WINNIPEG — The ice was empty, with the exception of Laurent Brossoit and goalie coach Wade Flaherty.
With roughly 30 minutes to go before practice officially began, Brossoit was laser-focused on executing his side-to-side fundamentals with precision.
It would be five more days before his first start in nearly three weeks, but that willingness to put in the work when almost no one was watching would eventually pay dividends for the Winnipeg Jets backup goalie.
Mental toughness is a prerequisite for anyone in the backup job, where the line between pedestrian and excellent can often be razor-thin.
On Friday night against the Vancouver Canucks, Brossoit left no question which column this performance would fall under, turning aside all 29 shots he faced to lead the Jets to a 2-0 victory at Rogers Place.
“(Brossoit) was excellent. Obviously, our best player,” said Jets defenceman Neal Pionk. “He’s got one of the harder jobs in the league. He knows that (Connor Hellebuyck) is going to get most of the games and he comes in and he’s been ready to play this year. It’s been awesome.”
It was the second shutout of Brossoit’s NHL career, with both of them coming in Vancouver against the Canucks (the other came on Dec. 22, 2018).
Shining in his home province brought a wide smile to his face when the topic was broached during his post-game interview.
“If there’s a city I want to have those stats, it’s probably this one. I’ll take it,” said Brossoit, who has turned aside all 88 shots he’s faced in three NHL appearances in Vancouver, including a relief stint with the Edmonton Oilers in October of 2017. “I mean, whether I’m playing or not, my day-to-day looks the same. It’s not too difficult to stay prepared. I’ve got my routine and I stick to it.”
Brossoit made a number of impressive saves, including one on Canucks defenceman Nate Schmidt on a clear-cut breakaway.
Although the puck got behind Brossoit for a brief moment, he was able to reach back and cover it up before it crossed the goal line.
“I felt fast and on that breakaway, I felt a little bit too fast. I overreacted a bit,” said Brossoit, who improved to 3-1, lowered his goals-against average to 2.24 and raised his save percentage to .935. “Saw he was going blocker and jammed my blocker out toward the puck and a bit of an overreaction so it hit my armpit and I felt it dropped and I made sure I covered it up.”
In a condensed season, the Jets knew they were going to have to lean on Brossoit more than they did last year, when Hellebuyck started 56 of 71 games before the pause.
With Brossoit’s ability to stay as sharp as he has in the early stages of the season, he’s instilled confidence in his teammates and the coaching staff — which is essential given how hectic the schedule is about to become.
Even when the reigning Vezina Trophy winner needs to take a night off, the Jets are confident there won’t be much — if any — dropoff between the pipes.
“Yeah, and maybe less so this year, but in the past, yeah, he’s gone long runs (between starts) because of the schedule, and been able to come up with some really good performances,” said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. “He’s underrated, and rightfully so Connor Hellebuyck gets all the accolades that he should, he’s a Vezina winner, but our goaltending tandem is just exceptionally strong.
“(Brossoit) is just so powerful getting from post to post. He had a couple of really good stays where he had to get across hard, but by the time he got there he was really in his own structure, he was composed with it. And then the rebound control. There was maybe one that got away from him, the rest he had a real good handle on the first shot and then put the puck where he needed to put it. He was just right on.”
This is the third consecutive season that Hellebuyck and Brossoit have worked as a tandem and having a strong personal relationship has served them well.
They train together and incorporate many of the same movements in the crease, which could create a series of spin-off benefits.
“They both agree on the same philosophies of where they’re trying to put pucks off shots, how they get across the net on certain things,” said Maurice. “I might be reaching on this one, but it may be subconscious. They both play the puck with a similar mindset. For your defence, they get to come back to the same holes, if you will, for the outlet (pass).
“Two very, very big men and neither one of them scrambles. They’re both square and strong in the net. And the pucks come off them, a lot of the times, in the same way. There’s no difference in the room going out to the ice or in the way our back end plays, regardless of who is playing in the net. And that may well be all of those nuance things that aren’t spoken about, they’re just played with. I think there’s an advantage there, I would agree with that.”
The Jets were coming off a split against the Edmonton Oilers, winning a 6-5 game that they could have easily lost because of how loose things got defensively and losing a 3-2 game that they could have easily won, were it not for a couple of defensive lapses during a span of 21 seconds.
So as they looked to rebound from a loss that was much closer to resembling the template they’d hope to employ to enjoy some sustained success, it was critical for the Jets to not abandon the willingness to pay attention to the defensive details.
By improving to 5-0-1 after suffering a loss this season, the Jets are 10-6-1 going into Sunday’s rematch with the Canucks.
“It’s hard to win in this league and it’s hard to get on a roll of winning. If you lose a game in the NHL, you should come out the next night and have a little extra intensity, a little extra burr in the saddle, so to speak, in terms of not wanting to lose two in a row,” said Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey. “That’s the identity of a great team. That’s another fundamental that we’re trying to play to and have every day as a part of our identity. And then, you just handle that situation. Things are going to happen. You might lose two in a row, who knows. Try to never let that happen and continue to up that intensity level.”
Prior to a late empty-netter from Mason Appleton — which came after a couple of superb defensive efforts from Pionk — the Jets’ lone marker came from centre Mark Scheifele, who got in alone on Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko and beat him with a nifty forehand-backhand deke.
“I obviously saw he was far out of the net, but he’s a pretty stellar goaltender, a big body, so I just kind of made my move and he bit a little bit so I was happy to put it in,” said Scheifele, who extended his point streak to nine games. “I don’t get many breakaways, so it’s fun when you put them in.”
Scheifele’s skill set was on full display as he moved to nine goals and 22 points in 17 games.
“I saw a move that I couldn’t pull off, that’s for sure. Mark is an elite hockey player, that’s definitely right up his alley, the skill part,” said Pionk. “The other day in the hotel, we were talking about hockey and some of the skill stuff and a lot of it went right over my head.
“He thinks about things that a lot of people don’t think about. It was a heck of a move and got us going in the right direction.”
The other guy that got the Jets going on Friday was Brossoit.
“Yeah, he’s been fantastic. Every game he comes in he gives us a chance to win,” said Scheifele. “It’s pretty awesome when you have two great goalies that no matter who’s in, we know we’re going to get their best. It’s definitely huge when you have your backup that plays so amazing on pretty much every night.
“He works his bag off every single day. He comes to the rink and he’s one of the fittest guys on our team, does all the things to prepare every single day so you know those guys that come in day in and day out and work their hardest and give it their all and prepare their bodies like Laurent does, it’s something that’s so commendable and we see it every single day. We see the work he puts in on and off the ice and it’s awesome to see him shine on the ice as well.”
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
