TSN Toronto reporter Mark Masters checks in daily with news and notes on the Maple Leafs, who opened their return to play training camp on Monday, practising in two groups at the Ford Performance Centre.
Out since sustaining a significant laceration to his right wrist on Dec. 27, Ilya Mikheyev appears ready to reclaim a role in Toronto’s top-six forward group. The Russian rookie skated alongside John Tavares and Mitch Marner on Monday scoring the opening goal of the camp scrimmages.
“He’s been eye-opening to watch,” Marner gushed, “how quick and how much better he’s really gotten. I was talking to [Jake Muzzin] a bit when they were both injured and he kept saying, ‘This Mikheyev is a monster and turning into an animal in the gym and on the ice.'”
Mikheyev picked up 23 points in 39 games before the skate blade of New Jersey Devils forward Jesper Bratt cut him on a freak play leading to surgery to repair an artery and tendons that were severed.
“Skating with him now he’s shooting a lot better, seeing the ice a lot better,” Marner said in a Zoom session with reporters. “From my point of view, in these scrimmages we’ve been playing, he’s been good finding the open ice and that lane for me or JT to find him and he’s not afraid to go to the net either.”
Head coach Sheldon Keefe said Mikheyev looked “excellent” in the Phase 2 sessions noting the 25-year-old has been skating with Muzzin, who was working his way back from a broken knuckle, basically the entire time since the season was paused on March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Those guys really haven’t had any time off,” Keefe revealed. “They continued to rehab their injuries and skated all the way through for the most part.”
One area where Mikheyev still needs to improve, though, is his English language skills.
“We’re working on that a little bit,” noted Marner with a grin, “but he’s gotten a lot better. He understands a lot more now, which is great. I’m always just trying to talk to him on the ice and explain things and explain plays and keeping him knowing what I’m going to do and I like to hear his feedback on what he’s trying to do when he goes down the wall and stuff. When you’re on the ice and call for it, he knows [what’s going on] very well and he’s aware of where you are, which is something he’s gotten a lot better with.”
#MapleLeafs Ice Chips with @markhmasters: Ilya Mikheyev, out since December with a wrist injury, looked good while skating alongside Tavares & Marner…
Nick Robertson skated on a line with Egor Korshkov and Adam Brooks, which means the 18-year-old has a lot of work to do if he plans on cracking the lineup for Game 1 against the Columbus Blue Jackets in their best-of-five qualifying round series. And Robertson certainly seemed determined to make an impression on Monday.
“He was working hard trying to get better, that was clear during our scrimmage,” said defenceman Morgan Rielly. “He’s a guy that’s going to continue to push, that’s just his nature, so it’s always good to have people like that on board.”
Robertson, who lit up the Ontario Hockey League with 55 goals in 46 games with Peterborough last season, was feisty in the scrimmages and drills. On more than one occasion, a veteran player had to look back in annoyance as the five-foot-nine left winger hounded the puck.
“He worked hard,” Keefe said. “I’ve come to expect that from him. He’s another guy that over the last three weeks I’ve been watching in these sessions, we’ve come to get to know him better as a player and his work habits are exceptional.”
“He’s got a tremendous shot and release,” observed John Tavares. “He gets on top of goalies and the puck is around him all the time. Guys like him just have a knack. He has a great head on his shoulders. We’ll do everything we can to help him.”
If Robertson is to steal a spot, it will likely be as the third line left winger. Pierre Engvall filled that role on Monday skating alongside Alex Kerfoot and Kasperi Kapanen.
Auston Matthews confirmed he tested positive for COVID-19 during the season pause, but noted he was “pretty much asymptomatic.”
“Didn’t really hinder my training,” the Leafs centre said in his first media session since April. “I was able to do stuff at home. Obviously, wasn’t able to leave or anything. I think that’s really the only thing that kind of took a hit for me. I was skating beforehand and having to take two and a half, three weeks off obviously kind of catches up to you.”
Most of the Leafs have been skating at the Ford Performance Centre during Phase 2 while Matthews only arrived in the final week leading up to training camp.
“Those guys who have been here the entire time certainly are at a higher level,” said Keefe. “All things considered, Auston’s worked well, worked hard and he’s done what he could given his circumstances and it won’t be long before the conditioning matches up with his ability.”
Matthews seemed gassed at times during the first on-ice workouts of camp, but in fairness the schedule was designed to test player fitness and other guys were also hunched over their sticks. Keefe had the team separated into two groups with only three forward lines in each, which reduced the rest time between drills. And then the scrimmages featured only two forward lines, which further wore down the players.
“A couple weeks of not being able to do much, so kind of out of the norm of a typical training camp where you’re going in there feeling good so it’s going to be a little bit different,” Matthews acknowledged.
Teammates didn’t seem all that concerned, though, with Tavares noting that Matthews has proven to be a fast starter during his NHL career. Matthews opened this season, for example, with seven goals in the first seven games.
Matthews’ COVID-19 experience slowed down his training, but it’s not a concern
When it comes to conditioning, Auston Matthews is a bit behind his teammates as his positive COVID-19 test did slightly hinder his ability to train at full capacity. Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe believes it’s only a matter of time before he gets up to speed. Mark Masters has more.
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Leafs players wore ‘Black Lives Matter’ shirts during off-ice activities on Day 1 of camp.
“We just want to be part of the conversation and do what we can to help have positive change in a very important matter that we all take very seriously,” said Tavares.
The Leafs captain called it a “player-driven” decision to wear the shirts, but was quick to point out there was organizational support behind the move.
“We as a group tried to have some conversations about it,” Rielly said. “I think what we realized is not all of us have had the experiences that people around the world have had and I think that this is just our small way to keep the conversation going and to really try to acknowledge the fact that this is an ongoing thing and it’s gonna take a lot of work. We’re completely committed to supporting the movement.”
“It was a great initiative by our players,” said Keefe, “obviously one that, as an organization, we’re very supportive of. On a day where everyone wants to talk about hockey, everybody is excited to get back to playing, it’s important to have that – the Black Lives Matter movement – be prevalent. We want to make sure that that’s not lost in all of this and that it is a very important issue that we haven’t forgotten about. We want to be a big part of making positive change.”
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Although he was spotted at the practice facility, Timothy Liljegren did not take part in the on-ice work. Tyler Gaudet, a forward, filled in on defence during Monday’s sessions.
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.
