When the NHL officially unveiled its plan for a potential return amid the global COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday, the Maple Leafs were very much in the picture as part of a prospective 24-team field.
Toronto is also in the running to be one of two hub cities for the tournament, but Maple Leafs president and alternate governor Brendan Shanahan cautioned there is a long way to go before hockey’s return – in Toronto or elsewhere – will be feasible from a health and safety standpoint.
“None of us ever want to be perceived, and none of us would agree to a situation, where we are taking away [COVID-19] testing from people that need it,” Shanahan said on a conference call with reporters Wednesday. “We obviously submitted ourselves [as a hub city], but we would have to really be in a position – and we’re talking several, several weeks from now – where the health care community, and the government community of whatever country we’re in, whatever city we’re in, are in agreement that this can be done and it can be done in a respectful, conscientious way.”
The NHL revealed in a 29-page document on Tuesday that the 2019-20 regular season will be abandoned in favour of a 24-team postseason format, beginning with a round of five-game play-in series.
For the Leafs, that would mean a matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets to try and earn their way into the final 16-team playoff field.
In preparation to possibly move ahead, the league laid out parameters of Phase 2 and Phase 3 for its potential restart, including the amount of testing it would like to do if protocols move ahead.
In a potential Phase 2, where players participate in voluntary small group workouts in their home facilities by early June, testing would be administered at least twice per week. By the prospective Phase 3, where games would begin in late July or early August, testing would happen every day.
Toronto is one of 10 hub cities currently under consideration by the league to host teams in Phase 3. By that point, it’s the hope of Leafs captain and NHLPA Return To Play Committee member John Tavares that there will be more clarity on the evolution of COVID-19.
“We just want to feel that we’re in a safe environment and we’re getting the best advice that we possibly can from the experts,” he said. “We’re talking to a lot of the infectious disease experts and following their guidance and understanding what is necessary to be put in the best possible position to have the absolute lowest risk – whether that’s testing every day, or not needing it that often. I think we believe and we know that our communities are going to be in a lot better place [to allow us to] play hockey and be able to play competitively [if a return happens].”
If they do go back to work, Tavares said players ideally want to be somewhere that doesn’t restrict their day-to-day lives too much.
“When you’re in that [place] for an extended period of time, you want to feel comfortable as a person,” Tavares said. “And I think the mental health side of it [is important] to make sure that we feel we’re not just in our hotel rooms and going to the rink, but that there’s going to be really good structure in place where we can feel like ourselves and be like ourselves.”
The final location of the hub cities won’t be revealed by the NHL for three to four weeks, but Shanahan is already stressing that despite the United States declaring NHLers essential workers who can bypass the current border restrictions and quarantining requirements when entering from Canada, the Leafs aren’t lobbying the Canadian government for any special treatment for players.
“We don’t make that argument,” Shanahan said. “Those are questions that the National Hockey League is having with the Government of Canada, and I don’t think it’s so much looking for exceptions. It’s just trying to see where the government is, where the country is, where the communities and provinces are, and how this may evolve over time. We understand and know that hockey is part of the fabric of Canada, but any return to play would have to be done in concert and in partnership with the health care professionals of Canada and with the government.”
To that end, Leafs players who want to be part of a possible Phase 2 next month have begun the journey back to Toronto, where they will abide by Canada’s 14-day quarantine law.
“We have had quite a few players, if not most of them, beginning to book their travel back,” said Leafs’ general manager Kyle Dubas. “I wouldn’t say we encouraged that because it is a voluntary phase for the players. But it seems that most of our guys would like to be here and at least be into their small groups with others, which [we expect] will begin at some point here in the next week or two weeks.”
One player already settled back in town to await word on Phase 2 is prospect Nick Robertson. The 18-year-old forward was drafted in the second round, 53rd overall, by Toronto in 2019 and is coming off a sensational 55-goal season with the OHL’s Peterborough Petes, where his average of 1.2 goals per game was seventh-best all-time in the league.
With the NHL stipulating teams can carry up to 28 skaters on their roster for a potential return to play, Dubas didn’t hesitate to make sure Robertson would be in the mix.
“Nick had a great season in Peterborough and continued to improve what he could offer,” Dubas said. “I know what he’s been doing since he’s been back home in Los Angeles and I know his commitment to being in the best possible shape that he can be. That, combined with his talent and ability, makes me believe that he’ll give a good run for not only just being here, but to potentially be on the roster.”
Dubas said seven or eight players from the AHL’s Marlies are also in the team’s plans for Phase 3, and could return to participate in Phase 2 as well. But regardless of where players are physically leading up to a possible restart, Dubas’ message has been clear about the task Toronto would face in a potential play-in series with Columbus.
“The discussions I’ve had with [head coach] Sheldon [Keefe] and our players is that our focus can’t be on opponents or potential opponents, it has to be on ourselves and arming the players during the voluntary phase with the resources they may need to get themselves into the best shape possible,” Dubas said. “I think the conditioning of our athletes will be a major competitive factor as we get rolling, not only that they’re in the best shape they can possibly be in in every regard, but that we’re also guarding against potential injury.”
While the Leafs are now guaranteed at least one series if the NHL can resume, there’s also a chance they have a high draft pick, based on the league’s newly revealed draft lottery plans.
After Phase 1 of the lottery takes place June 26 for the seven teams already eliminated from contention (who have identical lottery odds they would under normal circumstances based on points percentage), the eight teams that don’t advance from the play-in round will have equal 12.5 per cent odds of securing the first-, second- or third-overall pick in the draft.
The Leafs traded away their 2020 first-round pick to Carolina in the Patrick Marleau deal last June, but Toronto’s three per cent chance of still securing that first-overall pick remains intact because Dubas negotiated the pick sent to Carolina would be top-10 protected.
Like everything else at this point, Dubas is taking that possibility in stride, knowing there’s a long way to go before any of these prospective scenarios take real shape.
“It’s so hard to say how it’s all going to run,” he said. “We have a lot of real estate to cover before we get [to playing]. Not to say it would be a horrible scenario to win the lottery or anything like that, but I tend to focus more on the optimistic view, which is getting our team ready to be able to have success. I think we have a lot to prove and to be able to prove that will start with how we operate here in Phase 2 and Phase 3 and set ourselves up. I hope to never have any discussions with anyone about the lottery again.”
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.
