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New Canucks forward Vesey ditches car in Ottawa after "sh*tty" waivers experience | Offside – Daily Hive

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It’s been a wild past 48 hours for new Vancouver Canucks forward Jimmy Vesey. The 27-year-old was put on waivers by the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, and by Wednesday, he was suiting up with a new team.

The Canucks picked up Vesey on Wednesday at about 9 am PT, about seven hours before they were set to play a road game against the Ottawa Senators.

Before he had a chance to really process the move, Vesey jumped into his car and headed north, making a four-hour drive in an attempt to make his Canucks debut.

“I drove from Toronto to Ottawa, right when I got the official word at noon that I was claimed. Got to the rink at about 4:15 and left my car there,” Vesey told reporters via Zoom today. “I was prepared to play the game but obviously the paperwork issue held that up. I watched the game and then got on the plane with the guys and I’m in Montreal now.”

Vesey drove to avoid having to quarantine before joining his new team, which he would have had to do had he taken a commercial flight. He made it on time and even took the pre-game skate, but his Canadian work visa couldn’t be processed in time, so he had to sit it out.

His car, by the way, is still sitting at the arena in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata.

For fans, this may stir up thoughts of the legend of Artem Chubarov, a former Canucks player who simply ditched his car in the underground parking lot at Rogers Arena (known as GM Place in those days), when he left for the KHL in 2004.

The plan for Vesey is to get it shipped somewhere eventually.

Familiar faces

Vesey is from Boston, and has mutual friends with Adam Gaudette. He also played against Thatcher Demko in college — Vesey beat him out for the Hobey Baker Award in 2016 but Demko’s team ended his season.

But Vesey is actually a close friend with J.T. Miller, who he won a World Junior gold medal with as members of Team USA in 2013. The pair also played together during Vesey’s first two years with the New York Rangers.

“He was in Boston for a couple days this summer and we had dinner,” Vesey said, who added that they planned to go golfing together, but it got rained out.

“I know Millsy really well and it’s great to have a familiar face in the locker room. He was one of the first people that reached out.”

“It’s sh*tty when you get put on waivers”

Getting put on waivers has to be a shot to the ego of any hockey player, given that it means the team you’re on is willing to risk losing you for nothing.

“It’s shitty when you get put on waivers,” Vesey said bluntly. “No one really wants to experience that.”

Perhaps it’ll be a blessing in disguise though for Vesey, who had fallen out of favour quickly in his first season in Toronto. After averaging about 12:58 minutes per game in January, Vesey’s time on ice dropped to 10:58 per game in February. In March, his average ice time dropped to 8:59 per game, including a season-low 4:41 of ice time last week in Winnipeg.

Subsequently, through 30 games he has just seven points.

“We’re all athletes and competitors and we want to perform. So overall, I’m just really excited to have this chance (with the Canucks).”

Vesey will get a much better opportunity to succeed in Vancouver. He was lined up with Brandon Sutter and Jayce Hawryluk during the pre-game warmup, but will probably be elevated in the lineup, assuming Tanner Pearson misses time with the injury that caused him to leave Wednesday’s game early.

It remains to be seen if he’ll play special teams, but he has experience playing on both the power play and penalty kill during his five-year NHL career.

“I’m excited for the opportunity and through talking to the coaches, it looks like I might have a more prominent role on the team than what I had with Toronto. You’ve got to love that opportunity and that chance to succeed ultimately. I think this team has a lot of good pieces in place and hopefully I can add to the mix and help this team to win hockey games.”

Vesey has baby face, but has imposing size at six-foot-3 and 202 pounds. He doesn’t play a big bruising style of game, but the left winger does have the skill necessary to succeed in the NHL.

“I’ve always felt that when I’m on top of my game that I belong [in a top six role]. I think for me, it’s just a matter of consistency, and being able to do that every night.”

What went wrong

A star in college, Vesey was a highly-coveted NCAA free agent before signing with the Rangers in 2016. Vesey’s first three years in New York went well, with him scoring 16-17 goals each season. After notching a career-high 35 points in 2018-19, he was traded to Buffalo, but struggled with the Sabres — as nearly everyone does with that franchise.

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“Last year wasn’t what I wanted. Got off to a bad start in Buffalo, but as the year went on I progressed… It’s tough to say, but if you throw out the first 20 games of that year, I think I was statistically about on the same pace as what I had been in New York.”

Vesey had a disastrous start in Buffalo, scoring just two points in his first 19 games. He had 18 points in 45 games the rest of the way.

With the Leafs, Vesey was a victim of playing on a deep team.

“This year (in Toronto) I played a little bit up the lineup to start the year, but mostly was down the lineup. Toronto’s got a lot of talent obviously, and a lot of depth. It was a competitive roster.”

Vesey can play at the NHL level, and it’s easy to see why he struggled in Toronto. But with the Canucks, a team in desperate need of depth at forward, there should be no excuses.

“I’m looking forward to this opportunity and going to try to take it and get back to where I was… I’m excited for the challenge.”

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Ravens win fifth straight game by beating Bucs 41-31

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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Lamar Jackson threw for 281 yards and five touchdowns, helping the Baltimore Ravens overcome an early double-digit deficit and extend their National Football League winning streak to five games with a 41-31 victory Monday night over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who lost their top two receivers to injuries.

The two-time NFL MVP improved to 23-1 against NFC teams, the best mark by a quarterback against an opposing conference in NFL history. He’s 3-0 against the Bucs (4-3), who faded after taking a 10-0 lead with help from the 100th TD reception of Mike Evans’ career.

Evans departed with a hamstring injury after Baker Mayfield tried to connect with him in the end zone again, and late in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach, leading Bucs receiver Chris Godwin was carted off the field with a left ankle injury. ESPN declined to show replays of Godwin’s injury, which appeared to be severe.

Jackson completed 17 of 22 passes without an interception, including TD throws of nine and four yards to Mark Andrews. He also tossed scoring passes of 49 yards to Rashod Bateman, 18 yards to Justice Hill and 11 yards to Derrick Henry, who rushed for 169 yards on 15 carries. Bateman had four catches for 121 yards.

The Ravens (5-2) rebounded from a slow start on defence, with cornerback Marlon Humphrey turning the game around with a pair of second-quarter interceptions — one of them in the Baltimore end zone. Jackson led a four-play, 80-yard TD drive after the first pick, and the second interception set up Justin Tucker’s 28-yard field goal for a 17-10 halftime lead.

Elsewhere in the NFL:

CARDINALS 17 CHARGERS 15

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Kyler Murray ran for a 44-yard touchdown and led the Cardinals on a drive that set up Chad Ryland’s 32-yard field goal as time expired, and Arizona rallied for a win over Los Angeles.

Cameron Dicker kicked his fifth field goal of the night — this one from 40 yards — to give the Chargers a 15-14 lead with 1:54 left. But the Cardinals (3-4) quickly moved into field goal range, aided by an unnecessary roughness call on Cam Hart that cost Los Angeles (3-3) 15 yards.

Arizona followed that with a bruising 33-yard run by James Conner, who finished with 101 yards on the ground. That eventually set up Ryland’s short field goal and a Cardinals celebration.

It was a frustrating night for the Chargers’ offence, which gained 395 yards but couldn’t find the end zone. Justin Herbert completed 27 of 39 passes for 349 yards.

Dicker booted field goals of 59, 50, 28, 47 and 40 yards, the first of which tied a franchise record for distance.

Murray ran for a spectacular touchdown early in the fourth quarter, rolling to his left before turning on the jets, beating safety Junior Colston to the sideline and then coasting into the end zone for a 14-9 lead.

It was Murray’s second long touchdown run in three weeks after he scored on a 50-yard sprint against San Francisco. It was also Murray’s 20th career game with a touchdown pass and run.

Murray completed 14 of 26 passes for 145 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Struggling Whitecaps, Timbers set to meet in MLS wild-card matchup

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VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps have been here before — literally and figuratively.

With the season hanging in the balance, the ‘Caps were dealt a blow last week when the club learned it wouldn’t be able to play a post-season wild-card game in its home stadium, B.C. Place, due to a scheduling conflict.

The Whitecaps ceded home field advantage to their regional rival, the Portland Timbers. The two clubs will battle for the final playoff spot in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference in Oregon on Wednesday.

The winner will face No. 1-seed Los Angeles FC in a best-of-three first-round series, starting Sunday.

An unforeseen hurdle like a change of venues is nothing new for the ‘Caps, said defender Ranko Veselinovic, who was part of the team that was forced to relocate first to Portland, then Utah during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It feels that always something happens for us, but it is what it is. So far, we’ve managed to always find solutions for those situations,” said the Serbian centre back. “But I hope this team can find it one more time, because we need it this time. And it will be a really nice feeling in those circumstances to go in, win and go face L.A. in the next round.”

Vancouver (13-13-8) heads into the post-season winless in its last seven MLS games and with losses in four straight after dropping a 2-1 road decision to Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

The skid followed a run that saw the club go 4-1-3 across all competitions between late August and late September.

There’s just one way to return to that level, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini.

“The work is the only way to do it. Try to put the work in and try to put the team in a way that they’re going to regain the form and the way that they were in the past,” he said.

Despite the final score, Sartini has seen positives in the way his team played in its two most recent losses.

“I think already we turned the corner,” he said. “And we start from there to build and build and build.”

Facing challenges together can help a team build, whether it’s a winless skid or an unexpected hurdle, said Vancouver’s captain Ryan Gauld.

“When you’re going through adversity, that’s when people start to raise their voice a little bit. You get good when the problems arise, you get a lot of people coming together to make sure we get out of it,” said the Scottish attacking midfielder.

“And we’ve had a tough time the last few games, but everyone’s aware of the fact that we’re a much better team than we’ve shown, and we need to find a way to get back to doing what we’re good at.”

The ‘Caps face a familiar foe in the Timbers (12-11-11).

The two sides have already met three times this season, with each coming out of the series with a win, a loss and a draw.

Portland has also struggled in recent weeks and are winless in their last five MLS outings (0-1-4).

The Timbers boast one of the league’s top offensive units, though, with threats such as Evander. The Brazilian midfielder notched 15 goals and 19 assists during the regular season.

To earn a win on Wednesday, the Whitecaps must be solid defensively, Gauld said.

“They must be one of the best attacks in the league. They have a lot of good players, and they can hurt you if you switch off,” he said. “So just being concentrated from the first whistle, and just being hard to beat, being stuffy. Just being on it for the full 90 minutes.”

A victory in the wild-card match would guarantee Vancouver at least one home playoff game, a factor that Sartini said would be a big reward for his group.

The entire team relished the experience of playing post-season soccer in front of more than 30,000 fans last year, the coach said, and the desire to repeat the feat is high as the club heads to Portland.

“Everyone is happy to be in the playoffs. So we don’t have to be moody to be in the playoff. And we go in there, we’re play one of our rivals. So it’s gonna be a nice game to show up and to play our best game possible.”

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (13-13-8) AT PORTLAND TIMBERS (12-11-11)

Wednesday, Providence Park

HISTORY BOOKS: This will mark the seventh all-time post-season meeting between the Timbers and ‘Caps, dating back to 1975. The last time the two clubs squared off in a playoff game was during the Western Conference semifinal in 2015. Portland won the two-game aggregate series and went on to hoist the MLS Cup.

ROAD WARRIORS: The ‘Caps boasted a 7-6-4 record on the road during regular-season play — better than the 6-7-4 showing they posted at B.C. Place.

POST-SEASON PARTY: Wednesday will mark the first time the Timbers have hosted a post-season game since 2021.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.

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No rugby, field hockey, badminton, triathlon or cricket at leaner 2026 Commonwealth Games

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GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Scotland conceived rugby sevens in the 1880s yet it will not feature in the scaled-back 2026 Commonwealth Games hosted by Glasgow.

Other sports that have also been dropped include field hockey, triathlon, badminton, Twenty20 cricket, squash, and diving.

The Games will have a 10-sport program in four venues. Athletics and swimming are compulsory while there will also be track cycling, gymnastics, netball, weightlifting, boxing, judo, bowls and 3×3 basketball.

There will also be integrated para events in six of those sports: Athletics, swimming, track cycling, weightlifting, bowls and basketball.

The Games will take place from July 23-Aug. 2 after Glasgow stepped in when the Australian state of Victoria withdrew last year because of rising costs.

It was not easy to decide which sports to include, Commonwealth Games Scotland chairman Ian Reid told the BBC on Tuesday.

“I think everybody recognises that these events need to be more affordable, lighter and we would have loved to have all of our sports and all of our athletes competing but unfortunately it’s just not deliverable or affordable for this time frame,” Reid said.

Athletes and support staff will be housed in hotels. Around 3,000 athletes are expected to compete from up to 74 Commonwealth nations and territories representing a combined total of 2.5 billion people, a third of the world’s entire population.

More than 500,000 tickets made available for spectators.

The Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive Katie Sadleir said: “The 2026 Games will be a bridge to the Commonwealth Games of tomorrow, an exciting first step in our journey to reset and redefine the Games as a truly collaborative, flexible and sustainable model for the future that minimises costs, reduces the environmental footprint, and enhances social impact. In doing so, increasing the scope of countries capable of hosting.”

Glasgow hosted the event in 2014 at a cost of more than 540 million pounds.

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