With just two days to go before the start of the NHL season, we’re beginning to get a good look at what the Vancouver Canucks lineup will look like for their first game Wednesday in Edmonton.
The Canucks placed six players on waivers today, including Loui Eriksson and Sven Baertschi. They also held a practice with 24 players, meaning that not everyone remaining in training camp got to participate.
That’s not going to be uncommon this season, as teams are allowed a taxi squad of players to be kept in reserve, due to the pandemic. So while a player like Eriksson is unlikely to be on the 23-man roster, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s Utica-bound.
With that said, head coach Travis Green has been consistent with his lines throughout training camp, opting to grow familiarity with his group rather than experiment with new combinations.
The Canucks’ four lines and three defence pairings appear set, as do their power play and penalty killing units.
Probable opening night lineup
Today’s practice was the first for newcomer Travis Hamonic, who is on a pro tryout contract, with an NHL deal likely waiting for him as the Canucks optimize their salary cap situation.
Rookie Nils Hoglander has been stapled to Bo Horvat and Tanner Pearson throughout camp, so don’t expect that to change either.
And after a rotating cast of partners throughout camp, Quinn Hughes was paired with Hamonic today, backing up speculation that was the plan all along.
“He’s played in the league a long time and I’ve watched him for a while… so I kind of know a little bit about his game,” Hughes said of his new partner after practice. “I’m excited to play with him.”
Hamonic opted out of the NHL’s return to play last summer, so he hasn’t suited up for an NHL game since February 8. He has also spent the last seven days in quarantine after arriving to Vancouver from Winnipeg. It might take time to get him up to speed, but time is not a luxury for any team right now.
The last three spots
Who the extras might be on the 23-man roster is less clear.
Right now, it appears that two forwards and four defencemen are battling for the three remaining spots. Forwards Zack MacEwen and Marc Michaelis both practised with the main group today, as did defencemen Jack Rathbone and Jalen Chatfield. Jordie Benn was the most noticeable absence at practice, with Green refusing to provide a reason why. He and fellow blueliner Brogan Rafferty were with Group A on Friday.
Micheal Ferland (concussion) will start the season on long-term injury reserve (LTIR), while Jayce Hawryluk appears to be banged up after he was injured in Saturday’s scrimmage.
Special teams
We got a look at the Canucks’ power play and penalty killing units today.
The first unit power play is unchanged from most of last season. Nate Schmidt will quarterback the second unit, with Hoglander also joining the group.
With Eriksson on waivers, it appears Antoine Roussel will get time on the penalty kill. Hamonic was paired with Edler, while Olli Juolevi was lined up next to Tyler Myers.
There is a chance that some players will play both the power play and penalty kill regularly, with Schmidt an obvious candidate.
Power play
Miller-Horvat-Boeser Hughes-Pettersson
Pearson-Gaudette-Hoglander Schmidt-Virtanen
Penalty kill
Beagle-Motte Edler-Hamonic
Sutter-Roussel Juolevi-Myers
Salary cap gymnastics
Don’t be surprised if the Canucks make some counterintuitive moves to their roster for salary cap purposes.
The Athletic’s Thomas Drance and CapFriendlyexplain it well in this thread:
Basically what I modeled in this thread, with Chatfield cast as the $700k league minimum player.
This #Canucks hockey operations group has taken a lot of flack over cap allocation, lots of it fair, but it should be noted that this an elegant solution to a complicated problem: https://t.co/q3O3tKO2XV
LONDON – Canada will meet three-time champion Germany in the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Malaga, Spain this November.
Canada secured a berth in the quarterfinals — also called The Final 8 Knockout Stage — with a 2-1 win over Britain last weekend in Manchester, England.
World No. 21 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal anchored a five-player squad that included Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., Gabriel Diallo of Montreal, Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., and Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C.
The eight-team draw for the quarterfinals was completed Thursday at International Tennis Federation headquarters.
Defending champion Italy will play Argentina, the United States will meet Australia and Spain will take on the Netherlands. Schedule specifics have yet to be released but the Final 8 will be played Nov. 19-24.
Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz were unbeaten in doubles play last week to help Germany reach the quarterfinals. The country’s top singles player — second-ranked Alex Zverev — did not play.
The Canadians defeated Germany in the quarterfinals en route to their lone Davis Cup title in 2022. Germany won titles in 1988, ’89 and ’93.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Canada, fuelled by a 2-1 win over the U.S. and scoreless draw with Mexico, has jumped two places to No. 38 in the FIFA men’s world rankings released Thursday.
Of the top six CONCACAF teams, Canada was the only one to move up. Mexico was unchanged at No. 17 while the U.S. and Panama each fell two rungs to No. 18 and 37, respectively
Costa Rica slipped one spot to No. 50 and Jamaica two places to No. 61.
It marks Canada’s highest ranking under coach Jesse Marsch, who was hired in mid-May when the Canadians were ranked 50th. Since then, the team has climbed to No. 49, 48, 40 and now 38.
Canada has been as high as No. 33 in the men’s ranking, achieved in February 2022 under John Herdman with Canada, named the “Most Improved Side” in 2021 by FIFA, turning heads with an unbeaten run in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.
The new rankings encompass 184 internationals involving teams from all six confederations including 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, Oceania and South America.
The top 10 was unchanged with Argentina ahead of France, Spain, England, Brazil, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Colombia and Italy. But the gap at the top is closing with Argentina losing 2-1 away to Colombia and 3-1 at home to Italy.
Teams 10 through 15 were also unchanged. But there was movement after that in the form of Japan (, up two), Iran (No. 19, up one) and Denmark (No. 20, up one). Egypt (No. 31), Ivory Coast (No. 33), Tunisia (No. 36) and Algeria (No. 41) all jumped five places while Greece (No. 48) climbed six spots.
The biggest movers were Brunei Darussalam (No. 183) and Samoa (No. 185), who vaulted seven spots on the back of two wins apiece.
Qatar suffered the biggest drop, tumbling 10 places to No. 44.
San Marino remains at the bottom of the rankings in 210th place despite recording its first victory in more than 20 years, San Marino defeated Liechtenstein 1-0 on Sept. 5, ending a 140-game winless run since a 1-0 decision over the same opponent in April 2004.
Liechtenstein fell four places to No. 203.
Canada’s next match is an Oct. 15 friendly against Panama at Toronto’s BMO Field. The next men’s ranking will be released Oct. 24.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024
HOUSTON (AP) — Brian White scored in the second half to rally the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 1-1 draw with the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night.
Houston (12-9-8) took a 1-0 lead into halftime after Ezequiel Ponce scored on a penalty kick in the seventh minute of stoppage time. Ponce’s third goal this season came after Amine Bassi drew a foul on Whitecaps midfielder Pedro Vite following a video review. It was Ponce’s sixth career appearance, all starts.
Vancouver (13-8-7) scored the equalizer in the 73rd minute when White, who entered in the 60th, used assists from Fafá Picault and Ryan Gauld to find the net for the 13th time this season. Picault’s assist was his fifth, matching his career high for a single season. Gauld’s assist gives him a career-best 13 on the season.
Yohei Takaoka, who had clean sheets in his last three starts, finished with one save in goal for the Whitecaps.
Steve Clark saved three shots for the Dynamo, who remain one point behind Vancouver in the Western Conference standings.
Houston, which was coming off a 4-1 victory over Real Salt Lake, has allowed just 33 goals this season.
Vancouver — 6-2-2 in its last 10 matches overall — leads the all-time series 10-9-6.
The Whitecaps remain on the road to play the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday. The Dynamo travel to play Austin FC on Saturday.
