News and notes from the first day of Vancouver Canucks training camp.
WHISTLER — They didn’t score in the scrimmage, but the line of of Elias Pettersson centring new Russian wingers Andrey Kuzmenko and Ilya Mikheyev was very effective in the mid-day scrimmage on the first day of Vancouver Canucks training camp.
Mikheyev’s speed is obvious, while Kuzmenko’s smart play in close quarters stands a good chance of creating even more space for Pettersson in which to work.
“He’s so smart a guy, and I hope we can use our speed,” Mikheyev said of skating with Pettersson.
“We just helped each other and then today we started the work. Super great,” he said of learning his new team’s systems of play.
Will he and Kuzmenko make Pettersson learn Russian?
“Probably,” he said, with a big smile. “We’ll try, but maybe we need Swedish.”
Kuzmenko managed well through his first English-language media session. He spoke alongside Mikheyev, who served as translator from time to time.
If they prove to be a trio when the season starts, he thinks they’ll gel quickly.
“Very smart player with me and Ilya. And Pettersson is very good attack forward.”
The NHL game may prove to be a bit quicker than what he was used to in the KHL, but he’s not worried, Kuzmenko said.
“I think hockey is a very simple game,” he said. “Adaptation with me is every day, every game is better, better, better, better.”
He also said he was excited to play on the smaller NHL ice surface. He thought it would suit his instinct to play in traffic and how quickly you’re at the net. On the bigger ice of the KHL, winning a puck battle doesn’t open up an immediate scoring chance.
“I like it small because when you win one on one in corner, you go to shoot,” he said.
Mikheyev is a new teammate for Kuzmenko as well. Mikheyev said he remembered skating a few shifts with Kuzmenko for the Russian national team several years ago.
“I don’t remember,” Kuzmenko said, drawing laughs, as a counter.
Pettersson said he enjoyed skating with the Russians, and said one of his good friends back home in Sweden is Russian, so he knows some of the language.
“Only the bad words,” he joked.
He believed they have big potential as a line.
“Mikheyev’s super fast. He opens up space for us and Kuzmenko, maybe we’re kind of similar in the way we play,” Pettersson said.
Maybe the perfect combination of talents? “That’s what I’ve been thinking about. I had a talk with coaches and they want to try it out. And I’m all up for it,” he added.
Pettersson was caught defensively in the scrimmage, with Vincent Arseneau opening the scoring for the opposing team.
“Defence, you can learn. I think offence it’s like, it just happens. I mean, all three of us are skilled. Today, I think on the first goal I was a little too excited for a breakaway. But it’s just small details like that you can learn and I’m not too worried about that. I know what we’re capable of.”
In the scrimmage, Cole Shepard also scored for Group C, which added an empty netter to beat Pettersson’s Group B 3-0.
Kuzmenko said he was loving Vancouver so far. He’s a big fan of the outdoors. And he’s living in the Aquilini-owned rental tower next to Rogers Arena and has already caught a number of concerts.
“The mountains, the oceans, the forest, I like,” he said.
He’s also been to a Whitecaps game.
“Why not? It’s only 100 metres to soccer stadium.”
The first group on the ice worked briskly through a series of drills.
A new year, a fresh vibe.
And a new coach who is noted for colourful on-ice feedback.
Tanner Pearson said even a decade into his professional career, the beginning of a new season remains exciting.
“You always have butterflies, right? Start of a new season. You know, wide awake at six o’clock this morning. And you get down here, everyone’s kind of the same way,” he said.
Brock Boeser said this year is a fresh start mentally. Last year was a real drain. His father’s failing health weighed on him and the strain his father’s failing health had on his mother was doubly difficult.
“With my dad’s passing, there’s just not as much to worry about. So I can really focus on hockey,” he said.
And yes, he knows 30 goals is the target.
“This is the year,” he said.
While Boeser skated on a line with J.T. Miller and Tanner Pearson, Bo Horvat centred Vasily Podkolzin and Connor Garland. That’s three lines with plenty of potential to score.
The apparent fourth line, at least for now, features two other summer signings: Dakota Joshua and Curtis Lazar joining Jason Dickinson.
That left Nils Höglander as the early man left out. The little Swede, who is coming off groin surgery, was his usual peppery self in the scrimmage, but was skating with two Swedes who are almost certainly destined for AHL Abbotsford in Nils Åman and Linus Karlsson.
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NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green and Canadian slugger Tyler O’Neill of the Boston Red Sox were named finalists for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association’s American League comeback player award on Monday.
Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet was the other nominee.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named player of the year finalists.
The award winners, selected via player voting, will be named Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series.
Green, who missed most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a high-leverage option for the Blue Jays this past season and filled in at closer over the second half of the campaign.
The right-hander converted his first 16 save opportunities and finished the year with a 4-6 record, 17 saves and a 3.21 earned-run average over 53 appearances.
O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, B.C., also endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in ’22 and ’23.
After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O’Neill set an MLB record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight Opening Day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
NEW YORK – Florida Panthers centre Sam Reinhart was named NHL first star of the week on Monday after leading all players with nine points over four games last week.
Reinhart had four goals, five assists and a plus-seven rating to help the Stanley Cup champions post a 3-0-1 record on the week and move into first place in the Atlantic Division.
New York Rangers left-winger Artemi Panarin took the second star and Minnesota Wild goaltenderFilip Gustavsson was the third star.
Panarin had eight points (4-4) over three games.
Gustavsson became the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal and had a 1.00 goals-against average and .962 save percentage over a pair of victories.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson won’t finish the season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the second straight year.
He’s injured again, and the Browns have new problems.
Watson ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, collapsing as he began to run and leading some Browns fans to cheer while the divisive QB laid on the ground writhing in pain.
The team feared Watson’s year was over and tests done Monday confirmed the rupture. The Browns said Watson will have surgery and miss the rest of the season but “a full recovery is expected.”
Watson was injured on a noncontact play in the second quarter of Cleveland’s 21-14 loss to the Bengals and carted off the field in tears.
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year after just six starts.
The 29-year-old went down Sunday without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson crumpled to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
He immediately put his hands on his helmet, clearly aware of the severity of an injury similar to the one Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained last year.
As he was being assisted by the team’s medical staff and backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson grabbed a ball to begin warming up, there was some derisive cheers and boos from the stands in Huntington Bank Field.
Cleveland fans have been split over Watson, who has been accused of being sexually inappropriate with women.
The reaction didn’t sit well with several Watson’s teammates, including star end Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who was appalled by the fans’ behavior.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. To be season-altering, career-altering injury,” Garrett said. “Man’s not perfect. He doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones for my glass house.
“Ultimately everyone’s human and they’re disappointed just like we are, but we have to be better than that as people. There’s levels to this. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and you don’t boo anybody being injured and you don’t celebrate anyone’s downfall.”
Backup quarterback Jameis Winston also admonished the uncomfortable celebration.
“I am very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him for the past four years, and he put his body and life on the line for this city every single day,” he said. “The way I was raised, I will never pull on a man when he’s down, but I will be the person to lift him up.
“I know you love this game. When I first got here, I knew these were some amazing fans, but Deshaun was treated badly and now he has to overcome another obstacle. So I’m going to support him, I’m going to lift him up and I’m going to be there for him.”
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s tumultuous time with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks and five overall to Houston in 2022 to get him, with owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam approving the team giving Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year $230 million contract.
With a solid roster, the Browns were desperate to find a QB who could help them compete against the top AFC teams.
The Browns had moved on from Baker Mayfield despite drafting him No. 1 overall in 2018 and making the playoffs two seasons later.
But Watson has not played up to expectations — fans have been pushing for him to be benched this season — and Cleveland’s move to get him has been labeled an abject failure with the team still on the hook to pay him $46 million in each of the next two seasons.
Watson’s arrival in Cleveland also came amid accusations by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions while he played for the Texans. Two grand juries declined to indict him and he has settled civil lawsuits in all but one of the cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games and fined $5 million for violating the league’s personal conduct policy before he took his first snap with the Browns. The long layoff — he sat out the 2021 season in a contract dispute — led to struggles once he got on the field, and Watson made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
Cleveland signed veteran Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter and led the Browns to the playoffs.
Before Watson got hurt this year, he didn’t play much better. He was one of the league’s lowest-rated passers for a Cleveland team that hasn’t scored 20 points in a game and is back in search of a franchise QB.
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