Sports

Canadiens’ Armia provides glimmer of hope his massive potential can still be unlocked

Published

1 year ago

April 7, 2023

MONTREAL — A sequence from the third period of Montreal’s slump-busting 6-2 win over the Washington Capitals: Joel Armia stops Tom Wilson in his tracks, strips him of the puck and starts the rush out of his own end. He joins it up ice, circles the opposing net, catches a pass and throws a brilliant one over to Mike Matheson for a golden scoring chance taken away by Capitals goaltender Darcy Kuemper. As the Capitals seize control of the puck to exit their own zone and release the pressure, Armia hunts it down, takes it back, retreats into his own end and stickhandles his way out of trouble, holding possession for several seconds to allow the Canadiens to execute a line change and start another rush up the ice.

This was 20 minutes after the six-foot-four, 213-pound winger bookended a Brendan Gallagher marker with two goals he ripped home off set faceoff plays.

They were impressive, and part of a dominant performance from Armia, who completed a hat trick with an empty-net goal.

He was the main reason the Canadiens earned their first win in over a week. He used his size to his advantage, put his incredible puck protection skills to work, made his shot a threat all nine times he uncorked it, helped captain Nick Suzuki hit a new career high in points (62), and once again left the door wide open to the question people have been asking about him since early in his career with the Buffalo Sabres.

Why can’t this incredibly talented player unlock his skills more often?

We put that to Armia, who was drafted 16th overall in 2011, and he came up with a pretty good answer.

Canadiens’ Armia shows off wicked shot to collect second career hat trick

“Too many times I’m my own worst enemy, being too hard on myself,” he said. “That’s one thing I need to learn is how to play more relaxed. I think that’s one big thing.”

Consider it enormous that the Pori, Finland native is actively working on it, meeting with Canadiens mental performance coach J.F. Menard regularly this season and trying to address this career-long malaise he’s suffered.

Taking the cynical view that Armia can’t succeed in that process and turn himself into a player who’s at least worth the $3.4-million cap hit he’s commanding through the end of this season — and for two more after it — would be easy.

He’s been a full-timer in the NHL for eight seasons and, over that time, all he’s ever done is make people wonder if he’ll ever realize his enormous potential. It would be the path of least resistance to suggest it isn’t going to happen for him after he turns 30 in May.

But so long as he believes he can do it, there’s hope he actually can.

“I can be a good player,” Armia said. “I feel like I have a lot of skill, a good shot, and I read the game well.”

Canadiens’ Drouin sends gorgeous no-look backhand to set up Gallagher

He’d be wise to remind himself of that every time he gets bogged down in a lost battle or missed scoring chance.

And if Armia wants some help believing it can still happen for him this late in the game, he needn’t look further than across the Canadiens dressing room, to Mike Matheson, who registered three assists on Thursday to set a career-high in points (33) in just his 45th game of the season.

He, too, is a former first-round pick who struggled with his first team. He spent a lot of time with the Florida Panthers being hard on himself before a couple of progressive seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins and this dominant one with the Canadiens.

Matheson also sees in Armia what the Canadiens see in him.

“We talk about it,” he said, “I think he’s definitely hard on himself for sure, but he’s a special player. He has all the tools. He has the best shot on the team, he works so hard, cares so much, so it’s great to see him get that hat trick. I was happy for him.”

It was good to see Armia happy for himself after this game.

There have been many obstacles in the way for him on other nights — an injury suffered in training camp that left him behind the 8-ball to start the season, a 10-game absence with another one from the end of October through mid-November, a shot to the ribs from New York Rangers defenceman Jacob Trouba that left him hurt from Jan. 17-Feb. 12, and then an illness, which turned into a respiratory infection and sidelined him for 19 games — making his output of four goals and seven assists through 39 games before this one a little more understandable.

But there were plenty of those 39 games that just made you wonder where the Armia we saw on Thursday was hiding. Games that made you wonder if the player we saw dominate during games on the 2021 run to the Stanley Cup Final would ever resurface.

Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis gave him an opportunity to play with Suzuki and sparkplug Rafael Harvey-Pinard against Washington, and there he was.

St. Louis has helped so many players find their best selves since taking over the bench in February of 2022 and, now that he knows Armia that much better, feels equipped to help.

“(I have to) speak to him. Speak to him a lot,” St. Louis said. “No matter what athlete in no matter what sport, it’s not just about ability; there’s a mental side and confidence. There are lesser players who have lots of confidence, and there are really good players who have fragile confidence. I try to help those players, and you have to surround them well.”

And Armia has to take advantage of that support and do what’s best for himself.

“It’s just as simple as it is,” he said. “You can’t have a perfect game every time, and that’s what I sometimes look for. To understand everybody makes mistakes, you don’t have to drag that.”

Games like the one Armia played on Thursday should help.

“Of course. Every time you get success, it puts you more in relaxed mode,” he said. “You get that positive. It’s not negative things to think about. It gives you confidence.”

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Red Wings sign Moritz Seider to 7-year deal worth nearly $60M

Published

3 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.

The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.

Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.

He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.

Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.

Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.

Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.

The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.

Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.

Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.

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Veterans Tyson Beukeboom, Karen Paquin lead Canada’s team at WXV rugby tournament

Published

4 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

Veterans Tyson Beukeboom and Karen Paquin will lead Canada at the WXV 1 women’s rugby tournament starting later this month in the Vancouver area.

WXV 1 includes the top three teams from the Women’s Six Nations (England, France and Ireland) and the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series (Canada, New Zealand, and the United States).

Third-ranked Canada faces No. 4 France, No. 7 Ireland and No. 1 England in the elite division of the three-tiered WXV tournament that runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 12 in Vancouver and Langley, B.C. No. 2 New Zealand and the eighth-ranked U.S. make up the six-team WVX 1 field.

“Our preparation time was short but efficient. This will be a strong team,” Canada coach Kevin Rouet said in a statement. “All the players have worked very hard for the last couple of weeks to prepare for WXV and we are excited for these next three matches and for the chance to play on home soil here in Vancouver against the best rugby teams in the world.

“France, Ireland and England will each challenge us in different ways but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves and another step in our journey to the Rugby World Cup next year.”

Beukeboom serves as captain in the injury absence of Sophie de Goede. The 33-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont., earned her Canadian-record 68th international cap in Canada’s first-ever victory over New Zealand in May at the Pacific Four Series.

Twenty three of the 30 Canadian players selected for WXV 1 were part of that Pacific Four Series squad.

Rouet’s roster includes the uncapped Asia Hogan-Rochester, Caroline Crossley and Rori Wood.

Hogan-Rochester and Crossley were part of the Canadian team that won rugby sevens silver at the Paris Olympics, along with WXV teammates Fancy Bermudez, Olivia Apps, Alysha Corrigan and Taylor Perry. Wood is a veteran of five seasons at UBC.

The 37-year-old Paquin, who has 38 caps for Canada including the 2014 Rugby World Cup, returns to the team for the first time since the 2021 World Cup.

Canada opens the tournament Sept. 29 against France at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver before facing Ireland on Oct. 5 at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, and England on Oct. 12 at B.C. Place.

The second-tier WXV 2 and third-tier WXV 3 are slated to run Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, in South Africa and Dubai, respectively.

WXV 2 features Australia, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales while WXV 3 is made up of Fiji, Hong Kong, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Samoa and Spain.

The tournament has 2025 World Cup qualification implications, although Canada, New Zealand and France, like host England, had already qualified by reaching the semifinals of the last tournament.

Ireland, South Africa, the U.S., Japan, Fiji and Brazil have also booked their ticket, with the final six berths going to the highest-finishing WXV teams who have not yet qualified through regional tournaments.

Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team WXV 1 Squad

Forwards

Alexandria Ellis, Ottawa, Stade Français Paris (France); Brittany Kassil, Guelph, Ont., Guelph Goats; Caroline Crossley, Victoria, Castaway Wanderers; Courtney Holtkamp, Rimbey, Alta., Red Deer Titans Rugby; DaLeaka Menin, Vulcan, Alta., Exeter Chiefs (England); Emily Tuttosi, Souris, Man., Exeter Chiefs (England); Fabiola Forteza, Quebec City, Stade Bordelais (France); Gabrielle Senft, Regina, Saracens (England); Gillian Boag, Calgary, Gloucester-Hartpury (England); Julia Omokhuale, Calgary, Leicester Tigers (England); Karen Paquin, Quebec City, Club de rugby de Quebec; Laetitia Royer, Loretteville, Que., ASM Romagnat (France); McKinley Hunt, King City, Ont., Saracens (England); Pamphinette Buisa, Gatineau, Que., Ottawa Irish; Rori Wood, Sooke, B.C., College Rifles RFC; Sara Cline, Edmonton, Leprechaun Tigers; Tyson Beukeboom, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England);

Backs

Alexandra Tessier, Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, Que., Exeter Chiefs (England); Alysha Corrigan, Charlottetown, P.E.I., CRFC; Asia Hogan-Rochester, Toronto, Toronto Nomads; Claire Gallagher, Caledon, Ont., Leicester Tigers (England); Fancy Bermudez, Edmonton, Saracens (England); Julia Schell, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England); Justine Pelletier, Rivière-du-Loup, Que, Stade Bordelais (France); Mahalia Robinson, Fulford, Que., Town of Mount Royal RFC; Olivia Apps, Lindsay, Ont., Lindsay RFC; Paige Farries, Red Deer, Alta., Saracens (England); Sara Kaljuvee, Ajax, Ont., Westshore RFC; Shoshanah Seumanutafa, White Rock, B.C., Counties Manukau (New Zealand); Taylor Perry, Oakville, Ont., Exeter Chiefs (England).

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Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform, formerly known as Twitter

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.

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Vancouver Canucks star goalie Thatcher Demko working through rare muscle injury

Published

4 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.

The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.

He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.

Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.

He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.

Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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