MONTREAL — It feels like years ago, but it’s only been eight months.
Surely you remember when Marc Bergevin held court with reporters in December, just two weeks after the Montreal Canadiens dropped eight consecutive games, when he repeated for what seemed like the 1000th time over the last three years that he wouldn’t mortgage the future for a quick fix. Boy, was he ever right at the time, as his team was bulldozing its way towards the bottom of the NHL standings.
But if Bergevin is still thinking that way after what he just saw from this team in these Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Canadiens are never getting out of neutral under his watch.
To witness young centres Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Nick Suzuki take massive leaps in their development in just over three weeks, to see Carey Price and Shea Weber play as well as they ever have over their illustrious careers, and to be right there to feel the Canadiens gelling together in a way that allows for the future-is-bright narrative to actually ring true, is to know the time to strike is right now.
Because for as good as the Canadiens were—and they were full value in knocking off the Pittsburgh Penguins in the qualifying round and giving the top-seeded Philadelphia Flyers all they could handle and then some in the first round—it still took everything they had to go as far as they did, which was nowhere near as far as they’d like to go.
They need more, and they need it immediately while the mojo is as positive as it is. Because the fact is, the Canadiens aren’t the only young team on the rise in National Parity League.
If they want an edge on some of the other ones, Bergevin is going to have to do the best work of his eight-year tenure before the puck drops next season.
The good news is he’ll never be in a better position to do it than the one he finds himself in right now.
General managers dream of having the kind of leverage Bergevin currently possesses. He has a desperate need for elite-level scoring — and some depth on defence and in net — and he has 14 picks in the upcoming draft, a loaded prospect pool, good non-core roster players he could part with, and an abundance of cap space to make the necessary acquisitions to fill those needs.
“As far as assets, yes, we have I believe 10 picks in the top three rounds in the next couple of years, [and] we have 25 overall. So we’re set that way,” Bergevin said during his 30-minute, season-ending press conference Saturday. “We’ve put ourselves in a good position to look around. If anything becomes available, we should be looking into that… If we can make our team better by moving a pick or players that we feel can make us better for a long period of time, we’ll do that.”
If not now, then when?
Here’s what else is in Bergevin’s favour: the NHL’s salary cap is going to be stagnant at $81.5 million for at least one more season and several of his competitors will have to shed salary (and some pretty good players) to comply with it.
And Bergevin can downplay it as much as wants — and he did in saying several times during Saturday’s availability that he has to be cautious and careful about how he spends Canadiens owner Geoff Molson’s money — but he’s got just over $63 million committed to a near-complete roster for next season and roughly $18 million to play with to make the team better.
This is the part where you retort with: Bergevin has had loads of cap space over the last two seasons and done little with it from that advantageous position.
But you know what the GM hasn’t had over that time? The evidence he needed to see in order to believe just a couple of sacrifices made to improve the Canadiens in the short run would go a long way towards cementing their place as perennial playoff participants moving forward.
“Today we see a team going in the right direction, a team fans should be proud of,” Bergevin said before exalting the virtues of his fresh-faced and talented Suzuki-Kotkaniemi punch up the middle.
Bergevin also talked about his unwavering faith in Price and Weber, saying both players, aged 33 and 35, respectively, proved they’re still on top of their game.
So how can he not look to bridge the gap between those four parts as quickly as possible?
A lot has changed here in a short span. So much so that what was best for the Canadiens in March is no longer what’s best for them now, which is a reality Bergevin acknowledged when he said he wouldn’t trade the experience his players just gained for a top-10 pick in this year’s draft.
“The experience of our young players and the way they showed their progression has no price,” Bergevin said. “So to move back seven picks (from ninth to 16th), that’s a very small price to pay. What we experienced the last month will really help the organization to move forward … The trade-off was worth it, to have lived this experience with our kids, how they showed their character and also the evolution of our organization.”
It won’t be worth as much if Bergevin doesn’t cash in on the opportunity at his feet.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
