Sports

Expanded NHL playoff format expected to be approved – Toronto Sun

Published

4 years ago

May 23, 2020

It was two months ago when the NHLPA released a player poll ranking everything from the best forward and best defenceman to the league’s best trash-talker.

Carey Price was voted the best goalie. It wasn’t even close.

So when a Pittsburgh blog reported on Friday that the Penguins had voted “a hard no” for an expanded playoff format because it would mean having to face the Montreal Canadiens goalie in a best-of-five “play-in” series, it was believable.

It was even justified.

After all, it wasn’t just Price’s ability to steal a series that should have Penguins’ players worried. It was that the Canadiens, a team that had a less-than 1% chance of making the playoffs when the season was paused, were suddenly being gifted a free pass into the post-season.

Fair or not, it was believed that the NHLPA still received the required 18 votes for a 24-team post-season on Friday. And while Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Penguins player rep Kris Letang had voted “yes” (“It’s a great challenge for our team right off the bat,” he said) the decision to return with a 24-team playoff was not without its detractors. TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported that discussions on Thursday were “spirited, if not raucous.”

Expect more of the same when — or if — the Stanley Cup is awarded sometime in August or September.

This format is not perfect. It’s not even close to being perfect. But you’re not going to get perfection after sitting out for more than two months — and with possibly another month two months before meaningful hockey might be played. For the most part, the players accept that. And so, the NHL is one step closer to returning this summer.

“I think whatever route we go on, whichever format we agree on, is not going to be perfect,” St. Louis Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo told the FAN590 on Friday. “A perfect scenario, which will never happen, is we continue to play like we normally do. So there’s going to be some concessions from everybody.”

Indeed, in an ideal world the NHL would have completed the remaining games in the regular season and held a traditional 16-team playoff. But these are not normal times.

And so, a league that has been on hold since March 12 was forced to get creative.

Rather than exclude, the NHL expanded. The playoffs are not going to be like any post-season you’ve seen before.

Twenty-four teams will now have a chance at winning the Cup, with the top-four seeds in each conference receiving a bye to what is essentially the first round. The new wrinkle is that those teams will face the winners of a best-of-five play-in series that will include the teams that finished fifth through 12th in the respective conferences.

There had been talk of having 20 teams or even 22. Instead, the league went to 24, which coincidentally means Montreal and Chicago — two Original Six teams and two of the bigger markets in the league — are now included, regardless of whether they deserve it or not.

Maybe this will be exciting. Maybe it’s a first of many 24-team post-seasons. But you can probably guess what the reaction will be from traditionalists if a Canadiens team that trailed the Penguins by 15 points the last time hockey was played manages to sneak into the dance.

Imagine what they’ll say if the Habs go all the way and win the Cup?

Then again, if they were to pull off such a feat, you can’t really argue that they didn’t deserve it more than any team in the past. After all, winning a championship might now require winning 19 — rather than 16 — games. That doesn’t diminish the trophy. If anything, it enhances it.

“It’s difficult to win the Stanley Cup and you want to win it the right way,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby told TSN’s Darren Dreger earlier this month. “That’s four best four-out-of-seven series’. That’s how we know it.”

Of course, life as we know it is different because of the coronavirus. Hockey is different too.

It’s not just the post-season format. It’s everything.

We still don’t know the logistics for hosting the playoffs, but we do know that there won’t be any fans in the building. The talk right now is of having two hub cities — Las Vegas is reportedly in the front-running, along with Edmonton, Columbus, Nashville, Raleigh and St. Paul, Minnesota — host the games, with players being quarantined in their hotels for up to three months.

A three-week training camp will be held before then. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, borders will have be re-opened, players will have to be flown back to North America and health authorities will have to deem it safe for 23-man teams to be on the ice against each other.

In other words, we’re a long way from having a Stanley Cup awarded this year. So many more obstacles are lying in the path between now and then. But at least the NHL and the NHLPA has a plan for when they get the green light.

“I just want to play, and I can do whatever format they decide,” Winnipeg Jets forward Patrik Laine said during a Zoom call on Friday. “It’s still hockey. But I don’t mind the format. It’s not an issue for me.”

Hockey fans, who have spent the past two months watching re-runs of past Stanley Cup finals, probably feel the same way.

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Sports

Champions Trophy host Pakistan says it’s not been told India wants to play cricket games elsewhere

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.”

Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup but all India games were played in Sri Lanka under a hybrid model for the tournament. Only months later Pakistan did travel to India for the 50-over World Cup.

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.

___

AP cricket:

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Sports

Dabrowski, Routlife into WTA doubles final with win over Melichar-Martinez, Perez

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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Sports

Winger Tajon Buchanan back with Canada after recovering from broken leg

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

Inter Milan winger Tajon Buchanan, recovered from a broken leg suffered in training at this summer’s Copa America, is back in Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname.

The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., underwent surgery July 3 to repair a fractured tibia in Texas.

Canada, ranked 35th in the world, plays No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg of the aggregate series is four days later at Toronto’s BMO Field.

There is also a return for veteran winger Junior Hoilett, who last played for Canada in June in a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Marsch’s debut at the Canadian helm. The 34-year-old from Brampton, now with Scotland’s Hibernian, has 15 goals in 63 senior appearances for Canada.

Midfielder Ismael Kone, recovered from an ankle injury sustained on club duty with France’s Marseille, also returns. He missed Canada’s last three matches since the fourth-place Copa America loss to Uruguay in July.

But Canada will be without centre back Derek Cornelius, who exited Marseille’s win Sunday over Nantes on a stretcher after suffering an apparent rib injury.

The Canadian men will prepare for Suriname next week at a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“We are looking forward to getting the group together again with the mindset that there is a trophy on the line,” Marsch said in a statement. “We want to end 2024 the right way with two excellent performances against a competitive Suriname squad and continue building on our tremendous growth this past summer.”

The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the two semifinals scheduled for March 20 and the final and third-place playoff March 23, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Thirteen of the 23 players on the Canadian roster are 25 or younger, with 19-year-old defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, currently playing for England’s Crewe Alexandra on loan from Bristol City, the youngest.

Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies captains the side with Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller adding veteran support.

Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Theo Bair are joined in attack by Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi.

Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old midfielder with Croatia’s Hadjuk Split, continues in the squad after making his debut in the September friendly against Mexico.

Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.

“A good team,” Osorio said of Suriname. “These games are always tricky and they’re not easy at all … Suriname is a (former) Dutch colony and they’ll have Dutch players playing at high levels.”

“They won’t be someone we overlook at all,” added the Toronto FC captain, who has 81 Canada caps to his credit.

Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands.

Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.

The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the United States and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF Nations League.

Canada, No. 2 in the CONCACAF rankings, drew Suriname as the best-placed runner-up from League A play.

Canada lost to Jamaica in last year’s Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament and finished fifth in 2019-20.

Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.

Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Joel Waterman, Laryea and Miller and Osorio took part in a pre-camp this week in Toronto for North America-based players.

Canada Roster

Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal (MLS); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United FC (MLS).

Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel. Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Bristol City (England); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).

Midfielders: Ali Ahmed. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Inter Milan (Italy); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Junior Hoilett, Hibernian FC (Scotland); Ismael Kone, Olympique Marseille (France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).

Forwards: Theo Bair, AJ Auxerre (France); Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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