Toronto Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews (34) celebrates a goal on Edmonton Oilers’ goaltender Mikko Koskinen (19) with teammates during third period NHL action at Rogers Place in Edmonton, on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021.Photo by Ian Kucerak /Postmedia
The penalty-killing? Do they miss Riley Sheahan that much?
OK, that’s a reach. But even when they’re not giving up PP goals this season, the other team’s zone entries seem seamless. And teams are setting up for 30 seconds, 45 seconds, a full minute, with nary a clear down the ice from the Oilers. Or maybe there’s not enough black and blue for the orange and blue. That’s Tippett’s theory.
“Penalty-killing is (about) sacrificing, getting in lanes and getting saves. On the last two goals we gave up, our players didn’t want to get in the lane and we didn’t get a save. I liked our try but ultimately we’re shooting ourselves in the foot and it’s costing us goals,” said Tippett.
No argument from McDavid, who isn’t brushing off the 3-6 start, at all.
“Well, we’re nine games in. I think we’re done figuring it out here. We need to start putting together games,” said the captain, who knows there’s not one recurring theme from game to game.
“One night it’s the power play. One night it’s a little bit of a lull. One night it’s another thing. So we have to collectively come together and put together 60 full minutes. It sounds so cliche but all areas need to be riding together and that hasn’t happened for us yet.” said McDavid.
“I didn’t like our first two periods at all, especially our first. I thought in the second we did an alright job of just settling the game down,” he said. “We found a way to hang around and I thought the third period was pretty good minus a couple of penalties and some PK goals against. Lots of power plays both ways, kind of a weird game but I thought our game wasn’t where it needed to be at all.”
Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid (97) battles Toronto Maple Leafs’ Morgan Reilly (44) during third period NHL action at Rogers Place in Edmonton, on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021.Photo by Ian Kucerak /Postmedia
Leafs are on a roll
Right now, there is precious little belief that the Oilers can win a game. Different story with the 7-2 Leafs, who haven’t always looked pretty but they’ve won five games by a single goal. They’ve won four straight.
“We’ve been resilient and been gritty and we’re finding ways to win at the end. Winning breads confidence and we’re starting to believe that we can win every night,” said Leafs’ Jason Spezza, who had his 231st multiple-point game with a goal and an assist in the first period.
The Oilers, 1-4 at Rogers Place, haven’t won more than one game in a row.
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.”
—
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.
