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Canada's Einarson tops Italy, falls to Norway on opening day of curling worlds – TSN

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PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. — Canada’s Kerri Einarson ran hot and cold at the women’s world curling championship Saturday to emerge with a 1-1 record on opening day.

The host country fell 6-4 to Norway after dominating Italy 9-2. The Canadians take on newcomer Turkey and defending champion Switzerland on Sunday.

Led by Einarson’s mastery of draw weight, Canada stole seven points against the Italians, who conceded after the sixth end.

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Einarson and third Val Sweeting weren’t as sharp drawing or hitting against the Norwegians, who stole three points over the first two ends and stole another in the sixth to lead 5-2.

“Just a little bit of overthrowing tonight,” Einarson said. “I think we’ll talk about it. There’s some shots we’d like to cover over I’m sure. We’re 1-1 first day and it’s going to be a grind all week.”

Canada faced mixed doubles specialists in both games Saturday.

Italian skip Stefania Constantini won Olympic gold in Beijing last month with Amos Mosaner.

Kristin Skaslien, who throws fourth stones for Norwegian skip Marianne Roervik, and teammate Magnus Nedregotten lost to the Italians in that final in Beijing.

Einarson shot 96 per cent against Italy and her team was 88 per cent overall.

The Canadian skip made 95 per cent of her draws in the first game, but was only 60 per cent on the draw in the evening draw compared to Skaslien’s 94.

Sweeting was outcurled positionally by Roervik throwing third stones 78 per cent to 65.

Canada scored one point in the seventh and stole another in the eighth to make up ground on the Norwegians, but couldn’t generate a multi-point end coming home.

“There’s no reason to get worried after this game,” second Shannon Birchard said. “We battled back and did what we could and it’s a new tomorrow.”

The top six teams among 13 at the conclusion of the round robin Friday advance to next Saturday’s playoffs, followed by Sunday’s medal games.

Canada’s game Sunday evening against Switzerland is an important one as Silvana Tirinzoni is the back-to-back world champion attempting to complete a hat trick in Prince George.

Einarson was also 1-1 after the first day of the 2021 world championship in Calgary.

The Canadians then lost four in a row, but climbed out of that hole into the six-team playoff by winning six of their last seven. Canada fell short of the semifinals in Calgary, however.

“We definitely feel like we’re a different team,” Einarson said. “We’re a little more relaxed and maybe not as uptight.”

Fans physically in a curling arena has been rare in Canada for the last two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

When Einarson, Sweeting, Birchard and Brianne Meilleur won a third straight national championship Feb. 6, only volunteers and some junior curlers were allowed into Thunder Bay’s building on the final weekend to see it.

Einarson and company competed in the world championship in Calgary’s curling bubble without spectators last year.

The Gimli Curling Club team from Manitoba had arrived in Prince George for the 2020 world championship only for it to be abruptly called off because of the pandemic.

Einarson played in front of fans at November’s curling trials in Saskatoon. The Canadian men’s championship that concluded Sunday in Lethbridge, Alta., had no capacity limits.

But wearing the Maple Leaf in a building where the majority of spectators are pro-Canada had felt like a long time coming for Einarson.

While each of Saturday’s draws at the CN Centre drew less than 2,000 spectators in a building that holds almost 6,000, the Canadian skip relished the audience’s loud reactions to her team’s shots.

“Getting that and feeding off that is something we’ve missed,” Einarson said. “I stepped on the ice and just instantly got goosebumps and my family, I looked up and they’re right behind us.”

Norway, which lost in an extra end to South Korea earlier Saturday, was also 1-1 alongside Canada.

Sweden, the United States, Japan, Denmark and the Swiss joined the South Koreans at 1-0 after the first day.

The Czech Republic, Scotland, Germany and Italy were 0-1 and the Turks 0-2.

The Scots played with three players in a 12-1 loss to the Swiss. Scotland awaits the arrival of a reinforcement player Sunday.

Skip Rebecca Morrison and alternate Fay Henderson tested positive for COVID-19. Morrison believes she will rejoin her team later in the tournament.

Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg won an Olympic bronze women’s team medal Beijing, where a limited number of Chinese spectators were allowed into venues.

The Swedish skip felt her team shed some post-Olympic fatigue in Saturday’s atmosphere.

“Stepping out on the ice here today, and it was like people in the stands, people that applaud you, and all the feelings just got back to me and love for the game,” Hasselborg said.

“I think it’s amazing to see people out there cheering for you and cheering good shots. Even though they were super-much celebrating Canada, it doesn’t matter as long as there’s noise.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 19, 2022.

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Shane Pinto has a goal, three assists as the Senators roll over the Sabres – Sportsnet.ca

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Here’s what we know about the allegations against Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara

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LOS ANGELES –

Only a week has passed since the Los Angeles Dodgers abruptly fired Ippei Mizuhara, the interpreter and constant companion of their new $700 million slugger, Shohei Ohtani.

But the biggest story of baseball’s spring is still murky — and shocking — as the regular season begins in earnest Thursday.

The scandal encompasses gambling, alleged theft, extensive deceit and the breakup of an enduring partnership between the majors’ biggest star and his right-hand man. Investigations are underway by the IRS and Major League Baseball, and Ohtani publicly laid out a version of events Monday that placed the responsibility entirely on Mizuhara.

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Here are the basics as Ohtani and the Dodgers prepare for their home opener against St. Louis on Thursday:

Why was Ippei Mizuhara fired by the Dodgers?

Ohtani claims his close friend repeatedly took money from his accounts to fund his illegal sports gambling habit. Ohtani also says he was completely unaware of the “massive theft,” as his lawyers termed it, until Mizuhara confessed to him and the Dodgers last week in South Korea, where the team opened its regular season against the San Diego Padres.

Mizuhara has given more than one version of his path to this trouble, which was catalyzed by the IRS’ investigation of Mathew Bowyer, an alleged illegal bookmaker. Mizuhara has consistently said he has a gambling addiction, and he abused his close friendship with the Dodgers superstar to feed it.

Did Shohei Ohtani ever bet on sports?

That’s the biggest question to be answered in Major League Baseball’s investigation, and the two-time AL MVP emphatically says he has never gambled on sports or asked anybody to bet on sports for him.

Further, Ohtani said Monday he has never knowingly paid a bookie to cover somebody else’s bets. Mizuhara also said Ohtani does not bet, and Bowyer’s attorney said the same.

Mizuhara told ESPN on March 19 that Ohtani paid his gambling debts at the interpreter’s request, saying the bets were on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL and college football. If that were true, Ohtani could face trouble even if he didn’t make the bets himself — but ESPN said Mizuhara dramatically changed his story the following day, claiming Ohtani had no knowledge of the gambling debts and had not transferred any money to bookmakers.

MLB rules prohibit players and team employees from wagering — even legally — on baseball. They also ban betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers.

What’s next for Ohtani?

Ohtani has played in every Dodgers game since the story broke, and he is expected to be their designated hitter in most regular-season games this season while baseball’s investigation continues.

Ohtani says his legal team has alerted authorities to the theft by Mizuhara, although his team has repeatedly declined to say which authorities have been told, according to ESPN.

Ohtani’s new interpreter is Will Ireton, a longtime Dodgers employee and fluent Japanese speaker who has filled several jobs with the team in everything from game preparation and analytics to recruiting free-agent pitches. But Ireton won’t be Ohtani’s constant companion, and manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday he’s optimistic that Ohtani will become closer to his teammates without the “buffer” provided for years by Mizuhara.

What don’t we know?

MLB’s investigation of Ohtani’s role in the events could last weeks or months, and it’s unlikely to be publicized until it’s complete. No one outside of Ohtani’s inner circle knows what it will find or how serious any repercussions could be, and nobody outside the circle is making informed speculation about the process.

One major question looms: How did Mizuhara have enough access to Ohtani’s bank accounts to get the alleged millions without Ohtani knowing? Is the slugger overly trusting, or is he wildly negligent in managing his vast fortune, which includes years of lavish endorsement deals in addition to his baseball salaries? Why didn’t the team around him, including his agent, do more to prevent the possibility of the theft he claims?

Finally, where is Mizuhara? Anybody who knows isn’t saying. He was fired in South Korea and apparently didn’t travel home with the Dodgers. Japanese media have visited his home in Southern California to look for him. Although he was born in Japan, Mizuhara’s life is in the U.S. — but his life will never be the same.

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NHL analyst gets absolutely roasted for ‘insanely rich’ take on Zach Hyman

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They say everyone is entitled to their opinion, but when you’re a member of the media and you share a truly awful take, you’re going to get called out for it.

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That’s what happened when NHL analyst/podcast host Andrew Berkshire decided to post a video on X (formerly known as Twitter) mainly attributing Zach Hyman’s success to the fact that he grew up “insanely rich.”

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The post came on the heels of the Oilers winger reaching the 50-goal milestone for the season and was rightly ripped apart by several notable colleagues, former players and fans in general.

In the video, which has been viewed more than 5.4 million times as of Wednesday morning, begins by stating that he has been in the sports media industry professionally since 2012 and that the industry “has to do a better job of telling truthful stories,” before discounting Hyman’s accomplishment.

“The story that’s being sold right now … is that, you know, if you work hard, if you stick to it, you can get there too, 31-year-old guy finally hits the 50-goal mark, harder worker, all that,” Berkshire said.

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“Yeah, great, except you’re missing the part of the story where Zach Hyman grew up insanely rich.”

Berkshire, who works as an analyst and host with the Steve Dangle Podcast Network, then details how Hyman’s parents bought a league to “guarantee him playing time,” and that he did “exclusive training that only a rich person … could afford.”

“This is a person that has had every single possible advantage to get where they are today,” Berkshire continued, before also bringing up the fact that Hyman has been fortunate enough to play on teams and lines with Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid most of his career.

While Berkshire does state that Hyman is a hard worker and brings grit when he plays, he also discounts it almost immediately.

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“Working hard, everybody works hard. You think every NHLer didn’t get there by working hard?” he asks. “Let’s not build this stupid narrative of ‘work hard, you’ll succeed.’ It’s just not true.

“There are people who’ve worked as hard as Zach Hyman their entire lives and never got a sniff of the American Hockey League, let alone the NHL because they didn’t have the advantages he had.”

Former Leafs defenceman turned NHL analyst Carlo Colaiacovo thought the whole take was ridiculous, posting the following: “Let me tell you something Andrew. You can’t buy your way to the NHL. You definitely can’t buy your way to having the career Hyman has had which includes scoring 50. Pretty ridiculous thing to say.”

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Retired NHLer Bobby Ryan was one of the first to weigh in, calling the opinion “purely false.”

“As someone who has maybe lived on both ends of the ‘financial edge’ I can say this is just purely false. Who cares, he accomplished a feat not many do and to downplay the way it’s reported is just wrong. You show up, do the work, good things happen,” Ryan posted on X.

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Jonathan Goodman, who claims he was Hyman’s personal trainer and tasked with getting the budding pro ready for the combine, had a glowing review of his former pupil’s work ethic.

“Yes, he had advantages. His family was wealthy and father obsessed with his success,” he said. “But the dude worked hard. Harder than anybody I’ve ever seen.”

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But, perhaps another former NHLer, Jason Strudwick said it best, replying to the video by asking: “Did Hyman not sign an autograph for you one time?”

 

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