TORONTO – Morgan Rielly flashed a wry smile to reporters Saturday when discussing his rather humbling interactions with the excited kids invited to the Toronto Maple Leafs’ annual Easter Seals skate.
“I got some interesting questions. Mostly about when I’m going to score,” Rielly revealed to the scrum. “Harder-hitting questions than you guys ask sometimes.”
So… what did you tell the children? When are you going to score?
“Tomorrow night, obviously,” Rielly deadpanned.
Maple Leafs celebrate Tavares’ 1,000th career game with a strong win over Capitals
While the Leafs’ No. 1 defenceman might not be prolific this season, he is certainly prophetic.
“Yes,” Rielly admits, the big doughnut to the immediate right of his games-played column had been weighing on his mind.
Even if, as coach Sheldon Keefe and several teammates note, you wouldn’t know it from his attitude, interactions, and body language around club headquarters.
But how could it not be stressing the onetime 20-goal man out?
Rielly’s 35-game drought coincided neatly with the start of his juicy new, eight-year, $60-million contract. He had racked up more assists (21) than any other goal-less NHLer, and yet his first 68 shots on net were all turned away.
Well, 69 did the trick.
On Sunday, true to prediction, Rielly pounced on a puck whacked into the slot from a forechecking Michael Bunting, snapping the thing clean and high past Washington Capitals netminder Darcy Kuemper for what would stand as the winner.
Maple Leafs’ Rielly buries loose puck top shelf to score first goal of season.
“Just relief,” Rielly exclaimed of the feeling as he extended both arms higher than a crossbar and looked to the heavens before getting swallowed by all the eager hockey hugs.
“The guys were excited on the bench,” Keefe said. “Mo’s an important player for our team. So for him that have a bit of a relief there, I think, it’s felt throughout the team.”
Ilya Samsonov perked up when asked about Rielly: “Oooh, I’m so happy for him. I waiting for this one. You know, in the practice, he’s shooting so hard.
“This goal will get confidence for him.”
Rielly’s relief was but one cause for the celebration Sunday, which marked the 1,000th game of hometown captain John Tavares’s tremendous career.
Maple Leaf’s honour Tavares for 1000th career game with pre-game ceremony
Toronto allowed the evening’s first goal, a Nicklas Backstrom power-play marker in the first period, only to come stomping back with four unanswered in a dominant second frame and chase Kuemper from the paint midway through its efficient 5-1 beatdown of Washington.
The Caps — champions five years ago and still clinging to the postseason race — looked sluggish and overwhelmed by comparison.
“They’re high octane,” said Washington coach Peter Laviolette, motioning down the hall.
One of the Leafs’ smoothest engines is Tavares, who is humming once again at an 80-point pace and chipped in with a pair of assists on his big night.
The captain estimated he had more friends and family members in attendance to support him Sunday than at any other game in his storied career.
He thanked the Maple Leafs and Islanders for believing in him; his wife, Aryne and their two young sons, Jace and Axton (who were also gifted size-appropriate silver sticks) for their sacrifices; and his parents, Joe and Barbara, for doing everything possible so he could chase his passion.
“It’s a tremendous honour. Just hard to put into words. Not gonna lie. Just have a lot of gratitude,” Tavares said. “You love to play this game as a kid. You dream about playing in the NHL. To think that you get to do it for a thousandth time is pretty remarkable. You don’t take that for granted.”
‘Great night all around’: Maple Leafs’ Tavares gives thanks after 1000th career game.
Just as Rielly won’t take his next goal for granted.
“Felt good. Got some good karma yesterday from Easter Seals. I was out there with those guys a lot and smiling, so I think that’s what it was,” Rielly figured.
Plus, he promised the children.
“I wouldn’t call it a promise,” Rielly downplayed.
“It was more of a hopeful guess.”
Fox’s Fast 5
• What about Bunting? What sorts of questions did the Easter Seals youngsters have for him?
“I had a lot of kids asking me to chirp them.”
• If — hypothetically speaking! — the Maple Leafs were to buyout the final season of Matt Murray’s contract, he’d only cost them $687,500 against the cap in 2023-24.
He’d also cost a $2 million against the cap in 2024-25. However, the ceiling is expected to make a significant jump by then.
• Pretty cool to see Nicklas Backstrom score his first goal since his drastic off-season hip-resurfacing surgery.
“This was kind of like the last resort. Unproven technology, I want to say, for sports,” Backstrom told reporters during a lengthy rehabilitation that had some doubting whether he’d play again.
“I had to do it because I had no other choice. It’s either that or I’ll skate on one leg again.”
Ryan Kesler underwent the same procedure on his hips and never played again.
• T.J. Brodie had not missed a single game as a Maple Leaf until this season, when he’s been sidelined twice.
Making his return after three weeks on the shelf, Brodie said that “an elbow or a butt end” damaged his rib and that the mental aspect of missing time with these injuries has been more difficult that the physical part.
• Outside of John Carlson, the Capitals don’t have a single NHL defenceman signed beyond this July.
Minute-munchers Dmitry Orlov, Nick Jensen, Trevor van Riemsdyk, and Erik Gustafsson are all impending UFAs.
Will be interesting to see whom GM Brian McLellan can afford to keep.
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.
