Is there any way for the Maple Leafs to schedule playoff games in Stockholm, too?
Sports
Nylander the hometown hero as Leafs beat Wild for Sweden sweep
“It was pretty special, for sure, to get that winner, but it was a great four points here and hopefully we bring that home,” Nylander told the travelling media.
“We started feeling our game back in Toronto (two wins before departing). It’s been a blast, I love being here and hopefully we can do it again sometime.”
“I think it’s about as good as it gets for him,” teammate Morgan Rielly said in praise of Nylander. “I know he had some downtime with his family here, but he was also doing his job and kind of taking it to the next level, promoting our game and the team.
“Hats off to him for both his play and his execution off the ice.”
After the late Leafs legend Borje Salming’s son Anders dropped the puck before Friday’s win, franchise leading scorer Mats Sundin did the honours on Sunday during a game that featured an 8 a.m. ET start.
In an overtime period that underlined some of their disoriented play on this trip, all three Leafs on the ice congregated in the same corner, allowing Joel Eriksson Ek a clear path to Joseph Woll. But Woll stopped that among the 33 pucks that came his way and a Rielly blocked shot on Marcus Johansson sent Nylander the other way to beat Marc-Andre Fleury with a dandy deke.
William’s father Michael was in the audience again to celebrate and Friday was his grandmother’s first chance ever to see him play live.
Marner and Auston Matthews had the assists on Rielly’s goal, Matthews tying Bob Pulford for ninth in franchise scoring with his 563rd point, while an earlier helper by Marner on one by Matthew Knies made him the fastest Leaf to 400 assists at 524 games.
Matthews, with his first goal in four games to regain a piece of the league lead, had answered Jon Merrill’s 2:37 into the match.
Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe promised a better start than Friday’s early trepidation against Detroit, given his team was now used to the time change, nuances of Avicii Arena and, like Friday, played a foe on a back to back.
“It was one of those trips where you really come together as a team,” Matthews said. “We’re about ready for a couple of days away from each other now (after the plane ride home comes a couple of days off), but we got to experience a new country, a different culture in a city like Stockholm.
“I definitely won’t forget the sun going down every day at 3 p.m., but it’s been a lot of fun.”
The Leafs will reconvene on the ice mid-week and head to back-to-back U.S. Thanksgiving road games against Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks, then old boss Kyle Dubas’s Pittsburgh Penguins.
NOT QUITE A CLEAN ESCAPE
Warhorse defenceman Mark Giordano, who’d overskated an empty net crossbar rebound from John Tavares, was the catalyst on the Knies goal, which caught Fleury’s five-hole coming across the crease.
However, the Leafs couldn’t pull away in the second, far too busy killing three penalties, including one when a fed-up Marner whacked Eriksson Ek in retaliation for getting mugged in front of Fleury.
And while they looked sharp doing so, they were not winning many 5-on-5 battles in their end in the second period, allowing Kirill Kaprizov a free look. Woll stayed right with the star winger with a stretched pad save.
BACK TO MATS
It had to be a weird and wonderful feeling for Giordano watching Leaf great Sundin drop the puck. In Giordano’s first game in his hometown of Toronto as a Calgary Flame on Oct. 14, 2006, he scored twice and was having a dream night. Until Sundin fired a hat trick, including the overtime winner short-handed, for his 500th NHL goal.
NEW BLUE CREW?
The Leaf roster could have a different look next week. Defenceman Conor Timmins will likely be activated, perhaps taking John Klingberg’s place on the roster as Klingberg has now gone more than a week without playing because of an undisclosed lower-body injury.
Bobby McMann has now played three games on the fourth line and is in good stead, as is third-liner Nick Robertson, but before Sunday night, Alex Steeves had 15 points through 10 consecutive games for the Marlies and newcomer forward Dmitry Ovchinnikov had five goals in his past three.
LOOSE LEAFS
Nylander’s 17-game streak tied him with Connor McDavid as the only active NHLer off to such a hot start. The retired Dave Andreychuk and Henrik Zetterberg also got as high as 17 … Matthews said after the game he’d like to see the Global Series tried in Mexico City. That’s indeed on the short list for the NHL, said its chief content officer Steve Mayer on a pre-season ESPN podcast. While Matthews’ mother is Mexican and the appeal would be obvious to include Toronto, the Dallas Stars have long been the favourite to be involved in such a venture, given they claim to have one million registered Hispanic fans … Keefe’s 10th win of the year and 176th of his career ties him on the all-time NHL list with Leaf pro scout Tom Watt.
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Sports
Champions Trophy host Pakistan says it’s not been told India wants to play cricket games elsewhere
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup but all India games were played in Sri Lanka under a hybrid model for the tournament. Only months later Pakistan did travel to India for the 50-over World Cup.
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
___
AP cricket:
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Inter Milan winger Tajon Buchanan, recovered from a broken leg suffered in training at this summer’s Copa America, is back in Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname.
The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., underwent surgery July 3 to repair a fractured tibia in Texas.
Canada, ranked 35th in the world, plays No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg of the aggregate series is four days later at Toronto’s BMO Field.
There is also a return for veteran winger Junior Hoilett, who last played for Canada in June in a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Marsch’s debut at the Canadian helm. The 34-year-old from Brampton, now with Scotland’s Hibernian, has 15 goals in 63 senior appearances for Canada.
Midfielder Ismael Kone, recovered from an ankle injury sustained on club duty with France’s Marseille, also returns. He missed Canada’s last three matches since the fourth-place Copa America loss to Uruguay in July.
But Canada will be without centre back Derek Cornelius, who exited Marseille’s win Sunday over Nantes on a stretcher after suffering an apparent rib injury.
The Canadian men will prepare for Suriname next week at a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
“We are looking forward to getting the group together again with the mindset that there is a trophy on the line,” Marsch said in a statement. “We want to end 2024 the right way with two excellent performances against a competitive Suriname squad and continue building on our tremendous growth this past summer.”
The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the two semifinals scheduled for March 20 and the final and third-place playoff March 23, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Thirteen of the 23 players on the Canadian roster are 25 or younger, with 19-year-old defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, currently playing for England’s Crewe Alexandra on loan from Bristol City, the youngest.
Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies captains the side with Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller adding veteran support.
Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Theo Bair are joined in attack by Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi.
Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old midfielder with Croatia’s Hadjuk Split, continues in the squad after making his debut in the September friendly against Mexico.
Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.
“A good team,” Osorio said of Suriname. “These games are always tricky and they’re not easy at all … Suriname is a (former) Dutch colony and they’ll have Dutch players playing at high levels.”
“They won’t be someone we overlook at all,” added the Toronto FC captain, who has 81 Canada caps to his credit.
Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands.
Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.
The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the United States and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF Nations League.
Canada, No. 2 in the CONCACAF rankings, drew Suriname as the best-placed runner-up from League A play.
Canada lost to Jamaica in last year’s Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament and finished fifth in 2019-20.
Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.
Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Joel Waterman, Laryea and Miller and Osorio took part in a pre-camp this week in Toronto for North America-based players.
Canada Roster
Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal (MLS); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United FC (MLS).
Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel. Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Bristol City (England); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).
Midfielders: Ali Ahmed. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Inter Milan (Italy); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Junior Hoilett, Hibernian FC (Scotland); Ismael Kone, Olympique Marseille (France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).
Forwards: Theo Bair, AJ Auxerre (France); Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).
—
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
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