I hope everyone had an excellent Christmas break but it’s time to get back to work. Tonight, the Edmonton Oilers take on the Calgary Flames for the first of five meetings on the season as both teams will look to grab two huge points in a divisional showdown.
Isn’t it weird that we’re already at the end of December and this is the first time the Oilers and Flames have played each other? It’s kind of a strange scheduling quirk, right? Though, because of the spacing, these two teams will now meet up four times in the next month and change, which will surely make for some interesting storylines as we move forward and both squads look to maintain pace in the Western Conference. For the Oilers, and this goes without saying, they really need to work on righting the ship after a lacklustre (I’m being polite) month of December that saw them duff away their hot start and winning tonight’s game would be a massive step in the right direction. With this contest marking the midway point of the season, I believe we’re getting closer to a time where every game is a must-win for our boys as every two points will only be tougher to get from here. To put it another way, we can’t have another stretch of games as we’ve seen over the past month or else we’ll surely be talking about another playoff-less spring.
After heading into the Christmas break with a disappointing loss to Vancouver, the Oilers need to make sure that they come up with a better effort tonight against the Flames because the wheels are falling off around here and it’s starting to give us all a dose of PTSD. Not only do they need the big boys to get back to the heater they were on earlier in the season, but they also need to do a much better job of tidying things up in their own end. At some point, it’s like they’ve lost their attention to detail and they’re really struggling to get it back. Frankly, I can’t think of a better time to get back on track than tonight against the Flames in the first Battle of Alberta of the season, and if the boys play the way they can (think October/November) then we should be in line for a good time. That said, we haven’t seen the October/November flavour of the Oilers very often lately, and they actually seem to be getting progressively looser in their own end which is causing them to bleed goals en masse. Can they buck the trend? Dare to dream.
I don’t know about you guys, but I can’t help but feel that this is a game that the Oilers have to have as they’ve won only four of their last 12 outings and find themselves losing ground fast. As you’ll see in the numbers section below, Edmonton’s goal differential has been moving in the wrong direction over the past month and they haven’t been able to find a way to plug the hole in the dam.
Was anyone else a little bit surprised to see Mikko Koskinen getting the start tonight? I mean, I’m not at all complaining, it’s certainly the right decision since he’s been the better of the two, but I was expecting to see Mike Smith get the chance to go up against his former team.
Considering historical Battles fought between Dec. 23 and Dec. 27, the Flames’ record against the Oilers is a feeble 5-9-2. Instead of overtime losses, the third slot actually represents ties which transpired in the first two Christmas-abutting Battles; Boxing Day 1982 spurred a 4-4 stalemate highlighted by a hat-trick from Lanny MacDonald and two goals from Oilers’ legend Mark Messier, and Dec. 23, 1983 went undecided as a 5-5 draw.
Visions of sugarplums seem to plague the Flames in contests just before Christmas, where their winning percentage is only 33.3%. One could also infer that turkey leftovers are a more effective pre-game meal for the Oilers than the Flames, as Edmonton has won 70% of Battles of Alberta played immediately after the holiday.
Tradition has favoured the Flames in recent years, however, as the red sweaters snagged three victories in the last four matchups from 2003, 2013, 2014, and 2015 respectively. This auspicious upswing is one of many patterns underlying these festive editions of the fiery feud.
Photoshop: Tom Kostiuk
Game Day Prediction: Right when we think our boys are going to break our heart again, they suck us back in with a big 3-2 win.
Obvious Game Day Prediction: Both Milan Lucic and Tobias Rieder score against the Oilers because why wouldn’t they, right? If the Oilers were running an on-ice charity it would probably be called ‘Goals for Plugs.’
Not-So-Obvious Game Day Prediction: The Oilers’ video team is somehow able to put together a highlight pack for a Lucic tribute video.
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Montreal police say they’ve arrested a man in connection with the theft of tens of thousands of dollars in golf merchandise tied to the Presidents Cup PGA Tour being held this week in the city.
Police say that on Sept. 20 and Sept. 21 a person entered a downtown Montreal hotel and stole numerous official items and clothing “from a major golf tournament.”
The tournament is taking place at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in the city’s L’Île-Bizard–Ste-Geneviève’s borough through Sunday.
Police say a 46-year-old man was arrested in downtown Montreal on Thursday and was arraigned Friday on a number of charges including theft.
The accused remains detained until his next court appearance.
Police say the investigation is ongoing to locate the stolen golf items and apparel, adding that anyone with information is invited to come forward.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2024.
TORONTO – The Toronto Raptors are expected to confirm today that Vince Carter’s No. 15 will be the first number to be retired by the NBA franchise.
Carter will attend an MLSE Foundation event this afternoon at the renovated Vince Carter Court at a park in the city’s northwest end.
Raptors president and vice-chairman Masai Ujiri will also be on hand along with some current players and city officials.
Reports this week said that Canada’s lone NBA team would honour Carter on Nov. 2 when Toronto plays the Sacramento Kings at Scotiabank Arena.
Carter, an eight-time all-star, played parts of seven seasons with the Raptors. He was named NBA rookie of the year in 1999 and won the Slam Dunk Contest in 2000.
He was the Raptors’ first superstar and is credited for raising the profile of the team and igniting enthusiasm for basketball across Canada.
Carter guided the Raptors to the Eastern Conference semifinal in 2001. Toronto had a chance to beat the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7 but Carter’s shot at the buzzer hit the rim and bounced out.
He asked for a trade in 2004 and was dealt to New Jersey in a mid-season deal that saw the Raptors receive little in return. The Nets, who are now based in Brooklyn, plan to retire Carter’s number in January.
Carter played 22 seasons in the NBA before retiring after the 2019-20 season. He’ll be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame next month.
The Raptors are celebrating their 30th anniversary this season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2024.
NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 58th home run, going deep for the fifth straight game to help the New York Yankees wrap up their second AL East title in three years with a 10-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night.
Giancarlo Stanton had four RBIs that included his 27th homer, Alex Verdugo also homered and Gerrit Cole outpitched Corbin Burnes in a possible postseason preview. Judge and Stanton homered in the same game for the 14th time this year, tying Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris in 1961 for the most in Yankees history.
New York assured itself a first-round bye and home-field advantage in a best-of-five AL Division Series starting Oct. 5.
Baltimore, which clinched a postseason berth by winning Tuesday night’s opener of the three-game series, will be in a best-of-three Wild Card Series starting Tuesday.
Stanton homered in the second to put the Yankees ahead and hit a three-run double in a six-run sixth.
Judge hit a two-run homer in the seventh against Bryan Baker and has 144 RBIs, the most in the major leagues since Ryan Howard’s 146 in 2008. Judge matched his career best by homering in five consecutive games.
Making his last start before the playoffs, Cole (8-5) allowed two hits in 6 2/3 innings, struck out five and walked one, lowering his ERA to 3.41. He struck out Anthony Santander with a 98.1 mph fastball that ended the eighth after plate umpire David Rackley called a ball on the previous pitch, a knuckle-curve that appeared to be just above the strike zone. Cole glared as the umpire as the pitcher walked back to the dugout.
Cole was given a standing ovation when he walked to the dugout with two outs in the seventh and tipped his cap to the crowd of 42,022.
Burnes (15-9) allowed two hits in five innings, one walk and nine strikeouts — including eight on cutters. Burnes came out after 69 pitches and is likely to start the Orioles’ postseason opener on Tuesday. He had a 1.20 ERA in five September starts.
Stanton lofted a slider at the bottom of the strike zone into the left-field seats after missing badly at a slider on the prior pitch.
Austin Wells, in a 4-for-42 slide, forced in a run when he walked with the bases loaded against Cionel Pérez. Stanton drove the next pitch on one hop to the wall in right-center for a 5-1 lead. Stanton has 72 RBIs after hitting 6 for 18 with two doubles, two homers and eight RBIs in his last five games.
Anthony Rizzo added a two-run single against Baker.
Emmanuel Rivera hit a ninth-inning sacrifice fly for the Orioles.
UP NEXT
Orioles: LHP Cade Povich (2-9, 5.59) starts a series opener at Minnesota on Friday, when LHP Pablo López (15-9, 4.11) will be on the mound for the Twins.
Yankees: LHP Carlos Rodón (16-9, 3.98), 7-2 with a 2.87 ERA since the All-Star break. starts Friday’s series opener against Pirates RHP Jared Jones (6-8, 4.14).
