Located behind the couch where the goalie sits to watch Hurricanes games is a locker he set up to pay tribute to the team that provided him the biggest thrill of his hockey career.
“It’s one of the biggest moments of my life, and I wanted to make sure it was acknowledged front and center,” he said. “It’s hard to think it was that long ago.”
The 42-year-old became the first emergency backup goalie to win an NHL game when the Hurricanes defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 at Scotiabank Arena on Feb. 22. He made eight saves in the final 28:41 of the game after Carolina goalies Petr Mrazek and James Reimer each left because of injury.
It was the only NHL game he’s played.
Now, 173 days later, he was getting set to watch Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round between the Hurricanes and Boston Bruins at his home in Bowmanville, Ontario, 50 miles east of Toronto, the hub city for the Eastern Conference. Because of COVID-19, viewing parties are a no-no, so Ayres invited NHL.com to join him virtually via Zoom.
The locker is in full view and contains all sorts of memorabilia.
“The equipment I used in that game is set up in the front,” Ayres said. “There’s an autographed stick in there from goalie James Reimer, who’s such a great guy. And there’s a white Canes jersey like the one I wore that night that the team gave me, autographed by all the Carolina fans.
“It’s so cool.”
However, his choice of wardrobe on this night did not include a Carolina shirt, and for good reason.
He and wife Sarah had planned to watch Game 1 on Tuesday, but it was pushed back to Wednesday at 11 a.m. because the previous game at Scotiabank Arena, a 3-2 victory by the Tampa Bay Lightning against the Columbus Blue Jackets, went five overtimes.
“Sarah had booked us a round of golf for Wednesday at a nice course called Baxter Creek, so I put on a Canes golf shirt and away we went,” he said. “We brought speakers and listened to the game in the cart.”
The result wasn’t what they’d hoped for. The Bruins defeated the Hurricanes 4-3 in double overtime to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
It was time for Ayres to change the karma.
“The Canes shirt wasn’t bringing me luck, so I decided to go with a (Toronto) Marlies shirt and a Canes cap for Game 2,” he said in reference to the American Hockey League affiliate of the Maple Leafs.
Mission accomplished. The Hurricanes defeated the Bruins 3-2 to even the series.
“The look worked,” he said afterward. “It’s going to be a thing. We’ll be at our cottage in Parry Sound (Ontario, hometown of Bobby Orr) for Game 3 on Saturday (Noon ET; NBC, SN, TVAS), and you can bet I’ll be wearing the same things.”
Ayres spent eight years as the Marlies practice goalie and the past three in the same role for the Maple Leafs. He’d also occasionally drive the ice resurfacing machine at Marlies games, and said he’s been the emergency backup goalie at Scotiabank Arena for more than half the NHL games there the past two seasons.
As Reimer skated onto the ice in Toronto for Game 2, the memories of his historic night came flooding back to Ayres.
“It reminded me of when I skated out in that game after their goalies, Reimer and Petr Mrazek, got hurt,” Ayres said. “Same rink. Same entrance. Same bench. And they’re wearing the same white Canes jerseys they wore that night.”
Making the matchup a bit difficult for him was that the Hurricanes were playing the Bruins, the team he grew up rooting for. His favorite player was goalie Andy Moog, who won 136 games with Boston from 1987-93.
“I loved watching him play,” he said. “But obviously I’m pulling for the Hurricanes.”
The next three hours proved to be a roller coaster of emotions.
It was a 2-2 game when Hurricanes defenseman Dougie Hamilton scored at 8:30 of the third period. Ayres said his nerves were put to the test in the final seconds when Reimer was channeling his inner Dominik Hasek, flopping in his crease and doing snow angels while the Bruins were buzzing around the Carolina net in an unsuccessful attempt to tie the score.
“That’s not really Reimer’s style, but he did whatever he had to to keep the puck out,” Ayres said. “As a goalie I can appreciate that.
“What a great win.”
Ayres said he’s in frequent contact with Mike Sundheim and Pace Sagester of the Hurricanes public relations department. He also exchanges texts with team analyst Tripp Tracy.
“I like to keep track and get the inside word of what’s going on with the guys,” he said.
Given his relationship with the team, the city of Raleigh and the state of North Carolina, it’s easy to see why.
On Feb. 25, Gov. Roy Cooper declared Ayres, a Canadian citizen, an honorary citizen of North Carolina. The city of Raleigh declared Feb. 25 “David Ayres Day.”
Ayres, who became the oldest goalie (42 years, 194 days) to win his NHL regular-season debut, became an overnight sensation after helping the Hurricanes defeat Toronto. There were TV appearances on “Today” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” and countless interviews with various media outlets.
Ayres hasn’t forgotten how he was embraced. Because of that, he said he hopes to return to Carolina later this year.
“I’m cheering for the Canes to win the Stanley Cup,” he said. “And if they do, you can bet I’m heading down there for the parade.
LONDON – Canada will meet three-time champion Germany in the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Malaga, Spain this November.
Canada secured a berth in the quarterfinals — also called The Final 8 Knockout Stage — with a 2-1 win over Britain last weekend in Manchester, England.
World No. 21 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal anchored a five-player squad that included Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., Gabriel Diallo of Montreal, Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., and Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C.
The eight-team draw for the quarterfinals was completed Thursday at International Tennis Federation headquarters.
Defending champion Italy will play Argentina, the United States will meet Australia and Spain will take on the Netherlands. Schedule specifics have yet to be released but the Final 8 will be played Nov. 19-24.
Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz were unbeaten in doubles play last week to help Germany reach the quarterfinals. The country’s top singles player — second-ranked Alex Zverev — did not play.
The Canadians defeated Germany in the quarterfinals en route to their lone Davis Cup title in 2022. Germany won titles in 1988, ’89 and ’93.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Canada, fuelled by a 2-1 win over the U.S. and scoreless draw with Mexico, has jumped two places to No. 38 in the FIFA men’s world rankings released Thursday.
Of the top six CONCACAF teams, Canada was the only one to move up. Mexico was unchanged at No. 17 while the U.S. and Panama each fell two rungs to No. 18 and 37, respectively
Costa Rica slipped one spot to No. 50 and Jamaica two places to No. 61.
It marks Canada’s highest ranking under coach Jesse Marsch, who was hired in mid-May when the Canadians were ranked 50th. Since then, the team has climbed to No. 49, 48, 40 and now 38.
Canada has been as high as No. 33 in the men’s ranking, achieved in February 2022 under John Herdman with Canada, named the “Most Improved Side” in 2021 by FIFA, turning heads with an unbeaten run in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.
The new rankings encompass 184 internationals involving teams from all six confederations including 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, Oceania and South America.
The top 10 was unchanged with Argentina ahead of France, Spain, England, Brazil, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Colombia and Italy. But the gap at the top is closing with Argentina losing 2-1 away to Colombia and 3-1 at home to Italy.
Teams 10 through 15 were also unchanged. But there was movement after that in the form of Japan (, up two), Iran (No. 19, up one) and Denmark (No. 20, up one). Egypt (No. 31), Ivory Coast (No. 33), Tunisia (No. 36) and Algeria (No. 41) all jumped five places while Greece (No. 48) climbed six spots.
The biggest movers were Brunei Darussalam (No. 183) and Samoa (No. 185), who vaulted seven spots on the back of two wins apiece.
Qatar suffered the biggest drop, tumbling 10 places to No. 44.
San Marino remains at the bottom of the rankings in 210th place despite recording its first victory in more than 20 years, San Marino defeated Liechtenstein 1-0 on Sept. 5, ending a 140-game winless run since a 1-0 decision over the same opponent in April 2004.
Liechtenstein fell four places to No. 203.
Canada’s next match is an Oct. 15 friendly against Panama at Toronto’s BMO Field. The next men’s ranking will be released Oct. 24.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024
It has been a difficult start to the NFL season for quarterback Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers.
Carolina has dropped its opening two games after Sunday’s 26-3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. And Young, the first player taken in the ’23 NFL draft, was 18-of-26 passing for 84 yards with an interception while being sacked twice.
As a result, veteran Andy Dalton will start Sunday when Carolina faces the Las Vegas Raiders (1-1).
According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., the Chargers’ win was the most accurately predicted moneyline selection by Proline bettors. A whopping 92 per cent of wagers were on Los Angeles beating Carolina with 92 per cent also picking the Chargers to cover -4.5.
In other action that went in favour of Proline bettors: Kansas City edged Cincinnati 26-25 (86 per cent correctly selected the Chiefs to win); Houston got past Chicago 19-13 (81 per cent); the New York Jets defeated Tennessee 24-17 (78 per cent); Pittsburgh beat Denver 13-6 (76 per cent), Washington beat the New York Giants 21-18 (73 per cent); and Seattle toppled New England 23-20 (62 per cent).
However, only five per cent of bettors had the Raiders upsetting Baltimore 26-23.
And there was one winner of Proline’s second week main NFL pool of $407,613.
In NFL futures bets after the second week of the season, the odds for offensive player of the year got shorter for running backs Breece Hall (Jets) and Bijan Robinson (Atlanta) and Detroit receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. But they got longer for running backs Kyren Williams (Rams), Christian McCaffrey (San Francisco) and Jonathan Taylor (Colts).
Quarterbacks Bo Nix (Denver), Jayden Daniels (Washington) and Caleb Williams (Chicago) all had their odds for offensive rookie of the year go up while they went down for running back Ray Davis (Buffalo), tight end Brock Bowers (Raiders) and receiver Malik Nabers (Giants).
Quarterbacks Patrick Mahones (Chiefs), Aaron Rodgers (Jets) and Jalen Hurts (Eagles) all had their odds for regular season MVP go up. But quarterbacks Jordan Love (Packers), Lamar Jackson (Baltimore) and Joe Burrow (Cincinnati) all saw theirs go down.
Kansas City, Philadelphia and Houston had their Super Bowl odds increase while Green Bay, Baltimore and Cincinnati all decreased.
Not surprising, the week’s top events were all NFL games. In order, they were; Buffalo-Miami, Chicago-Houston, Cincinnati-KC, Raiders-Ravens; and Saints-Cowboys.
A Proline retail player cashed in a $26,183 winner from a $10 bet on a 12-leg major-league baseball parlay. Another won $24,602 from a $10 wager on a 12-leg NFL parlay.
A third received $1,737 from a $3 bet on a six-leg NFL parlay.
A digital bettor earned $2,927 from a $25 bet on a five-leg NFL parlay while a second had a $704.35 return from a $1 wager on a seven-leg NFL parlay.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
