Tom Renney remembers exactly where he was during the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
It was the first time the New York Rangers had ever held their training camp in Manhattan. Renney, who was entering his second season as the team’s director of player personnel, was at Madison Square Garden as players checked in for their physicals when the first plane struck the World Trade Centre.
The spectre of 9/11 still haunted New York City four years later when Renney began his first training camp as the Rangers’ head coach. Sensing that the Rangers could be a rallying point for a hurting city, Renney told his team that they had to play the 2005-06 season for the fans.
“You know what? We owe this city and we owe the New York Rangers fans everything we have,” Renney recalls. “This is not about hockey, this is about allowing a city that supports us like nobody else the chance to feel good, and feel like there’s a rebound and feel like there’s something that they can feel good about.
“I said, that is our responsibility and our obligation to the Rangers fan. And quite honestly, you know, the National Hockey League.”
That season the Rangers became the first team to do a post-game stick salute to thank their fans, a practice that is now common around the NHL. Renney led the team to a third-place finish in the Atlantic Division and New York’s first playoff berth since 1997.
Renney is now the chief executive officer for Hockey Canada and although he doesn’t know when professional or amateur sports will return, he says that like his time with the Rangers, they will play a critical role in healing the country when the COVID-19 pandemic ends.
“I believe Canadians are very resilient people. I think the hockey community is a resilient group, not just those that play it, but those that love watching it,” said Renney. “When the time is right, I think our participants and volunteers across the country will relish the role in leading Canada back to normal.”
Hockey, like all elite sports, is on hold as officials do their bit to help stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The NHL has paused its season and the Memorial Cup, Canada’s national major junior championship, was cancelled along with the Canadian Hockey League’s playoffs.
There’s no telling when the NHL, NBA, Major League Baseball, CFL or any other professional sport will return. But like Renney, Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum says his sport will be ready to unite Canadians when restrictions on public gatherings are lifted.
Also like Renney, Applebaum has seen firsthand how sports can bring a community together after a tragedy.
Applebaum was the vice president of Salomon Canada, a sports equipment manufacturer, a decade ago and was in Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics. He remembers a literal and figurative cloud hovering over Vancouver after Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed during a training run hours before the Games opening ceremony.
“The sport community came together to mourn him and the weather changed and it ended up evolving into an incredible celebration of sport and humankind coming together,” said Applebaum. “So my prevailing theory is the sun will rise again (when the pandemic is over).
“And golf, golf will rise again and return to being an incredible part of our lives. It’s just going to take some time.”
Bruce Kidd, a historian and professor at the University of Toronto, believes that sports are in a unique position to help rally cities or countries after disasters because people can identify with the athletes. That power will become even more apparent when normalcy returns after the novel coronavirus pandemic is over.
“I think to which athletes and coaches’ lives have been thrown into complete disarray is something that most people can identify with right now,” said Kidd, who competed for Canada at the 1964 Olympics and was twice named The Canadian Press athlete of the year.
Kidd, who likened the current public health emergency to the Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918-20, says that when sports return it will be cathartic for all of society because it will be a celebration of overcoming adversity.
“It will be a relief, it will signal a return to some kind of normalcy,” said Kidd. “It’ll be an opportunity for people to take control of their lives again, whether it’s participating in sports or watching them.
“Psychologically, it will be empowering and I think that’s really important.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2020.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
