• 10-Plus Hours of Game Coverage Every Day August 1-5 Beginning at Noon ET
• Saturday NHL Doubleheader on August 1 on NBC – Blackhawks-Oilers at 3 p.m. ET, Followed by Canadiens-Penguins at 8 p.m. ET
• Coverage of More Than 25 NHL Games on NBCSN in Seven-Day Span
• Coverage of Four Exhibition Games Begins July 28 on NBCSN
NBC Sports will present up to 120 hours of coverage from the NHL’s 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers on NBC, NBCSN and USA Network beginning August 1.
Beginning Saturday, August 1, through Wednesday, August 5, NBC Sports will present coverage from at least four games each day across NBC, NBCSN and USA Network, including some games that will be joined in progress.
Coverage on Saturday, August 1, will feature a doubleheader on NBC beginning at 3 p.m. ET, when Connor McDavid and the Oilers face Patrick Kane and the Blackhawks. Primetime coverage at 8 p.m. ET on NBC will feature Sidney Crosby and the Penguins against Carey Price and the Canadiens.
The 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers begin August 1 at Noon ET on NBCSN, when Artemi Panarin and the Rangers face Sebastian Aho and the Hurricanes. In total, more than 25 NHL games will be shown on NBCSN in a seven-day span.
Qualifying Round series are best-of-five and will be contested between the teams seeded 5th through 12th in each conference. The winners of those series will join the top four teams from each conference, who will play round robin games to determine seeding, in the traditional 16-team Stanley Cup Playoffs format.
Games airing on NBC are exclusive. All games on NBCSN and USA Network will be blacked out in the local markets as they will be available on viewers’ local RSNs. Blackout rules apply to streaming coverage on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. Some games will be joined in progress.
Following is NBC Sports’ telecast schedule for the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers through August 5:
Sat., August 1 Game 1 – Carolina vs. N.Y. Rangers – NBCSN – 12 p.m. ET Game 1 – Chicago vs. Edmonton – NBC – 3 p.m ET Game 1 – Florida vs. N.Y. Islanders – NBCSN – 4 pm. ET Game 1 – Montreal vs. Pittsburgh – NBC – 8 p.m. ET Game 1 – Winnipeg vs. Calgary – NBCSN – 10:30 p.m. ET
Sun., August 2 Game 1 – Arizona vs. Nashville – USA Network – 2 p.m. ET Round Robin – Boston vs. Philadelphia – NBC – 3 p.m. ET Round Robin – St. Louis vs. Colorado – NBCSN – 6:30 p.m. ET Game 1 – Columbus vs. Toronto – NBCSN – 8 p.m. ET Game 1 – Minnesota vs. Vancouver – NBCSN – 10:30 p.m. ET
Mon., August 3 Game 2 – Carolina vs. N.Y. Rangers – NBCSN – 12 p.m. ET Game 2 – Winnipeg vs. Calgary – NBCSN – 2:30 p.m. ET Round Robin – Washington vs. Tampa Bay – NBCSN – 4 p.m. ET Round Robin – Dallas vs. Vegas – NBCSN – 6:30 p.m. ET Game 2 – Montreal vs. Pittsburgh – NBCSN – 8 p.m. ET Game 2 – Chicago vs. Edmonton – NBCSN – 10:30 p.m. ET
Tues., August 4 Game 2 – Florida vs. N.Y. Islanders – NBCSN – 12 p.m. ET Game 2 – Arizona vs. Nashville – NBCSN – 2:30 p.m. ET Game 2 – Columbus vs. Toronto – NBCSN – 4 p.m. ET Game 3 – Winnipeg vs. Calgary – NBCSN – 6:30 p.m. ET Game 3 – Carolina vs. N.Y. Rangers – NBCSN – 8 p.m. ET Game 2 – Minnesota vs. Vancouver – USA Network – 10:30 p.m. ET
Wed., August 5 Game 3 – Florida vs. N.Y. Islanders – NBCSN – 12 p.m. ET Game 3 – Arizona vs. Nashville – NBCSN – 2:30 p.m. ET Round Robin – Tampa Bay vs. Boston – NBCSN – 4 p.m. ET Round Robin – Colorado vs. Dallas – NBCSN – 6:30 p.m. ET Game 3 – Montreal vs. Pittsburgh – NBCSN – 8 p.m. ET Game 3 – Chicago vs. Edmonton – NBCSN – 10:30 p.m. ET
In addition, NBC Sports will present coverage of the following exhibition games on NBCSN on July 28 and 29:
Tues., July 28 Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia – NBCSN – 4 p.m. ET
Wed., July 29 Carolina vs. Washington – NBCSN – 4 p.m. ET Chicago vs. St. Louis – NBCSN – 6:30 p.m. ET N.Y. Rangers vs. N.Y. Islanders – NBCSN – 8 p.m. ET
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.
