Montreal has the most difficult strength of schedule in the NHL in the last quarter of the season, but they’re fine with it. The Canadiens took the top-ranked Hurricanes to overtime before falling 4-3 in a shootout.
Wilde Horses
It’s enjoyable to figure out the Canadiens these days. They have about a dozen players from the Montreal roster replaced by players from the Laval roster, yet these Rocket players are so hungry and energetic, they’re actually adding to the club many nights; instead of causing a talent vacuum.
On the first tally, it was Michael Pezzetta with a gorgeous pass to Alex Belzile who finished it for his third NHL goal. Chris Tierney got the other assist as the all-AHL trio scored on the mighty Hurricanes. Their goal celebration said everything about what energy and excitement means in comparison to talent. It’s the great leveller of the playing field.
Second period, they hooked up again. It was Tierney this time with the gorgeous pass to a streaking Pezzetta. He fought off his check to count from one foot out. Amazing outcomes for the fourth line on the team playing like they’re the top line.
Knowing that there are many prospects coming, and the ability of the Laval players to compete, it’s a serious question to ask how many of the aging underachieving NHL regulars are actually required in Montreal next season.
Perhaps it is time for the prospects waiting in the wings next season to get ice time, and if players like Roy, Beck, Kidney, and Mesar are injured, the Laval players can step in for them. Perhaps it is time to forget what veteran has a big contract for a lot of seasons, and award the jobs entirely on merit instead of money in.
It might be surprising who actually wins the work in 2023-24 on merit alone. Take the numbers off everyone’s jersey in September and decide it without dollar signs. That would be a revealing exercise.
Some veterans, it is expected, will be gone next season, like Jonathan Drouin. It is worth wondering though whether Drouin might be interested in a one year contract in Montreal where he can continue to find his better game as he has in the last half of the season.
Drouin has moved to the middle with all of the injuries. He is more implicated in the play at centre, and is a better version of himself. It’s hard to believe with all the negative copy written about him, but Drouin is actually third on the team in assists this season. He’s one of the best on the team.
Drouin pulled off a sublime assist as the Canadiens made it 2-0 against the Hurricanes. He pushed toward goal, then got to the crease, where he brought the goalie with him to the other side of the net, but he deftly left the puck behind.
That’s where Mike Hoffman showed up to tap it home with absolutely no one with knowledge of where the puck was, except him. Antti Raanta was tracking Drouin. The defender was tracking Drouin. Drouin was playing some chess on the way to the other side. Hoffman with an easy one.
Bizarre these days how much the Canadiens are competing with this roster. It is true they are not winning many, but they are also not getting ripped with a lineup that no one would blame them if they were losing badly.
It’s all guts until the end of the season for this group. Credit to them. Credit to the head coach.
Wilde Goats
Criticize this band of plucky overachievers? No, Sir. No, Ma’am.
Wilde Cards
It’s fascinating to see the predictions change for the amateur draft throughout the hockey year. Everyone always feels as if there is a set order to it in February, but by June it has changed significantly. It happens every single year.
Last season, the moves were so drastic that they even hit the top of the draft as Shane Wright lost his standing to Juraj Slafkovsky. In fact, Wright fell all the way to four taken by the Seattle Kraken while Slafkovsky rose from underdog to number one.
This season, surely, the top of the draft stays the same with Connor Bedard having one of the best junior seasons in history, and Adam Fantilli having one of the best college draft seasons in history. They are set at one and two, but after that, all bets are off.
The spot where the Canadiens are likely to draft is changing rapidly as March begins. It was thought that the Canadiens would choose Zach Benson at five overall, if they had the opportunity.
However, it has become apparent that the list is changing. Benson is falling out of the top 10 simply because he is a small player, even though he is putting up impressive point totals.
The head scout for the Canadiens, Nick Bobrov, favours bigger players, so if fans are expecting that Benson will be the Canadiens’ choice, they are going to be disappointed. However, it’s not just Bobrov dropping Benson down the list. It’s a growing sentiment.
It is vital to reiterate here that it is only March and the list will change many times until draft day. It will especially be altered according to who shines or does not shine at the U18 tournament in April. There can be a player who is excelling now but does not do well against his peers at the U18, and his expected spot could change massively.
Right now, there are players who are leaping up the charts considering how they are handling their season. One such player is David Reinbacher who was moved to number seven overall by The Athletic. Reinbacher is a right-handed defenceman who will be coveted by the Canadiens.
Montreal has a lot of volume on the blue line with about seven young players set to fight for jobs, but they are short on the right side a first pair defender. Reinbacher could be that blue liner. He is moving up many lists. Reinbacher with Mike Matheson allows Kaiden Guhle to be a top-four on his preferred left side. That would make the Canadiens a much stronger team.
Will Smith is another player that has been speculated at number five or six to put him right in Canadiens territory. On this player, it could be interesting how the discussions go within the organization. General Manager Kent Hughes has coached Smith at the Boston Junior Eagles, so he knows him well.
Montreal has two picks likely in the top 15, and so much can happen between now and June, but if Smith puts up a big number at the U18s, he would be a favourite in that spot. Watch closely to see who excels at the U18s.
There are many forwards who have amazing talent in this draft. The Canadiens are going to get an outstanding one. If you want to speculate who that might be, guess someone bigger over someone smaller. They are not going to take Andrew Cristall, for example, who is on many top-10 lists.
What is important is to remember that it is March. Reinbacher wasn’t even in the top-20 that long ago, but he was so strong at the World Juniors and has been so solid in the top men’s league in Switzerland that he has moved up the charts. That Swiss league is very competitive. That’s where Auston Matthews played his draft year and it worked out extremely well for the Maple Leafs.
Defencemen always move up the charts late. Jake Sanderson is a perfect example. He was barely known in November and he moved to top-five overall.
Looking historically at the draft, one of the most important factors is to be continuing an upward progression as the year continues. Be a Seth Jarvis or a Moritz Seider. Don’t be a Filip Zadina or Angelo Esposito. The trajectory is vital. Be a Reinbacher.
It’s a long process. It changes often and it changes rapidly. The best news for Canadiens fans is this draft year is incredibly strong, and the Canadiens have two opportunities in the top-15. They’ll get two top-end hockey players whoever they favour.
They may even win the lottery and get Connor Bedard. However it shakes down, the Canadiens are about to get a lot stronger with two elite players coming into the organization whoever they take and wherever they pick.
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.
