EDMONTON —Vincent Desharnais was happy to be sporting 2023 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic attire at practice Friday as the Edmonton Oilers prepared to face the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, CITY, TVAS2).
The Oilers defenseman’s only NHL goal came in that game at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, a 5-2 win Oct. 29, and he hopes to rekindle the magic when his team wears the uniforms again in the second Battle of Alberta of the season.
“I actually had a pretty nice goal (in practice) today,” Desharnais said. “So, I don’t want to jinx it, but it was a good practice.”
There is plenty on the line as Edmonton and Calgary are back in the thick of the Stanley Cup Playoff race after each had a slow start to the season.
Edmonton is looking to extend its franchise-best 12-game winning streak, which would set the record for a Canadian team. The Montreal Canadiens also won 12 straight during the 1967-68 season. The Pittsburgh Penguins hold the NHL record with 17 consecutive wins in 1992-93.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t really care about the streak, I just want to win,” Desharnais said. “Obviously it’s great, it’s cool to break records, but two points is two points. We just want to go down there, get the two points and get out of there. We know it’s going to be a big rivalry, we’re very excited for it, we’re ready to battle, but at the end of the day, we’re going to Calgary for two points.”
When the teams met at the Heritage Classic, both were struggling. The Oilers were 1-5-1 going into the game, and it was uncertain whether center Connor McDavid would play after he’d sat out the previous two games with an upper-body injury.
They Flames were 2-5-1 and on a four-game losing streak, which was extended to six when they followed the Heritage Classic with a 4-3 loss to the Dallas Stars at home three days later.
McDavid came back to play in the outdoor game and had an assist in the win. But Edmonton lost its next four games, eventually leading to a coaching change with Kris Knoblauch replacing Jay Woodcroft on Nov. 12. The Oilers are 22-6-0 since the change and on a 20-3-0 run since Nov. 24.
“This will be new to me,” Knoblauch said Friday, “but living in Alberta and knowing the competition and the rivalry between these two teams, they’re always motivated to beat the Edmonton Oilers and we’ll be motivated to beat the Calgary Flames. Now with our streak and them chasing us in the playoff (race), there will probably be more animosity and more of a rivalry, and it’ll be great. I think there are certain times in the season that you want those games. They’re exciting for the players and they’re exciting for the fans and, hopefully, it’s a good hockey game.”
Edmonton (25-15-1) is third in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of the Los Angeles Kings. It has been a remarkable turnaround for the Oilers, who were tied with the San Jose Sharks for last in the NHL standings Nov. 9 following a 3-2 road loss to them.
“It’s always a special night playing against the Flames,” Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl said. “It’s always more amped up than any other game, probably. We have the chance to make history and we are aware of it. At the same time, we’re just looking to continue to play our game and continue our trend and continue to play the way we’ve been playing.”
Calgary (21-19-5) is fifth in the Pacific, three points behind Los Angeles for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference. The Flames had a four-game winning streak end with a 4-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.
Calgary forward Connor Zary appeared to have tied the game at 8:39 of the third period, but the goal was overturned after Toronto successfully challenged for a hand pass.
“We’re playing a similar team on Saturday and we have to learn from tonight,” Flames captain Mikael Backlund said after the loss Thursday. “Know that the second period and the way we played, we turned too many pucks over and it kind of cost us and it’s going to be a similar thing on Saturday. There is a highly skilled team coming in on Saturday too, so we have to learn from tonight and bounce back on Saturday.”
The Flames are on a good run of their own, going 10-5-0 in their past 15 games. Calgary and Edmonton were tied with 27 points each on Dec. 14. Now the Flames trail the Oilers, who have four games in hand, by four points and are trying to keep them from running away in the standings.
“Any game against the Oilers is an exciting one,” Calgary forward Blake Coleman said Thursday. “I expect the crowd to be similar to what it was [Thursday]. Saturday night, there’s no place you’d rather be.”
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
