When a lanky, 16-year-old David Reinbacher showed up with a crop of junior players to one of EHC Kloten’s pro team’s practices midway through the 2021-22 season, there wasn’t even a proper spot for him to sit in the locker room, so he took a seat on a chair by a pillar.
He was shy and didn’t say much, but he was listening, trying to fit in as a 16-year-old on a men’s team.
“Good kid, quiet, humble, very polite and very happy and excited to be with us at that point,” Jeff Tomlinson, then-coach of EHC Kloten, said of his first impression of Reinbacher. “I said, ‘Look, I want to see him play.’ And then he got on the ice and he wasn’t so quiet anymore.”
Tomlinson decided the Kloten junior club wouldn’t be getting him back.
“We played him in a game and he was one of our best defensemen,” Tomlinson remembers.
Reinbacher was the best for a reason. In fact, a lot of things stood out about him: His patience. His poise. The consistency with which he plays.
If you ask Larry Mitchell, general manager of EHC Kloten, what stands out most, he’ll mention Reinbacher’s mobility as a 6-foot-2 defenseman, and that he’s more skilled with his stick than a lot of NHL players.
“I think he has the best stick out of any defenseman on our team and probably, you know, maybe even top 10 or 12 in our league,” Mitchell said. “As an 18-year-old kid, he has an uncanny ability to build plays and break up plays with his stick. He always leads with a stick when he’s trying to kill plays in the corner. He didn’t lose a lot of battles towards the end of the season when we got into the important games towards the end and the playoffs.”
If you ask Tomlinson, he’ll say what’s impressed him most is how he’s handled the attention that comes with being the top defensive prospect of the upcoming 2023 draft.
“With all the scouts in the stands — 23 scouts on any given night — and for him just to go about his business and keep, I would say, exceeding expectations, that was just shocking to me,” Tomlinson said.
Reinbacher was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens with the No. 5 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, making him the highest-ever drafted Austrian defenseman and tying Thomas Vanek for the highest-drafted Austrian player in NHL history. Vanek was drafted at No. 5 in 2003 by the Buffalo Sabres.
If you ask Reinbacher how much that means to him, he’ll probably point to how important it’s been for him to stay humble throughout the entire process.
“I just like staying humble, getting a lane not too high and not too low,” Reinbacher said. “I just try to focus on myself.”
Carey Price forgot the Canadiens’ first round pick’s name (David Reinbacher) ????
Reinbacher played as a youth in Switzerland before joining Kloten’s junior club at 15. He made his debut for Kloten’s pro ranks in 2021-22, appearing in 27 regular-season games and 14 playoff games, helping Kloten move up to the National League, the top tier in Swiss hockey.
He’d return for the entirety of the 2022-23 season as the team’s youngest player — and arguably its best blueliner. In what Reinbacher described as a “pretty special” year, he saw his time on ice grow from six minutes to over 20 a game, something he didn’t necessarily anticipate would happen.
And as his minutes continued to rise, so did his stock ahead of the NHL Draft in Nashville as a highly sought-after two-way defenseman.
Reinbacher describes himself as a breakout defenseman who tries to feed the offensive guys. He has a long stick, is calm with the puck and can play offense as well.
He knows when to make the pass to a teammate or when nobody’s there. He has the ability to hold on to the puck and wait for his teammates to get free, or to move his feet and hold on to the puck until someone gets open.
In the offensive zone, he’s good at getting pucks to the net and has been working hard on his shot, which will surely only continue to improve as he gets older and stronger. He has a confidence with the puck that shines through — a confidence Reinbacher says really strengthened over the course of last season.
While he isn’t an overly physical player, he isn’t afraid to mix in some physicality to win a puck battle and he won’t shy away from battles — something Mitchell says Reinbacher has continued to work at as his confidence has grown over his past pro season.
“When I first got here, you were able to give David a cross-check. You were able to give him a face wash after the whistle. By the end of the season, there was a lot more pushback,” said Mitchell.
It’s something Tomlinson has of course noticed as well, especially in contrast with the shy, polite 16-year-old whom he first met at practice last season.
“I really like his confidence level with the puck. He knows when to make it toe drag even. I’m not a big fan of guys making toe drags, wrestling off the ice in the neutral zone. But it seemed like when he did it, it was a good play. So, I just really loved the combination of his patience and his confidence to make a play under pressure,” said Tomlinson.
“It was fun to watch him come out of his shell more and more and more to the point where I would hear him talking in the locker room when I would be walking through there to go get a coffee. I would hear him kind of initiating a conversation. So that was fun because I knew he felt comfortable. He talks about being humble and all that. But you know what? He is one of the more humble kids I’ve ever coached.”
When Mitchell took over as GM of Kloten’s men’s team in November, he had of course already heard about “the hotshot Reinbacher kid.” When he finally watched him play, he was reminded of Tim Stützle, who played in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) — where Mitchell, who was born in Germany, worked as a sporting director — before getting drafted to the Ottawa Senators.
“I had seen a lot of kids over the years who tried to get their feet wet playing amongst men and playing amongst pros. And some of them did it better than others,” said Mitchell. “I was working in the DEL when he came in and he might be the last guy other than David that had that type of an impact as a teenager playing in a men’s league. My first impression was, ‘Wow, this is really impressive that this kid’s able to perform against men in a top European level.”
Playing against senior opponents is one way Reinbacher likes to think his breakout season — 22 points in 46 games — has helped gear him toward the NHL.
“They all have a lot of experience. It’s so fast, like good skaters, good skills. So for me, I always wanted to play as soon as possible against grown men,” Reinbacher said.
Tomlinson also believes the speed and high offense of the Swiss league have helped Reinbacher get his feet moving and forced him to play a lot of one-on-one situations that will help him navigate the ability to make plays quickly under pressure at the NHL level, on the smaller ice surface.
“I think just in Switzerland, the culture of hockey there, it’s fast, it’s skilled, it’s got to be a little more exciting,” said Tomlinson. “And, you know, obviously it’s about winning too, and he showed that he could help the team win. And to be honest, he was the best at it on the back end for us.”
Reinbacher is No. 6 on Corey Pronman’s 2023 NHL Draft ranking of the top 142 prospects and No. 12 on Scott Wheeler’s ranking of the top 100. Though he chose not to fixate too much on projections, Reinbacher considered getting drafted in the first round on June 28 a goal, knowing how big of a milestone it would be for another Austrian hockey player to be selected so high, following in the footsteps of players before him like Thomas Vanek, Marco Rossi and Marco Kasper.
“The first round is huge. I would not know how to describe this situation. It means a lot, especially because I’m Austrian. Pretty honored to have this chance in June,” said Reinbacher ahead of the draft. “I guess we’re producing more and more good players. … And I would love that like probably 10 to 20 more players are getting drafted in the next 20 or 30 years. So it will be a huge thing for us that can produce also good NHL players.”
Leading up to the draft, he kept close the advice of Rossi, a friend of Reinbacher’s, who recently suited up with him at the 2023 IIHF World Championship and was drafted in the first round of the 2020 NHL Draft with the No. 9 pick by the Minnesota Wild.
“We talk about a lot of things that are coming towards me. So he helps me. He talks about it. He teaches me, (I’m) thankful that he talks that much. Like I would say, ‘Teach me what to do or how to handle the situation,’” Reinbacher said of Rossi. “And he said, ‘Just enjoy the moment every single day. No matter how hard it is, enjoy it. Especially if you don’t mind that much. Just feel free. Enjoy. Play free.’”
And now that he’s been welcomed to the NHL by the Canadiens, he hopes to maintain that humility that’s been so important to him as he’s climbed the ranks in Switzerland — the humility that has impressed his coach so much the past two seasons.
“I tried to prod him a couple of times with comments like, ‘Hey there, superstar. There were 40 scouts in the rink last night to watch you.’ And he always answered with, ‘I’m not a superstar. I’m just a kid trying to play in this league,’” Tomlinson recalled. “But you could tell by the way he carried himself on the ice that, although he wouldn’t admit it, he probably knew that he belonged.”
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
