Sports

Canada still perfect at men's worlds after win over Denmark – TSN

Published

4 years ago

April 3, 2021

The Canadian Press

CALGARY — Canada’s Brendan Bottcher has been challenged in a variety of ways over his first three games at the BKT Tires & OK Tire World Men’s Curling Championship.

His Edmonton-based team has managed to persevere each time and owns a perfect record as a result.

Bottcher’s latest win came Saturday morning with a 7-5 victory over a plucky Danish side skipped by Mads Noergaard. The victory came after Canada opened with a comeback win over Scotland’s Bruce Mouat before being tested again by Japan’s Yuta Matsumura.

“It’s a lot harder to win when there’s some ups and downs, there’s a little bit of adversity, you’ve got to scrape through it a little bit,” Bottcher said. “I think in different ways in all three of these games we’ve had a little bit of that, which is good.

“I think we’ll build on that a little bit through the next few days, hopefully pick up momentum and start bringing our best game a little more often. I really like where we’re at right now.”

Bottcher stole a pair in the fifth end for a 6-2 lead and sealed the win in the 10th end when Danish fourth Mikkel Krause’s final stone was heavy. That eliminated the need for Canada to throw its last rock.

Bottcher, vice Darren Moulding, second Brad Thiessen and lead Karrick Martin were all in form as every player threw at least 86 per cent.

“The first couple games we were building some momentum and then really today I thought we came out of the gate really strong,” Bottcher said.

Noergaard throws second stones for Denmark, a team that’s also making its world championship debut. Krause, the low man on the day at 66 per cent, was forced to draw for a single in the first end for Denmark’s only lead of the game.

Bottcher scored deuces in three of the next four ends, with a slick hit and roll setting up a steal of two in the fifth. Krause was light on his draw against three.

Denmark had a chance at a pair to get back in the game in the seventh, but Krause rubbed a guard to give up another steal.

Bottcher was heavy with a draw in nine to allow Denmark to pull within two. In the 10th, Krause was sitting one under cover but watched his final stone roll just beyond the 12-foot ring.

The Canadian team had the rest of the day off ahead of a Sunday morning matchup against Switzerland’s Peter de Cruz, an 8-5 winner over Germany’s Sixten Totzek.

In other early games, Sweden’s Niklas Edin defeated John Shuster of the United States 8-5 and Scotland posted a 9-4 win over Jaap van Dorp of the Netherlands.

Shuster rebounded in the afternoon draw with a 7-5 win over Totzek and Edin needed an extra end for a 7-6 win over Italy’s Joel Retornaz. The Russian Curling Federation’s Sergey Glukhov defeated China’s Qiang Zou 10-6 and Norway’s Steffen Walstad dumped South Korea’s Yeong-Seok Jeong 9-2.

Saturday’s evening action saw Switzerland down Japan 8-5 and Denmark rout the Netherlands 14-5. Walstad and the Norwegians took a 9-5 win over China and Scotland’s Mouat handed the South Koreans a thorough 11-4 loss.

Round-robin play continues through Friday afternoon.

Norway sat in the top spot at 4-0 after six draws, with Canada, the Russian Curling Federation and Switzerland close behind with 3-0. Scotland was next with 3-1 ahead of Italy, Sweden and the U.S. at 2-1.

Japan was 1-2 while Denmark was 1-3. Germany remained winless at 0-3 and China, South Korea, and the Netherlands lingered behind at 0-4.

The top two finishers in the 14-team round robin earn byes to the semifinals on April 10. Teams sitting third through sixth will compete in qualification games with winners to reach the final four.

Medal games are set for April 11. The top six teams will also earn spots for their respective countries at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Edin beat Canada’s Kevin Koe in the 2019 world championship final in Lethbridge, Alta. The 2020 event was cancelled due to the pandemic.

No spectators are allowed in the WinSport Arena, which was also the case at the recent Canadian men’s, women’s and mixed doubles championships.

Two Grand Slams are next on the bubble calendar before the world women’s playdowns in late April.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 3, 2021.

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Sports betting roundup: NFL and college football were all about the favourites

Published

21 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

The past weekend of football was all about the favourites.

The favoured teams went 13-1 straight up and 10-4 against the spread in the NFL. In college football, the three most teams bet at the BetMGM Sportsbook in terms of number of bets and money all won and covered. All three were favourites.

Trends of the Week

The three most bet college teams that won and covered on Saturday were Ohio State (-3.5) vs. Penn State, Indiana (-7.5) at Michigan State and Oregon (-14.5) at Michigan. Penn State has now lost seven straight home games as underdogs. The Nittany Lions were up 10-0 in the first quarter and were 3.5-point favourites at the time. The Buckeyes won 17-10.

In the NFL, the three most bet teams in terms of number of bets and money were the Washington Commanders (-4) at the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions (-2.5) at the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills (-6) vs. the Miami Dolphins. All three teams won, but only two of the three covered the spread as Buffalo beat Miami 30-27.

When it came to the players with the most bets to score a touchdown on Sunday, only two of the five reached the end zone — Chase Brown (-125) and Taysom Hill (+185). David Montgomery (-140), Brian Robinson Jr. (+110) and AJ Barner (+500) did not score.

Upsets of the Week

The biggest upset in the NFL was the Carolina Panthers coming from behind to beat the New Orleans Saints 23-22. New Orleans closed as a 7-point favourite and took in 76% of the bets and 79% of the money in against-the-spread betting. The Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen following the loss. They have now lost seven straight games after starting the year 2-0.

Arguably the biggest upset in college football was South Carolina beating No. 10 Texas A&M 44-20 at home. Texas A&M closed as a 2.5-point favourite and took in 59% of the bets and 58% of the money.

Coming up

Right after the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees to win the World Series, odds for the 2025 World Series were released.

The Dodgers have the best odds at +400, while the Atlanta Braves and Yankees are next at +800.

The Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies round out the top five, both at +1100.

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This column was provided to The Associated Press by BetMGM online sportsbook.

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Longtime rivals Ovechkin, Crosby join Necas as NHL’s three stars of the week

Published

21 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

NEW YORK – Washington Capitals left-wing Alex Ovechkin, Carolina Hurricanes centre Martin Necas and Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby have been named the NHL’s three stars of the week.

Ovechkin had a league-leading five goals and nine points in four games.

The 39-year-old Capitals captain has 14 points in 11 games this season, and his 860 career goals are just 34 shy of Wayne Gretzky’s record.

Necas shared the league lead with nine points (three goals, six assists) in three games.

Crosby factored on seven of the Penguins’ eight total goals scoring four goals and adding three assists in three appearances. The 37-year-old Penguins captain leads his team with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 13 games this season.

Crosby and Ovechkin, longtime rivals since entering the league together in 2005-06, will meet for the 70th time in the regular season and 95th time overall when Pittsburgh visits Washington on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

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Oliveira, Mitchell named as finalists for CFL outstanding player award

Published

5 days ago

October 31, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Running back Brady Oliveira of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell are the finalists for the CFL’s outstanding player award.

Oliveira led the CFL in rushing this season with 1,353 yards while Mitchell was the league leader in passing yards (5,451) and touchdowns (32).

Oliveira is also the West Division finalist for the CFL’s top Canadian award, the second straight year he’s been nominated for both.

Oliveira was the CFL’s outstanding Canadian in 2023 and the runner-up to Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for outstanding player.

Defensive lineman Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund of the Montreal Alouettes is the East Division’s top Canadian nominee.

Voting for the awards is conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada and the nine CFL head coaches.

The other award finalists include: defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr. of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal linebacker Tyrice Beverette (outstanding defensive player); Saskatchewan’s Logan Ferland and Toronto’s Ryan Hunter (outstanding lineman); B.C. Lions kicker Sean Whyte and Toronto returner Janarion Grant (special teams); and Edmonton Elks linebacker Nick Anderson and Hamilton receiver Shemar Bridges (outstanding rookie).

The coach of the year finalists are Saskatchewan’s Corey Mace and Montreal’s Jason Maas.

The CFL will honour its top individual performers Nov. 14 in Vancouver.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31.

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