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NWHL's expansion to Toronto gets mixed reviews from women players – CBC.ca

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Professional women’s hockey is set to make its return to Canada with the National Women’s Hockey League officially announcing it is expanding into Toronto.

The yet to be named franchise has an ownership group headed by former Harvard captain Johanna Boynton, features former Brown University coach Margaret “Digit” Murphy as its president, and already has five players under contract, the NWHL said in a three-page release Wednesday.

“Launching our first team in Canada is a pivotal and proud moment for the NWHL,” league founder and commissioner Dani Rylan said in statement. “Everyone in the Toronto hockey community can be sure that this first-class team of professionals will make bold strides for the women’s game.”

The Toronto team increases the U.S.-based NWHL’s number of franchises to six, and comes a year after the Canadian Women’s Hockey League folded after 12 seasons because of financial instability.

The NWHL was founded in 2015, becoming North America’s first pro women’s league to pay its players a salary. It currently has teams in Boston, Monmouth Junction, New Jersey; Danbury, Connecticut; Buffalo, New York; and Saint Paul, Minnesota.

The move north of the border comes a little over a week after The Associated Press first reported the NWHL’s plans.

Murphy has played a lead role for the expansion franchise by having spent the past month establishing contacts and recruiting players.

Shiann Darkangelo, right, is one of five players already signed. She played for the U.S. team that won the 2016 world championship. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)

All five players signed previously played in the CWHL, with the most notable being Shiann Darkangelo, a member of the United States team that won the 2016 world championships. The four other players are Canadians: forward Taylor Woods, defencemen Kristen Barbara and Emma Greco, and goalie Elaine Chuli.

“I’m delighted to be part of the first NWHL franchise in Canada because it brings me back to my roots,” the 58-year-old Murphy told the AP in a phone interview.

“A year ago, when the CWHL shut down, they had one of the best hockey products on the market,” she said. “So I just see this as a continuation of that, and Toronto deserves a women’s franchise.”

The Canadian Women’s Hockey League ceased operations in April last year.

It’s unlikely the NWHL will be able to draw from the rosters of current U.S. or Canadian national teams after their members helped form the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association in the wake of the CWHL’s collapse.

The PWHPA members spent the past year holding a series of barn-storming weekend events across North America, and are already making plans to do so again next year.

Canadian forward Marie-Philip Poulin, the only player in women’s hockey history to score in three straight Olympic finals, brushed off the NWHL’s arrival in Canada.

“There’s not much to say,” she told CBC Sports’ Andi Petrillo on the CBC Olympics Instagram channel shortly after Wednesday’s news broke. “I don’t know if it’s professional. I think there’s a reason why many of us are not playing in that league.”

WATCH | Marie-Philip Poulin on NWHL expansion:

Team Canada captain believes little girls should dream of playing in a league that the PWHPA envisions. 2:15

Poulin, 29, is among more than 200 of the world’s top players who vowed not to play professionally in North America in the wake of the demise of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League.

They later formed the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association, which is pushing for the establishment of a single league capable of paying players a fair wage and with a financially stable long-term economic model.

“We believe in what we are doing. We want to create that viable league and we’re united,” said Poulin, a former member of the Les Canadiennes de Montreal who led the CWHL in scoring for three straight seasons before it folded. “We’re going to keep working together and that’s something that’s going to happen.”

Put simply, noted Poulin, the players are fighting for a league in which they could make a living.

“We’re not asking for millions like the NHL guys, just something [where] we can wake up every day and go to work. Just having that dream job,” Poulin said. “We work as hard [as the men].”

Former CWHL goalie and PWHPA member Liz Knox questioned the timing of the NWHL announcement by referring to the coronavirus pandemic and writing in a text message: “It’s difficult to imagine expansion being at the forefront of many business strategies.”

“Our vision has not changed as we move forward, but our priorities now lie on the health and safety of our players, staff, volunteers and fans,” Knox said. “We will see what the fall brings and I wish the best to any of the former PWHPA members who have signed.”

Last week, PWHPA executive member Jayna Hefford said she was aware of and welcomed the NWHL’s expansion bid, even though it doesn’t fit her association’s long-term objective.

“We think this is an opportunity that’s going to be provided for some women to play hockey at that level,” Hefford told the AP. “But it’s not the opportunity that we’re looking to provide and the professional league that we want to create.”

The NWHL does not reveal its financial numbers or all player salaries, with some making as much as $15,000 last season. The league also introduced a plan to share 50 per cent of revenue generated from sponsorship and media deals on top of player salaries.

Season scheduled to start in November

The NWHL was unable to complete its season after postponing its championship game due to the coronavirus pandemic. Boston was scheduled to host Minnesota in the Isobel Cup Final on March 13. The game is expected to be played before the league opens its 2020-21 season in mid-November.

Though U.S.-born, Murphy spent so much time recruiting Canadian players during her 22 seasons at Brown, she once joked about considering the possibility of retiring there.

After leaving Brown, where she won 318 games, she won two CWHL championships during three seasons coaching the Boston Blades. Murphy then spent the 2017-18 season coaching a CWHL expansion team in China, whose players included Darkangelo and Chuli.

Murphy said she has yet to secure a home rink, but doesn’t consider that to be an issue at this point. Saying she will stick to her role as president, Murphy is also in the process of hiring a coach and general manager.

She was brought on board by Boynton, whom she’s known for numerous years. Boynton runs a home-building construction company outside of Boston, and holds an ownership stake in the NWHL’s Boston Pride.

The Toronto team’s executive includes Tyler Tumminia, who has been named chairman. She serves as an executive at a firm which oversees numerous minor-league baseball teams.

Murphy envisions the potential of further NWHL expansion into Canada, particularly Montreal, but said she is focused solely on building the Toronto franchise.

Murphy said the challenges of establishing a team in Toronto will be what she called “a layup” as compared to China, which had little history in the sport.

“I’m going into the beautiful country of Canada that embraces hockey, and the greatest hockey city, and I’m like a kid in the candy store. This is fun,” she said.

And with nearly 8,000 adult females registered to play hockey in Ontario, Murphy is confident she can produce a competitive roster.

“I hope to not fail Toronto,” Murphy said. “I don’t’ want to get cocky and say, `We’re going to win the Cup,’ but I want to contend, baby.”

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Canada’s Marina Stakusic falls in Guadalajara Open quarterfinals

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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.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Kirk’s walk-off single in 11th inning lifts Blue Jays past Cardinals 4-3

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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.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Stampeders return to Maier at QB eyeing chance to get on track against Alouettes

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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.

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