Coronato sparks Flames in 6-3 road win over Oilers

CALGARY – Looking to build on a solid rookie campaign, Connor Zary is off to a terrific start.

Zary scored twice and added an assist on Monday to lead the Calgary Flames to a 6-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in part of a split-squad NHL pre-season doubleheader.

“You’ve got to feed off what you did in the summer and how much work you put in there and that gives you the confidence to come in here to camp, to pre-season, into the season, and to really be confident in your abilities and the way you play,” said Zary, who turns 23 on Wednesday.

Zary scored 14 goals and had 34 points in 63 games last season in finishing eighth in voting for the Calder Memorial Trophy, which goes to the NHL’s best rookie.

Calgary’s first-round pick in 2020, Zary has opened training camp playing left wing on a line with captain Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman.

“You try to find a little bit of a combination like (Andrew Mangiapane) had with those two guys, and Connor has some of the same characteristics,” explained Flames coach Ryan Huska. “He’s maybe not quite the dog on a bone that (Mangiapane) was for that line to have so much chemistry, but he does such a good job of holding onto pucks and creating.”

While Backlund and Coleman have played together for years, this is Zary’s first stint alongside the two veterans and the signs of chemistry were evident in the second period when the Flames erupted for four goals to blow open a game that was tied 1-1 after 20 minutes.

Zary gave the home side the lead for good at 5:14 when he went to the net and deflected Backlund’s shot past Olivier Rodrigue.

After Zary displayed a goal-scorer’s hands firing a shot just inside the goalpost on a perfectly executed drag-and-shoot move on the power play at 9:12, his line went back to work.

At 14:20, Backlund set up Zary again on a cross-ice pass and while Rodrigue got across to make a terrific pad stop, Miromanov was right there to shovel in the rebound and make it 4-1.

“They just play such a well oriented, detailed game and they’ve been two guys who’ve been tops at playing a two-way game in the league for a long time,” said Zary. “(Backlund) is a captain and (Coleman) has won cups, and when you got guys like that and you’re playing beside those guys, you want to do your part and feed off them and learn from them.”

With the team having undergone major changes from a year ago with several veterans gone, Zary will be counted on to play a bigger role this season.

“I’d like to see him be a guy that’s responsible defensively like he’s learned to be,” said Huska. “Playing on that line, it’s something he’s going to have to do because we know that line plays against top players, but it also makes them more of a threat.”

Yegor Sharangovich with a pair of goals, Nazem Kadri and Daniil Miromanov, also scored for Calgary.

Mike Hoffman scored for Edmonton.

Dan Vladar got the start in goal for Calgary and stopped 18 of 19 shots before giving way to Waltteri Ignatjew for the third period.

At the other end, Rodrigue stopped 20 of 25 shots in his 40 minutes of action before he was replaced by Nathaniel Day.

With Jacob Markstrom traded to New Jersey, Vladar is battling Dustin Wolf for the Flames’ No. 1 goaltender job. He’s now doing so pain-free after having hip surgery last March.

“Obviously, at the beginning, I didn’t play for six-and-a-half months, so I was probably more nervous than before my first NHL game, but I think my body felt good,” said Vladar.

Among his stops was a blocker save on Viktor Arvidsson on a second-period breakaway.

“After the first few saves that he made, he settled in, and he made some big saves for us tonight,” said Huska. “He looked like the Dan Vladar of old, which was nice.”

VYING FOR A SPOT

Hoffman, in Edmonton’s camp on a professional tryout, played alongside Lane Pederson and Matt Savoie. He also logged 5:08 of power-play ice time. The 34-year-old has played 745 career NHL games with five teams after starting his career with the Ottawa Senators. He played last season in San Jose where he scored 10 goals and had 23 points in 66 games.

UP NEXT

Oilers: Visit the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday.

Flames: Visit the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2024.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Rasmus Dahlin was so determined to not spend another lengthy offseason working out alone in his native Sweden that the Buffalo defenseman invited his teammates to attend an informal weeklong minicamp and bonding session near the Swiss Alps in July.

“Usually, I never see anyone during the summer,” Dahlin recalled “So it was good to meet my teammates when it’s no pressure, no games involved. Just hang out.”

They skated and ate together. Boated on Lake Geneva. And they golfed — poorly, goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen joked.

Most importantly, the dozen or so Sabres in attendance — many of them Europeans, with defensemen Owen Power and Mattias Samuelsson traveling from North America — enjoyed an opportunity to connect amid the wondrous scenery of Lausanne without the distractions that arise once the season opens.

“You really got to know the real person, not the in-season person, which is different,” Dahlin said.

Of significance, the get-together represented the latest step in Dahlin’s evolution as the Sabres’ leader, coupled with the seventh-year player’s urgency to end what’s become an NHL-record 13-year playoff drought.

“He took charge right away,” forward JJ Peterka said of how Dahlin booked the ice, gym, hotel rooms and organized post-practice outings. “I think Ras really took the next step and took the whole team under his wing.”

Captain consideration

Buffalo enters the season planning to name a new captain after the title was left vacant once Kyle Okposo was traded to Florida in March.

Dahlin, the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft and now the longest-tenured member of the roster, is considered the favorite to fill the role, though there’s no timetable for when the announcement will be made.

The Sabres opened training camp under a tight schedule. They played two preseason games in Buffalo before traveling to Europe, where they will play an exhibition game against German pro team Red Bull in Munich on Friday. They then head to the Czech Republic to open the season playing two games against New Jersey in Prague on Oct. 4-5.

Dahlin has not addressed reporters since camp opened Wednesday, when he sustained a mid-body injury early into the first practice. The injury is considered minor, and he’s resumed skating.

What’s not in question is Dahlin’s growing influence.

“For Ras to be able to do that, show how big of a leader he is, and he’s not doing it for show, he’s doing it because he wants to help guys,” said Alex Tuch, who was unable to partake in Dahlin’s camp due to family reasons. “It’s easy to follow a guy like that with so much compete and battle in him. It’s incredible. It make everyone’s else’s life around him easier.”

Dahlin’s ascension

Dahlin has gone from being a shy 18-year-old rookie, who was still learning English and adapting to the rugged NHL game, to becoming a vocal presence and star playmaker. He’s topped 50 points in each of his past three seasons, and last year had a team-leading 39 assists while becoming Buffalo’s second defenseman to score 20 goals, and first since Phil Housley in 1989-90.

His biggest disappointment remains Buffalo’s inability to make the playoffs, with the Sabres making another coaching change with Lindy Ruff replacing Don Granato.

“We need a better focus in practice. We need to push ourself,” Dahlin said in April following Granato’s firing. “I think my role moving forward is to lead by example. … So we need some good meetings during the summer, and figure out what we have to do.”

He backed up his words with action at a camp teammates described Dahlin as playing a focal role.

“He was pretty hard on me in that camp getting my one-timer going,” said Peterka, noting Dahlin would spend time feeding him passes. “It was a no-brainer for both of us to work on that. I feel it was like pushing each other.”

Luukkonen said the turnout reflects well on Dahlin and on how tight-knit the group has become.

“He wants to set the bar high by example by how he plays, how he practices. And that’s kind of the way he pushes other guys, too,” the goalie said. “It shows how the younger guys are ready to take the next step, and they want to take the step to be leaders on the team and make sure that we have the best chance to make it into the playoffs.”

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AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno and AP freelance writer W.G. Ramirez contributed to this report.

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AP NHL:

Jim Mullin is stepping away from Football Canada to concentrate on his post with the International Federation of American Football (IFAF).

Mullin confirmed Monday that after six years as Football Canada’s president, he is resigning from the post. His decision came hours before the national governing body’s annual general meeting.

“I believe now I can leave the organization in the capable hands of executive director Kevin McDonald, board chairperson Peter Baxter and the staff,” said Mullin. “I wouldn’t have left unless the organization’s future had leaders who could steward it to a new professional function.

“We’re taking an organization from the kitchen table to the boardroom table.”

Mullin will remain as IFAF’s general secretary.

McDonald was named Football Canada’s full-time executive director in June, while Baxter became the organization’s chairperson in August.

Before joining Football Canada, McDonald spent nearly 20 years with the CFL in various positions, including its vice-president of football operations.

“Someone who has a lot of experience as a leader in the CFL is who I want on the ground operating the organization on a day-to-day basis,” Mullin said of McDonald. “I think he can take it to where it needs to be as one of the (national sports organizations) and as an Olympic NSO that stand with the best of them.”

Baxter served as Wilfrid Laurier University’s director of athletics and recreation for over 23 years before retiring in 2022.

He’ll be Football Canada’s president until bylaws are updated in October.

“Peter is someone with tremendous integrity who understands the challenges of governance in this space,” Mullin said. “He’ll be able to respond to the new landscapes that exist in sports in Canada with its various landmines and be able to diffuse them.”

Mullin’s decision comes three months after Canada captured a third straight and fourth overall gold medal at the IFAF world junior football championship in Edmonton. It was the first tournament staged in six years due to the global pandemic.

There were plenty of challenges in getting the event back on the field. Football Canada also had to add a second team to replace a country that withdrew.

“Quite frankly, many nations were skittish about jumping back into international tackle competition,” Mullin said. “It takes money, it takes extraordinary planning and it helps when you have partners like (executive director) Tim Enger and Football Alberta to put all of that planning into it.”

The organization navigated a coaching change ahead of the tournament, promoting Warren Craney to head coach of Canada 1. He replaced Steve Sumarah, who led the program to gold in 2018.

“There were many changes we needed to put through from a Football Canada side and identifying Warren Craney to take over turned out to be the right choice,” Mullin said. “I get to leave my final year with a world championship, which is pretty nice.”

Mullin spent eight years with Football Canada, two on its board and six as president. He was first elected to the position in 2019 before being voted in for a second term in 2022.

Mullin is the fourth person to serve multiple stints as president in Football Canada’s 142-year history. A big part of the job was trying to establish consensus on national matters within an organization that consists of multiple provincial bodies.

During his time with Football Canada and IFAF, Mullin also worked to get flag football into the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The sport’s inclusion is big for football globally, he said.

Mullin also helped Football Canada modernize its operation, comply with the Canadian Sports Governance Code, establish a reserve fund and develop Indigenous football in the country.

“Something I did coming out of the gate when I was voted in was creating a larger tent for football in Canada,” he said. “It wasn’t just about the (provincial sports organizations), it was about the sport in general so bringing in a path for associate members was extremely important.

“Working with Indigenous leaders, over quite frankly a long period of time, to be there to help them get Indigenous Football Canada started and off the ground was very rewarding. Working with (president/CEO) Kevin Hart and then seeing him and his people deliver that and create something I believe that’s sustainable over the long-term is another culture change within the sport.”

However, Mullin admits he’ll leave Football Canada with a regret.

“The core regret is we had to be reactive during the pandemic and that really took us away from our plan,” he said. “At the same time, I wish the reforms we brought forward in the last 18 months were brought along a lot sooner because we’d be ahead on things.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2024.