TORONTO – To understand what it means to the Toronto Maple Leafs that Jason Spezza picked a fight, chucked his gloves and started throwing rights at Dean Kukan’s face with the season looking lost Friday night, you should know a few things.
You should know that Spezza, 37, grew up a Leafs fan in this city and that he agreed to skate minimal minutes here for the lowest amount of money the club could legally agree to pay him.
You should know that already this week he’s watched some of his ring-chasing contemporaries, like Henrik Lundqvist and Patrick Marleau, get kicked out of the Eastern Conference bubble with, quite literally, no fanfare.
And you should know that he has four daughters aged 10 and under: Sophia, Nicola, Anna and Julia. Sometimes he reads them children’s books authored by Zach Hyman.
When Spezza kissed his girls goodbye and moved into a hotel so close yet so impenetrably far away in order to play “road” games like Game 4’s 4-3 stunner over Columbus, they understood why their father would be FaceTime-only for two months, best-case scenario.
“They know Daddy’s got a dream,” Spezza said. “Trying to win a Stanley Cup as a Maple Leaf is something I dreamed of as a kid.”
This isn’t sacrifice. This is choice. This is opportunity, perhaps one last.
So, it wasn’t that Spezza got caught up in the emotions of Elimination Night that he fought for just the seventh time in an NHL career that spans 1,207 games. It was that — after watching the Maple Leafs give up six unanswered goals in the series — he was trying to inject some emotions.
No way the young guys who affectionately nicknamed him “Vintage” and picked his brain for face-off tips could possibly feel as desperate as the old fourth-liner with no job security for 2020-21. But he could help them come close.
“Just trying to spark the guys,” Spezza explained of the five-minute major, which drew a chorus of stick slaps from the bench. “Just trying to show some desperation and have some pushback. Without the crowd, you don’t have that. Just trying to create some emotion and play the role that I’m in. Trying to get everyone going.”
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Hey, maybe the Maple Leafs’ all-stars wouldn’t have thrown down their historic three-goal, three-minute, goalie-pulled comeback without Spezza’s calculated bit of barbarianism. We’ll never know.
We do know the effort of Spezza’s fourth line — which topped all units by generating 78.57 per cent of shot attempts 5-on-5 — made a tangible impact in the most important game of the year.
“Jason Spezza just did not want our season to end today. He played with that level of urgency. You see the fight. That’s playoff hockey,” said coach Sheldon Keefe, unprompted.
“That’s a guy not wanting to go down — literally — without a fight.”
Hyman, who slammed the tying goal with 22 seconds left in regulation, recently revealed that he and his new bride are going to have a baby this winter. The winger said he wouldn’t hesitate to call “Spezz” in the middle of the night for parenting tips.
Seeing that fight meant something to Hyman. Spezza got the boys going. Somehow, with less time on the clock, the group’s belief in a comeback was better in the second intermission than the first.
“He wants it more than anybody,” Hyman said. “He was a first-line player throughout his career, an all-star, Hall of Famer — and now he’s playing on the fourth line and he’s willing to drop the gloves and give our team momentum when we’re down.
“He’s a real leader on our team, and he’s a huge part of our team. We all love him.”
Game 4 was Spezza embracing his new role — critical bit player in the Leafs’ 19-act drama — to an extent that seemed almost impossible in October.
To think: Spezza was healthy-scratched on Opening Night against Ottawa because former coach Mike Babcock believed he wasn’t really interested in being a fourth-liner. As Toronto’s roller-coaster season clattered and dipped, Spezza was at risk of being waived due to a salary-cap crunch.
Yet some well-spaced forward injuries kept his dream on life support, and a coaching change secured more ice time. Do you believe fate?
As Keefe has tinkered with his fourth unit in this series, benching Frederik Gauthier and Pierre Engvall for games, Spezza’s presence has been steady, valued.
Spezza has gone out of his way to chat with quiet 18-year-old Nick Robertson, closer to Sophia’s age than his, because he remembers what it’s like being an OHL phenom wedged into an NHL playoff roster and just yearning to belong. This week he’s ditched the game-day suit and tried to embrace the young Leafs’ fashion-forward attire.
Now that he’s found a niche, he doesn’t want to crawl out.
“This is a time when experience really pays off. You can be calm in pressure-packed situations, and I’ve always had good playoff performances,” Spezza said. “This is kind of what you envision — being a piece of a good team and having to be a leader.”
What you don’t envision is three straight 6-on-5 goals, an overtime win and being on the fun side of an 0-3 comeback 21 hours after being on the wrong side of one.
“I’ve never been a part of anything like that,” said Spezza, 17 years deep. “With the firepower we have with these guys, the way they can put the puck in the net, we’re never out of it. There’s a great sense of belief in our group.”
Sophia, Nicola, Anna and Julia couldn’t be there Friday to press their faces to the glass and watch one of the most exhilarating moments of Dad’s career. But the good thing about the bubble? It’s see-through.
“They’ll be watching the games a little more eagerly because they know what has gone into it,” Spezza said.
“That’s what families are for – you lean on each other in difficult times.”
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.
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.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
