Sports

Maple Leafs not focused on coach Keefe job security

Published

2 years ago

November 1, 2022

TORONTO — The Toronto Maple Leafs are only focused on improving, not coach Sheldon Keefe’s job security.

“We’re out there trying to win games, that’s all we are thinking about,” defenseman Morgan Rielly said at practice Tuesday.

After a 1-2-2 road trip that ended with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday, when they gave up a 3-1 third-period lead, the Maple Leafs will play eight of their next 10 games at home beginning against the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; SN1, TVAS, NBCSP+, ESPN+, SN NOW).

Despite high expectations, Toronto (4-4-2) has started slowly through 10 games, including regulation losses to the Montreal Canadiens, Arizona Coyotes and Vegas Golden Knights, and overtime losses to the San Jose Sharks and Ducks — all teams that did not qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season.

As for any suggestions that Keefe’s job is in jeopardy, the players do not agree.

“We’re a hockey team that wants to win games,” forward Mitchell Marner said. “Keefe has done an unbelievable job with this team when he’s come in and done what he’s done. If you look at our numbers, we’ve really improved on a lot of things and he’s done an amazing job here. It’s been a lot of fun to play for him. For us, it’s just making sure it starts with our effort, accountability and once we get those two things going, I think we are really going to be moving in the right direction.”

Marner was held publicly accountable by Keefe during the loss Sunday, being benched for a shift after committing two turnovers that led directly to Anaheim goals. He left the bench during a stoppage in play to take out his frustration, but said his discontent stemmed from his poor play, not the benching.

“I take a lot of accountability in myself, and [Keefe] does with everyone here in this locker room,” Marner said. “It doesn’t matter who you are, you have to show every player is accountable regardless, and I’ve got no problem with that at all.”

Keefe is 120-54-21 in 195 games across four seasons since replacing Mike Babcock as Toronto coach Nov. 20, 2019, and the Maple Leafs have lost all three of their playoff series during his tenure. He said he’s not focusing on the mounting pressure.

“My focus solely is just to get our team to play better,” Keefe said. “I think an area we can improve on the most is how connected we are, how we execute coming out of our zone and getting through the neutral zone and just getting on the attack from there.”

The Maple Leafs are built around offensive prowess but ranked 27th in the NHL in goals per game (2.70) entering Tuesday, having scored more than three in a game once. Toronto ranked second with an average of 3.80 goals per game last season, when it went 2-4-1 in its first seven games, then won five straight on the way to finishing second in the Atlantic Division (54-21-7).

Captain John Tavares agreed with Keefe that the path toward improvement offensively starts in the defensive zone.

“We look at the way we are breaking the puck out and just trying to be more efficient there,” Tavares said. “Open up our speed and our ability to get on the attack and on the forecheck and hopefully connect all three zones together.”

Though the players admitted they can sense the frustration among a fan base eager to see the Maple Leafs have success, center Auston Matthews said the fans are not alone in those feelings.

“I think we’re frustrated too,” Matthews said. “I think it’s not a one-way street. We want to be better, win games and play to our capabilities. … We expect a lot from each other.”

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Canada to face three-time champion Germany in Davis Cup quarterfinals

Published

2 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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Canadian men climb two places to No. 38 in latest FIFA world rankings

Published

2 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

—

Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform, formerly known as Twitter

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024

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Carolina Panthers’ early-season struggles not surprising to Proline players

Published

2 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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