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Bobby Ryan’s comeback from addiction earns him Senators’ Masterton nod – Sportsnet.ca

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In the safety and comfort of his summer home in Idaho, Bobby Ryan can admit he thought his career might be over when he left the Ottawa Senators last November to seek help for an alcohol addiction.

“Right when I left was the hardest time,” Ryan said on a Zoom call with Ottawa media Tuesday. “Obviously, with the [big] contract there was that, but I left knowing I might have played my last game in the NHL. And that was the hardest thing to swallow and get over.”

Whenever things look bleak for the Senators, Ryan has a way of stepping up.

In 2017, he was an unlikely playoff hero during Ottawa’s surprising run to the Eastern Conference Final, producing 15 points and two overtime winners.

In late February of this year, the rebuilding Senators were in the throes of a four-game losing streak and had dropped 21 of their previous 26 games when Ryan returned from a rehabilitation centre to lift fans out of their seats with one of the most dramatic comebacks in the 28-year history of the hockey club.

Not having played in more than 100 days since declaring on Nov. 20 that he was leaving the team to take part in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program, Ryan responded to an expectant crowd at the Canadian Tire Centre with an explosion of pent-up energy and emotion: three goals and a fight (against Chris Tanev) in an inspiring 5-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

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Ryan’s first period goal, a tip of a Nikita Zaitsev shot, was Ryan’s first since Oct. 2. It launched the first of too many standing ovations to count.

“It just got harder to keep the emotions down throughout the game … I mean, you can’t write that,” Ryan said, of the script that unfolded that night. “It’s just an incredible evening.”

As he celebrated with his teammates — but not in the way he used to — Ryan heard one of his dressing room pals say, “you just threw your hat in the ring for the Masterton.”

On Tuesday, that comment proved prophetic. Ryan, 33, was named Ottawa’s nominee for the 2019-2020 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.

Once again, Ryan has put a smile on a dark week, changing the subject matter following a negative news spiral surrounding owner Eugene Melnyk’s breakup with the Ottawa Senators charitable Foundation.

The Masterton Trophy, as voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, is awarded to the NHL player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.”

Masterton, a forward with the Minnesota North Stars in the 1960s, suffered massive brain trauma during a game against the Oakland Seals on Jan. 13, 1968. He died two days later. The award was launched in his honour in 1968.

Ryan, battling back from the scars of a traumatic childhood, and in recent years an alcohol addiction, is a worthy candidate for the Masterton award, which has only once gone to a Senators player — goaltender Craig Anderson in 2016-17.

Ryan has experienced personal loss and damage, which, to his credit, he has always been willing to share. In 2016 when he lost his mother, Melody, to cancer, Ryan penned a stirring tribute to her in a Players’ Tribune article. She was his rock as a child and a young man.

Ryan’s family background has been well documented. Born Bobby Stevenson in Cherry Hill, N.J., Bobby’s father, Shane was a fugitive from justice and changed the family name to Ryan as they set out for a life on the run. Shane Ryan was arrested in 2000. For perspective on Bobby Ryan’s bizarre early life, check out the in-depth feature by Sportsnet’s Christine Simpson.

Drafted by Anaheim second overall behind Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby in 2005 — another life moment with scarring potential — Ryan nevertheless emerged as a scorer with the Ducks, four times breaking the 30-goal threshold.

In the summer of 2013, Ryan was acquired by Ottawa in a blockbuster trade that sent forward Jakob Silfverberg to Anaheim along with forward prospect Stefan Noesen and a first-round draft pick (used to select Nick Ritchie).

With Ottawa, Ryan has become as well known for his contract as for his production. In October of 2014, Ryan signed a seven-year, $50,750,000 contract that will pay him $7.25M through the 2021-22 season.

This season, Ryan played in just 24 games, with five goals and three assists. This, after three straight seasons below the 20-goal mark — 13, 11 and 15.

Fans relate to his vulnerability, honesty

Other players have been run out of NHL towns after signing big deals without the points to match, yet Ryan has become a popular figure among the fan base because people relate to his vulnerability and humanity, despite the salary.

Ryan represents the work in progress that many of us are, with our personal hardships and closet skeletons. He wears his heart on his sleeve, for all to see.

“I think when you look at players and athletes, people have a perception that they are making a million bucks and living the good life, and getting to play hockey and flying around, but I don’t think people get a chance to relate to some of the things that go on underneath,” Ryan said.

“Because I’ve been open and candid about that, I think people look at me and say, ’there is a very relatable person.’ Through my familiar [past] and then the alcohol issues, things like that, I’ve never hid from it.

“I’ve said, if I am going to do this, I am going to do it in the public eye and be candid with it. Some of the most rewarding things have been people that have reached out on social media, Instagram or whatever it might be, sending me private messages. And I am able to pay it forward by helping them.

“Some I’ve helped find treatments. Some I’ve helped have the right conversations. These are people I didn’t know that I indirectly affected. It’s incredible I am able to do that.”

Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman talk to a lot of people around the hockey world, and then they tell listeners all about what they’ve heard and what they think about it.

Other than a recent minor surgery, Ryan has been in terrific health and good spirits, with a routine of 6:30 a.m. workouts followed by dad duty with his two kids around 9 am.

“I was until last week when I had a vasectomy, I haven’t moved in five days and I feel like a bag of [expletive] right now,” Ryan said, in classic Bobby Ryan candour.

“I hope we’re not live on anything.”

The initial quarantine after the season ended in March was a godsend, he said.

“I felt like I was running at a hundred miles an hour for the last four months there. And I really hadn’t had a chance to take a step back. At first it was — OK, have another day sober.

“Then you get thrown into daily NHL life and you forget to do the daily affirmations for alcohol control.

“I took those 14 days [of quarantine] to almost re-educate myself in learning how to stay sober. And it helped immensely. It really gave me a chance to slow down.”

He thanked his wife, Danielle, for her role in this “familial” and the team Masterton nomination. He thanked his trainers for whipping him into shape, and head coach D.J. Smith for keeping him on the rails during a terrifyingly long road back to getting in the starting lineup.

“I thought I was leaving for 30 days, practicing and getting right back into things, and learned that wasn’t going to be the case.”

It took weeks to get the medical clearance to play again, to go with the off-ice and on-ice training.

“Coming back I felt I was having another obstacle every day, another obstacle every week and another thing to progress from, until I was part of the team again.”

Senior Writer Ryan Dixon and NHL Editor Rory Boylen always give it 110%, but never rely on clichés when it comes to podcasting. Instead, they use a mix of facts, fun and a varied group of hockey voices to cover Canada’s most beloved game.

The Masterton nomination is a “great thing that came from all the tough things through the year,” Ryan said. “I’m extremely pleased to be the Sens representative.”

The other day, Bobby and his wife had a conversation about their journey.

“We talked briefly about how far we’ve come in the last six months, how far I’ve come with things that have led to the day-in, day-out rewards I’m getting now,” he said.

Assuming the Senators want him back, he vows to return in great condition, no longer a player who takes a drink.

“I’d like to continue to be a top six player, I think I still have that in me, I think I showed that a little bit in the four games I played [after the comeback] and if it’s with the Sens, I just want to help the kids get better and help them toward the path of being a consistent playoff team, because all the pieces are there. And they are going to continue to get there with all the drafting they have coming forward.”

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After 20 years at the top of chess, Magnus Carlsen is making his next move

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STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — Few chess players enjoy Magnus Carlsen‘s celebrity status.

A grand master at 13, refusing to play an American dogged by allegations of cheating, and venturing into the world of online chess gaming all made Norway’s Carlsen a household name.

Few chess players have produced the magical commodity that separates Norway’s Magnus Carlsen from any of his peers: celebrity.

Only legends like Russia’s Garry Kasparov and American Bobby Fischer can match his name recognition and Carlsen is arguably an even more dominant player. Last month, he beat both men to be named the International Chess Federation’s greatest ever.

But his motivation to rack up professional titles is on the wane. Carlsen, 33, now wants to leverage his fame to help turn the game he loves into a spectator sport.

“I am in a different stage in my career,” he told The Associated Press. “I am not as ambitious when it comes to professional chess. I still want to play, but I don’t necessarily have that hunger. I play for the love of the game.”

Offering a new way to interact with the game, Carlsen on Friday launched his application, Take Take Take, which will follow live games and players, explaining matches in an accessible way that, Carlsen says, is sometimes missing from streaming platforms like YouTube and Twitch. “It will be a chiller vibe,” he says.

Carlsen intends to use his experience to provide recaps and analysis on his new app, starting with November’s World Chess Championship tournament between China’s Ding Liren and India’s Gukesh Dommaraju. He won’t be competing himself because he voluntarily ceded the title in 2023.

Carlsen is no novice when it comes to chess apps. The Play Magnus game, which he started in 2014, gave online users the chance to play against a chess engine modeled against his own gameplay. The company ballooned into a suite of applications and was bought for around $80 million in 2022 by Chess.com, the world’s largest chess website.

Carlsen and Mats Andre Kristiansen, the chief executive of his company, Fantasy Chess, are betting that a chess game where users can follow individual players and pieces, filters for explaining different elements of each game, and light touch analysis will scoop up causal viewers put off by chess’s sometimes rarefied air. The free app was launched in a bid to build the user base ahead of trying to monetizing it. “That will come later, maybe with advertisements or deeper analysis,” says Kristiansen.

While Take Take Take offers a different prospect with its streaming services, it is still being launched into a crowded market with Chess.com, which has more than 100 million users, YouTube, Twitch, and the website of FIDE the International Chess Federation. World Chess was worth around $54 million when it got listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The accessibility of chess engines that can beat any human means cheating has never been easier. However, they can still be used to shortcut thousands of hours of book-bound research, and hone skills that would be impossible against human opponents.

“I think the games today are of higher quality because preparation is becoming deeper and deeper and artificial intelligence is helping us play. It is reshaping the way we evaluate the games,” especially for the new generation of players, says Carlsen.

At the same time, he admits that two decades after becoming a grand master, his mind doesn’t quite compute at the tornado speed it once did. “Most people have less energy when they get older. The brain gets slower. I have already felt that for a few years. The younger players’ processing power is just faster.”

Even so, he intends to be the world’s best for many years to come.

“My mind is a bit slower, and I maybe don’t have as much energy. But chess is about the coming together of energy, computing power and experience. I am still closer to my peak than decline,” he said.

Chess has been cresting a popularity wave begun by Carlsen himself.

He became the world’s top-ranked player in 2011. In 2013, he won the first of his five World Championships. In 2014, he achieved the highest-ever chess rating of 2882, and he has remained the undisputed world number one for the last 13 years.

Off the table, chess influencers, like the world No. 2, Hikaru Nakamura, are using social media to bring the game to a wider audience. The Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit” burnished chess’ unlikely cerebral sex appeal when it became one of the streamer’s biggest hits in 2020.

And in 2022 Carlsen’s refusal to play against Hans Niemann, an American grand master, who admitted to using technology to cheat in online games in the past, created a rare edge in the usually sedate world of chess. There is no evidence Niemann ever cheated in live games but the feud between the pair propelled the game even further into public consciousness.

Whether chess can continue to grow without the full professional participation of its biggest celebrity remains to be seen.

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Top figure skaters ready to hit the ice at Skate Canada International

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Canadian pairs team Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps along with ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier headline a strong field at Skate Canada International. The Canadians say they’re excited to perform in front of a home crowd as the world’s best figure skaters arrive in Halifax. (Oct. 24, 2024)

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Nico Echavarria shoots another 64 to lead the Zozo Championship by 2 shots after the second round

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INZAI CITY, Japan (AP) — Nico Echavarria shot a 6-under 64 on Friday — matching his 64 on Thursday — to lead by two shots over Taylor Moore and Justin Thomas after the second round of the Zozo Championship in Japan.

Thomas shot 64 and Moore carded 67 with three others just three shots off the lead including Seamus Power, who had the day’s low round of 62 at the Narashino Country Club.

Thomas has twice won the PGA Championship but is winless in two years on the PGA Tour.

Eric Cole (67) and C.T. Pan (66) were also three behind heading to Saturday.

Nick Taylor, of Abbotsford, B.C., is the top Canadian at 5-under and tied for 16th.

Ben Silverman, of Thornhill, Ont., is two shots back of Taylor and tied for 31st.

“I’ve never had a lead after 36 holes,” said Echavarria, a Colombian who played at the University of Arkansas. His lone PGA win was last year in Puerto Rico.

He had a two-round total of 12-under 128.

“I’ve had it after 54, but never after 36, so it’s good to be in this position. There’s got to be some pressure,” he added. “Hopefully a good round tomorrow can keep me in the lead or around the lead. And how I said yesterday — the goal is to be close with nine holes to go.”

Rickie Fowler, a crowd favorite in Japan because of his connections to the country, shot 64 to go with an opening 68 and was four shots back going into the weekend. Max Greyserman was also four behind after a 68.

“It would be amazing to win here,” said Fowler, whose mother has Japanese roots. “Came close a few years ago.”

Fowler tied for second in 2022

Fowler described his roots as “pretty far removed for Japan, but I’m sure I have relatives here, but I don’t know anyone. Japanese culture’s always been a fairly big part of life growing up. I always love being over here.”

Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama shot his second 71 and was 14 shots off the lead.

Defending champion Collin Morikawa shot 67 and pulled within eight shot of the lead, and Xander Schauffele — British Open and PGA winner this season — shot 65 and was 10 behind after a 73 on Thursday.

“I feel like I’ve got a good game plan out here,” Morikawa said, another player with Japanese connections. “I just have to execute shots a little better.”

“I am the defending champ, but that doesn’t mean I’m immediately going to play better just because I won here,” he added. “It’s a brand new week, it’s a year later. I feel like my golf game is still in a good spot. I just haven’t executed my shots. When that doesn’t happen it makes golf a little tougher.”

Schauffele turned 31 on Friday and said he was serenaded before his opening tee shot. He also has ties to Japan. His mother grew up in Japan and his grandparents live in the Tokyo area.

“Nice way to spend my 31st birthday,” he said.

___

AP golf:

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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