WINNIPEG — If you had any concerns about the level of engagement for Patrik Laine this season, you can throw those right out the window.
When Laine told reporters that he was focused solely on being a better player and not listening to any of the outside noise surrounding his future, he meant it.
He also backed up those heartfelt words with actions, producing two goals — including the overtime winner — and an assist as the Winnipeg Jets opened the season with a 4-3 victory over the Calgary Flames on Thursday at Bell MTS Place.
“Hopefully I can just build off that game,” said Laine, whose second-effort shot came 78 seconds into the extra period. “There’s a lot of things we need to work on and the three points are not going to tell the true story of the game. Obviously, it’s a good start. You’ve got to produce, so that was good.”
If you had created a checklist of what a dominant game for Laine was going to look like, he basically ticked off all of the boxes.
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Laine took care of that by accepting a perfect stretch pass from linemate Kyle Connor and roofing a bar-down shot in the first period over the glove of Jacob Markstrom in what was one of the few highlights during a lethargic opening period for the Jets.
Want to see if his passing ability is still there after racking up a career-best in assists last season?
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Watch Laine thread the needle with a perfect cross-ice feed to Connor for a one-timer during a two-man advantage that tied the game 3-3.
Then after Connor was cross-checked in the back by Flames defenceman Noah Hanifin with 24.7 seconds to go in the second, Laine came to the aid of his linemate.
After a melee ensued, Laine was quick to find Flames resident agitator Matthew Tkachuk in the scrum and drop the gloves.
“That kind of play always looks dangerous. If you’re hitting one of our top guys like that, somebody needs to step up and it doesn’t matter who it is,” said Laine. “Teammates have to step up and now was my time and there’s been a bunch of guys who have stepped up for me. So just a normal situation.”
It may be a normal situation, but it’s not the act of someone who isn’t invested in his teammates.
“Yeah, I mean that’s just the type of guy he is. He’ll go to battle for his teammates and he’s a pretty selfless guy,” said Connor, who finished with two points and was sporting a cut on his nose as a result of going head-first into the boards. “I think you can see that, obviously, tonight and I’ve got his back out there and vice versa. He’s just an all-around great teammate, I would say.”
Laine figured he would toss in the overtime winner, just for good measure.
The Finnish forward is an essential piece of the puzzle for this Jets group and getting off to a start like that provides an immediate jolt of confidence.
“He knows that he’s worked hard here for two weeks. He’s worked harder here for two weeks than at any point in his time here,” said Maurice. “Then he gets just an incredible payoff. So now he’s feeling good. It’s all part of the development. You get bigger, stronger and you understand what a training camp is going to be like. You prepare for it.
“He’s a very driven young man. He wants to be great and sometimes, you have to learn how that unfolds. What he got tonight, he earned. He didn’t get lucky, he didn’t have a bunch of good bounces go for him or anything like that, he just worked and worked. For him to get down the ice in overtime the way that he did, that’s a fit guy. That’s a guy who has been pushing himself for two weeks after a good summer of training.”
Laine has the ability to be a game-breaker — and on Thursday night, he was.
“I mean, nothing surprises you with him. I’m probably his biggest, what’s the opposite of a critic, a praiser or whatever,” said Jets centre Paul Stastny. “I’ve always loved his game. Always loved when he gets engaged. He’s just such a physical specimen. You don’t see it because he’s just so smooth out there but he’s just so strong on the puck.”
After spending a good chunk of training camp discussing the need to limit the number of high-danger scoring chances allowed, the Jets had some issues in the defensive zone during the first period as they gave up three goals.
The Jets were hemmed in and had some issues in coverage, plus the penalty kill sprung a leak (thanks to a brilliant pass from Elias Lindholm) and the result was a two-goal deficit after 20 minutes of play.
But instead of wilting under the glare of opening night, the Jets came up with a much more determined second period.
Mark Scheifele took advantage of a blind pass from Flames forward Milan Lucic that ended up on the stick of Nikolaj Ehlers in the slot and the Jets centre cleaned up the loose change in the opening minute.
The early marker seemed to help the Jets find their skating legs and as the period wore on, they were quicker to the puck and won a lot more battles.
The tide turned dramatically over the final 40 minutes and the Flames simply couldn’t get it back.
When the Jets had a two-man advantage during the second period, Maurice quickly called a timeout to rest his first unit — and then unveiled an interesting wrinkle.
Instead of having Neal Pionk at the top of the first unit, he sent out five forwards, with Stastny taking Pionk’s place and captain Blake Wheeler running things from the top.
That move paid dividends as Laine found Connor for the quick one-timer, setting the stage for the 3-on-3 overtime session.
There was some drama surrounding the availability of Ehlers after he landed on the COVID Protocol Related Absence list on Wednesday and missed the morning skate the following day.
Ehlers revealed after the game it was merely a sore throat and he simply took the necessary precautions in this new world the players are still adjusting to.
“If it wouldn’t have been these COVID times right now, I would have come to practice, I would have practised. But it’s a precaution,” said Ehlers. “I don’t want to come to the rink in case that it is COVID. I don’t want to spread it. So I had no problem staying at home. Those are the protocols. I want to be safe, I want my teammates and everyone that’s close to me here to be safe as well. I’m glad that there are these protocols. Obviously, you want to be out there on the ice, even for practice, you want to be around your team. But there’s a reason those protocols are there and they’re a big reason we’re allowed to play. It was fine with me. I ended up playing and I’m happy I was out there.”
Ehlers certainly wasn’t lacking energy, as his speed and creativity were on full display throughout the contest.
During his post-game interview, Ehlers joked that his biggest contribution may have been harassing Laine about when he was going to drop his gloves for his first fight.
“I’ve maybe been a little bit in his head in the last week, saying he hasn’t fought yet and when is it going to happen. I think he took that a little personal,” said Ehlers. “He stood up for his teammate. It fires the guys up. Patty’s a big boy, and he went in there today and showed that. It’s exciting, it gets the boys going, it always does. And he got himself buzzing, too. It’s exciting for us.
“He played a great game today. Not just the goals and the passes that he ended up making. He played a great overall game, and everybody saw that out there today. He was working hard, he was stepping up for (Connor). He worked his ass off. That’s pretty exciting. He loves to play hockey.”
Laine laughed off Ehlers’ suggestion, though he made it clear he was disappointed he didn’t get credit for a major after the second-period melee.
“He’s a pigeon. Don’t listen to that guy,” said Laine. “I was pissed off because that would have been a Gordie Howe hat trick. That one time when I drop my gloves I get a two-minute penalty so that’s kind of embarrassing. I’m not a guy who likes to fight much. I’d rather stay on the ice and help the team that way.”
To echo his comments on the first day of training camp, Laine is most definitely here — and in Game 1, he was a man on a mission.
MONTREAL – On a night when New York’s top line was missing in action, the bit players grabbed the spotlight and led the Rangers to a commanding 7-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
“That’s the kind of team we have,” said Filip Chytil, who led the Rangers with a pair of power-play goals Tuesday. “The guys on the top line had chances but when they don’t score we have three other lines to pick up the slack.”
The Rangers’ dominance was reflected in the amount of time they spent in the Canadiens zone and their 45-23 edge in shots.
“If you’ve watched us practice, you know that’s something we work on all the time,” said Chytil. “When we get the puck, we want to hold on to it.”
The Rangers grabbed a 2-0 lead on goals by Mika Zibanejad at the 56-second mark and Jonny Brodzinski at 2:05, but it was Montreal which pressed the play in the first minute.
“I thought we had a good start but they turned it around on us,” said Montreal coach Martin St. Louis.
Lane Hutson controlled the puck off the opening faceoff and had two early shots, both of which were blocked by New York’s Jacob Trouba.
“That was huge for us,” said Rangers coach Peter Laviolette. “We know (Trouba) can generate offence but he can come up with those big defensive plays.”
Montreal goalie Sam Montembeault exited at 11:05 of the first period after giving up four goals on 10 shots. Zibanejad, Brodzinski, Chytil and Reilly Smith all scored on the Habs’ starter.
His replacement, Cayden Primeau, stopped 33 of 35 shots, giving up goals to Braden Schneider, Kaapo Kakko and Chytil.
Nick Suzuki scored both of the Montreal goals, his first strikes of the season
“It didn’t really feel like a 7-2 game until the end there when you look up at the scoreboard,” Suzuki said. “But we obviously keep digging ourselves these holes, and against a good team like that, our details early on have to be really sharp. And we were definitely a little sleepy coming out and they jumped on us.”
Hutson led the Canadiens in ice time with 24:10 but this wasn’t one of his better games. Smith scored on a breakaway after taking the puck off Hutson’s stick and the rookie was minus-4 for the night.
After Tuesday’s morning practice, the Canadiens announced forward Juraj Slafkovsky will miss at least a week with an upper-body injury. Defenceman Kaiden Guhle missed a second consecutive game with an upper-body injury but the team said it isn’t a long-term ailment.
The injury situation didn’t get any better after Trouba flattened Justin Barron at 7:11 of the third period. Barron didn’t return to the ice but there was no immediate word on his condition.
The Rangers welcomed back defenceman Ryan Lindgren, who made his season debut after missing five games with a jaw injury.
Before the game, 14 players from the Canadiens’ team that won four consecutive Stanley Cups between 1976 and 1979 were introduced at the Bell Centre. Among them were Hockey Hall of Fame members Yvan Cournoyer, Serge Savard, Guy Lapointe, Bob Gainey and Ken Dryden.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball has sold at auction for nearly $4.4 million, a record high price not just for a baseball, but for any ball in any sport, the auctioneer said Wednesday.
“We received bids from around the world, a testament to the significance of this iconic collectible and Ohtani’s impact on sports, and I’m thrilled for the winning bidder,” Ken Goldin, the founder and CEO of auctioneer Goldin Auctions said in a statement.
The auction opened on Sept. 27 with a starting bid of $500,000 and closed just after midnight on Wednesday. The auctioneer said it could not disclose any information about the winning bidder.
The auction has been overshadowed by the litigation over ownership of the ball. Christian Zacek walked out of Miami’s LoanDepot Park with the ball after gaining possession in the left-field stands. Max Matus and Joseph Davidov each claim in separate lawsuits that they grabbed the ball first.
All the parties involved in the litigation agreed that the auction should continue.
Matus’ lawsuit claims that the Florida resident — who was celebrating his 18th birthday — gained possession of the Ohtani ball before Zacek took it away. Davidov claims in his suit that he was able to “firmly and completely grab the ball in his left hand while it was on the ground, successfully obtaining possession of the 50/50 ball.”
Ohtani and the Dodgers are preparing for Game 1 of the World Series scheduled for Friday night.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James gave his 20-year-old son a pep talk before they rose from the Lakers bench. Amid rising cheers, they walked together to the scorer’s table — and then they stepped straight into basketball history.
LeBron and Bronny became the first father and son to play in the NBA together Tuesday night during the Los Angeles Lakers ‘ season opener, fulfilling a dream set out a few years ago by LeBron, the top scorer in league history.
“That moment, us being at the scorer’s table together and checking in together, it’s a moment I’m never going to forget,” LeBron said. “No matter how old I get, no matter how my memory may fade as I get older or whatever, I will never forget that moment.”
Father and son checked into the game against Minnesota simultaneously with four minutes left in the second quarter, prompting a big ovation from a home crowd aware of the enormity of the milestone. The 39-year-old LeBron had already started the game and played 13 minutes before he teamed up with his 20-year-old son for about 2 1/2 minutes of action.
LeBron James is one of the greatest players in NBA history, a four-time champion and 20-time All-Star, while LeBron James Jr. was a second-round pick by the Lakers last summer. They are the first father and son to play in the world’s top basketball league at the same time, let alone on the same team.
“Y’all ready? You see the intensity, right? Just play carefree, though,” father told son on the bench before they checked in, an exchange captured by the TNT cameras and microphones. “Don’t worry about mistakes. Just go out and play hard.”
Their time on court together was fast and furious, just as LeBron promised.
LeBron, who finished the night with 16 points, missed two perimeter shots before making a dunk. Bronny had an early offensive rebound and missed a tip-in, and his first NBA jump shot moments later was a 3-pointer that came up just short. He checked out one possession later with 1:19 left in the second quarter, getting another ovation.
“(I) tried not to focus on everything that’s going on around me, and tried to focus on going in as a rookie and not trying to mess up,” Bronny said. “But yeah, I totally did feel the energy, and I appreciate Laker Nation for showing the support for me and my dad.”
After the final whistle on the Lakers’ first opening-night victory in LeBron’s seven seasons with the team, father and son also headed to the locker room together — but not before stopping in the tunnel to hug Savannah James, LeBron’s wife and Bronny’s mother. The entire family was in attendance to watch history — on little sister Zhuri’s 10th birthday, no less.
Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. also were courtside at the Lakers’ downtown arena to witness the same history they made in Major League Baseball. The two sluggers played 51 games together for the Seattle Mariners in 1990 and 1991 as baseball’s first father-son duo.
LeBron first spoke about his dream to play alongside Bronny a few years ago, while his oldest son was still in high school. The dream became real after Bronny entered the draft as a teenager following one collegiate season, and the Lakers grabbed him with the 55th overall pick.
“I talked about it years and years ago, and for this moment to come, it’s pretty cool,” LeBron said. “I don’t know if it’s going to actually hit the both of us for a little minute, but when we really get to sit back and take it in, it’s pretty crazy. … But in the moment, we still had a job to do when we checked in. We wasn’t trying to make it a circus. We wasn’t trying to make it about us. We wanted to make it about the team.”
LeBron and Bronny joined a small club of father-son professional athletes who played together. The Griffeys made history 34 years ago, and they even homered in the same game on Sept. 14, 1990.
Baseball Hall of Famer Tim Raines and his namesake son also accomplished the feat with the Baltimore Orioles in 2001.
In hockey, Gordie Howe played alongside his two sons, Mark and Marty, with the WHA’s Houston Aeros and Team Canada before one NHL season together on the Hartford Whalers in 1979-80, when Gordie was 51.
While the other family pairings on this list happened late in the fathers’ careers, LeBron shows no signs of slowing down or regressing as he begins his NBA record-tying 22nd season.
LeBron averaged more than 25 points per game last year for his 20th consecutive season, and he remains the most important player on the Lakers alongside Anthony Davis as they attempt to recapture the form that won a championship in 2020 and got them to the Western Conference finals in 2023.
Bronny survived cardiac arrest and open heart surgery in the summer of 2023, and he went on to play a truncated freshman season at the University of Southern California. He declared for the draft anyway, and the Lakers eagerly used the fourth-to-last pick in the draft on the 6-foot-2 guard.
LeBron spent the summer in Europe with the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the Paris Olympics, while Bronny played for the Lakers in summer league. They started practicing together with the Lakers before training camp.
The duo first played together in the preseason, logging four minutes during a game against Phoenix just outside Palm Springs earlier this month.
“It’s been a treat,” LeBron said at Tuesday’s morning shootaround. “In preseason, the practices, just every day … bringing him up to speed of what this professional life is all about, and how to prepare every day as a professional.”
The Lakers were fully aware of the history they would make with this pairing, and coach JJ Redick spoke with the Jameses recently about a plan to make it happen early in the regular season.
The presence of the Griffeys likely made it an inevitability for opening night, even though Redick said the Lakers still wanted it “to happen naturally, in the flow of the game.”
The Lakers have declined to speculate on how long Bronny will stay on their NBA roster. Los Angeles already has three other small guards on its roster, and Bronny likely needs regular playing time to raise his game to a consistent NBA standard.
Those factors add up to indicate Bronny is likely to join the affiliate South Bay Lakers of the G League at some point soon. LeBron and Redick have both spoken positively about the South Bay team, saying that player development is a key part of the Lakers organization.
Miami forward Kevin Love, who knew all the James children — Bronny, Bryce and Zhuri — from his time as LeBron’s teammate in Cleveland, said it was “an unbelievable moment” to see father and son playing together.
“I grew up a Mariners fan, so I got to see Griffey and then Griffey Sr. But this is different, because LeBron is still a top-five player in the league,” Love said. “This game, man. It’s why we have that ($76 billion) TV deal. The storylines and the things that happen like this, it’s an unbelievable story. This is really cool to see.”
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AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed.
