. 1. Or, if they need to qualify for the Aussie Open, that competition will take place in Dubai starting Sunday. The only Canadian competing in the main draw this week is Leylah Annie Fernandez. The world’s 88th-ranked player won her first-round match today in straight sets over No. 96 Jasmine Paolini. Read more about it here.
For the first time in 29 years, a receiver won the Heisman Trophy. Since Michigan receiver and kick returner Desmond Howard got it for the 1991 season, only two guys who played something other than quarterback or running back have been voted the best player in U.S. college football. Michigan cornerback/returner Charles Woodson did it in ’97, and yesterday Alabama receiver DeVonta Smith won the honour. He caught 105 passes for 1,641 and 20 touchdowns and added a rushing TD for the top-ranked Crimson Tide, who are favoured to win the national championship game on Monday vs. Ohio State. Alabama’s No. 2 receiver is Canadian John Metchie III, who made 47 catches for 835 yards and six TDs.
And finally…
Back to American hockey players for a minute. Another sign of the country’s growing potential in the sport came when Auston Matthews — a guy born in California and raised in Arizona — went first overall in the 2016 NHL draft. The super-talented Sunbelter has lived up to the hype, averaging nearly 40 goals in his four seasons with Toronto — including a career-high 47 last season.
Matthews’ ability to dominate opponents became evident literally right away. In his first NHL regular-season game, in October 2016, he lit up the Ottawa Senators for four goals in the first two periods. The Leafs went on to lose 5-4 in OT, but a star was born.
Craig Anderson was Ottawa’s goalie that night, and he shares his memories of one of the greatest debuts in hockey history in the newest edition of Rob Pizzo’s “I was in net for…” video series:
In episode 10 of our series, Rob Pizzo speaks to former Ottawa Senators goalie Craig Anderson about one of the most talked about debuts in hockey history. 6:26
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EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
