TORONTO – The great Monty Python taught us to always look on the bright side of life.
So even with the weakest sector of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ roster — their oft-criticized blue line — further damaged by Morgan Rielly’s fractured left foot, and even with no concrete timeline for the No. 1 defenceman’s return, there were tangible positives to be gleaned Tuesday morning at the rink, when the club embarks on a test.
Swinging out of the Maple Leafs dressing room with a Blue Jays cap pulled over his head and a set of crutches affixed to his armpits, the nameplate above his centre stall now replaced with one that reads “RASMUS SANDIN,” Rielly still managed to elicit a chuckle from a crush of media as he recounted his brief chat with the rookie.
The wisdom of six-and-a-half NHL seasons, the ability to log major minutes in all key situations, the type of shot that can snipe 20 from the back end?
“He now has it all,” Rielly quipped.
Gimme the good news first, Doc: The 25-year-old’s deadpan apparently doesn’t need eight weeks to recover.
As personally devastating as the broken foot is to a lead-by-example type who’s never missed more than nine games in a season, Rielly is trying to rationalize the benefits two months of forced rest will do for his other nagging aches, the ones that have prompted him to skip practice and seek opinions and walk uneasily to the bus after a night of hard minutes.
He’s trying to think of how his lost shifts will benefit not only Sandin but also the speedy Travis Dermott and his B.C. pal Tyson Barrie, who now should become the undisputed top driver of offence from the back end.
If everything goes according to plan, Rielly will be healed and fresh and chomping at the bit by the time the playoffs roll around. He could be an emotional and physical boost the way, say, Patrick Kane was to the Blackhawks in 2015 or the Blues are hoping Vladimir Tarasenko is this spring.
“I mean, you can put a spin on it. I’ve been doing that,” Rielly said. “You try to take opportunity to rest and heal other injuries, do what you can to prepare mentally to get back and be in a good place and help the team. That’s the end goal.”
A jolt of excruciating pain told Rielly things weren’t good after he absorbed an Aleksander Barkov shot at close range during Sunday’s blowout loss in Florida and winced and hobbled and skipped his way down the tunnel.
“I saw what happened to Morgan,” said New Jersey Devils defender P.K. Subban. “That’s definitely not on him. That’s just a hockey play, and it’s bad luck. Bad bounce. That’s part of the game — you have to block shots when you have to, and things are going to happen.”
Much like teammate Jake Muzzin during his shot-block injury on Dec. 27, Rielly kept his skate on, tested his stride during a break in play and decided to keep pushing.
“That just shows you what kind of guy he is, the heart that he has. Not a lot of guys will play through a broken foot,” Barrie said. “I know Muzz did too, but…”
As ever, Rielly could be seen downplaying the individual in favour of the group.
“Our whole team would’ve done it. It’s just something you do. It happened. You just play through it and deal with the consequences after. Unfortunately, it’s a little bit more severe than I thought,” said Rielly, his foot held tight in a black cast until, well, no one knows exactly.
He’ll need to wait “a few weeks” before his foot can bear weight, and the timeline for the defenceman’s return is dependent on a sensitive healing process, but he’s encouraged by working with a training and medical staff that will do everything possible to get him back joining the rush.
“As much as everyone thinks that they’re qualified medically to make those calls, I’m certainly not. Just do what you’re told, work hard, try to stay positive,” Rielly said.
“Just part of the journey, I guess. It happens to everyone. I’m not going to be overly dramatic about it.”
No. That would be our job.
Although certainly not insurmountable — hey, the Penguins just posted the NHL’s best record during a nine-and-a-half-week stretch without Sidney Crosby — Rielly’s injury is significant because Muzzin’s return date is still up in the air (he could resume skating as early as Wednesday) and how the rest of the D corps responds to juiced-up minutes in the thick of a tight playoff race is anybody’s guess.
Coach Sheldon Keefe described a “heightened awareness” as his players reported to work Tuesday with knowledge of Rielly’s diagnosis. This, he believes, is a chance to for the Leafs to reflect on where they can get better, a bright occasion to rally as a group.
His offensive-driving, possession-first philosophy won’t waver, but the execution but improve.
“The elite teams in the league don’t get fazed by these types of situations, and we want to be an elite team,” Keefe said. “We believe we are an elite team and have the ability to take big steps as a group, so it’s a really good opportunity for us.”
No Muzzin and, now, no Rielly.
Is this blue line actually good enough to get the job done?
LONDON – Canada will meet three-time champion Germany in the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Malaga, Spain this November.
Canada secured a berth in the quarterfinals — also called The Final 8 Knockout Stage — with a 2-1 win over Britain last weekend in Manchester, England.
World No. 21 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal anchored a five-player squad that included Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., Gabriel Diallo of Montreal, Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., and Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C.
The eight-team draw for the quarterfinals was completed Thursday at International Tennis Federation headquarters.
Defending champion Italy will play Argentina, the United States will meet Australia and Spain will take on the Netherlands. Schedule specifics have yet to be released but the Final 8 will be played Nov. 19-24.
Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz were unbeaten in doubles play last week to help Germany reach the quarterfinals. The country’s top singles player — second-ranked Alex Zverev — did not play.
The Canadians defeated Germany in the quarterfinals en route to their lone Davis Cup title in 2022. Germany won titles in 1988, ’89 and ’93.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Canada, fuelled by a 2-1 win over the U.S. and scoreless draw with Mexico, has jumped two places to No. 38 in the FIFA men’s world rankings released Thursday.
Of the top six CONCACAF teams, Canada was the only one to move up. Mexico was unchanged at No. 17 while the U.S. and Panama each fell two rungs to No. 18 and 37, respectively
Costa Rica slipped one spot to No. 50 and Jamaica two places to No. 61.
It marks Canada’s highest ranking under coach Jesse Marsch, who was hired in mid-May when the Canadians were ranked 50th. Since then, the team has climbed to No. 49, 48, 40 and now 38.
Canada has been as high as No. 33 in the men’s ranking, achieved in February 2022 under John Herdman with Canada, named the “Most Improved Side” in 2021 by FIFA, turning heads with an unbeaten run in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.
The new rankings encompass 184 internationals involving teams from all six confederations including 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, Oceania and South America.
The top 10 was unchanged with Argentina ahead of France, Spain, England, Brazil, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Colombia and Italy. But the gap at the top is closing with Argentina losing 2-1 away to Colombia and 3-1 at home to Italy.
Teams 10 through 15 were also unchanged. But there was movement after that in the form of Japan (, up two), Iran (No. 19, up one) and Denmark (No. 20, up one). Egypt (No. 31), Ivory Coast (No. 33), Tunisia (No. 36) and Algeria (No. 41) all jumped five places while Greece (No. 48) climbed six spots.
The biggest movers were Brunei Darussalam (No. 183) and Samoa (No. 185), who vaulted seven spots on the back of two wins apiece.
Qatar suffered the biggest drop, tumbling 10 places to No. 44.
San Marino remains at the bottom of the rankings in 210th place despite recording its first victory in more than 20 years, San Marino defeated Liechtenstein 1-0 on Sept. 5, ending a 140-game winless run since a 1-0 decision over the same opponent in April 2004.
Liechtenstein fell four places to No. 203.
Canada’s next match is an Oct. 15 friendly against Panama at Toronto’s BMO Field. The next men’s ranking will be released Oct. 24.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024
It has been a difficult start to the NFL season for quarterback Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers.
Carolina has dropped its opening two games after Sunday’s 26-3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. And Young, the first player taken in the ’23 NFL draft, was 18-of-26 passing for 84 yards with an interception while being sacked twice.
As a result, veteran Andy Dalton will start Sunday when Carolina faces the Las Vegas Raiders (1-1).
According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., the Chargers’ win was the most accurately predicted moneyline selection by Proline bettors. A whopping 92 per cent of wagers were on Los Angeles beating Carolina with 92 per cent also picking the Chargers to cover -4.5.
In other action that went in favour of Proline bettors: Kansas City edged Cincinnati 26-25 (86 per cent correctly selected the Chiefs to win); Houston got past Chicago 19-13 (81 per cent); the New York Jets defeated Tennessee 24-17 (78 per cent); Pittsburgh beat Denver 13-6 (76 per cent), Washington beat the New York Giants 21-18 (73 per cent); and Seattle toppled New England 23-20 (62 per cent).
However, only five per cent of bettors had the Raiders upsetting Baltimore 26-23.
And there was one winner of Proline’s second week main NFL pool of $407,613.
In NFL futures bets after the second week of the season, the odds for offensive player of the year got shorter for running backs Breece Hall (Jets) and Bijan Robinson (Atlanta) and Detroit receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. But they got longer for running backs Kyren Williams (Rams), Christian McCaffrey (San Francisco) and Jonathan Taylor (Colts).
Quarterbacks Bo Nix (Denver), Jayden Daniels (Washington) and Caleb Williams (Chicago) all had their odds for offensive rookie of the year go up while they went down for running back Ray Davis (Buffalo), tight end Brock Bowers (Raiders) and receiver Malik Nabers (Giants).
Quarterbacks Patrick Mahones (Chiefs), Aaron Rodgers (Jets) and Jalen Hurts (Eagles) all had their odds for regular season MVP go up. But quarterbacks Jordan Love (Packers), Lamar Jackson (Baltimore) and Joe Burrow (Cincinnati) all saw theirs go down.
Kansas City, Philadelphia and Houston had their Super Bowl odds increase while Green Bay, Baltimore and Cincinnati all decreased.
Not surprising, the week’s top events were all NFL games. In order, they were; Buffalo-Miami, Chicago-Houston, Cincinnati-KC, Raiders-Ravens; and Saints-Cowboys.
A Proline retail player cashed in a $26,183 winner from a $10 bet on a 12-leg major-league baseball parlay. Another won $24,602 from a $10 wager on a 12-leg NFL parlay.
A third received $1,737 from a $3 bet on a six-leg NFL parlay.
A digital bettor earned $2,927 from a $25 bet on a five-leg NFL parlay while a second had a $704.35 return from a $1 wager on a seven-leg NFL parlay.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
