Sports

COVID-19 restrictions cut Toronto's Scotiabank Arena capacity in half – The Globe and Mail

Published

3 years ago

December 16, 2021

Toronto Maple Leafs fans applaud their team as they play against the Montreal Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena, on Oct. 13, 2021.Dan Hamilton/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters

Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment will reduce the seating capacity at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena by 50 per cent as of Saturday to comply with new COVID-19 restrictions issued Wednesday by the Ontario government.

MLSE, which owns the NHL’s Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors of the NBA, said it supports the province’s decision and will continue to work with government and public-health officials to try to help limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.

On Wednesday, Ontario announced its highest single-day case load in more than seven months. Of the 1,808 people newly infected more than half were fully vaccinated. Numbers are increasing dramatically due to a more contagious variant of COVID-19 called Omicron.

The move by MLSE means that crowds will be limited to 9,900 at Raptors games and 9,400 when the Maple Leafs are on home ice. The Raptors are at home on Saturday against Golden State and Monday against Orlando. The Maple Leafs do not play again at the arena until Dec. 23 when the St. Louis Blues pay a visit.

“Our ticketing team is working through the logistics of implementing this change and will provide follow-up details to all ticket-holders within 24 hours,” a statement provided by MLSE said.

An enhanced protocol called Operation Mask Up (or out) is also being implemented. It will require everyone in attendance to strictly adhere to the mask-wearing policy or risk ejection from the building. Since the beginning of their seasons, both teams have required guests to show proof that they are fully vaccinated or provide a recent negative COVID-19 test.

The 50-per-cent capacity rule would also apply to BMO Field, the home of the CFL’s Argonauts and Toronto FC soccer club, but their seasons are over.

The new provincial restrictions would have greatly reduced the attendance at Sunday’s Grey Cup game in Hamilton which attracted a standing-room crowd of more than 26,000 people.

NHL postpones more games as COVID-19 cases among players continue to rise

The Ottawa Senators also announced that they would comply with the 50-per-cent capacity limit at Canadian Tire Centre.

Tougher restrictions are being imposed as COVID-19 numbers increase throughout the sports world. The NHL has been especially hard hit, and as of Tuesday nine games had been postponed because of outbreaks among players. The league then announced Wednesday that Calgary’s Saturday home game against Columbus has been scrapped as well.

The Flames currently have 16 players, three coaches and seven other staff members on the NHL’s protocol list.

Cases exploded dramatically on Tuesday and the trend continued on Wednesday. The Nashville Predators announced that six players, their head coach and five other members of their travelling party are now in the COVID-19 protocol, the Florida Panthers added five players and some other staff members, the Boston Bruins added star centre Patrice Bergeron to it as well.

On Tuesday night, two Vancouver players were pulled during a game against Columbus after a second set of tests undertaken earlier in the day indicated that they have COVID. Edmonton’s head coach Dave Tippett learned late in the day that he also had tested positive and could not be behind the team’s bench. The Oilers then also entered a player into the protocol on Wednesday morning.

With coronavirus cases and postponements climbing, the Associated Press reported that the NHL is about to immediately introduce enhanced protocols that will restrict players to their hotels while on the road. Daily testing will also return for players and coaches as part of an agreement reached between the league and the NHL Players’ Association after two days of meetings and worsening conditions.

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Sports

Canada to face three-time champion Germany in Davis Cup quarterfinals

Published

24 mins ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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Sports

Canadian men climb two places to No. 38 in latest FIFA world rankings

Published

25 mins ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

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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Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform, formerly known as Twitter

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024

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Carolina Panthers’ early-season struggles not surprising to Proline players

Published

26 mins ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

It has been a difficult start to the NFL season for quarterback Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers.

Carolina has dropped its opening two games after Sunday’s 26-3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. And Young, the first player taken in the ’23 NFL draft, was 18-of-26 passing for 84 yards with an interception while being sacked twice.

As a result, veteran Andy Dalton will start Sunday when Carolina faces the Las Vegas Raiders (1-1).

According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., the Chargers’ win was the most accurately predicted moneyline selection by Proline bettors. A whopping 92 per cent of wagers were on Los Angeles beating Carolina with 92 per cent also picking the Chargers to cover -4.5.

In other action that went in favour of Proline bettors: Kansas City edged Cincinnati 26-25 (86 per cent correctly selected the Chiefs to win); Houston got past Chicago 19-13 (81 per cent); the New York Jets defeated Tennessee 24-17 (78 per cent); Pittsburgh beat Denver 13-6 (76 per cent), Washington beat the New York Giants 21-18 (73 per cent); and Seattle toppled New England 23-20 (62 per cent).

However, only five per cent of bettors had the Raiders upsetting Baltimore 26-23.

And there was one winner of Proline’s second week main NFL pool of $407,613.

In NFL futures bets after the second week of the season, the odds for offensive player of the year got shorter for running backs Breece Hall (Jets) and Bijan Robinson (Atlanta) and Detroit receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. But they got longer for running backs Kyren Williams (Rams), Christian McCaffrey (San Francisco) and Jonathan Taylor (Colts).

Quarterbacks Bo Nix (Denver), Jayden Daniels (Washington) and Caleb Williams (Chicago) all had their odds for offensive rookie of the year go up while they went down for running back Ray Davis (Buffalo), tight end Brock Bowers (Raiders) and receiver Malik Nabers (Giants).

Quarterbacks Patrick Mahones (Chiefs), Aaron Rodgers (Jets) and Jalen Hurts (Eagles) all had their odds for regular season MVP go up. But quarterbacks Jordan Love (Packers), Lamar Jackson (Baltimore) and Joe Burrow (Cincinnati) all saw theirs go down.

Kansas City, Philadelphia and Houston had their Super Bowl odds increase while Green Bay, Baltimore and Cincinnati all decreased.

Not surprising, the week’s top events were all NFL games. In order, they were; Buffalo-Miami, Chicago-Houston, Cincinnati-KC, Raiders-Ravens; and Saints-Cowboys.

A Proline retail player cashed in a $26,183 winner from a $10 bet on a 12-leg major-league baseball parlay. Another won $24,602 from a $10 wager on a 12-leg NFL parlay.

A third received $1,737 from a $3 bet on a six-leg NFL parlay.

A digital bettor earned $2,927 from a $25 bet on a five-leg NFL parlay while a second had a $704.35 return from a $1 wager on a seven-leg NFL parlay.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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