Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri speaks in Toronto, on July 20, 2018.
Mark Blinch/The Canadian Press
The Toronto Raptors said Monday that a lawsuit by a California sheriff’s deputy claiming team president Masai Ujiri assaulted him in the moments after the team won its first NBA championship was “without merit,” even as the deputy alleges he suffered permanent disabilities.
In the suit, filed Friday in U.S. federal court in Northern California, sheriff’s deputy Alan Strickland alleges that Ujiri hit him in the face and chest, causing permanent disabilities, during an altercation at court level after the Raptors clinched the title versus the Golden State Warriors on the night of June 13 in Oakland.
According to the statement of claim, Strickland, an Alameda County Sheriff’s Department K-9 officer, was working a security point near the south end of the court at Game 6. The lawsuit alleges Ujiri failed to show the credentials needed to access the court to celebrate with Raptors players and staff. An altercation followed in which Strickland claims Ujiri hit him with both fists, sending him backward several feet.
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The lawsuit said Strickland is suing for unspecified financial damages for the “mental, physical, emotional and psychological pain and suffering,” along with “lost wages, lost opportunity for financial gain, future earning capacity, and past and future medical care and expenses.”
The Raptors, its ownership group Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd., and the National Basketball Association are also listed as defendants in the case. The deputy’s lawyers allege that Ujiri’s actions were foreseeable and preventable because he “had a violent predisposition and propensity for physical violence.” Although it does not specifically cite other examples, the suit alleges that Ujiri “had engaged in prior similar criminal and/or violent conduct towards third parties including, but not limited to, NBA fans, NBA officials, and/or NBA players, on previous occasions.”
In a statement released on Monday, MLSE said, “We are disappointed but not at all surprised Mr. Strickland has elected to take this path. His claims are baseless and entirely without merit. They should and will be viewed appropriately for what they are. The Toronto Raptors and Masai have jointly retained very able counsel who will be handling this matter on our behalf and consequently, we do not intend to make any further statement about it.”
No statement of defence had been filed in the case as of Monday.
California lawyer Robert Beles, who represented Ujiri in the criminal investigation, denied Monday that the Raptors president had a history of behaving violently at games. “That is absolutely false. It’s absolutely not correct at all,” he said.
The Globe and Mail viewed still images derived from footage captured by the deputy’s body camera and security video at Oracle Arena showing Ujiri with his arms raised straight in front of him toward the deputy. However, the sheriff’s office declined to play the full videos, which it said could interfere with the criminal investigation. Four witnesses at the game who spoke to The Globe said they did not see Ujiri strike the deputy’s face.
Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern, an elected official, had requested Ujiri be charged with battery of a peace officer, a misdemeanour punishable by up to a year in jail and a US$2,000 fine.
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But after a months-long investigation into the June incident, the Alameda County District Attorney’s office said it had decided not to charge Ujiri criminally, instead suggesting the dispute should be settled “outside of the courtroom.”
Beles said his office conducted a background investigation into the sheriff’s deputy and provided information to the Alameda County District Attorney’s office that was “an influential factor in no criminal case being filed” against Ujiri. Beles, who is not representing Ujiri in the civil lawsuit, declined to elaborate on what information he provided to prosecutors.
Strickland’s lawyer, David P. Mastagni, was not available for comment on Monday. The Alameda County Sheriff’s Department did not respond to a request for comment.
In a Sheriff’s Department incident report taken the night of the NBA Finals and obtained by The Globe under California’s public-records laws, Strickland alleged that he twice pushed Ujiri against his chest and used profanity to stop the Raptors president from accessing the court because he had not provided the required NBA-issued badge and yellow armband.
While another man, whom the Sheriff’s Department later identified as a Raptors employee, held the deputy back, Strickland alleged that Ujiri came toward him “raising both of his hands and striking with closed fists in a straight arm manner I would best describe as a double fist punch.”
According to the incident report, Strickland went to a local medical centre several hours later with a migraine, along with swelling and pain in his jaw. His lawyers previously said he had suffered a concussion.
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News of the lawsuit comes at a time when Ujiri, a native of Nigeria, has been travelling in Africa with Justin Trudeau as the Canadian Prime Minister attempts to garner support for landing Canada a seat on the United Nations Security Council. The two men also visited Canadian troops on Monday in Kuwait.
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
MacKenzie Weegar wasn’t bitter or upset as he watched friends live out their dreams.
The Calgary Flames defenceman just hopes to experience the same feeling one day. He also knows the road leading to that moment, if it does arrive, will likely be long and winding — much like his own path.
A seventh-round pick by the Florida Panthers at the 2013 NHL draft, Weegar climbed the ranks to become an important piece of a roster that captured the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s top regular-season club in 2021-22.
Two months later following a second-round playoff exit, he was traded to the Flames along with Jonathan Huberdeau for Matthew Tkachuk. And less than two years after that, the Panthers were hoisting the Stanley Cup.
“Happy for the city and for the team,” Weegar said of Florida’s June victory over the Edmonton Oilers. “There was no bad taste in my mouth.”
His sole focus, he insists, is squarely on eventually getting the Flames to the same spot. The landscape, however, has changed drastically since Weegar committed to Calgary on an eight-year, US$50-million contract extension in October 2022.
Weegar has watched a list that includes goaltender Jacob Markstrom, defencemen Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin and Nikita Zadorov and forwards Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane shipped out of town since the start of last season — largely for picks, prospects and young players as part of a rebuild.
Despite that exodus, he remains committed to the Calgary project steered by general manager Craig Conroy.
“It’s easy to get out of all whack when you see guys trying to leave or wanting new contracts,” the 30-year-old from Ottawa said at last week’s NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas. “I just focus on where I am and where I want to be, and that’s Calgary.
“I believe in this team. The city has taken me in right away. I feel like I owe it to them to stick around and grind through these years and get a Stanley Cup.”
The hard-nosed blueliner certainly knows what it is to grind.
After winning the Memorial Cup alongside Nathan MacKinnon with the Halifax Mooseheads in 2013, Weegar toiled in the ECHL and American Hockey League for three seasons before making his NHL debut late in the 2016-17 campaign with the Panthers.
He would spend the next five years in South Florida as one of the players tasked with shifting an organizational culture that had experienced little success over the previous two decades.
“There’s always going to be a piece of my heart and loyalty to that team,” Weegar said. “But now I’m in a different situation … I compete against all 32 teams, not just Florida. There’s always a chip on my shoulder every single year.”
Weegar set career highs with 20 goals — eight was the most he had ever previously registered — and 52 points in 2023-24 as part of a breakout offensive performance.
“I think my buddies cared a lot more than I did,” he said with a smile. “All I hear is, ‘fantasy, fantasy, fantasy.'”
Weegar was actually more proud of his 200 blocked shots and 194 hits as he looks to help set a new Flames’ standard alongside Huberdeau, captain Mikael Backlund, Nazem Kadri, Blake Coleman and Rasmus Andersson for a franchise expected to have its new arena in time for the 2027-28 season.
“You have to build that culture and that belief in the locker room,” said Weegar, who pointed to 22-year-old centre Connor Zary as a player set to pop. “Those young guys are going to have to come into their own and be consistent every night … they’re the next generation.”
Weegar, however, isn’t punting on 2024-25. He pointed to the NHL’s parity and the fact a couple of teams surprise every season.
It’s the same approach that took him from the ECHL a decade ago to hockey’s premier pre-season event inside a swanky hotel on Sin City’s famed strip, where he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the game’s best.
“From the outside — media and even friends and family — the expectations are probably a bit lower,” Weegar said of Calgary’s outlook. “But there’s no reason to think that we can’t make playoffs and we can’t be a good team (with) that underdog mentality.
“You never know.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept 17, 2024.
Jose Maria Celestino da Costa was named vice-president and head of soccer operations while Marianne Brooks was appointed vice-president of partnerships, Kelly Shouldice as vice-president of brand and content and Joyce Sou as vice-president of finance and business operations.
The new six-team women’s pro league is set to kick off in April.
“Their unique expertise and leadership are crucial as we lay the foundation for not just a successful league in Canada, but one that stands among the top sports leagues in the world,” NSL president Christina Litz said in a statement. “By investing in top-tier talent and infrastructure, the Northern Super League is committed to creating a league that will elevate the game and set new standards for women’s professional soccer globally.”
Da Costa will oversee all on-field matters, including officiating. His resume includes stints with Estoril Praia, a men’s first-division team in Portugal, and the Portuguese Soccer Federation, where he helped develop the Portuguese women’s league.
Brooks spent a decade with Canucks Sports & Entertainment, working in “partnership sales and retention efforts” for the Vancouver Canucks, Vancouver Warriors, and Rogers Arena. Most recently, she served as senior director of account management at StellarAlgo, a software company that helps pro sports teams connect with their fans
Shouldice has worked for Corus Entertainment, the Canadian Football League, and most recently as vice-president of Content and Communications at True North Sports & Entertainment, where she managed original content as well as business and hockey communications.
Sou, who was involved in the league’s initial launch, will oversee financial planning, analysis and the league’s expansion strategy in her new role.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
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