The lords-a-leaping were general manager Jim Benning and coach Travis Green, who saw the backwards step their team suffered in free agency last October narrow considerably with Sunday’s addition of Hamonic on a professional tryout agreement.
Don’t let the PTO aspect of the transaction fool you. When concussed winger Micheal Ferland and his $3.5-million cap hit are shifted to long-term injured reserve just before the season starts on Jan. 13, the 30-year-old Hamonic should join the Canucks’ roster on a bargain one-year contract.
The sides are believed to have established parameters for the deal.
It will complete an upgrade of the Vancouver blue line, which lost steady second- and third-pairing defencemen Chris Tanev and Troy Stecher in free agency, but have replaced them with first- and second-pairing players in Nate Schmidt and Hamonic.
This improvement should be enough to offset the free-agent loss of starting goalie Jacob Markstrom, although new Canuck Braden Holtby and incumbent prospect-backup Thatcher Demko still need to perform better in 2021 than they did last season.
Players underwent physical and medical testing Sunday ahead of Monday’s first training camp practice sessions at Rogers Arena. Meanwhile, the Canucks’ projected lineup looks strong enough to return to the Stanley Cup playoffs next spring in the extraordinary all-Canadian division that starts a 56-game schedule in 10 days.
“He’s an experienced player that we know can come in and help us,” Benning said Sunday of Hamonic during a videoconference with reporters. “I’m excited that he chose to come in and sign a PTO with us because I think he’s going to help with our back end.
“When we talked about bringing him to camp … one of the things that came up is we’re going to have some young players on defence this year and he can help with their development. He’s a veteran player, he plays with passion, he plays hard and we think he’s going to be a good fit with our group.”
Hamonic averaged 21:12 of ice time last season with the Calgary Flames, usually in matchup minutes, but was not re-signed after opting out of the Flames’ summer playoff bubble due to health concerns for his two young children.
Despite an impressive career and robust play in a defensive role, he became one of many NHL free agents squeezed by the coronavirus-caused recession within the league.
The Canucks’ six-man defence looks like this: Quinn Hughes-Schmidt; Alex Edler-Tyler Myers; Olli Juolevi-Hamonic.
Juolevi, the 22-year-old who made his NHL debut during the Canucks’ surprising playoff run, is one of the defencemen Benning hopes Hamonic will help mentor.
The Canucks get really young at the depth positions, where veteran Jordie Benn will be pushed by rookies Jalen Chatfield, Jack Rathbone and Brogan Rafferty.
“I think what (Hamonic) can provide is a lot of things that you need to win,” Green said. “Blocking shots, end of the game … penalty kill, hard defensive minutes that you need to win. It’s not always offence that wins; it’s two-way and defensive hockey as well, and I think he can bring that to our group.”
Hamonic, who is starting his seven-day NHL quarantine after flying to Vancouver from his Winnipeg-area home, isn’t the only Canuck awaiting a new contract.
As they sat a socially-distanced six feet apart for Sunday’s press conference, Benning and Green had yet to agree on a contract extension for the coach, who has overseen the development of the Canucks’ young stars and the steady improvement of the rebuilt team.
There is no doubt Green has earned a new contract and raise – from an entry-level NHL deal reportedly worth $1 million annually to something in the coaching mid-range of about $3 million – but like Hamonic, he is squeezed by the current financial situation.
Benning reiterated Sunday his intention to re-sign his head coach when there is more clarity about the NHL’s financial future, but having Green enter the season on an expiring contract – in a rabid Canadian market – is hardly ideal. Just wait until the Canucks lose consecutive games.
“It’s an exciting time to be a Canuck right now,” Green said. “I haven’t hidden that I want to be here long term. I think we’re just starting to scratch the surface of what we are as a team and where we’re going. With our conversations with Jim, I’m fine where we are right now and hopefully we can work things out and I can be here for awhile. It is no secret I love coaching here and I want to win here.”
Green is excited about the season, too, and the unprecedented North Division.
“I know there’s been a lot of uncertainty in everyone’s lives, but you know hockey brings back a little bit of normal for a lot of people,” Green said. “We’re kind of in uncharted waters here in an all-Canadian division. Everyone knows the passion for hockey in Canada. It’s going to be a very exciting season for players, us coaches, fans. But not just fans of the Canucks, but the fans of hockey throughout Canada. We probably won’t see this again and it’s going to be exciting. It’s going to be an amazing year, really.”
Notes: With Ferland still home in Manitoba, Benning said he was unaware of any medical issues involving players at camp… Besides Hamonic, Eastern European prospect Lukas Jasek and junior goalie Arturs Silovs still face quarantine restrictions… Benning said he doesn’t expect to reassign players to the taxi-squad or minor-league Utica Comets until the Canucks name their 23-man roster for the Jan. 13 season-opener in Edmonton.
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
