The Canucks picked up a nice win against the Sabres on Saturday afternoon.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Canucks have played plenty of warm-weather hockey this week with bad results. It turned out that what they really needed was for the hockey to be played in the afternoon and in Buffalo.
The temperature on the shores of Lake Erie hit 17 C, not far off the fine weather seen during the week in Florida.
Whatever the weather, the Canucks put together a much improved performance against the Sabres, winning 6-3 at the KeyBank Center.
The Sabres did score early but the Canucks, as they did in both Florida and Tampa, played a strong first period and tied the game up later in the period.
But unlike in their previous two games, they kept things rolling in the second and into the third, outscoring their hosts 4-2 in the process.
Captain Bo Horvat was delighted with his team’s performance.
“We wanted to come out hard and I thought we did that tonight and I think we played a full 60 minutes, we haven’t done that in a little bit and we stepped it up even harder in the third,” he said.
The Canucks got two goals from Brock Boeser, plus singles by Bo Horvat, J.T. Miller and Jake Virtanen, plus an empty-netter by Loui Eriksson. The Sabres got goals from Brandon Montour, Sam Reinhart and Zemgus Girgensons.
Here’s what we learned …
Slick mitts
Boeser has scored two goals in two straight games now on deft tips in front.
His first-period tally saw him deflect a Troy Stecher shot off the side boards essentially behind his back.
“I think the went off the D’s skate after, so you know sometimes you get lucky,” he said. “The main thing is getting good position on their defence because if they box you out, you’re not going to be able to get that tip so you know it’s something I’ve been working on.”
His second goal of the game was a patented wrist shot, fired after an unconventional give-and-go with Chris Tanev.
He’s up to 16 goals on the season and has recorded points in six-straight road games: he has four goals and four assists in that span.
“He’s not looking to shoot often, so you have to expect to get the puck back,” Boeser said, with a grin, of the sequence with Tanev.
Tanev admitted he initially thought about a shot on the play.
“I was. I sort of had to reach for it a bit so I mean I didn’t think I could get much on it and (Boeser) sort of slid into that open area and I think both their guys thought I was going to shoot it,” the veteran defenceman said.
What a high note for the winger to be riding in on to his home state on Sunday.
Tyler Motte also showed some crafty work with the puck when he set up Virtanen for the game’s fifth goal, a cross-crease backhanded pass right on the tape for Virtanen, who made no mistake with the finish.
Vancouver Canucks right wing Brock Boeser (6) makes a pass during the first period against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center.
Timothy T. Ludwig /
USA TODAY Sports
Captain’s call
Bo Horvat is playing some of the best hockey of the season.
Since Christmas he has three goals and six assists, while playing tough minutes.
The third goal was the go-ahead marker early in the second period, as he took a rebound off his initial pass attempt to Quinn Hughes off the wing and willed it home past Carter Hutton.
“It’s nice to finally get the bounces coming our way,” he said of the goal. “I was talking before the game would be nice to shoot a puck in the net for once. And thankfully we got a couple here tonight.”
Buffalo Sabres left wing Conor Sheary (43) watches as Vancouver Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom (25) dives to make a save during the second period at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
Timothy T. Ludwig /
USA TODAY Sports
Stout defence
After four straight games giving up more than 30 shots — and five out of six games since Christmas — the Canucks limited the Sabres to a tidy 28 shots against.
“That was our best game since that win in Calgary, I think,” coach Travis Green said.
Keep away
In a shift reminiscent of one midway through Tuesday’s game in Tampa where the Canucks never found a way to take possession of the puck, which would let them get off the ice. In Tampa it meant a quintet of Canucks were on the ice for two-minute-long shift before taking a penalty.
On Saturday, a pair of Canucks had a shift half again as long, with a worse ending.
Alex Edler and Tim Schaller ended up on the ice for more than three minutes because they were stuck on the ice killing a penalty. There was only one whistle. early in the penalty-killing scenario.
The Sabres never relinquished the puck even after the power play expired; it wasn’t until Brandon Montour scored at 8:44 that play came to an end.
Holy post
Was there a hole in the post to the right of Sabres goalie Hutton? The officials took a long time to review a goal that turned out not to be.
All that was shown in the building was an overhead view that made it seem as if a Boeser wrist shot had picked the corner of the net.
It wasn’t until the Sabres broadcast showed a side view that it was clear that the shot had gone well over the net.
It was all a bit baffling as to why the review lasted so long.
“They showed us the overhead view and, you know, it kind of looks like it went in there but then there’s that one view where you could see I missed by a couple feet,” Boeser said about it, again with a grin.
Skid marks
Coming into Saturday’s game, Hutton hadn’t won in 10 straight starts.
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
MacKenzie Weegar wasn’t bitter or upset as he watched friends live out their dreams.
The Calgary Flames defenceman just hopes to experience the same feeling one day. He also knows the road leading to that moment, if it does arrive, will likely be long and winding — much like his own path.
A seventh-round pick by the Florida Panthers at the 2013 NHL draft, Weegar climbed the ranks to become an important piece of a roster that captured the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s top regular-season club in 2021-22.
Two months later following a second-round playoff exit, he was traded to the Flames along with Jonathan Huberdeau for Matthew Tkachuk. And less than two years after that, the Panthers were hoisting the Stanley Cup.
“Happy for the city and for the team,” Weegar said of Florida’s June victory over the Edmonton Oilers. “There was no bad taste in my mouth.”
His sole focus, he insists, is squarely on eventually getting the Flames to the same spot. The landscape, however, has changed drastically since Weegar committed to Calgary on an eight-year, US$50-million contract extension in October 2022.
Weegar has watched a list that includes goaltender Jacob Markstrom, defencemen Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin and Nikita Zadorov and forwards Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane shipped out of town since the start of last season — largely for picks, prospects and young players as part of a rebuild.
Despite that exodus, he remains committed to the Calgary project steered by general manager Craig Conroy.
“It’s easy to get out of all whack when you see guys trying to leave or wanting new contracts,” the 30-year-old from Ottawa said at last week’s NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas. “I just focus on where I am and where I want to be, and that’s Calgary.
“I believe in this team. The city has taken me in right away. I feel like I owe it to them to stick around and grind through these years and get a Stanley Cup.”
The hard-nosed blueliner certainly knows what it is to grind.
After winning the Memorial Cup alongside Nathan MacKinnon with the Halifax Mooseheads in 2013, Weegar toiled in the ECHL and American Hockey League for three seasons before making his NHL debut late in the 2016-17 campaign with the Panthers.
He would spend the next five years in South Florida as one of the players tasked with shifting an organizational culture that had experienced little success over the previous two decades.
“There’s always going to be a piece of my heart and loyalty to that team,” Weegar said. “But now I’m in a different situation … I compete against all 32 teams, not just Florida. There’s always a chip on my shoulder every single year.”
Weegar set career highs with 20 goals — eight was the most he had ever previously registered — and 52 points in 2023-24 as part of a breakout offensive performance.
“I think my buddies cared a lot more than I did,” he said with a smile. “All I hear is, ‘fantasy, fantasy, fantasy.'”
Weegar was actually more proud of his 200 blocked shots and 194 hits as he looks to help set a new Flames’ standard alongside Huberdeau, captain Mikael Backlund, Nazem Kadri, Blake Coleman and Rasmus Andersson for a franchise expected to have its new arena in time for the 2027-28 season.
“You have to build that culture and that belief in the locker room,” said Weegar, who pointed to 22-year-old centre Connor Zary as a player set to pop. “Those young guys are going to have to come into their own and be consistent every night … they’re the next generation.”
Weegar, however, isn’t punting on 2024-25. He pointed to the NHL’s parity and the fact a couple of teams surprise every season.
It’s the same approach that took him from the ECHL a decade ago to hockey’s premier pre-season event inside a swanky hotel on Sin City’s famed strip, where he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the game’s best.
“From the outside — media and even friends and family — the expectations are probably a bit lower,” Weegar said of Calgary’s outlook. “But there’s no reason to think that we can’t make playoffs and we can’t be a good team (with) that underdog mentality.
“You never know.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept 17, 2024.
Jose Maria Celestino da Costa was named vice-president and head of soccer operations while Marianne Brooks was appointed vice-president of partnerships, Kelly Shouldice as vice-president of brand and content and Joyce Sou as vice-president of finance and business operations.
The new six-team women’s pro league is set to kick off in April.
“Their unique expertise and leadership are crucial as we lay the foundation for not just a successful league in Canada, but one that stands among the top sports leagues in the world,” NSL president Christina Litz said in a statement. “By investing in top-tier talent and infrastructure, the Northern Super League is committed to creating a league that will elevate the game and set new standards for women’s professional soccer globally.”
Da Costa will oversee all on-field matters, including officiating. His resume includes stints with Estoril Praia, a men’s first-division team in Portugal, and the Portuguese Soccer Federation, where he helped develop the Portuguese women’s league.
Brooks spent a decade with Canucks Sports & Entertainment, working in “partnership sales and retention efforts” for the Vancouver Canucks, Vancouver Warriors, and Rogers Arena. Most recently, she served as senior director of account management at StellarAlgo, a software company that helps pro sports teams connect with their fans
Shouldice has worked for Corus Entertainment, the Canadian Football League, and most recently as vice-president of Content and Communications at True North Sports & Entertainment, where she managed original content as well as business and hockey communications.
Sou, who was involved in the league’s initial launch, will oversee financial planning, analysis and the league’s expansion strategy in her new role.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
