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Maple Leafs look to Raptors for a sense of direction

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Maple Leafs look to Raptors

Kyle Dubas, seen here on Feb. 6, 2020, believes there are lessons the Maple Leafs, who have fallen short in postseason the past three years, can learn from that.

Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press

In the joy that followed Toronto’s basketball team capturing its first NBA title, the years of disappointment that preceded it have largely faded from public memory.

There were plenty of questions asked and criticism hurled as the Raptors were eliminated from the playoffs five successive years, three times by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Kyle Dubas believes there are lessons the Maple Leafs, who have fallen short in postseason the past three years, can learn from that.

“I hear a lot, ‘Why can’t they be like the Raptors?’” the general manager of Toronto’s NHL team said last week during a lengthy media scrum at the club’s practice facility. “I think it is a great story for us to tell our players and learn from.

“If you go back three or four years, what we are going through now are similar things to what the Raptors were going through and the questions asked about them.

“[Their victory] was years in the making and I think they have the scars to show it. Once you go through it you can lean on them at times and really develop your identity. It would be great if we could just flip the switch and roll along and reach our potential, but it is never linear like that.”

The Raptors won a team-record 14th consecutive game on Saturday and will likely be among the highest seeds when the NBA playoffs commence in mid-April. The Maple Leafs currently hold one of the postseason slots afforded to the top three teams in the Eastern Conference standings, but are girded for a struggle. Should they fall in the standings, there are three teams with more points battling for the conference’s two wild-card berths.

They came out of the weekend as well as could be expected, beating Anaheim in overtime at home on Friday and losing in extra time to the Canadiens in Montreal on Saturday. They collected three of four points in back-to-back games behind backup goalie Jack Campbell.

They were only 4-6-4 playing back to back this season before that. Campbell stopped 28 of 30 shots and has looked more confident in the net than Michael Hutchinson, who served as Frederik Andersen’s stand-in before he suffered a neck injury a week ago against the Florida Panthers.

Andersen, whose 24 wins is tied for the second-most among all NHL goalies, took some shots at practice on Friday, but was deemed not healthy enough to start. It is unknown whether he will return against the Arizona Coyotes at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday. The Coyotes, who play Monday night in Montreal, have won only three of their past 13 and have fallen off the pace in the tightly bunched Pacific Division.

Toronto continues to play without top defenceman Morgan Rielly, whose broken foot could keep him out to the end of the regular season. Fellow blueliner Cody Ceci hurt an ankle against Florida in the same game as Andersen, and is not expected back for at least a month.

Dubas scoffed when he could have used those injuries, and a multitude of others, as an excuse last week. He pointed out that the Maple Leafs’ 20-9-4 record since Sheldon Keefe took over as head coach ranks in the upper third of the league.

A strong Dallas contingent comes to town on Thursday before Toronto hits the road to play Ottawa, Buffalo and Pittsburgh, and then returns to home ice to play the Penguins again on Feb. 20.

“I think as an organization we have to able to endure and accept that this is a severe test,” Dubas said. “We are not in a great spot, but it is an opportunity for our guys to grow. I don’t fear it; I am excited about it.

“I know there is some consternation about it … but I look at it as one of the best opportunities we have had my whole time. I do have a strong belief in the group and I do think it is capable of great things.”

Dubas has been general manager for two seasons. The team is better now than when he took over, but fans are getting restless. Toronto hasn’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967 and has been ousted from the playoffs in the first round in each of the past three years.

The city’s hockey team is held to a higher standard than the Raptors, but there are similarities when you look at the trajectory of the two clubs, which are both owned by Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.

“One of my favourite parts of working here is the amount that people care. You grow a really strong appreciation for how passionate [they] are in this marketplace. It is an early test for myself and our staff that we have to be patient and keep the long game in mind always.

“It is about being able to go through the crucible and endure that and come out the other side.”

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DeMar DeRozan scores 27 points to lead the Kings past the Raptors 122-107

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points in a record-setting performance and the Sacramento Kings beat the Toronto Raptors 122-107 on Wednesday night.

Domantas Sabonis added 17 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season for Sacramento. He shot 6 for 6 from the field and 5 for 5 at the free-throw line.

Keegan Murray chipped in with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and De’Aaron Fox scored 21.

The 35-year-old DeRozan has scored at least 20 points in each of his first eight games with the Kings, breaking a franchise mark established by Chris Webber when he reached 20 in his first seven games with Sacramento in 1999.

DeRozan spent the past three seasons with the Chicago Bulls. The six-time All-Star also has played for Toronto and San Antonio during his 16-year NBA career.

RJ Barrett had 23 points to lead the Raptors. Davion Mitchell scored 20 in his first game in Sacramento since being traded to Toronto last summer.

Takeaways

Raptors: Toronto led for most of the first three quarters before wilting in the fourth. The Raptors were outscored 33-14 in the final period.

Kings: Fox played strong defense but struggled again shooting from the floor as he is dealing with a finger injury. Fox went 5 for 17 and just 2 of 8 on 3-pointers. He is 5 for 25 from beyond the arc in his last three games.

Key moment

The Kings trailed 95-89 early in the fourth before going on a 9-0 run that gave them the lead for good. DeRozan started the spurt with a jumper, and Malik Monk scored the final seven points.

Key stat

Sabonis had the eighth game in the NBA since at least 1982-83 with a triple-double while missing no shots from the field or foul line. The previous player to do it was Josh Giddey for Oklahoma City against Portland on Jan. 11.

Up next

Raptors: At the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night, the third stop on a five-game trip.

Kings: Host the Clippers on Friday night.

___

AP NBA:

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Whitecaps take confidence, humility into decisive playoff matchup vs. LAFC

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VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps are one win away from moving on to the next round of the Major League Soccer playoffs.

To get there, however, the Whitecaps will need to pull off the improbable by defeating the powerhouse Los Angeles FC for a second straight game.

Vancouver blanked the visitors 3-0 on Sunday to level their best-of-three first-round playoff series at a game apiece. As the matchup shifts back to California for a decisive Game 3 on Friday, the Whitecaps are looking for a repeat performance, said striker Brian White.

“We take the good and the bad from last game, learn from what we could have done better and go to LAFC with confidence and, obviously, with a whole lot of respect,” he said.

“We know that we can go there and give them a very good fight and hopefully come away with a win.”

The winner of Friday’s game will face the No. 4-seed Seattle Sounders in a one-game Western Conference semifinal on Nov. 23 or 24.

The ‘Caps finished the regular season eighth in the west with a 13-13-8 record and have since surprised many with their post-season play.

First, Vancouver trounced its regional rivals, the Portland Timbers, 5-0 in a wild-card game. Then, the squad dropped a tightly contested 2-1 decision to the top-seeded L.A. before posting a decisive home victory on Sunday.

Vancouver has scored seven goals this post-season, second only to the L.A. Galaxy (nine). Vancouver also leads the league in expected goals (6.84) through the playoffs.

No one outside of the club expected the Whitecaps to win when the Vancouver-L. A. series began, said defender Ranko Veselinovic.

“We’ve shown to ourselves that we can compete with them,” he said.

Now in his fifth season with the ‘Caps, Veselinovic said Friday’s game will be the biggest he’s played for the team.

“We haven’t had much success in the playoffs so, definitely, this is the one that can put our season on another level,” he said.

This is the second year in a row the Whitecaps have faced LAFC in the first round of the playoffs and last year, Vancouver was ousted in two straight games.

The team isn’t thinking about revenge as it prepares for Game 3, White said.

“More importantly than (beating LAFC), we want to get to the next round,” he said. “LAFC’s a very good team. We’ve come up against them a number of times in different competitions and they always seem to get the better of us. So it’d be huge for us to get the better of them this time.”

Earning a win last weekend required slowing L.A.’s transition game and limiting offensive opportunities for the team’s big stars, including Denis Bouanga.

Those factors will be important again on Friday, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini, who warned that his team could face a different style of game.

“I think the most important thing is going to be to match their intensity at the beginning of the game,” he said. “Because I think they’re going to come at us a million miles per hour.”

The ‘Caps will once again look to captain Ryan Gauld for some offensive firepower. The Scottish attacking midfielder leads MLS in playoff goals with five and has scored in all three of Vancouver’s post-season appearances this year.

Gearing up for another do-or-die matchup is exciting, Gauld said.

“Knowing it’s a winner-takes-all kind of game, being in that kind of environment is nice,” he said. “It’s when you see the best in players.”

LAFC faces the bulk of the pressure heading into the matchup, Sartini said, given the club’s appearances in the last two MLS Cup finals and its 2022 championship title.

“They’re supposed to win and we are not,” the coach said. “But it’s beautiful to have a little bit of pressure on us, too.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

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PWHL unveils game jerseys with new team names, logos

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TORONTO – The Professional Women’s Hockey League has revealed the jersey designs for its six newly named teams.

Each PWHL team operated under its city name, with players wearing jerseys featuring the league’s logo in its inaugural season before names and logos were announced last month.

The Toronto Sceptres, Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost and New York Sirens will start the PWHL’s second season on Nov. 30 with jerseys designed to reflect each team’s identity and to be sold to the public as replicas.

Led by PWHL vice-president of brand and marketing Kanan Bhatt-Shah, the league consulted Creative Agency Flower Shop to design the jerseys manufactured by Bauer, the PWHL said Thursday in a statement.

“Players and fans alike have been waiting for this moment and we couldn’t be happier with the six unique looks each team will don moving forward,” said PWHL senior vice president of business operations Amy Scheer.

“These jerseys mark the latest evolution in our league’s history, and we can’t wait to see them showcased both on the ice and in the stands.”

Training camps open Tuesday with teams allowed to carry 32 players.

Each team’s 23-player roster, plus three reserves, will be announced Nov. 27.

Each team will play 30 regular-season games, which is six more than the first season.

Minnesota won the first Walter Cup on May 29 by beating Boston three games to two in the championship series.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

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