Canadanewsmedia news October 4, 2024 : Inquiry to hear from foreign ministry officials

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — N.C. State football player Davin Vann was on the move, tiptoeing his way between obstacles in the Wolfpack’s indoor practice facility midway through a game week.

And it had nothing to do with the upcoming visit from Wake Forest.

Instead, he stepped carefully through and over boxes of canned food, stacks of bottled water, shopping bags full of diapers, personal hygiene products and batteries. The defensive end known for chasing down ballcarriers was playing quarterback in a way, leading a donation drive to help victims of Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina and aided by his family’s moving company.

The drive — so successful that it has extended to run the rest of the week — is just one example of multiple sports-related efforts seeking to help those affected by the storm that left a shocking trail of devastation through parts of the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee.

“That was kind of my mindset going into it, kind of ‘I hope we get enough people to at least help a little bit,’” Vann told The Associated Press. “So yeah, it was way more than I expected.”

The death toll has topped 200 after the Category 4 storm rolled through the southeast last week, with flooding washing out roads to cut off entire communities that lack electricity, water and cellular service. Relief efforts are ongoing through multiple states, and that includes from college and professional sports.

In Charlotte, David Tepper — owner of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers — and his wife Nicole have committed $3 million to relief efforts through their foundation. The NBA’s Charlotte Hornets and the NASCAR racing team owned by retired NBA and North Carolina great Michael Jordan have each committed $1 million toward relief efforts.

Not far away in Concord, the Charlotte Motor Speedway track known for NASCAR races has spent multiple days holding a donation drive and extended that work into Thursday due to strong community response. Closer to the devastation, a parade of trucks carrying donations arrived at the North Wilkesboro Speedway on Thursday.

In eastern Tennessee, Bristol Motor Speedway was designated as a regional disaster relief center, accepting donations.

“Our communities, friends and loved ones are hurting, and we stand ready to assist in any way that we possibly can,” said Jerry Caldwell, the speedway’s president and general manager.

Elsewhere in that state, Eastern Tennessee State University has been collecting donations, sending four vans to a nearby high school being used as a shelter with four truckloads taken to a church in Erwin. The Buccaneers host Chattanooga in football on Saturday with fans asked to bring more supplies with them to donate.

North Carolina State’s indoor practice facility and Carter-Finley Stadium share the same parking area as the Lenovo Center, the arena home of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh. As Vann worked into Wednesday evening helping people unload donations, the Hurricanes held a fundraiser tied to their preseason game against the Nashville Predators and raised roughly $280,000 for Helene relief.

Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said Vann’s mother, Joy Hall, who owns the Cary-based Joyful Movers company that opened in 2006, reached out shortly after the storm. Their plan was to collect supplies to deliver to the Durham Rescue Mission’s larger relief efforts.

As Vann sifted through supplies Wednesday evening and greeted donors with a handshake, Hall was there with other family members, working her way through a line of flattened cardboard boxes to prepare them to be packed with donations. Meanwhile, cars kept trickling in, sometimes with supplies stacked high in the backseat.

“I was really thankful to them,” Doeren said Thursday of Vann’s family. “It’s an uplifting deal that they’re doing. And now it’s just multiplied into a lot of people being involved in it. And so a lot of our players have been helping, a lot of staff — our recruiting staff, our (operations) staff — a lot of hands on deck loading trucks, people in the community coming in and dropping off things for all the folks that need it.”

Vann’s donation drive has already filled six trucks with supplies as of Thursday, with more to come.

“It’s very heartwarming,” Vann said. “I’m very happy to see the community is more than willing to give their time and their money to help the people of western North Carolina, even if they’ve never met them before.”

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AP Sports Writers John Raby in West Virginia and Teresa M. Walker in Tennessee contributed to this report.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Alex Ovechkin has filled the net through 19 breathtaking NHL seasons.

From acrobatic, highlight-reel moments to his patented one-timer every opponent knows is coming — but often can’t stop — the colourful, bulldozing Washington Capitals winger with a unique style has done it his way.

And the 2024-25 campaign could see him eclipse a mark once thought untouchable.

Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record.

“It’s pretty cool,” said Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, a longtime division rival. “Incredible what he’s doing.”

Ovechkin sits just 41 goals shy of the Great One’s tally of 894 heading into the new schedule.

The 39-year-old Russian has nine separate 50-goal seasons — including the 65 he scored in 2007-08 — and has hit at least 40 an eye-popping 13 times.

His career has also included the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign and two pandemic-stunted seasons. If not for those stoppages, Ovechkin might have already surpassed Gretzky.

Washington defenceman John Carlson said even when his captain was filling the net at a lightning-quick pace, the record didn’t feel attainable.

“Never seemed like he would ever get that close,” Carlson said at the recent NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas. “Just incredible that we’re even here. Certainly a monumental player.

“It’s been fun to watch.”

Carolina Hurricanes blueliner Jaccob Slavin has battled Ovechkin through the years as another division foe. It was the superstar with 853 regular-season goals to his name who provided Slavin with his welcome-to-the-NHL moment as a rookie.

“It was 19 seconds in,” Slavin recalled of a particular exhibition game etched in his memory. “I had a terrible gap, and he just absolutely turned me inside out. Then as he goes by me, I get my stick between his legs, and I try to reach back, and I kind of corkscrew him. He falls, shoots and scores.

“I’m just like, ‘Seriously?’ I witnessed it firsthand.”

Ovechkin appeared to possibly be slowing down when he scored just 33 times in 2016-17, but responded with 148 goals over the next three seasons.

He registered his ninth 50-goal showing in 2021-22 and 42 the following season — when he eclipsed Gordie Howe’s 801 to move into second place behind Gretzky — before finding the back of the net 31 times last season.

There’s of course a chance Ovechkin, who led Washington to its only Stanley Cup in 2018, doesn’t reach Gretzky’s mark in 2024-25.

But the league is ready if it happens.

“Some people have suggested that because Alex is Russian that somehow this should be marginalized,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in reference to the ongoing war in Ukraine and Ovechkin’s past links to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We couldn’t disagree more with that. He’s been a terrific ambassador for our game for 20 years now. His enthusiasm for the game and passion for the game is infectious.

“He’s done a lot to lift the tide for the league and for all players during his tenure. It’s something, definitely, we want to celebrate.”

The league’s new generation grew up watching Ovechkin dominate. Now they’re getting an up-close look at his pursuit of history.

“It’s a lot of goals,” said 19-year-old Chicago Blackhawks centre Connor Bedard, born a few months before Ovechkin made his NHL debut in 2005. “Since I’ve been watching hockey, he’s been one of the more marquee guys. Every year it seems like he’s finding a way to put it in the net.

“I don’t think it’ll be that long until he breaks it.”

Dallas Stars centre Wyatt Johnston pointed out Ovechkin has been besting NHL goaltenders since the now-21-year-old was in preschool.

“Really fun player to watch, just how dynamic he is,” Johnston said. “A different level of me being star-struck … dominating the league for (basically) my whole life.

“Being able to play against him and seeing him get close to that record is really cool.”

Ovechkin, in short, is approaching a high-water mark few ever thought attainable.

“I feel pretty grateful to be part of that,” Crosby said. “As a player, you want to compete at the highest level, and to be in that conversation with him over the years, I hope that we’ve got the best out of each other.

“Hopefully we’ve got some strong years left here.”

And for Ovechkin, at least 42 more goals

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TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, boosted by strength in the base metal and technology stocks, while U.S. stock markets also pushed higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 136.18 points at 24,104.68.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 17.13 points at 42,028.72. The S&P 500 index was up 13.95 points at 5,713.89, while the Nasdaq composite was up 96.50 points at 18,014.98.

The Canadian dollar traded for 73.65 cents US compared with 73.86 cents US on Thursday.

The November crude oil contract was up 78 cents at US$74.49 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down nine cents at US$2.88 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was up US$7.30 at US$2,686.50 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.56 a pound.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.