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Insider Trading: All-Canadian division could be in jeopardy – TSN

Published

4 years ago

December 17, 2020

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun and TSN Senior Hockey Reporter Frank Seravalli join host Gino Reda to discuss the 2020-21 Canadian division possibly being in jeopardy, whether or not it will be mandatory for players to get vaccinated once available and an update on a pair of two key restricted free agents?

What’s the latest on Canadian teams as the NHL looks to start its season?

We may have at least part of the answer as to why the NHL hasn’t finalized its start to the 2020-21 season yet.

Seravalli: We’ve reached a delicate stage in the Return to Play process. The NHL and its seven Canadian clubs have been going back and forth with the provincial health authorities trying to nail down protocols that work for all of the stakeholders involved. And the provincial health authorities have not signed off yet. They’ve run into some difficulties. These protocols have been changing by the hour and daily. So, moving forward, the NHL’s preference continues to be to open the season in all 31 buildings including all seven Canadian arenas. But what if that can’t happen? Well, they’d have to resort to some other alternatives. One could be playing the season in a hub city, or the other less desirable option would be to move all seven Canadian clubs south of the border for the 2020-21 season. Now, the NHL remains optimistic at this point that they can sort all of this out, but we’ll see where this goes because this is a significant development.

LeBrun: Frank, call me a cynic but it’s probably not the worst thing as far as a tactic goes for the NHL to have this out in the public domain because, as you say, it is a possibility for the seven Canadian teams to play south if they can’t figure this out with Canadian health authorities. But it also puts a little public pressure on the Canadian provincial governments as well, so let’s see how the next 24 to 48 hours play out. In the meantime, if the worst does come to pass and the Canadian teams have to play south, it goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, that a league source confirms the all-Canadian division would probably be no longer and that the NHL would have to look again at more realignment for the 31 teams. But again, let’s hope that the seven Canadian teams are playing at home.

What about vaccination?

As vaccines slowly become available and expect to be in wide circulation at some point next year, players are going to have a decision to make on whether or not to get vaccinated.

Seravalli: They do, and the NHLPA has made sure that is their choice to make. That vaccines will not be mandatory. They can be recommended to players to take by the NHL and their teams but it’s going to remain a choice for the players. This was a non-starter for the NHLPA in discussions, they realize how cautious players are with what’s entering their bodies. Moving forward, it’s going to be their choice whether they want to take it or not.

What about the remaining free agents?

After the usual busy first few days of the off-season, signings have fallen off a cliff. What’s going on there, particularly concerning a couple players in need of extensions?

LeBrun: Well two key RFAs – Pierre-Luc Dubois in Columbus and Mathew Barzal with the Islanders – those two guys need new deals. And, on the one hand with Dubois, his agent Pat Brisson, who was on our podcast this week, said that talks suddenly over the last little while here started to pick up with the season looking like it was going to return. I spoke with Blue Jackets’ general manager Jarmo Kekalainen on this day and he said it’s a priority to get Dubois signed before training camp started and he was confident he would do so. And certainly, it seems like there are a lot of positive vibes in that negotiation. Meanwhile, Barzal and the Islanders, the agent is veteran J.P. Barry, they’ve had constant communication between the two sides throughout all this, they’ve talked short-term, medium-term, long-term deals. Again, getting a positive vibe out of that negotiation and we’ll see where that goes.

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Canada to face three-time champion Germany in Davis Cup quarterfinals

Published

3 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

LONDON – Canada will meet three-time champion Germany in the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Malaga, Spain this November.

Canada secured a berth in the quarterfinals — also called The Final 8 Knockout Stage — with a 2-1 win over Britain last weekend in Manchester, England.

World No. 21 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal anchored a five-player squad that included Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., Gabriel Diallo of Montreal, Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., and Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C.

The eight-team draw for the quarterfinals was completed Thursday at International Tennis Federation headquarters.

Defending champion Italy will play Argentina, the United States will meet Australia and Spain will take on the Netherlands. Schedule specifics have yet to be released but the Final 8 will be played Nov. 19-24.

Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz were unbeaten in doubles play last week to help Germany reach the quarterfinals. The country’s top singles player — second-ranked Alex Zverev — did not play.

The Canadians defeated Germany in the quarterfinals en route to their lone Davis Cup title in 2022. Germany won titles in 1988, ’89 and ’93.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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Canadian men climb two places to No. 38 in latest FIFA world rankings

Published

3 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

Canada, fuelled by a 2-1 win over the U.S. and scoreless draw with Mexico, has jumped two places to No. 38 in the FIFA men’s world rankings released Thursday.

Of the top six CONCACAF teams, Canada was the only one to move up. Mexico was unchanged at No. 17 while the U.S. and Panama each fell two rungs to No. 18 and 37, respectively

Costa Rica slipped one spot to No. 50 and Jamaica two places to No. 61.

It marks Canada’s highest ranking under coach Jesse Marsch, who was hired in mid-May when the Canadians were ranked 50th. Since then, the team has climbed to No. 49, 48, 40 and now 38.

Canada has been as high as No. 33 in the men’s ranking, achieved in February 2022 under John Herdman with Canada, named the “Most Improved Side” in 2021 by FIFA, turning heads with an unbeaten run in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.

The new rankings encompass 184 internationals involving teams from all six confederations including 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, Oceania and South America.

The top 10 was unchanged with Argentina ahead of France, Spain, England, Brazil, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Colombia and Italy. But the gap at the top is closing with Argentina losing 2-1 away to Colombia and 3-1 at home to Italy.

Teams 10 through 15 were also unchanged. But there was movement after that in the form of Japan (, up two), Iran (No. 19, up one) and Denmark (No. 20, up one). Egypt (No. 31), Ivory Coast (No. 33), Tunisia (No. 36) and Algeria (No. 41) all jumped five places while Greece (No. 48) climbed six spots.

The biggest movers were Brunei Darussalam (No. 183) and Samoa (No. 185), who vaulted seven spots on the back of two wins apiece.

Qatar suffered the biggest drop, tumbling 10 places to No. 44.

San Marino remains at the bottom of the rankings in 210th place despite recording its first victory in more than 20 years, San Marino defeated Liechtenstein 1-0 on Sept. 5, ending a 140-game winless run since a 1-0 decision over the same opponent in April 2004.

Liechtenstein fell four places to No. 203.

Canada’s next match is an Oct. 15 friendly against Panama at Toronto’s BMO Field. The next men’s ranking will be released Oct. 24.

—

Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform, formerly known as Twitter

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024

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Carolina Panthers’ early-season struggles not surprising to Proline players

Published

3 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

It has been a difficult start to the NFL season for quarterback Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers.

Carolina has dropped its opening two games after Sunday’s 26-3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. And Young, the first player taken in the ’23 NFL draft, was 18-of-26 passing for 84 yards with an interception while being sacked twice.

As a result, veteran Andy Dalton will start Sunday when Carolina faces the Las Vegas Raiders (1-1).

According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., the Chargers’ win was the most accurately predicted moneyline selection by Proline bettors. A whopping 92 per cent of wagers were on Los Angeles beating Carolina with 92 per cent also picking the Chargers to cover -4.5.

In other action that went in favour of Proline bettors: Kansas City edged Cincinnati 26-25 (86 per cent correctly selected the Chiefs to win); Houston got past Chicago 19-13 (81 per cent); the New York Jets defeated Tennessee 24-17 (78 per cent); Pittsburgh beat Denver 13-6 (76 per cent), Washington beat the New York Giants 21-18 (73 per cent); and Seattle toppled New England 23-20 (62 per cent).

However, only five per cent of bettors had the Raiders upsetting Baltimore 26-23.

And there was one winner of Proline’s second week main NFL pool of $407,613.

In NFL futures bets after the second week of the season, the odds for offensive player of the year got shorter for running backs Breece Hall (Jets) and Bijan Robinson (Atlanta) and Detroit receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. But they got longer for running backs Kyren Williams (Rams), Christian McCaffrey (San Francisco) and Jonathan Taylor (Colts).

Quarterbacks Bo Nix (Denver), Jayden Daniels (Washington) and Caleb Williams (Chicago) all had their odds for offensive rookie of the year go up while they went down for running back Ray Davis (Buffalo), tight end Brock Bowers (Raiders) and receiver Malik Nabers (Giants).

Quarterbacks Patrick Mahones (Chiefs), Aaron Rodgers (Jets) and Jalen Hurts (Eagles) all had their odds for regular season MVP go up. But quarterbacks Jordan Love (Packers), Lamar Jackson (Baltimore) and Joe Burrow (Cincinnati) all saw theirs go down.

Kansas City, Philadelphia and Houston had their Super Bowl odds increase while Green Bay, Baltimore and Cincinnati all decreased.

Not surprising, the week’s top events were all NFL games. In order, they were; Buffalo-Miami, Chicago-Houston, Cincinnati-KC, Raiders-Ravens; and Saints-Cowboys.

A Proline retail player cashed in a $26,183 winner from a $10 bet on a 12-leg major-league baseball parlay. Another won $24,602 from a $10 wager on a 12-leg NFL parlay.

A third received $1,737 from a $3 bet on a six-leg NFL parlay.

A digital bettor earned $2,927 from a $25 bet on a five-leg NFL parlay while a second had a $704.35 return from a $1 wager on a seven-leg NFL parlay.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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