Sharing any small space can be difficult. Mixing in ego, pride and ambition can create even more challenges.
With the NHL preparing to start an unprecedented season, goaltenders Thatcher Demko and Braden Holtby seem to have found harmony knowing they’ll be sharing the Vancouver Canucks’ crease.
“Holts and I have hit it off really well,” Demko said during a training camp interview. “He’s been a great guy to get to know, really down to earth, really hard working. He’s easy to talk too, chat about things, share things about different things we are working on.”
Holtby, signed as a free agent after 10 years with the Washington Capitals, arrived in Vancouver early to spend time getting to know Demko.
“We’ve been able to do some work together and get to know each other,” said the former Vezina Trophy winner. “I think it’s going to work out really well. He has that work ethic that is needed for a team to have success [and] for goalies to have success.”
Rob Pizzo catches you up on the significant changes between the pipes this season. 2:43
The Canucks found themselves in the market for a goaltender when free agent Jacob Markstrom bolted to the rival Calgary Flames after receiving a six-year, $36-million US offer.
The Canucks signed Holtby to a two-year, $8.6-million contract.
In every work environment some people might not necessarily like each other, but they can still remain productive.
Demko said a hockey dressing room is no different. But having a positive relationship with the other goaltender makes everyone’s life much easier.
“It’s something where it takes a little bit of an edge off you if you know you have a little bit of support from your goalie partners,” Demko said. “If guys are butting heads, it’s something that just nags at you.
“When you can support one another it’s just going to elevate each other’s play [and] elevate the team’s play. It’s been good so far with Braden.”
WATCH | CBC Sports’ Rob Pizzo ranks NHL’s all-Canadian division:
For the first time, all 7 Canadian teams will be in one division. Rob Pizzo predicts which four will make the playoffs. 5:47
The Canucks open their season Wednesday in Edmonton with back-to-back games against the Oilers. They will play 56 games in 116 days in a very competitive seven-team Canadian division.
Plenty of parts will have to synchronize for the Canucks to make the playoffs, but the team is “in a good spot” when it comes to goaltenders, said head coach Travis Green.
“We have a young goalie we hope is still improving [who] played tremulously in the playoffs,” he said about Demko. “We [also] have a guy that has already done a lot in the league and has a lot of juice left.”
Experience and upside
Holtby, 31, and Demko, 25, bring slightly different styles. The six-foot-two, 211-pound Holtby is a flow and feel type of goalie. The six-foot-4, 192-pound Demko is more technical.
Both come into the year with something to prove.
Demko has been groomed to be a starter since the Canucks picked him 36th overall in the 2014 draft. In his first full season in the NHL last year, the San Diego, Calif., native won 13 of the 25 games he started with a 3.06 goals against average and a .905 save percentage.
Demko shone in the playoffs. When Markstrom was sidelined by an injury, he stopped 128 of 130 shots over three games before the Canucks lost Game 7 of the second round to the Vegas Golden Knights.
“You look at what [Demko] did in the playoffs, even his progression over the last few years, we’ve expected him to be knocking on the door to be a starting goalie for years,” Green said.
WATCH | Bettman says league’s losses will start in billion dollar range:
During a video media availability on Monday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said “it would be cheaper for us to shut the doors and not play” this season. 2:54
Holtby wants to erase the memory of a sub-par season last year when he had a 25-14-6 record, a 3.11 GAA and .897 save percentage.
“Last year was a bit of a struggle at times,” the Lloydminster, Sask., native said in an interview earlier this year. “Things didn’t go as planned.”
Holtby brings an impressive track record.
He helped lead the Capitals to the 2018 Stanley Cup championship. A five-time all-star, he led the league in 2015 in shots faced (2,044) saves (1,887), games played (73) and was second in wins (41). He was named the NHL’s top goaltender in 2016 after tying Martin Brodeur’s record with 48 victories.
Goaltending will be important when Vancouver opens the season with 11 games in 18 days, including three sets of back-to-backs.
“It’s going to be a sprint right to the end of the season,” Green said.
“We are fortunate we have two guys that we are going to have faith in going into the net. This season you are going to have to play your two-goalie rotation more than you have in the past with how many games there are.”
Green said performance will determine which goaltender plays more games.
“To have two guys like that to start training camp is exciting for us,” he said. “I’m not going to sit here and say I already know who is going to play how many games. Let’s see where they are on the ice.”
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
.jpg)
