Sports

How NHL’s return to play plan impacts Stanley Cup odds – Sportsnet.ca

Published

4 years ago

May 28, 2020

Canadian-based NHL teams were the big winners when Gary Bettman unveiled the league’s return-to-play plans on Tuesday. With the NHL regular season now officially over and the league moving forward with plans to include 24 teams in the playoffs, the NHL postseason will feature six Canadian-based NHL teams for the first time since 1993.

And among those clubs, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers sport the best Stanley Cup odds, deadlocked at +1800 at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.

Tuesday’s announcement was the best news hockey fans have heard since the NHL suspended play on March 12 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, just four Canadian teams occupied playoff spots, but with the expanded format both the Vancouver Canucks and the Montreal Canadiens will now see postseason action.

Under the Return to Play plans, the top four teams in each conference will play a round robin to determine playoff seeding, while the remaining eight teams in each conference will face off in play-in series with the winners moving on to a more familiar 16-team playoff format.

With seeding for the play-in round based on points percentage, the Maple Leafs are pegged as the No. 8 seed, and will battle the No. 9 Columbus Blue Jackets (+6600), while the Oilers will take on the No. 12 Chicago Blackhawks (+6600) as the No. 5 seed after narrowly missing out on a spot in the Western Conference round robin.

The move to seed teams based on points percentage has been a bonus for the Canucks, who sat just outside the wild card picture when the season halted. Now sporting +3000 Stanley Cup odds at online sports betting sites, Vancouver faces Minnesota (+5000) as the seven-seed.

Conversely, the Winnipeg Jets (+5500) tumble from the top wild card in the West to the No. 9 seed as they prepare for an all-Canadian first-round matchup with No. 8 Calgary. The Flames have dipped to +3500 on the Stanley Cup betting lines since peaking in mid-January at +2000, and have failed to win a series since their last trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2004.

The Canadiens face a tough road as the bottom seed in the East, setting the stage for a matchup with the No. 5 Pittsburgh Penguins (+1200). Losers of eight straight on two occasions earlier this season, the Canadiens now sit as +8000 longshots on the NHL futures.

A tight race has developed at the top of the Stanley Cup odds. The league-leading Boston Bruins join the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning as +700 Stanley Cup favourites, just ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights and Philadelphia Flyers at +800 on those NHL odds, with the defending champion St. Louis Blues sitting back at +1100.

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Sports

Edler to sign one-day contract to retire as a Vancouver Canuck

Published

15 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.

The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.

He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.

The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.

Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.

“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”

Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.

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Sixth-ranked Canadian women to face World Cup champion Spain in October friendly

Published

22 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.

Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.

The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.

In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.

Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.

Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.

The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.

Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.

It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.

Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.

FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.

And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.

“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024

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Maple Leafs announce Oreo as new helmet sponsor for upcoming NHL season

Published

1 day ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.

The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.

The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.

Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.

The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.

Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.

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