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Canada earns silver suffering shutout loss to U.S. in Para ice hockey final in Beijing – CBC Sports

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Canada’s Para ice hockey team will have to settle for silver in Beijing.

After a four-year wait to challenge the U.S. for gold again following a 2-1 defeat in overtime at PyeongChang 2018, the Americans defeated the Canadians 5-0 in the gold-medal game on Sunday for their fourth straight Paralympic title.

Declan Farmer and Brody Roybal both scored twice and added an assist for the Americans. Josh Pauls also found the net to dash Canada’s hopes of claiming its first gold medal since Turin 2006.

“It is pretty heavy on the heart right now, and I think it is going to take some time to move past that,” said Canadian captain Tyler McGregor. “You have to take pride in getting here and the process of the last four years.”

WATCH l Canada settles for silver as U.S. wins Para ice hockey gold medal:

Canada settles for silver as United States wins 4th straight Para ice hockey gold medal

9 hours ago

Duration 5:45

Declan Farmer and Brody Roybal both scored twice as the United States shut out Canada 5-0 to win the Para ice hockey gold medal for the fourth Paralympic Games in a row. 5:45

The silver medal serves as the last of Canada’s 25 overall medals (eight gold, six silver and 11 bronze) at the Beijing Paralympics. 

McGregor wishes they could have turned the final piece of hardware into gold.

“The resiliency of this team and how much we love and care for each other, and all the hard work that goes in to representing your country — it’s heartbreaking — but what can you say.”

Five-time Paralympian Greg Westlake, who passed the captain’s role onto the younger McGregor for the 2022 Paralympics, called the result “disappointing.”

“We came out flying and had some great chances early. In our sport, with 15-minute periods, if you can take the lead early it changes the whole dynamic completely,” said the 36-year-old, who announced his retirement following these Games earlier on Saturday.

“You look back on it, and we could have got it done, but we didn’t. So we take our silver medal and hold our heads high.”

Canadian Para Ice Hockey team members are seen during the podium ceremony following the gold-medal final at the National Indoor Stadium on Sunday in Beijing. (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Dominic Larocque, of Quebec City, made 15 saves for Canada, including a penalty shot by Pauls in the second period.

St. John’s, N.L., native Liam Hickey had a breakaway opportunity to put Canada on the board first with 6:51 remaining in the opening period, but American goaltender Jen Lee made one of his 16 saves to keep the game levelled.

Shortly after, Farmer and Roybal scored shorthanded goals 25 seconds apart from each other to put the U.S. up 2-0.

Canada was unable to capitalize on a two-man advantage near the end of the second period and veteran Billy Bridges, of Summerside, P.E.I., hit the post in the third on a night where the Canadians had a hard time getting going.

Canada also lost 5-0 to the U.S. to open the preliminary round before going on to rout South Korea 6-0.

The Canadians followed that up with an 11-0 victory against South Korea in the semifinals en route to the gold-medal game.

The U.S., on the other hand, had gone undefeated, besting South Korea 9-1 and then getting past China 11-0 in the semifinals prior to the final.

China shut out South Korea 4-0 for bronze on Saturday to complete the podium.

‘You must keep battling’

Despite the 16-year gold medal drought and another tough loss in a final, McGregor looks ahead to what he sees as a bright future for the team.

“We have so much talent and youth. We have so much young leadership within our team, and that’s exciting,” the 28-year-old from Forest, Ont., said. “You must keep battling. This is not the first time we have to start over after being on the wrong side of the gold medal game.

“You never give up. You have to keep finding ways to put yourself [in position] to win a gold medal. We have to believe that we have the team to do that.”

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DeMar DeRozan scores 27 points to lead the Kings past the Raptors 122-107

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points in a record-setting performance and the Sacramento Kings beat the Toronto Raptors 122-107 on Wednesday night.

Domantas Sabonis added 17 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season for Sacramento. He shot 6 for 6 from the field and 5 for 5 at the free-throw line.

Keegan Murray chipped in with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and De’Aaron Fox scored 21.

The 35-year-old DeRozan has scored at least 20 points in each of his first eight games with the Kings, breaking a franchise mark established by Chris Webber when he reached 20 in his first seven games with Sacramento in 1999.

DeRozan spent the past three seasons with the Chicago Bulls. The six-time All-Star also has played for Toronto and San Antonio during his 16-year NBA career.

RJ Barrett had 23 points to lead the Raptors. Davion Mitchell scored 20 in his first game in Sacramento since being traded to Toronto last summer.

Takeaways

Raptors: Toronto led for most of the first three quarters before wilting in the fourth. The Raptors were outscored 33-14 in the final period.

Kings: Fox played strong defense but struggled again shooting from the floor as he is dealing with a finger injury. Fox went 5 for 17 and just 2 of 8 on 3-pointers. He is 5 for 25 from beyond the arc in his last three games.

Key moment

The Kings trailed 95-89 early in the fourth before going on a 9-0 run that gave them the lead for good. DeRozan started the spurt with a jumper, and Malik Monk scored the final seven points.

Key stat

Sabonis had the eighth game in the NBA since at least 1982-83 with a triple-double while missing no shots from the field or foul line. The previous player to do it was Josh Giddey for Oklahoma City against Portland on Jan. 11.

Up next

Raptors: At the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night, the third stop on a five-game trip.

Kings: Host the Clippers on Friday night.

___

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Whitecaps take confidence, humility into decisive playoff matchup vs. LAFC

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VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps are one win away from moving on to the next round of the Major League Soccer playoffs.

To get there, however, the Whitecaps will need to pull off the improbable by defeating the powerhouse Los Angeles FC for a second straight game.

Vancouver blanked the visitors 3-0 on Sunday to level their best-of-three first-round playoff series at a game apiece. As the matchup shifts back to California for a decisive Game 3 on Friday, the Whitecaps are looking for a repeat performance, said striker Brian White.

“We take the good and the bad from last game, learn from what we could have done better and go to LAFC with confidence and, obviously, with a whole lot of respect,” he said.

“We know that we can go there and give them a very good fight and hopefully come away with a win.”

The winner of Friday’s game will face the No. 4-seed Seattle Sounders in a one-game Western Conference semifinal on Nov. 23 or 24.

The ‘Caps finished the regular season eighth in the west with a 13-13-8 record and have since surprised many with their post-season play.

First, Vancouver trounced its regional rivals, the Portland Timbers, 5-0 in a wild-card game. Then, the squad dropped a tightly contested 2-1 decision to the top-seeded L.A. before posting a decisive home victory on Sunday.

Vancouver has scored seven goals this post-season, second only to the L.A. Galaxy (nine). Vancouver also leads the league in expected goals (6.84) through the playoffs.

No one outside of the club expected the Whitecaps to win when the Vancouver-L. A. series began, said defender Ranko Veselinovic.

“We’ve shown to ourselves that we can compete with them,” he said.

Now in his fifth season with the ‘Caps, Veselinovic said Friday’s game will be the biggest he’s played for the team.

“We haven’t had much success in the playoffs so, definitely, this is the one that can put our season on another level,” he said.

This is the second year in a row the Whitecaps have faced LAFC in the first round of the playoffs and last year, Vancouver was ousted in two straight games.

The team isn’t thinking about revenge as it prepares for Game 3, White said.

“More importantly than (beating LAFC), we want to get to the next round,” he said. “LAFC’s a very good team. We’ve come up against them a number of times in different competitions and they always seem to get the better of us. So it’d be huge for us to get the better of them this time.”

Earning a win last weekend required slowing L.A.’s transition game and limiting offensive opportunities for the team’s big stars, including Denis Bouanga.

Those factors will be important again on Friday, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini, who warned that his team could face a different style of game.

“I think the most important thing is going to be to match their intensity at the beginning of the game,” he said. “Because I think they’re going to come at us a million miles per hour.”

The ‘Caps will once again look to captain Ryan Gauld for some offensive firepower. The Scottish attacking midfielder leads MLS in playoff goals with five and has scored in all three of Vancouver’s post-season appearances this year.

Gearing up for another do-or-die matchup is exciting, Gauld said.

“Knowing it’s a winner-takes-all kind of game, being in that kind of environment is nice,” he said. “It’s when you see the best in players.”

LAFC faces the bulk of the pressure heading into the matchup, Sartini said, given the club’s appearances in the last two MLS Cup finals and its 2022 championship title.

“They’re supposed to win and we are not,” the coach said. “But it’s beautiful to have a little bit of pressure on us, too.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

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PWHL unveils game jerseys with new team names, logos

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TORONTO – The Professional Women’s Hockey League has revealed the jersey designs for its six newly named teams.

Each PWHL team operated under its city name, with players wearing jerseys featuring the league’s logo in its inaugural season before names and logos were announced last month.

The Toronto Sceptres, Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost and New York Sirens will start the PWHL’s second season on Nov. 30 with jerseys designed to reflect each team’s identity and to be sold to the public as replicas.

Led by PWHL vice-president of brand and marketing Kanan Bhatt-Shah, the league consulted Creative Agency Flower Shop to design the jerseys manufactured by Bauer, the PWHL said Thursday in a statement.

“Players and fans alike have been waiting for this moment and we couldn’t be happier with the six unique looks each team will don moving forward,” said PWHL senior vice president of business operations Amy Scheer.

“These jerseys mark the latest evolution in our league’s history, and we can’t wait to see them showcased both on the ice and in the stands.”

Training camps open Tuesday with teams allowed to carry 32 players.

Each team’s 23-player roster, plus three reserves, will be announced Nov. 27.

Each team will play 30 regular-season games, which is six more than the first season.

Minnesota won the first Walter Cup on May 29 by beating Boston three games to two in the championship series.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

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