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In his 52nd NHL playoff game, the same amount that vaulted Doug Gilmour to the Maple Leafs’ franchise lead with 77 playoff points, it was high time for Auston Matthews to step up this spring.
Buenos Aires, Argentina — Amid boisterous chants to send off a football legend who had departed too soon, Wilson Cisnero leaned against a brightly painted brick building that had a simple, small sign he had pasted on it. “God is with God,” he wrote, punctuated with the number 10.
The 25-year-old had cycled two kilometres (1.2 miles) to the famed Buenos Aires neighbourhood of La Boca because, like many others, he did not know where else to go to when he heard that Diego Maradona had passed away.
Crowds gathered outside La Bombonera, the home of Boca Juniors, one of Argentina’s most celebrated football clubs, that counted Maradona as its star once.
“Argentina is Maradona,” said Cisnero, his devastation clear through his glassy gaze. “You look at all this disgrace with coronavirus and now this other disgrace,” he lamented. “Now soccer is left without its God.”
That same pain was written all over the faces of Argentinians on Wednesday, as the nation came to grips with his unexpected death. To the world, he was Maradona. To Argentina, he was “El Diego” – a kid who sprouted from the slums, dazzled on the pitch like no other, dominated the sport and delivered World Cup glory that has yet to be repeated in Argentina.
Maradona suffered a cardiac arrest at his home, north of the capital of Buenos Aires, on Wednesday. He had recently undergone brain surgery, pushing concerns over his health into the news. He was 60 years old.
“It’s something you can’t describe,” said Rafael Bellido, 49, sitting on the steps of La Bombonera, next to his partner Marcela Reynoso, as they shared mate, a traditional Argentine infusion. “El Diego was the person who represented us the best,” he said. “When he was playing, and you were watching, and you wanted to curse, he would curse. He reflected us. In addition to all the things that he did on the pitch.”
“Now is the time when Argentine society needs to give back all the joy that he gave to us,” he added. “And how long he made us happy. A long time. Every time he touched the pitch. You can’t describe it.”
As tributes rolled in from around the world, President Alberto Fernandez declared three days of national mourning, cancelling all his engagements as the government prepared to host a wake at the presidential palace. The government is expecting a million people to pay their final respects. Government buildings will be lit up in the colours of the Argentinian flag in his honour.
In a statement, Fernandez said it was Argentinians’ good fortune to have been able to live through the era of Maradona, to have seen his greatness and enjoyed his affection.
“I doubt that we will ever see another player like Maradona in every way, not only because of his technical qualities, but also because of that courage, that strength, that grit, which he showed every time he put on the jersey he had to defend. An exceptional player who only gave us joy,” he said.
“Maradona was a genuine man, he defended what he believed in,” the president added. “He is a good example of what ordinary Argentines are, so visceral. Above all that, I always stressed that he was never a fraud – he said what he didn’t like.”
By mid-afternoon, hundreds of people had gathered at the foot of the Buenos Aires obelisk, singing Maradona’s praises as a giant banner displaying his face rippled in the wind. Outside La Bombonera, the crowds burst into intermittent song and dance.
“Diego isn’t dead, Diego isn’t dead, Diego lives in the village,” the crowd would chant. Everyone had their own story, their own reason for being there and what he meant to them. His incredible highs and the lows that he also lived through, were theirs, too.
“There will always be critics,” said Reynoso. “The important thing is that he found his own happiness.”
Diego Covelo, who counts himself as a member of the Maradoniana Church, founded by fans in 1988, pasted a poster of Maradona in his Boca Juniors jersey on the stadium’s exterior. He and a few friends had been holding vigil outside the clinic during the football legend’s recent admission to hospital.
“If we were there during the good times, of course we’ve got to be there during the bad times,” said Covelo, 35.
Josue Mustafa, 24, saw children playing football on his way to La Boca and thought to himself: “”That is Maradona’s legacy.
That’s going to stay with everyone – in the young ones, and in people who are older.”
Blanca Salursi, standing under a giant mural of El Diego in La Boca, remembered seeing him play as a youngster in one of Buenos Aires’ shanty towns
“I also came from the slums, you come up from the bottom,” said the 60-year-old. And with a twinkle in her teary eyes as she turned to leave, she said: “Don’t ever forget that he was the best there was.”
Vancouver, BC – The Vancouver Canucks today announced that Rogers Arena doors will open at 5:30 p.m. PT, for Tuesday’s Stanley Cup Playoff Game #2, 30 minutes earlier than normal. The enthusiasm and passion of fans wanting to arrive early and not miss the Toyota Party on the Plaza as well as the in-arena pre-game show experience, encouraged the team to ensure the bowl is loud and proud when the pre-show begins at 7:00 p.m.
“Our players could not have been clearer after Game #1 that the fans played a huge part of the victory on Sunday night,” said Michael Doyle, President, Canucks Sports & Entertainment, Business Operations. “Our players are feeding off this energy and we want them to feel it from the second they step out of the dressing room.”
“I know the players and there was a lot of ‘wow’ with how loud the crowd was,” said Rick Tocchet, Head Coach. “Some guys told me they got emotional during it. I’m sure the crowd is going to be just as loud (for Game 2).”
The Toyota Party of the Plaza will open at 4:30 p.m. with a wide range of activities for fans of all ages. From face-painting and ball hockey to the Michelob Ultra beer garden and live music on the Air Canada Stage with The Anthony LaRosa Band, the North Plaza will be the place to be to get ready for Game #2.
The Canucks also announced that a number of tickets and suites have been released and are available to the public at canucks.com/tickets.
We remind our fans to be cautious of fraudulent ticket sites and activities. Only authentic and verified Ticketmaster resale seats are protected. We encourage fans to avoid off-platform sites and purchasing through social media platforms as we cannot validate the legitimacy of tickets purchased outside of our organization or through Ticketmaster directly.
Rogers Arena will host an official ‘Away Game Viewing Party’ for Game #3 of the first round of NHL Playoffs. Presented by Rogers, the Viewing Party will be a ticketed event, costing $15, with proceeds benefiting the Canucks for Kids Fund. Watch the game on one of the biggest and brightest videoboards in the NHL, be entertained throughout the experience, and receive special Rogers Value Menu food and beverage offerings thanks to Rogers. Visit canucks.com/watch to secure your tickets.
Vancouver Canucks playoff merchandise is now available on vanbase.ca. From locker room exclusive items and jerseys, to car flags, player fanchains and Viper sunglasses, we recommend you order quickly or drop by the Canucks Store at Rogers Arena to get playoff ready.
Follow us on social media, download the Canucks App, and stay connected as unique content, contests and more announcements are made.
Media are reminded that any content-gathering on the plaza requires approval from the Vancouver Canucks Communications Team at [email protected]
Go Canucks Go!
In his 52nd NHL playoff game, the same amount that vaulted Doug Gilmour to the Maple Leafs’ franchise lead with 77 playoff points, it was high time for Auston Matthews to step up this spring.
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Toronto’s season likely would be toast if it came home trailing 2-0 to playoff nemesis Boston, with faith already shaken outside the room after a Game 1 clunker. Matthews, highest paid of the Core Four forwards at $13.25 million US a season, needed to have a huge presence in a Game 2 that looked at times as it, too, would be fumbled away.
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He embraced his inner Killer and like Gilmour, had significant shifts throughout the 200-foot stage, capped by the 3-2 winner on a full steam breakaway. Matthews’ three-point night tied a career single-game high and though still trailing Gilmour 77-47 in post-season production, Matthews earned himself and his club and extended runway in this series, tied 1-1 heading home.
“Auston’s all over the stat sheet tonight,” head coach Sheldon Keefe praised to media in Boston. “A goal, two assists, but to me it’s the way he worked — hard, physical, winning puck battles all over the ice.”
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Game 3 is Wednesday in Toronto, where the Leafs could get William Nylander back and now have a very confident Ilya Samsonov in net after Boston chose to take Leaf nemesis Jereny Swayman out Monday for Linus Ullmark.
In the teeth of the Bruins’ TD Garden den, Matthews played a team-high 23 minutes and 24 seconds, had eight shots on Ullmark and delivered six hits. After labouring in vain to reach his 70th goal in the last three regular season games, he finally nailed it in style, one-handing a long aerial bomb from Max Domi at the Boston line away from the flailing stick of Charlie McAvoy, settling the disc and deking Ullmark.
“It’s all about just trying to get to the net,” Matthews said. “It’s a battle at the net fronts out there, and I guess on the goal, just a flip out of the zone and just try to anticipate and time it well.”
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With less than eight minutes to go, it was Toronto’s first lead on Boston in six games all season. Matthews then helped kill the final seconds with Ullmark on the bench, after Tyler Bertuzzi served a potentially devasting penalty.
“There is just a lot of belief and trust in that room in one another,” captain John Tavares told Sportsnet. “A lot of guys have been in different situations over the years. We just continued to stay with it and got rewarded.
“Good for the power play to come through (1-for-16 against Boston this season coming in) and anytime you give No, 34 a look like that, he’s obviously a special player who made a good play.
“The way the guys were blocking shots, closing time and space, Sammy being big and seeing pucks and guys battling hard for him, it was a hard-fought win.’
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The Leafs had lost the previous eight to Boston going back to last year and in their previous eight playoff game versus Tampa, Florida and Boston, had not scored more than two.
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At times Keefe flipped Domi and Mitch Marner on Matthews’ right side to put Marner with his long-time centre. It’s just as important to give Marner some jump, too, especially with William Nylander missing a second game with an undisclosed injury … Tavares’s goal when Matthews found him alone in the slot was preceded by two power play video reviews that went against the Leafs, which Keefe cited in saying he “loved the resolve” of the Leafs. Calle Jarnkrok’s shot that Ullmark gloved was inconclusively not over the goal line, and a Bertuzzi’s mid-air bat looked low enough until the cameras zoomed in … As in Game 1, a good Leaf start came undone trying to show Boston they wouldn’t be intimidated on Causeway Street. Jake McCabe cross-checked Jakub Lauko after a whistle and Boston capitalized, Jake DeBrusk adding to his productive Game 1 setting up Morgan Geekie after David Kampf and Timothy Liljegren got confused on who should make an easy clear.
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Kudos to the Leafs for coming right back 14 seconds later, Matthews corralling a high puck, firing it off of the crossbar, with Domi following up, which made Max and Tie Domi the first Leaf father and son with Toronto playoff goals … The fourth line of Ryan Reaves, Kampf and Connor Dewar once more out-played Boston’s group, though the Leafs cratered in the last 20 seconds of the first period. Samsonov whiffed on a hand-off to Liljegren, giving Charlie Coyle an extra shot that broke Samsonov’s mask. In the time it took the goalie to get his broken strap fixed, Boston had time to double check a faceoff drill, Pavel Zacha winning it, defenceman Simon Benoit unable to tie up David Pastrnak, who then eluded Marner for his first of the series … Starting Ullmark left Boston cosch Jim Montgomery open to criticism, messing with Jeremy Swayman’s 4-0 record against the Leafs this season with only three goals against the past three in regular season and playoffs. But Montgomery was not going to break up what has been an effective rotation.
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