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Maple Leafs coach has no doubts team will fight back

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Sheldon Keefe’s tone when he spoke to media on Friday was a far cry from the one he had less than 24 hours prior.

The Toronto Maple Leafs head coach wore a blank expression with little to say in a very brief post-game press conference after his team’s 3-2 loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday in Game 2 of their second-round playoff series.

With Toronto staring at an 0-2 deficit going on the road for the next two games, Keefe said his team isn’t lacking confidence in making it a series when the teams meet for Game 3 on Sunday.

“Certainly don’t have any doubts in our group,” he told reporters via Zoom. “Obviously there’s things that we need to do better and would’ve liked to have handled better in the two games that we played here but those are in the past.

“We’ve got an opportunity to go out on the road where we’re comfortable and became comfortable and confident based on the results of our last series. That said, it doesn’t make it any easier.”

Toronto dropped the series opener 4-2, surrendering two goals after tying the game at 2-2.

In Game 2, the Leafs opened with an early 2-0 lead and took a one-goal edge into the second period. But two goals across a 47-second span early in the middle frame allowed the Panthers to go ahead, and Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky continuously turned away Toronto’s tying chances.

Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov (35) watches the last minutes of the game from the bench pulled for the extra skater against the Florida Panthers during third period NHL second round playoff hockey action in Toronto on Thursday May 4, 2023. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn)

The Leafs are now 1-4 at home in the post-season and 3-0 on the road.

“Wish I had the answer for it. I think if we did, we’d be in a better position,” said forward Ryan O’Reilly on Thursday when asked about the team’s home performances. “I think we’re all obviously disappointed to be down 2-0 is not what we want.

“It’s a long series, there’s a lot of hockey left and we have to keep building our game (and get) better as we go. I’m not worried.”

Toronto opened its first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 7-3 loss before roaring back with three consecutive victories and eventually winning in six games. Three of those wins came on the road in overtime.

Keefe says those battles have helped shape the team’s hardened approach to adversity.

“Our group has been resilient. We saw that hardness that you’re referring to in the last series,” Keefe said. “When we’re down in games, the guys stay with it and keep going and find a way.

“I think it would be a very similar type of mindset and approach.”

The Panthers have found their stride behind Bobrovsky’s efforts and a strong forecheck. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner regained his starting job in Game 4 of their first-round series win over the Boston Bruins, after losing it late in the regular season.

Following a loss in that Game 4, Bobrovsky has led Florida to five straight wins.

“Well there’s always more that we could do, for sure,” Keefe said. “Whether there’s shots in traffic and such to be able to make life harder on him that way (and) continue to do that.

“We have had (a) significant amount of very clean looks where it’s just shooter against goaltender here, far more than we had in the previous series. So we’ve got to find ways to make good on those as well.”

As for the Panthers’ forecheck, Keefe admitted it has caused issues for the Leafs, particularly in Game 2.

“They’re one of the premier forechecking teams in the NHL in the regular season (and) that’s carried forward into the playoffs,” he said. ” ΓǪ The nature of some of our turnovers yesterday put us in some real bad spots and that was what was disappointing because that’s what we’ve been really seeking to avoid, is those big mistakes.

“Florida, with the way that they’re playing and how they forecheck and how they transition, perhaps more importantly, when they get the puck back, it makes it that much more dangerous.”

The Panthers are 5-1 on the road and carry a 1-2 record at home this post-season.

Although ready to feel the energy of their home crowd, head coach Paul Maurice said the feeling among the team wasn’t “rich and royal.”

“At no point in our last nine games have we felt that we’ve dominated the game, where if we just play our game, we should win,” he told reporters Friday via Zoom. “So even with the win, we won’t walk away from the rink last night and say, “Man, we really handed it to those guys.’

“We just scratch and claw.”

The Leafs will have to do the same to keep their post-season run alive.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2023.

 

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Red Wings sign Moritz Seider to 7-year deal worth nearly $60M

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DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.

The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.

Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.

He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.

Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.

Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.

Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.

The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.

Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.

Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.

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Veterans Tyson Beukeboom, Karen Paquin lead Canada’s team at WXV rugby tournament

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Veterans Tyson Beukeboom and Karen Paquin will lead Canada at the WXV 1 women’s rugby tournament starting later this month in the Vancouver area.

WXV 1 includes the top three teams from the Women’s Six Nations (England, France and Ireland) and the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series (Canada, New Zealand, and the United States).

Third-ranked Canada faces No. 4 France, No. 7 Ireland and No. 1 England in the elite division of the three-tiered WXV tournament that runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 12 in Vancouver and Langley, B.C. No. 2 New Zealand and the eighth-ranked U.S. make up the six-team WVX 1 field.

“Our preparation time was short but efficient. This will be a strong team,” Canada coach Kevin Rouet said in a statement. “All the players have worked very hard for the last couple of weeks to prepare for WXV and we are excited for these next three matches and for the chance to play on home soil here in Vancouver against the best rugby teams in the world.

“France, Ireland and England will each challenge us in different ways but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves and another step in our journey to the Rugby World Cup next year.”

Beukeboom serves as captain in the injury absence of Sophie de Goede. The 33-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont., earned her Canadian-record 68th international cap in Canada’s first-ever victory over New Zealand in May at the Pacific Four Series.

Twenty three of the 30 Canadian players selected for WXV 1 were part of that Pacific Four Series squad.

Rouet’s roster includes the uncapped Asia Hogan-Rochester, Caroline Crossley and Rori Wood.

Hogan-Rochester and Crossley were part of the Canadian team that won rugby sevens silver at the Paris Olympics, along with WXV teammates Fancy Bermudez, Olivia Apps, Alysha Corrigan and Taylor Perry. Wood is a veteran of five seasons at UBC.

The 37-year-old Paquin, who has 38 caps for Canada including the 2014 Rugby World Cup, returns to the team for the first time since the 2021 World Cup.

Canada opens the tournament Sept. 29 against France at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver before facing Ireland on Oct. 5 at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, and England on Oct. 12 at B.C. Place.

The second-tier WXV 2 and third-tier WXV 3 are slated to run Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, in South Africa and Dubai, respectively.

WXV 2 features Australia, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales while WXV 3 is made up of Fiji, Hong Kong, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Samoa and Spain.

The tournament has 2025 World Cup qualification implications, although Canada, New Zealand and France, like host England, had already qualified by reaching the semifinals of the last tournament.

Ireland, South Africa, the U.S., Japan, Fiji and Brazil have also booked their ticket, with the final six berths going to the highest-finishing WXV teams who have not yet qualified through regional tournaments.

Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team WXV 1 Squad

Forwards

Alexandria Ellis, Ottawa, Stade Français Paris (France); Brittany Kassil, Guelph, Ont., Guelph Goats; Caroline Crossley, Victoria, Castaway Wanderers; Courtney Holtkamp, Rimbey, Alta., Red Deer Titans Rugby; DaLeaka Menin, Vulcan, Alta., Exeter Chiefs (England); Emily Tuttosi, Souris, Man., Exeter Chiefs (England); Fabiola Forteza, Quebec City, Stade Bordelais (France); Gabrielle Senft, Regina, Saracens (England); Gillian Boag, Calgary, Gloucester-Hartpury (England); Julia Omokhuale, Calgary, Leicester Tigers (England); Karen Paquin, Quebec City, Club de rugby de Quebec; Laetitia Royer, Loretteville, Que., ASM Romagnat (France); McKinley Hunt, King City, Ont., Saracens (England); Pamphinette Buisa, Gatineau, Que., Ottawa Irish; Rori Wood, Sooke, B.C., College Rifles RFC; Sara Cline, Edmonton, Leprechaun Tigers; Tyson Beukeboom, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England);

Backs

Alexandra Tessier, Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, Que., Exeter Chiefs (England); Alysha Corrigan, Charlottetown, P.E.I., CRFC; Asia Hogan-Rochester, Toronto, Toronto Nomads; Claire Gallagher, Caledon, Ont., Leicester Tigers (England); Fancy Bermudez, Edmonton, Saracens (England); Julia Schell, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England); Justine Pelletier, Rivière-du-Loup, Que, Stade Bordelais (France); Mahalia Robinson, Fulford, Que., Town of Mount Royal RFC; Olivia Apps, Lindsay, Ont., Lindsay RFC; Paige Farries, Red Deer, Alta., Saracens (England); Sara Kaljuvee, Ajax, Ont., Westshore RFC; Shoshanah Seumanutafa, White Rock, B.C., Counties Manukau (New Zealand); Taylor Perry, Oakville, Ont., Exeter Chiefs (England).

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.

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Vancouver Canucks star goalie Thatcher Demko working through rare muscle injury

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PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.

The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.

He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.

Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.

He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.

Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.

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

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