adplus-dvertising
Connect with us

Sports

'I have a great memory': Zack Kassian says bell tolling for Flames pest Matthew Tkachuk – CBC.ca

Published

 on


“Money well spent.”

That’s how Zack Kassian sums up the $20,967.74 US he will forfeit during his two-game suspension for tossing Calgary Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk around like he was a scarecrow. 

Well spent, the Oilers winger made clear to reporters on Tuesday, because he now knows two important things: that one of the biggests pests in NHL seems unwilling to fight, and that the league considers the crunching, blindside hits Tkachuk threw to start the whole rigamarole were clean.

300x250x1

“That gave me some clarity about what you can do and can’t do now,” Kassian told the media Tuesday after his team’s morning skate at Rogers Place. “So, I put that in the memory bank.”

For those who don’t speak hockey player, that likely means Tkachuk will have to watch his own blindside when the teams meet again later this month.

It also means we may need stronger words than the Battle of Alberta to characterize the bad blood now simmering between these two guys and their teams.

Anyone who needs reminding should know that things went ballistic Saturday night in Calgary after Tkachuk throttled Kassian with not one, not two, but three crushing hits before the target of all that violence decided he’d had enough.

Late in the second period at the Saddledome, with the game tied 3-3, Kassian reached his personal enough when Tkachuk drilled him into the boards and sent his helmet flying.

‘I’d do it again’

Kassian grabbed Tkachuk by the collar of his sweater, tossing him around like he was made of rags, then landed several punches before the linesmen stepped in. Kassian was given a double minor for roughing. The Flames scored on the powerplay and won the game 4-3.

Both players have made it clear they wouldn’t change anything, even if they could.

“I’d do it again all over again,” Kassian said Tuesday.

The Oilers forward said he spoke with league officials, who explained the Tkachuk hits were not dirty plays. He said he accepts that, and his own suspension.

“Clean or dirty, if someone takes two runs at you on your blindside, I told [the league], since I’ve been in minor midget I’ve stood up for myself and my teammates. People don’t do that to me or my teammates when I’m there.

“To me, those are two dangerous hits. If they’re clean, they’re still predatorial, which is completely fine. I’m a big boy, I love big-boy hockey. But if you’re going to play big-boy hockey, you’ve got to answer the bell once in a while.”

Had Tkachuk been willing on Saturday to go toe-to-toe with gloves off, the unpleasantness might have ended already, Kassian said.

If you’re going to play big-boy hockey, you’ve got to answer the bell once in a while.– Zack Kassian

“If he just answers the bell right there, I don’t think anything ever happens, right? He actually might gain a per cent of respect in the league. That’s where it stands.”

Fans of both teams, and across the league, will no doubt be eager to see for whom the bell tolls on Jan. 29 at Rogers Place, when the Oilers and Flames face off again.

“He messed with the wrong guy,” Kassian said. “I don’t think he realizes that we’re in the same division, and I have a great memory.”

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Sports

Allen on trade to Devils from Habs: 'Sometimes you've got to be a little bit selfish' – Yahoo Canada Sports

Published

 on


Jake Allen loved being a member of the Montreal Canadiens.

The hockey-mad market, the crackling Bell Centre on a Saturday night, the Original Six franchise’s iconic logo.

The 33-year-old goaltender is also realistic.

300x250x1

With the Canadiens still in full rebuild mode — and two young netminders in Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau ready for more playing time — Allen could see the writing on the wall.

Desperate for help in their own crease, the New Jersey Devils asked Montreal about the veteran’s availability. But the team, general manager Tom Fitzgerald told reporters earlier this month, was initially on Allen’s no-trade list.

There wasn’t anything the Fredericton product disliked about the organization or city. The Devils simply appeared to have their crease set for years to come.

But when the club that finished with 112 points and made the second round of the playoffs in 2022-23 was badly hampered by poor play from Vitek Vanecek, Nico Daws and Akira Schmid — each netminder owned save percentages below .900 — the Devils circled back.

And Allen had changed his tune.

“Loved my time as a Hab,” he said of pulling on Montreal’s red, white and blue threads. “I always will cherish that. Put on probably the most special jersey in hockey, in my books. But you realize in your career, it doesn’t last forever.

“You’ve got to make decisions sometimes.”

Allen, who is signed through next season, eventually agreed to a deal that sent him to New Jersey ahead of the NHL’s March 8 trade deadline for a conditional third-round pick at the 2025 draft.

Apart from playing meaningful hockey on a team trying to claw its way back into the Eastern Conference playoff race, the swap gave him more runway to get his family settled in a new city instead of waiting to see what this summer’s crowded goalie market might bring.

“Sometimes you’ve got to be a little bit selfish,” said Allen, a Stanley Cup champion with the St. Louis Blues in 2019. “Look yourself in the mirror and wonder what’s best for you and your family.”

He’s been really good for his new team.

Allen was lights out in Tuesday’s first period against the Toronto Maple Leafs, making an eye-popping 25 saves in what would turn into New Jersey’s 6-3 victory.

So far he’s 4-2-0 with a .925 save percentage and a 2.51 goals against average in six starts for the Devils, who sit five points back of the East’s second wild-card spot.

“A real pro,” said interim head coach Travis Green.

Allen is a combined 10-14-3 in 2023-24 with a .900 save percentage and a 3.39 GAA. Across his 11 seasons with St. Louis, Montreal and now New Jersey, he’s 193-164-41 with a .908 save percentage and 2.75 GAA.

“Makes the saves we need to get some momentum back,” Devils captain Nico Hischier said. “If you have a solid goalie in the net, that makes your work easier.”

Allen is also 11-12 with a .924 and a 2.06 GAA all-time in the playoffs — a good sign for his new club should New Jersey manage to make the cut.

For now, though, he’s just enjoying being back in a post-season race.

“I thought this was a good opportunity to come in the rest of this year, play some games,” Allen said.

“It’s been a good start.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2024.

___

Follow @JClipperton_CP on X.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Sports

Matthews game-time decision for Maple Leafs against Capitals with illness – NHL.com

Published

 on


TORONTOAuston Matthews will be a game-time decision for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Washington Capitals at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; SN1, MNMT) because of an illness.

“It’s going to be on how he feels throughout the day,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said.

The forward did not participate in Toronto’s morning skate. Max Domi took his place as the center on a line between Tyler Bertuzzi and Mitch Marner, a right wing recovering from a high-ankle sprain sustained March 7 and will be out the next two games.

300x250x1

Matthews leads the NHL with 59 goals, one from becoming the ninth player in NHL history with at least two 60-goal seasons. He scored 60 in 73 games in 2021-22, when he won the Rocket Richard Trophy, Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award. He had one goal and nine shots in 23:44 of a 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, which extended his point streak to five games (four goals, seven assists).

He missed one game this season with illness, a 7-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 16.

“Of course, it’s an adjustment when your best player is out of the lineup,” Domi said, “when anybody is out of the lineup, but I think we’ve done a great job all year of guys stepping up when they have to, and we just have to continue to do that.”

Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly will miss his second straight game with an upper-body injury.

“He just remains day to day,” Keefe said. “We’re hopeful he’s going to bounce back here. The one thing that is good is once he gets through this day or two here, it’s not going to be a lingering situation. It’s not going to be an injury that’s ongoing. Once he’s past it, he’s past it so we just need to give him some time.”

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Sports

Canucks place goalie Thatcher Demko on long-term injured list

Published

 on

The Vancouver Canucks have placed all-star goalie Thatcher Demko on the long-term injured reserve list retroactively.

“It’s just cap related,” coach Rick Tocchet said after practice Wednesday. “We get some cap relief, that’s all it is.”

The 28-year-old netminder has been considered week to week since being sidelined with a lower-body injury midway through Vancouver’s 5-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets on March 9.

That injury designation hasn’t changed, Tocchet said.

300x250x1

Demko boasts a 34-18-2 record this season, with a .917 save percentage, a 2.47 goals-against average and five shutouts.

Casey DeSmith has taken over the starting job for Vancouver, going 3-2-1 since Demko’s injury. He has a .899 save percentage on the season with a 2.73 goals-against average and one shutout.

The earliest Demko could be back in the Canucks’ lineup is April 6 against the Kings in Los Angeles.

He’s expected to be a key piece as Vancouver (45-19-8) prepares for its first playoff appearance since the COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign.

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin also announced Wednesday that the club has called up forward Arshdeep Bains from the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League.

“I’d like to see where [Bains is] at,” Tocchet said, noting he isn’t sure whether the 23-year-old winger will slot into the lineup when the Canucks host the Dallas Stars on Thursday.

WATCH | Bains makes NHL debut

 

Surrey, B.C.’s Arshdeep Bains makes Canucks debut

1 month ago

Duration 2:20

Arshdeep Bains from Surrey, B.C., has made his NHL debut with the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night against the Colorado Avalanche. As CBC’s Joel Ballard reports, it’s been a hard-fought journey for the hometown kid to the big leagues.

Bains played five games for the NHL team in February before being sent back to Abbotsford.

“He went down, he’s done a couple of things that we like, and he’s got some speed,” Tocchet said.

Vancouver may get another forward back in the lineup Thursday.

Dakota Joshua practised in a full-contact jersey on Wednesday for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury in Vancouver’s 4-2 win over the Blackhawks in Chicago on Feb. 13.

The physical winger, who’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, has a career-high 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) this season.

Sitting out injured “hasn’t been fun,” Joshua said.

“It feels like forever,” he said. “But at this point, that’s behind me and I’m moving forward.”

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending