1. This was an opener that had a bit of everything going on; nine goals total, multiple deficits overcome by the Leafs — 1-0, 3-1 down, 4-3 down — a message-sending fight by Wayne Simmonds in his debut, budding hatred (Simmonds, Chariot, Anderson, even Matthews — on Chariot — and Weber all got heated). There were lots of power plays both ways in the first 40 minutes, followed by a progressively sloppy track meet in the third, followed by 3-on-3 OT at its wildest and sloppiest. Couldn’t have asked for a more entertaining first night back.
2. Feels ungrateful to be anything but positive and upbeat about the return of hockey, so apologies for the brief downer note: Sorely missed the SBA reactions to the Thornton introduction, the Simmonds introduction (and fight), and the comeback efforts. Soon, we can only hope.
3. You can debate if the fight played a direct role in the comeback, but I don’t think you can dispute that this was a needed aspect of improving team culture: a Leaf who, sensing a game might be getting away, plants himself hard in front of the opposition net, draws the fight, ends the fight with a few bombs, and sends a message directly to the bench that we don’t roll over and go quietly into the night, especially not in a home opener.
After a slow start to the game, Wayne Simmonds got his footing and established more of a presence on the forecheck in the second period as well.
4. Not sure what the expectation could reasonably be as far as preparation and structure in such a unique regular-season opening set of circumstances, but the Leafs weren’t the more prepared team through 35 minutes, to be sure. A flurry of penalties, including a too-many-men call, multiple breakaways against on a single second-period PK — one off a horrendous line change (by Jake Muzzin in particular) for the 3-1 Tomas Tatar goal — and some poor sort-outs off lost defensive zone draws, the execution wasn’t what you would call sharp.
Keefe after the game: “First game at that tempo, it was an emotional comeback win… I’m not going to be nitpicky. We’ll look to get better every day.” Fair enough for now.
5. Those paid to be the difference makers were the difference-makers for the Leafs, as their game-breakers up front took over in the final 30 minutes — specifically Tavares (1g, 2a), Nylander (2g, 1a), and Matthews (1a, 7 SOG). Starting with the captain, getting beat by Josh Anderson while covering for a Zach Bogosian pinch aside, John Tavares got the ball rolling for the Leafs with a faceoff win and goalie screen for the 1-1 Nylander goal. He was really determined at the net-front all game, including for his 3-3 tying goal on the doorstep on the power play, he finished checks, made good decisions with the puck throughout the night, and his skating legs looked refreshed. I’ve been betting on a Tavares bounce-back year this season — great start in that regard.
6. Lots of cement legs and doubled over players late on, but Auston Matthews looked like he could’ve played another 10 min TOI. Don’t think 18 minutes through two periods is exactly where you want him every night, but his conditioning (down 10 pounds) looks excellent on top of everything else about his game. Saw some talk out there — including on the broadcast tonight — that Phil Danault has an ability to keep a lid on Matthews; Matthews owned 77% of the possession in that matchup.
7. For those who don’t remember the kind of goal-scoring form William Nylander was in last season after his just-okay first 10 games: He now has 29 goals in his last 52 regular-season appearances. The heads-up patience on his 3-2 goal, exploiting the time and space available until he picked his spot, made scoring goals in the NHL look deceptively easy. He was the player on the ice on many of his shifts tonight: heavy on his stick, winning back pucks, and the puck was flying off his stick with minimal wind-up.
8. The result was more about the brilliant individual performances for the Leafs, and the play of the big duos up front (Tavares – Nylander, Matthews – Marner) than any three-man line you felt like was really gelling and rolling as a unit.
There is a lot to sort out here, still, and it’s too early to make too many firm evaluations. My premature feel on it is that Zach Hyman is going to work his way to L1 more or less full time — already is periodically throughout the game, as expected, but too much of what he generates off the forecheck is probably wasted on that line — Ilya Mikheyev should find a place next to Tavares and Nylander, Nick Robertson isn’t going to be held out by Jimmy Vesey and Alex Barbanov for very long at LW (either that, or Alex Kerfoot shifts over), and the big unit on the PP will return more or less full time. I thought Jumbo kept up fine in over 17 minutes of ice time in a track-meet of a 60 minutes, but they’re likely going to have to build a third line that Thornton can thrive on for a 13-15 minute workload, one that can establish a bit of a slower cycle identity.
The evaluation period is only just beginning at the bottom of the roster, too, with Alex Barabanov hardly a factor at 5 minutes a change, Zach Bogosian limited to 10 minutes after a couple of bad penalties, and Travis Dermott second-best in too many puck battles (12:34 TOI).
9.Morgan Rielly was vibrant offensively and the OT hero after a regulation performance that had its fair share of adventurous moments. I’m no less optimistic on the pairing through one game. TJ Brodie looks like he’s going to provide a steadying presence that should really benefit Rielly’s game more nights than not — good feet and stick positioning, dependable decision making with the puck, situationally aware in the d-zone.
It was adventurous at times, as mentioned, but we’re always fair here: Rielly’s defensive play on the Montreal 2 on 1 late in the second period on the Leafs’ power play — a chance to break the Leafs’ backs with a shorthanded goal against — was an unsung play in the flow of the game. The sweep check to take away the shot and pass was textbook, and it’s something he’s improved on in recent seasons. That set the stage for the 3-3.
10. This game reminded me of a lot of 2019-20 Frederik Andersen performances in this sense: Was there any one goal that hung squarely on his shoulders? No. Do you wish there was an extra save in there somewhere along the way? Yes. The Leafs gave him the run support, though, and the breakaway saves on Drouin in regulation and Danault in OT were game-savers.
CALGARY – The Calgary Flames have re-signed defenceman Ilya Solovyov and centre Cole Schwindt, the NHL club announced Wednesday.
Solovyov signed a two-year deal which is a two-way contract in year one and a one-way deal in year two and carries an average annual value of US$775,000 at the NHL level.
Schwindt signed a one-year, two-way contract with an average annual value of $800,000 at the NHL level.
The 24-year-old Solovyov, from Mogilev, Belarus, made his NHL debut last season and had three assists in 10 games for the Flames. He also had five goals and 10 assists in 51 games with the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers and added one goal in six Calder Cup playoff games.
Schwindt, from Kitchener, Ont., made his Flames debut last season and appeared in four games with the club.
The 23-year-old also had 14 goals and 22 assists in 66 regular-season games with the Wranglers and added a team-leading four goals, including one game-winning goal, in the playoffs.
Schwindt was selected by Florida in the third round, 81st overall, at the 2019 NHL draft. He came to Calgary in July 2022 along with forward Jonathan Huberdeau and defenceman MacKenzie Weegar in the trade that sent star forward Matthew Tkachuk to the Panthers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
KING CITY, Ont. – Oman scored 10 runs in the final over to edge Nepal by one wicket with just one ball remaining in ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 play Wednesday.
Kaleemullah, the No. 11 batsman who goes by one name, hit a four with the penultimate ball as Oman finished at 223 for nine. Nepal had scored 220 for nine in its 50 overs.
Kaleemullah and No. 9 batsman Shakeel Ahmed each scored five in the final over off Sompal Kami. They finished with six and 17 runs, respectively.
Opener Latinder Singh led Oman with 41 runs.
Nepal’s Gulsan Jha was named man of the match after scoring 53 runs and recording a career-best five-wicket haul. The 18-year-old slammed five sixes and three-fours in his 35-ball knock, scoring 23 runs in the 46th over alone when he hit six, six, four, two, four and one off Aqib Ilyas.
Captain Rohit Paudel led Nepal with 60 runs.
The 19th-ranked Canadians, who opened the triangular series Monday with a 103-run win over No. 17 Nepal, face No. 16 Oman on Friday, Nepal on Sunday and Oman again on Sept. 26. All the games are at the Maple Leaf Cricket Ground.
The eight World League 2 teams each play 36 one-day internationals spread across nine triangular series through December 2026. The top four sides will go through to a World Cup qualifier that will decide the last four berths in the expanded 14-team Cricket World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Canada (5-4) stands second in the World League 2 table. The 14th-ranked Dutch top the table at 6-2.
Oman (2-2 with one no-result) stands sixth, ahead of Nepal (1-5).
Canada won all four matches in its opening tri-series in February-March, sweeping No. 11 Scotland and the 20th-ranked host Emirates. But the Canadians lost four in a row to the 18th-ranked U.S. and host Netherlands in August.
Canada which debuted in the T20 World Cup this summer in the U.S. and West Indies, is looking to get back to the showcase 50-over Cricket World Cup for the first time since 2011 after failing to qualify for the last three editions. The Canadian men also played in the 1979, 2003 and 2007 tournaments, exiting after the group stage in all four tournament appearances.
The Canadian men regained their one-day international status for the first time in almost a decade by finishing in the top four of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier Playoff in April 2023 in Bermuda.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024
PENTICTON, B.C. – Rick Tocchet has already warned his Vancouver Canucks players — the looming NHL season won’t be easy.
The team made strides last year, the head coach said Wednesday ahead of training camp. The bar has been raised for this year’s campaign.
“To get to the next plateau, there are higher expectations and it’s going to be hard. We know that,” Tocchet said in Penticton, B.C., where the team will open its camp on Thursday.
“So that’s the next level. It starts day one (on Thursday). My thing is don’t waste a rep out there.”
The Canucks finished atop the Pacific Division with a 50-23-9 record last season, then ousted the Nashville Predators from the playoffs in a gritty, six-game first-round series. Vancouver then fell to the Edmonton Oilers in a seven-game second-round set.
Last fall, Jim Rutherford, the Canucks president of hockey operations, said everything would have to go right for the team to make a playoff push. That doesn’t change this season, he said, despite last year’s success.
“The challenges will be greater, certainly. But I believe the team that we started with last year, we have just as good a team to start the season this year and probably better,” he said.
“As long as the team builds off what they did last year, stick to what the coaches tell them, stick to the system, stick together in good times and bad times, this team has a chance to do pretty well.”
Some key players will be missing as Vancouver’s training camp begins, however.
Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced Wednesday that star goalie Thatcher Demko will not be on the ice when the team begins it’s pre-season preparation.
Allvin did not disclose the reason for Demko’s absence, but said the 28-year-old American has been making progress.
“He’s been in working extremely hard and he seems to be in a great mindset,” the GM said.
Demko missed several weeks of the regular season and much of Vancouver’s playoff run last spring with a knee injury.
The six-foot-four, 192-pound goalie has a career 213-116-81 regular-season record with a .912 save percentage, a 2.79 goals-against average and eight shutouts across seven seasons with the Canucks.
Allvin also announced that veteran centre Teddy Blueger and defensive prospect Cole McWard will also miss the start of training camp after each had “minor lower-body surgery.”
Vancouver previously announced winger Dakota Joshua won’t be present for the start of camp as he recovers from surgery for testicular cancer.
Tocchet said he’ll have no problem filling the holes, and plans to switch his lines up a lot in Penticton.
“Nothing’s set in stone,” he said. “I think it’s important that you have different puzzles at different times.”
The coach added that he expects standout centre Elias Pettersson to begin on a line with Canucks newcomer Jake DeBrusk.
Vancouver inked DeBrusk, a former Boston Bruins forward, to a seven-year, US$38.5 million deal when the NHL’s free agent market opened on July 1.
The glare on Pettersson is expected to be bright once again as he enters the first year of a new eight-year, $92.8 million contract. The 25-year-old Swede struggled at times last season and put 89 points (34 goals, 55 assists) in 82 games.
Rutherford said he was impressed with how Pettersson looked when he returned to Vancouver ahead of camp.
“He seems to be a guy that’s more relaxed and more comfortable. And for obvious reasons,” said the president of hockey ops. “This is a guy that I believe has worked really hard this summer. He’s done everything he can to play as a top-line player. … The expectation for him is to be one of the top players on our team.”
A number of Canucks hit milestones last season, including Quinn Hughes, who led all NHL defencemen in scoring with 92 points and won the Norris Trophy as the league’s top blue liner.
Several players could once again have career-best years for Vancouver, Tocchet said, but they’ll need to be consistent and not allow frustration to creep in when things go wrong.
“You’ve just got to drive yourself every day when you have a great year,” the coach said. “You’ve got to keep creating that environment where they can achieve those goals, whatever they are. And the main goal is winning. That’s really what it comes down to.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
