Sports

Maple Leafs head into all-star break on a wave of boos, jeers and ridicule after thumping by Blackhawks

Published

5 years ago

January 19, 2020

The Toronto Maple Leafs headed into the all-star break on Saturday night amid boos and jeers and ridicule. It is not the way any team with postseason aspirations wants to enter its bye week.

Toronto played dreadfully in a 6-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, and the crowd assembled at Scotiabank Arena voiced its dislike. Catcalls accompanied the players as they filed down the tunnel during the intermissions. In the second period, when Frederik Andersen stopped an easy shot, the crowd cheered to mock him.

Until then, shots had bounced off, and gone around and through the Maple Leafs goaltender, who has not looked like one of the National Hockey League’s elite netminders for weeks. He was credited with 28 saves, but most came when the outcome was already decided.

“I think it’s time now for everyone here to look in the mirror, myself included,” Andersen said. “It’s not a time to point fingers or anything like that.

“[We have] to use this week to reflect, and make sure we come with more intensity and more purpose after the break.”

Toronto lost two of three games last week and has only one victory in its past six. Thanks to this clunker, it no longer holds down a playoff position.

It took Drake Caggiula 21 seconds to score the Blackhawks’ first goal and they led 3-0 after 20 minutes.

“I didn’t have that vibe going into it, but clearly from the drop of the puck we just didn’t have a lot of life,” said Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe. “Then we’re down, we’re down early and it’s a tough game.

“It’s frustrating. I think when you go through these types of things … it’s a sign of where you are and that you’re not where you want to be. We’re not performing or playing with any level of discipline or consistency. We were an immature team here today.”

Afterward, players exhibited the same hangdog look as when they stumbled out of the gate to start the season. They talked about a lack of attention to details and being unprepared to play. They seemed puzzled by their lack of energy and ineptitude.

That is a bad sign 49 games into an 82-game regular season.

“We were sloppy and we missed assignments, and were careless with the puck,” John Tavares, the team captain, said. “It put us behind and gave [the Blackhawks] a lot of confidence, and got them feeling good about themselves. We were not good enough.

“It is not a good feeling. We have to dig down and ask ourselves where we want to get to.”

Toronto has won 12 of 25 games at home. It is playing without its top defenceman, Morgan Rielly, and one of its next best in Jake Muzzin. The latter’s broken foot may be healed well enough for him to be back in the lineup when regular-season games resume on Jan. 27.

The Maple Leafs begin the grind toward April with road games in Nashville and Dallas. They don’t play at home again until the Ottawa Senators visit on Feb. 1.

After a poor start to the season, they regained ground and seemingly were on the right path. It is hard to say that with certainty now.

As per usual on Saturday, they were outhit and had more shots blocked by an opponent than they did themselves. They were outworked and Andersen failed to come up with a big save when it was needed.

Teammates go out of their way not to criticize him and blame themselves instead for his erratic play. That does not make it any less disconcerting. Forty-two shots have made it past him in the past dozen games. His save percentage has fallen to .909, the lowest of his career.

Andersen is on his way to the all-star game proceedings with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. There is not a lot of criticism that can be directed at them. Matthews leads the team with 34 goals and 57 points. Marner, who missed 11 games with an ankle injury, has 47 points.

While the all-stars are in St. Louis, the remaining players will be resting and girding themselves for the gruelling task of securing a spot in the playoffs. By no means is it guaranteed, and that would be a terrible disappointment for this team.

“I think we just hit the reset button and have a nice week to rest and recharge,” Matthews said Saturday night. “Hopefully guys that have been out with injury can get themselves back and ready to play, but there’s really no excuse for how we played tonight.

“It doesn’t really matter who we’re missing or what guys are out. The way we played wasn’t really good enough. I don’t really know what else to say.”

That has been said too many times this season.

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Sports

Sports betting roundup: NFL and college football were all about the favourites

Published

15 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

The past weekend of football was all about the favourites.

The favoured teams went 13-1 straight up and 10-4 against the spread in the NFL. In college football, the three most teams bet at the BetMGM Sportsbook in terms of number of bets and money all won and covered. All three were favourites.

Trends of the Week

The three most bet college teams that won and covered on Saturday were Ohio State (-3.5) vs. Penn State, Indiana (-7.5) at Michigan State and Oregon (-14.5) at Michigan. Penn State has now lost seven straight home games as underdogs. The Nittany Lions were up 10-0 in the first quarter and were 3.5-point favourites at the time. The Buckeyes won 17-10.

In the NFL, the three most bet teams in terms of number of bets and money were the Washington Commanders (-4) at the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions (-2.5) at the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills (-6) vs. the Miami Dolphins. All three teams won, but only two of the three covered the spread as Buffalo beat Miami 30-27.

When it came to the players with the most bets to score a touchdown on Sunday, only two of the five reached the end zone — Chase Brown (-125) and Taysom Hill (+185). David Montgomery (-140), Brian Robinson Jr. (+110) and AJ Barner (+500) did not score.

Upsets of the Week

The biggest upset in the NFL was the Carolina Panthers coming from behind to beat the New Orleans Saints 23-22. New Orleans closed as a 7-point favourite and took in 76% of the bets and 79% of the money in against-the-spread betting. The Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen following the loss. They have now lost seven straight games after starting the year 2-0.

Arguably the biggest upset in college football was South Carolina beating No. 10 Texas A&M 44-20 at home. Texas A&M closed as a 2.5-point favourite and took in 59% of the bets and 58% of the money.

Coming up

Right after the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees to win the World Series, odds for the 2025 World Series were released.

The Dodgers have the best odds at +400, while the Atlanta Braves and Yankees are next at +800.

The Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies round out the top five, both at +1100.

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This column was provided to The Associated Press by BetMGM online sportsbook.

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AP sports:

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Sports

Longtime rivals Ovechkin, Crosby join Necas as NHL’s three stars of the week

Published

15 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

NEW YORK – Washington Capitals left-wing Alex Ovechkin, Carolina Hurricanes centre Martin Necas and Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby have been named the NHL’s three stars of the week.

Ovechkin had a league-leading five goals and nine points in four games.

The 39-year-old Capitals captain has 14 points in 11 games this season, and his 860 career goals are just 34 shy of Wayne Gretzky’s record.

Necas shared the league lead with nine points (three goals, six assists) in three games.

Crosby factored on seven of the Penguins’ eight total goals scoring four goals and adding three assists in three appearances. The 37-year-old Penguins captain leads his team with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 13 games this season.

Crosby and Ovechkin, longtime rivals since entering the league together in 2005-06, will meet for the 70th time in the regular season and 95th time overall when Pittsburgh visits Washington on Friday.

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

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Oliveira, Mitchell named as finalists for CFL outstanding player award

Published

5 days ago

October 31, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Running back Brady Oliveira of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell are the finalists for the CFL’s outstanding player award.

Oliveira led the CFL in rushing this season with 1,353 yards while Mitchell was the league leader in passing yards (5,451) and touchdowns (32).

Oliveira is also the West Division finalist for the CFL’s top Canadian award, the second straight year he’s been nominated for both.

Oliveira was the CFL’s outstanding Canadian in 2023 and the runner-up to Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for outstanding player.

Defensive lineman Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund of the Montreal Alouettes is the East Division’s top Canadian nominee.

Voting for the awards is conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada and the nine CFL head coaches.

The other award finalists include: defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr. of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal linebacker Tyrice Beverette (outstanding defensive player); Saskatchewan’s Logan Ferland and Toronto’s Ryan Hunter (outstanding lineman); B.C. Lions kicker Sean Whyte and Toronto returner Janarion Grant (special teams); and Edmonton Elks linebacker Nick Anderson and Hamilton receiver Shemar Bridges (outstanding rookie).

The coach of the year finalists are Saskatchewan’s Corey Mace and Montreal’s Jason Maas.

The CFL will honour its top individual performers Nov. 14 in Vancouver.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31.

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