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Leafs’ Morgan Rielly appealing five-game suspension, works with Auston Matthews at practice

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7 months ago

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Morgan Rielly of the Toronto Maple Leafs stands over Ridly Greig of the Ottawa Senators after being cross checked in the head following his empty net goal at Canadian Tire Centre on Feb. 10, 2024 in Ottawa. Photo by Chris Tanouye/Freestyle Photography /Getty Images

Morgan Rielly is going the appeal route.

Through a team spokesman, the Maple Leafs confirmed on Wednesday during practice that the defenceman will appeal his five-game suspension, levied by the National Hockey League on Tuesday, for cross-checking Ottawa Senators forward Ridly Greig in the head on Saturday.

The appeal, done in conjunction with the NHL Players’ Association, will be heard by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on a date to be determined.

Leafs general manager Brad Treliving was slated to meet with media following practice, but with the appeal process underway, that availability did not happen.

Though it’s rare for a suspension to be reduced by Bettman after appealing, there is precedent. Two seasons ago, Bettman cut a six-game suspension to Jason Spezza, then with the Leafs, to four games.

The suspension marked the first time that Rielly has been punished by the NHL. In 769 career games, he has just 225 penalty minutes.

Greig was not injured by the cross-check, which came after the Senators forward took a slapshot to fire the puck into an empty Leafs net while on a breakaway to seal a 5-3 victory for the Senators.

Under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement and based on his average annual salary, Rielly will forfeit $195,312.50. The money goes to the players’ emergency assistance fund.

Rielly is eligible to return to the Toronto lineup on Feb. 22 in Vegas against the Golden Knights.

Though Rielly took reps at practice on Wednesday on a line with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies as Mitch Marner continued to fight an illness, Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe is thinking about how to keep Rielly further involved as the suspension progresses.

“It has been on my mind, if he’s not going to be playing, how we can manage him because he plays a lot of minutes for us,” Keefe said. “It warrants a discussion (internally), given as much as he plays, as much as we’re going to need from him down the stretch and the fact that he didn’t have the same type of break that others had given his participation in the all-star game. We’ll get to it in time.”

BALANCING BERTUZZI

At some point, Keefe might be able to stop talking about the “little things” that forward Tyler Bertuzzi is doing and bring actual goals and offensive production into the conversation.

You might not want to hold your breath.

It’s 18 games now without a goal for Bertuzzi and just one (on Dec. 27 at home against Ottawa) in his past 31 games. A total of six in 50 games for a player being paid $5.5 million to score doesn’t come anywhere close to cutting it.

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Scoring chances are there for Bertuzzi, as we saw during the 4-1 win against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, but it’s not as though this dearth of scoring goals has become a sudden issue for Bertuzzi. After scoring 30 in 68 games for the Detroit Red Wings in 2021-22, he had just eight in 50 games with Detroit and the Boston Bruins last season.

The Leafs were hopeful that Bertuzzi could build from a solid playoff with the Bruins, when he had 10 points in seven games, yet that has not materialized.

“You do bet that it’s going to fall and you encourage him, because he is getting the chances,” Keefe said. “You don’t get those types of chances if you’re not playing good hockey and doing good things.

“At the same time, as I’ve discussed with him, he’s got to work at his game. He’s got to practise, he’s got to shoot with purpose, he’s got to take every rep in practice and have it be meaningful because, quite honestly, it’s not just a this-season thing.

“You’re trying to get him back to be closer to the 30-goal Bertuzzi, but we haven’t been able to do that. We’ve got to push him while also encouraging him.”

Does Bertuzzi recall when he had a similar slump?

“I don’t remember,” Bertuzzi said. “Probably at some point in my career in Detroit. Just got to stick with it and keep shooting.

“I feel good. Just need one to go in to get that confidence of the finishing part.”

Generally, Bertuzzi has found a way to maintain a positive mindset.

“Just go home and see my kids, that’s it,” Bertuzzi said. “The smiles, we go outside and play in the bush and get away.”

LOOSE LEAFS

Matthews departed practice early, as planned. “I had given Auston the option to not even skate,” Keefe said. “It has been a tough road for those guys (who played in the all-star game). Auston wanted to skate, but I was trying to make sure he kept it short.” … There were no changes to the Leafs’ bottom-six forwards from Tuesday’s game. Alex Steeves, who was recalled from the Toronto Marlies on short notice on Tuesday and played 10 minutes 14 seconds against the Blues, remained on the fourth line with centre Pontus Holmberg and Ryan Reaves … Max Domi’s 18 minutes three seconds of ice time versus St. Louis marked a season-high for the centre … The Marlies took one on the chin on Wednesday, losing 6-1 to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in a school-day game at the Coca-Cola Coliseum. Dylan Gambrell scored the Toronto goal and goalie Keith Petruzzelli made 26 saves in the loss, which dropped the Marlies’ record to 20-16-6-2.

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Cavaliers and free agent forward Isaac Okoro agree to 3-year, $38 million deal, AP source says

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9 hours ago

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September 14, 2024

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CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.

ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.

The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.

The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.

Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.

His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.

Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.

___

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Canada’s Marina Stakusic falls in Guadalajara Open quarterfinals

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September 13, 2024

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GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.

The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.

Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.

In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.

The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Kirk’s walk-off single in 11th inning lifts Blue Jays past Cardinals 4-3

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September 13, 2024

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TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.

With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.

Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.

Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.

Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.

He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.

The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.

Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.

He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.

George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.

Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.

In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.

St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.

ON DECK

Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.

The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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