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Canadiens’ COVID-19 issues a concern across North Division – Sportsnet.ca

Published

4 years ago

March 26, 2021

Getting nearly a week off in Montreal is something millionaire hockey players would normally jump at.

Not so in 2021.

The Edmonton Oilers were forced to spend plenty of time at the team’s hotel and on the practice ice this week when their three-game series against the Canadiens was postponed after two Montreal players were added to the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list.

“A lot of sitting around,” Oilers centre Leon Draisaitl said. “A lot of time with the guys.”

Edmonton arrived in Montreal on Sunday for games scheduled for Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Those plans changed drastically when Canadiens forwards Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Joel Armia were placed into protocol Monday, nixing the series opener and signalling the Canadian-based North Division’s first postponement of the truncated season.

The teams’ next two games — as well as the Canadiens’ matchup with the Ottawa Senators scheduled for Sunday — were also subsequently scrapped and will be made up at a later date.

NHL players and team staff are restricted to airports, hotels and arenas when on the road this season, while life at home is basically a mirror image as the league continues to try and keep the coronavirus at bay.

“We’re lucky we had these practice days,” said Edmonton defenceman Adam Larsson, whose team arrived in Toronto on Thursday ahead of a two-game set with the Maple Leafs. “You get out of your room a little bit. Other than that, there’s not a whole lot.

“A little bit of Ping-Pong, a lot of TV shows.”

Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin told reporters Thursday one of the two players in question has a confirmed case of a COVID-19 variant. The decision to postpone was made by medical officials from the league, the NHL Players’ Association and the Canadiens.

While outbreaks and positive tests south of the border have impacted a number of NHL teams and forced schedule rejigging, the North had been relatively unscathed through the first two months of the season before the current situation in Montreal.

And it served as another warning to Canada’s other six clubs how insidious and serious — even with all the precautions — the virus remains with the variant threat and the country’s glacial vaccine rollout.

“It’s a huge reminder,” Leafs winger Zach Hyman said. “Especially with things in the U.S. opening up more and players over there getting the vaccine, we’re in a different boat in Canada. We have to be extra careful.

“Even here, things are starting to open up, the weather’s getting nicer so I’m sure there are temptations to go out. It’s even more important to stay on top of things and make sure everybody in our locker room is staying safe and wearing a mask and doing all the things we’ve been doing.”

Vancouver Canucks blue-liner Nate Schmidt said even though COVID-19 hadn’t impacted the NHL in Canada nearly as much as the U.S., a shutdown of some kind was likely inevitable.

“It’s a little bit of a ghost,” he said. “You never know when and where and how you can get it. It’s something that we’ve been very fortunate to not have to deal with a lot up here.

“A lot of teams have had to go through it. It’s no different to what we’re going through now.”

Bergevin said he expects the schedules for every Canadian team to be adjusted as a result of this week’s postponements. Montreal is currently slated to play in Ottawa on Tuesday, but the Canadiens’ practice facility will remain closed through the weekend.

“Whatever the schedule brings later on, we have to deal with that,” Edmonton head coach Dave Tippett said. “It’s unfortunate that it happened, but it wasn’t something that was unexpected.”

Winnipeg Jets forward Andrew Copp said even the most stringent precautions aren’t foolproof in the NHL’s COVID-19 era.

“The (Canadian) teams have done a pretty good job of not allowing that or doing the best that they can, obviously with a little luck,” he said. “But it was bound to happen.”

The start time for another game between the Oilers and Canadiens on Feb. 11 at the Bell Centre was pushed back an hour after Edmonton forward Jesse Puljujarvi was placed into protocol, but he was deemed eligible to resume team activities two days later.

In all, there have been 41 games postponed in the NHL, with many more rescheduled.

Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe said the positive tests are a concern for the health of everyone involved, but also the season at large.

“Whether you’re missing players for certain games or games get postponed, and then they’re sandwiched into an already condensed and busy schedule, it becomes a competitive situation,” he said. “It creates some real challenges. We want to do everything we can to not put ourselves in that situation.”

As for actual games, the Oilers and Leafs will both be rested after Toronto played for just the third time in 11 nights Thursday ahead of Saturday and Monday tilts at Scotiabank Arena with first place in the North on the line.

The Leafs embarrassed the Oilers on home ice in a three-game sweep earlier this month, but Edmonton rebounded by going 7-2-0 over its next nine before arriving in Montreal last weekend. Toronto, meanwhile, is just 3-6-0 over that span and held a two point lead on the Oilers and Winnipeg Jets atop the division heading into Friday’s action.

“You obviously want to send a message,” said Draisaitl, whose team is 2-5-0 against the Leafs with their final regular-season matchups on deck. “We want to beat them and show them that we’re a good team, too.”

And that team, according to Larsson, has become a lot closer this season — including over the past week.

“We’ve spent a lot of time together,” he said. “You’re pretty much with the team the whole time on the road. It’s been good for us.”

The last week wasn’t a break the Oilers wanted or really needed, but one they were prepared for in the most unique of campaigns.

“If you’d gone through the year without any interruptions, you would have been grateful,” Tippett said. “But you probably would have been surprised. We’re just taking it as part of what this season is. It’s not a normal year.

“It’s just part of what we have to deal with.”

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Champions Trophy host Pakistan says it’s not been told India wants to play cricket games elsewhere

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.”

Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup but all India games were played in Sri Lanka under a hybrid model for the tournament. Only months later Pakistan did travel to India for the 50-over World Cup.

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.

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Dabrowski, Routlife into WTA doubles final with win over Melichar-Martinez, Perez

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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Winger Tajon Buchanan back with Canada after recovering from broken leg

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

Inter Milan winger Tajon Buchanan, recovered from a broken leg suffered in training at this summer’s Copa America, is back in Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname.

The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., underwent surgery July 3 to repair a fractured tibia in Texas.

Canada, ranked 35th in the world, plays No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg of the aggregate series is four days later at Toronto’s BMO Field.

There is also a return for veteran winger Junior Hoilett, who last played for Canada in June in a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Marsch’s debut at the Canadian helm. The 34-year-old from Brampton, now with Scotland’s Hibernian, has 15 goals in 63 senior appearances for Canada.

Midfielder Ismael Kone, recovered from an ankle injury sustained on club duty with France’s Marseille, also returns. He missed Canada’s last three matches since the fourth-place Copa America loss to Uruguay in July.

But Canada will be without centre back Derek Cornelius, who exited Marseille’s win Sunday over Nantes on a stretcher after suffering an apparent rib injury.

The Canadian men will prepare for Suriname next week at a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“We are looking forward to getting the group together again with the mindset that there is a trophy on the line,” Marsch said in a statement. “We want to end 2024 the right way with two excellent performances against a competitive Suriname squad and continue building on our tremendous growth this past summer.”

The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the two semifinals scheduled for March 20 and the final and third-place playoff March 23, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Thirteen of the 23 players on the Canadian roster are 25 or younger, with 19-year-old defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, currently playing for England’s Crewe Alexandra on loan from Bristol City, the youngest.

Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies captains the side with Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller adding veteran support.

Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Theo Bair are joined in attack by Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi.

Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old midfielder with Croatia’s Hadjuk Split, continues in the squad after making his debut in the September friendly against Mexico.

Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.

“A good team,” Osorio said of Suriname. “These games are always tricky and they’re not easy at all … Suriname is a (former) Dutch colony and they’ll have Dutch players playing at high levels.”

“They won’t be someone we overlook at all,” added the Toronto FC captain, who has 81 Canada caps to his credit.

Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands.

Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.

The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the United States and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF Nations League.

Canada, No. 2 in the CONCACAF rankings, drew Suriname as the best-placed runner-up from League A play.

Canada lost to Jamaica in last year’s Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament and finished fifth in 2019-20.

Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.

Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Joel Waterman, Laryea and Miller and Osorio took part in a pre-camp this week in Toronto for North America-based players.

Canada Roster

Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal (MLS); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United FC (MLS).

Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel. Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Bristol City (England); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).

Midfielders: Ali Ahmed. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Inter Milan (Italy); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Junior Hoilett, Hibernian FC (Scotland); Ismael Kone, Olympique Marseille (France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).

Forwards: Theo Bair, AJ Auxerre (France); Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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