TSN Toronto Reporter Mark Masters reports on the Maple Leafs, who practised at the Ford Performance Centre on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday night’s 2020-21 season opener against the Montreal Canadiens.
Auston Matthews is one of only four players in National Hockey League history to begin his career by scoring in his team’s season-opening game four straight times.
“He comes in extremely well prepared and comes out of the gates hot,” observed teammate John Tavares. “He expects a lot out of himself, wants to be a great player in this league and is such a driving force for us.”
Dit Clapper (1927-28 to 1930-31), Dave Andreychuk (1982-83 to 1985-86) and Sergei Fedorov (1990-91 to 1993-94) failed to score in their fifth season-opening game so Matthews has a chance to own the record by himself should he get on the board against Carey Price and the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night.
Matthews, who has scored 12 goals in 14 career games against the Habs, spent the off-season slimming down. He weighed in at 211 pounds at training camp after finishing last year at 224. The Athletic’s James Mirtle reports that Matthews linked up with trainer Ian Mack, who also works with Patrick Kane, to see how he could add some more flexibility and agility to his game.
“I’m really happy with how the off-season went,” Matthews said after Tuesday’s practice. “I’ve been feeling really good on the ice, feeling really good off the ice and just trying to manage that and make sure every day I’m ready to come to the rink and prepare myself to play.”
As part of the new off-season routine, Matthews changed his diet although he insists it was “nothing too crazy.”
“He continues to fine tune his game whether it’s on the ice or off it,” marvelled Tavares. “He’s continuing to find ways to improve, it’s hard to believe. The sky’s the limit for him.”
Matthews scored 47 goals in 70 games last season, finishing one behind Washington’s Alex Ovechkin and Boston’s David Pastrnak for tops in the league. So, the Rocket Richard Trophy is certainly within reach for the 6-foot-3 centre, but teammates and coach Sheldon Keefe seem more enthused by how Matthews has developed his defensive game.
“I enjoy seeing what he does in the other end, but this year he wants to take another step and improve and play both ends as good as possible,” said goalie Frederik Andersen.
It was last March, just before the pandemic pause, that team president Brendan Shanahan set a high bar for Matthews calling him “one of those rare players who has the ability to lead a league in scoring and also be its best defensive player.”
In a media session on Tuesday, Shanahan highlighted the 23-year-old’s determination to become a two-way force.
“He’s taken a real interest in becoming, as they say, a 200-foot player, a complete player that is the kind of player you can put on in any situation. I like the fact we’re introducing or Sheldon is introducing penalty killing to his game. It’s a great message to your team that your best players are not only expected to score goals, but defend as well.”
Auston Matthews entered Maple Leafs camp a little lighter this year and the sniper says he’s feeling good after a very productive offseason. His teammates admit Matthews always looks good entering camp and this year was no different.
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The Leafs allowed 3.17 goals per game last season, which ranked 26th in the league, so playing better defensively is key if the group is going to take a step forward.
“With the pieces we’ve brought in, I feel we checked some boxes to get a little harder on the back end and keeping guys away from our net,” said veteran defenceman Jake Muzzin.
General manager Kyle Dubas bolstered Toronto’s blueline by bringing in TJ Brodie and Zach Bogosian, fresh off a Stanley Cup win with Tampa Bay, via free agency.
The front of the net will be a focal point in Wednesday’s showdown with a Canadiens team that has added Joel Edmundson and Alexander Romanov to an already impressive defensive core.
“They have a big top four, which is going to be a challenge for us to get to the net and work around that,” Muzzin added.
Keefe pointed out that Montreal was already strong at protecting the house last season.
“Even without the additions they’ve made, no team won the net-fronts as well as Montreal did in terms of keeping people away from their net and controlling rebound situations and winning rebounds and getting loose pucks at the opposition’s net,” Keefe said. “We think we have beefed up as well if you look at some of our additions. We are a bigger, stronger team at the same time. I think we are well suited to adapt to however the games are going to go.”
With no pre-season games, Muzzin admits it may take time to get Keefe’s structure and system down pat, especially with several new faces in key roles, but other teams are in the same boat. There will be no excuses, especially after how last year played out.
“We’re going to have to play hard,” said Muzzin. “I mean, there’s going to be a lot of tough stretches, a lot of tough games and we’re going to need to dig in as a group. We’re going to need everyone and we’re going to need everyone to battle every night. It’s going to be a tough season, playing teams a lot, seeing a lot of familiar faces, and we’re going to be able to adjust and be flexible.”
Shanahan hoping new ‘elements’ can take Leafs to the next level
Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan talks about the new pieces they’ve added and different approaches they’re bringing to this season and why he’s hopeful it will take them to the next level. He explains what went into their offseason acquisitions and his hopes for this shortened NHL season.
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The Leafs will also be counting on a bounce-back season from Andersen, who finished with a .909 save percentage last year. In an interview in November, Keefe outlined the reasons why he believes the goalie will be better.
“First thing is just that he’s a very good goaltender,” Keefe told TSN. “He’s established himself among the top goalies in the NHL and we really believe in him. We believe we have a part to play in front of him and can do a much better job, from coaching staff right on through the players. We think we’ll get better there and that’s going to help give him that support. Of course, having the additional depth around him that we’ve added to with Jack Campbell and Aaron Dell as well, that’s going to help. But then, the big thing is, I know he’s motivated to have that bounce back. He knows he’s capable of more.”
Andersen, who is playing in the final year of his contract, was asked what constitutes a successful regular season for him.
“That’s a good question,” he said. “It’s something I don’t care about right now. The only focus is what’s at hand right now. Staying in the moment is my only goal right now. All these other questions are really just distractions.”
The task at hand is a date with the Canadiens, who won all three games against the Leafs last season. However, on all three occasions Toronto was playing on consecutive nights so Andersen actually didn’t see Montreal last year.
Andersen is 6-0-1 in the last three seasons against the Canadiens, with the only loss coming in a meaningless regular-season finale at the end of the 2018-19 campaign.
Andersen focused on ‘staying in the moment’
Frederik Andersen was asked what a successful season would look like to him, but the Leafs’ goaltender says that’s not part of his focus right now, as he’s trying to stay in the moment and focus on their first game against the Canadiens.
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Tavares was more forthcoming than Andersen when asked what a successful season looks like for him.
“I want to play at an elite level,” the Leafs captain said. “I want to be an elite player so being very consistent in all areas of the game and contributing in many different ways. I want to be very difficult to play against and make the people around me better.”
Tavares lamented the fact that his game was a bit up and down last year, which was also an issue that hampered the team.
“Through my first two years we’ve had some tremendous stretches of hockey,” Tavares said. “We’ve been tops across the league in terms of points earned, points percentage and many categories statistically, but our ability to sustain that and be able to win the division and win home-ice advantage, we haven’t been able to accomplish that.”
Tavares echoed the sentiments of Muzzin, suggesting the Leafs need to be tougher to play against and maintain a higher baseline performance level.
“The division is extremely competitive,” Tavares said. “It’s going to be a battle every day so it’s about finding ways to adapt and be consistent in how we handle adversity.”
The Leafs will join the six other Canadian clubs in the North Division this season.
“It’s a tough division,” said Matthews, “a lot of really good teams, a lot of teams that maybe last year wasn’t their best year, but they picked up a lot of really good pieces and made a lot of improvements.”
Tavares on 2021 goal: ‘I want to be an elite player’
John Tavares says his goal for this shortened season is to be an elite player. He feels consistency has been an issue for himself and the Leafs over the last few seasons and is hoping they can keep their strong play constant throughout the year.
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
PITTSBURGH – Sidney Crosby plans to remain a Pittsburgh Penguin for at least three more years.
The Penguins announced on Monday that they re-signed the 37-year-old from Cole Harbour, N.S., to a two-year contract extension that has an average annual value of US$8.7 million. The deal runs through the 2026-27 season.
Crosby was eligible to sign an extension on July 1 with him entering the final season of a 12-year, $104.4-million deal that carries an $8.7-million salary cap hit.
At the NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas last Monday, he said things were positive and he was optimistic about a deal getting done.
The three-time Stanley Cup champion is coming off a 42-goal, 94-point campaign that saw him finish tied for 12th in the league scoring race.
Crosby has spent all 19 of his NHL seasons in Pittsburgh, amassing 592 goals and 1,004 assists in 1,272 career games.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Tadej Pogacar was so dominant on Sunday, Canada’s Michael Woods called it a race for second.
Pogacar, a three-time Tour de France champion from Slovenia, pedalled to a resounding victory at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal.
The UAE Team Emirates leader crossed the finish line 24 seconds ahead of Spain’s Pello Bilbao of Bahrain — Victorious to win the demanding 209.1-kilometre race on a sunny, 28 C day in Montreal. France’s Julian Alaphilippe of Soudal Quick-Step was third.
“He’s the greatest rider of all time, he’s a formidable opponent,” said Woods, who finished 45 seconds behind the leader in eighth. “If you’re not at your very, very best, then you can forget racing with him, and today was kind of representative of that.
“He’s at such a different level that if you follow him, it can be lights out.”
Pogacar slowed down before the last turn to celebrate with the crowd, high-five fans on Avenue du Parc and cruise past the finish line with his arms in the air after more than five hours on the bike.
The 25-year-old joined Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet as the only multi-time winners in Montreal after claiming the race in 2022. He also redeemed a seventh-place finish at the Quebec City Grand Prix on Friday.
“I was disappointed, because I had such good legs that I didn’t do better than seventh,” Pogacar said. “To bounce back after seventh to victory here, it’s just an incredible feeling.”
It’s Pogacar’s latest win in a dominant year that includes victories at the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia.
Ottawa’s Woods (Israel Premier-Tech) tied a career-best in front of the home crowd in Montreal, but hoped for more after claiming a stage at the Spanish Vuelta two weeks ago.
“I wanted a better result,” the 37-year-old rider said. “My goal was a podium, but at the same time I’m happy with the performance. In bike racing, you can’t always get the result you want and I felt like I raced really well, I animated the race, I felt like I was up there.”
Pogacar completed the 17 climbs up and down Mount Royal near downtown in five hours 28 minutes 15 seconds.
He made his move with 23.3 kilometres to go, leaving the peloton in his dust as he pedalled into the lead — one he never relinquished.
Bilbao, Alaphilippe, Alex Aranburu (Movistar Team) and Bart Lemmen (Visma–Lease) chased in a group behind him, with Bilbao ultimately separating himself from the pack. But he never came close to catching Pogacar, who built a 35-second lead with one lap left to go.
“It was still a really hard race today, but the team was on point,” Pogacar said. “We did really how we planned, and the race situation was good for us. We make it hard in the last final laps, and they set me up for a (takeover) two laps to go, and it was all perfect.”
Ottawa’s Derek Gee, who placed ninth in this year’s Tour de France, finished 48th in Montreal, and called it a “hard day” in the heat.
“I think everyone knows when you see Tadej on the start line that it’s just going to be full gas,” Gee said.
Israel Premier-Tech teammate Hugo Houle of Sainte-Perpétue, Que., was 51st.
Houle said he heard Pogacar inform his teammates on the radio that he was ready to attack with two laps left in the race.
“I said then, well, clearly it’s over for me,” Houle said. “You see, cycling isn’t that complicated.”
Australia’s Michael Matthews won the Quebec City GP for a record third time on Friday, but did not finish in Montreal. The two races are the only North American events on the UCI World Tour.
Michael Leonard of Oakville, Ont., and Gil Gelders and Dries De Bondt of Belgium broke away from the peloton during the second lap. Leonard led the majority of the race before losing pace with 45 kilometres to go.
Only 89 of 169 riders from 24 teams — including the Canadian national team — completed the gruelling race that features 4,573 metres in total altitude.
Next up, the riders will head to the world championships in Zurich, Switzerland from Sept. 21 to 29.
Pogacar will try to join Eddy Merckx (1974) and Stephen Roche (1987) as the only men to win three major titles in a season — known as the Triple Crown.
“Today gave me a lot of confidence, motivation,” Pogacar said. “I think we are ready for world championships.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2024.
