Team Canada’s staff has been preparing its players for moments like this since the summer camp.
“If you expect to go to the World Juniors and not have adversity, you’re in the wrong tournament,” said head coach Andre Tourigny. “Tampa Bay just won the Stanley Cup without their captain [Steven Stamkos] so it happens. If you want to win you have to go through adversity.
Tourigny has served as an assistant coach at the World Juniors on four occasions, including last year in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
“If you look at last year, we had a suspension, we had injuries, we had sickness, we had controversy and that’s the World Juniors,” Tourigny said. “Since June we talked to our players about adversity and that adversity will happen and we have to be ready.”
Adversity hit Team Canada in a big way this week as captain Kirby Dach, who spent last season with the Chicago Blackhawks, sustained a wrist fracture and will be unable to play in the tournament.
“He’s a guy who brought that pro presence,” said alternate captain Dylan Cozens. “We’ll miss him on the ice. He was the best player in the tournament so it’s a huge hit for us.”
In their first on-ice session since Dach left, Tourigny stopped the proceedings twice early on to demand more focus and urgency.
“Figure it out,” he barked at the assembled players. “We need to be better than that. It’s unacceptable.”
With the lack of games heading into the event, these practice sessions have taken on even greater importance.
“He really just wanted us to go into practice like how we play a game,” said centre Quinton Byfield, “and it doesn’t matter if you’re going against your teammates in a battle you have to compete as hard as the other team and opponents will in the upcoming games. He really got his message across and we picked up our pace.”
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The coaching staff debated what to do with the forward lines in the wake of the injury to Dach. They really liked the line of Connor McMichael between Cole Perfetti and Peyton Krebs, so that trio will remain in tact, but the other units will all have a different look on Boxing Day.
Cozens, who lined up between Jack Quinn and Dach on Wednesday, is shifting to right wing on a line with Dylan Holloway and Alex Newhook.
“Cozens played at the World Juniors for us last year on right wing and was really, really good,” Tourigny explained. “Newhook, throughout his career, has been really good as a centre and he’s way more comfy as a centre than a winger so we wanted to keep that.”
Cozens produced nine points in seven games at the World Juniors last year while playing right wing.
“Both those guys are strong and fast,” noted Cozens of Holloway and Newhook, “their speed will work real well with mine. I played wing before too so it’s nothing I’m worried about.”
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Byfield moved into a top-nine role at practice after starting the pre-tournament game on what projected to be Canada’s fourth line.
“He’s so big and strong and he’s such a presence on the ice,” observed Cozens. “He gets the puck behind them and uses his speed and hunts the puck down. I mean, I wouldn’t want to be a defender looking at him coming at me. He’s such a big body, so strong. He’s a great player. I think with Kirby gone he’s going to step up for us.”
Tourigny is hoping Byfield will build some momentum after a strong effort against Russia. He skated alongside Jakob Pelletier and Dawson Mercer at practice.
“Q brought a lot of physicality and managed the puck really well,” Tourigny said, “and Pelletier was one of our best players so that will spread out the offence and spread out our lineup. We believe we have a good balance offensively and defensively on every line.”
Byfield seemed to enjoy some instant chemistry with Pelletier.
“Just when he calls my name in the French accent,” he said with a smile when asked what stood out about the Calgary Flames’ first rounder. “He’s a smart player and he does everything well. We can use our speed together. He was sniping quite a bit in practice as well so going to try and get him the puck and get a couple apples off that.”
So, Pelletier was feeling it on Friday?
“Oh for sure,” Byfield said. “I think he’s always feeling it in practice. He just brings so much energy to the team.”
Byfield started slow at Canada’s selection camp and admitted it’s taken a while to adjust to the 10 pounds of muscle he added in the off-season. The 6-foot-4, 221 pounder is now getting more comfortable throwing his weight around.
“I feel faster and heavier in the corners and I have to keep playing my game like that,” he said. “I used my size and body and really tried to play the structure of the game the way he [Tourigny] wants us to play and perform. I really took that into account over the last couple weeks and just going over the systems as much as I can.”
In the past, Byfield has lamented the fact he skates with a “hunchback” and the Newmarket, Ont. native has worked hard to refine his stride.
“It’s improved a bit, but I think I’m always going to have that hunchback just being a tall guy and looking down at the puck,” he said, “but I improved quite a bit during the pandemic with my stride and the power and muscle through the stride.”
Another area where Byfield — the second overall pick in October’s draft — is looking to get better is on face-offs.
“That’s still a work in progress, but just getting a bit lower on the draws will help me out quite a bit,” he said. “Going to L.A., I think Jarrett Stoll [who’s part of the player development staff] can probably teach me about that. I watch a lot of film and watch the usual guys who are good on draws like [Ryan] O’Reilly, [Patrice] Bergeron, [Jonathan] Toews and seeing what they do off draws and the counter moves they do.”
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Devon Levi is a revelation to his new teammates.
“To be completely honest, I didn’t really know who he was,” Cozens said. “But he came here and stood out right away.”
“I never really heard of him,” said Byfield, “but he gets a shutout in his first game and will be a key piece of our team.”
Levi had not met any of Team Canada’s players before arriving at the selection camp in mid-November.
“None of them,” he said with a smile. “I didn’t know anyone coming in. I mean, I knew of everyone, for sure, but I had never met any of the guys and didn’t know anyone personally.”
The more Team Canada’s players are getting to know Levi, the more they are liking him.
“He’s so hard to score on in practice,” Cozens gushed. “He’s got great positioning. We definitely trust him as our starter. A lot of trust in him.”
Levi posted a 36-save shutout in the final intra-squad scrimmage at camp and followed that up with a 23-save clean sheet against the Russians.
Levi’s rise is remarkable on a number of levels. He had to wait around seven hours on the second day of October’s National Hockey League draft before the Florida Panthers made him the 212th pick, which he described as “a huge relief.”
A couple months earlier, Levi didn’t receive an invite to Hockey Canada’s virtual camp for World Junior hopefuls.
“When we did the first wave of scouting for the camp we talked about Devon, but the fact he did not play college or major junior was a factor and we thought we would have time to follow the start of his season and we would see from there if we wanted to invite him to the [main] camp,” Tourigny explained.
The pandemic delayed the start of the college season and Levi, a freshman at Northeastern University, hasn’t played yet for the Huskies. But the lack of games over the last nine months also allowed Canada’s staff to do more video work.
“We started to dig in a little bit more in depth and talk to a lot of people, do more video and his performance in the Junior A Challenge last year was really the kicker and from there we decided we wanted to give him a shot,” Tourigny said. “As soon as he arrived at the camp, [goalie coach Jason LaBarbera] really loved him and his competitiveness and his quickness and his legs were really fast so that is what made the difference.”
Levi was the MVP at the World Junior A Challenge last year in Dawson Creek, B.C. where he backstopped underdog Canada East to a silver medal. He doesn’t have any international experience beyond that. His experience is so limited, in fact, that he’s not even familiar with playing games with commercial breaks.
“I’ve never had a commercial break before so just trying to build a new routine,” he said with a grin.
Levi skated to the slot between face-off circles during the commercials on Wednesday night.
“I felt comfortable where I was so I feel like I’ll stay there,” he said. “Just clearing my mind. Just stretching. Just taking it easy. Just focusing.”
So much of this is new for Levi, but his old teammates aren’t surprised. Jon Goyens, who coached Levi when he was with the AAA midget Lac St-Louis Lions, put together a video featuring former teammates sending well wishes to their former goalie.
“That was unbelievable,” said Levi, who watched the video after Wednesday’s win. “It means a lot to know they’re behind me.”
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The referees at the World Juniors have been asked to turn their microphones on for puck drop each game, which has led the group to brainstorm fun things to say.
Olivier Gouin told the players, “Alright, let’s see if I can still do this boys,” before dropping the puck at the pre-tournament game between Canada and Russia.
So, can he still do it?
“I’m pretty happy with my period,” he said. “It’s never going to be perfect. It’s too fast and the players are too big, but overall I thought we were all solid. It’s good for confidence.”
With only four pre-tournament games, the officials had to rotate out between periods so everyone could get some reps. There are 14 referees and 12 linesmen in the bubble, which is up from the 12 and 10 usually invited.
And just like the players, many of them arrived feeling a bit rusty.
“I was lucky, because I had the chance to go in the QMJHL bubble,” Gouin said. “Some of the OHL and WHL guys haven’t worked at all except for here.”
Gouin pointed out that the officials are only guaranteed to work one tournament game and everything else will be judged on merit.
The officials have held on-ice workouts since getting out of their initial quarantine. It’s mostly skating work, but they do play some shinny. Gouin says former Belleville Bulls winger Carter Sandlak is among the stand outs.
“It was exciting to be back on the ice, finally,” said Gouin, who earned the USA-Russia assignment on Christmas Day. “Most of us haven’t skated [regularly] since March. It’s a big tournament to get going.”
Gouin started officiating at age 15 when he was looking for a part-time job. Since then he has risen up the ranks of Hockey Canada’s officiating program. His highlights include a Memorial Cup final in 2016 and a senior men’s IIHF World Championship final in 2018.
Now, he’s getting a shot at the World Juniors.
“It means a lot,” the Laval, Que. native said. “I’ve never worked it. It’s the first time. It’s probably the tournament Canadians watch the most. It’s a special tournament for the players and the referees also.”
All the officials are Canadian this year, which means Gouin may be overseeing more games featuring his country.
“It doesn’t change anything,” he said. “Yes, I’m Canadian, but my job and integrity come first. It’s a big tournament for us too, for our careers.”
The referees held a group dinner on Thursday night and shared ideas about witty one liners they could use before puck drop. The consensus was something holiday-related would be appropriate.
“A great day for hockey,” Gouin told Marat Khusnutdinov and Alex Turcotte at the opening face-off on Friday night. “Merry Christmas, boys. Have a good one.”
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.
