During his downtime in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Darnell Nurse tuned into the Michael Jordan documentary The Last Dance for a dose of inspiration.
The Edmonton Oilers rearguard plans to draw on motivational lessons from Air Jordan in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Chicago Blackhawks.
“I think that’s the perfect example — to see his mindset in a lot of those games – of creating your own environment, creating your own fire,” Nurse said Thursday on a virtual news conference conducted via Zoom.
“That’s a test that everyone in this situation is going to have to go through, having the ability to create your own excitement.”
WATCH | Nurse remains motivated by opportunity to win Stanley Cup:
Edmonton Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse says even though they will be competing in an empty arena, the opportunity to win a Stanley Cup should be enough to motivate players. 1:08
There will be no crowd due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The seats, empty. The energy in the building, absent.
“Yeah, there’s no fans there,” Nurse said. “And yeah, you might be in a hub city. But there’s an opportunity to win the Stanley Cup. I think that should be enough motivation to get anyone going.
“There’s a lot of challenges. There are a lot of things that aren’t ideal that come along with this situation. But that’s the world. The world is in that position right now. So the Stanley Cup is all the fire you should need.”
On Tuesday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced the league and NHLPA agreed to a return-to-play format, which concludes the remainder of the regular season and begins a 24-team playoff plan.
The new plan would see the top-4 clubs in the Eastern and Western Conference play two abbreviated round-robin tournaments to determine playoff seeding.
The other eight teams in each conference would play a best-of-five ‘play-in’ series — No. 5 versus No. 12, No. 6 versus No. 11, No. 7 versus No. 10, and No. 8 versus No. 9 — to determine the 16 clubs left standing for the playoffs.
WATCH | 2-minute recap of Bettman’s press conference:
Commissioner Bettman outlined the NHL’s 24-team playoff format, and the draft lottery. 2:11
If fans were allowed in the building in Edmonton, Chicago forward Patrick Kane would have no doubt experienced the wrath of the Oiler faithful given the carnage inflicted over the years.
Through 43 career games against the Oilers, Kane has 56 points. And in the post-season against any club, Kane is a certified gamer with 123 points in 127 career appearances and a Conn Smythe Trophy to boot.
The Chicago faithful have reason to hope for an upset — if Kane can keep up the torrid scoring pace and the rest of the Blackhawks can somehow limit the damage inflicted by Leon Draisaitl and captain Connor McDavid.
Holland approves of format
“I’m happy it’s a best-of-five,” Oilers general manager Ken Holland said. “There might be a little bit of rust in the first game or two, but over the course of a five-game series it’s an opportunity to — if you get off to a sluggish start — get back in the series.
“If you have a bad first game, you’ve still got to lose two more versus how quickly a best-of-three can go.”
In spite of the Kane factor, the Oilers (37-25-9) will enter the series — whenever it happens — as the undeniable favourites against the Blackhawks (32-30-8).
On Thursday, McDavid, who was part of the NHL/NHLPA’s Return to Play Committee, and Nurse addressed the merit of the 24-team format and whether a hub city approach would provide an advantage for the hometown franchise among other topics.
Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who was part of the NHL/NHLPA’s Return to Play Committee, and his teammate Darnell Nurse discuss the creation of the NHL’s 24-team playoff plan. 1:57
The Oilers led the league in power-play efficiency at a whopping 29.5 per cent, and now they have the services of a healthy Mike Green as the quarterback on the point.
As for the penalty kill, they ranked second behind only San Jose at 84.4 per cent.
“We’ve had that same power play for probably two years now, and that helps a lot,” McDavid said. “We’ve had a lot of success on specialty teams, and we’ll probably need to be a little bit better five-on-five.”
Draisaitl a driving force
The difference maker could well be Draisaitl, the 2019/20 Art Ross Trophy winner with 43 goals and 67 assists for 110 points in 71 appearances. The 6-foot-2, 208-pounder is a beast to move off the puck and one of the best pure passers in the league.
During Thursday’s conference, a reporter from Germany asked McDavid how he benefits from playing with Draisaitl.
“He gives me nice passes, so that definitely helps me out,” McDavid said. “A lot was made of us playing together or not playing together, and that gives our team a different look.”
After Christmas, head coach Dave Tippett assigned McDavid and Draisaitl their own lines, and the Oilers became way more challenging to defend with the scoring spread around.
“As a general manager, and if you’re a fan of the Edmonton Oilers, we’re very fortunate to have two great players who are 23 and 24 years of age and, really, probably just coming into their prime years as athletes,” Holland said. “They’ve been versatile. Obviously, Leon can move to the left wing and we can play them together as a line.”
And when that happens — even minus fans in the building — the atmosphere will no doubt be electric.
NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green and Canadian slugger Tyler O’Neill of the Boston Red Sox were named finalists for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association’s American League comeback player award on Monday.
Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet was the other nominee.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named player of the year finalists.
The award winners, selected via player voting, will be named Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series.
Green, who missed most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a high-leverage option for the Blue Jays this past season and filled in at closer over the second half of the campaign.
The right-hander converted his first 16 save opportunities and finished the year with a 4-6 record, 17 saves and a 3.21 earned-run average over 53 appearances.
O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, B.C., also endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in ’22 and ’23.
After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O’Neill set an MLB record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight Opening Day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
Alabama’s Mark Sears and North Carolina‘s RJ Davis looked into the possibility of leaving for the NBA before deciding to return for another college season.
Their decisions helped their teams earn top-10 rankings in the AP Top 25 and earned both players some preseason honors, too.
Sears was a near-unanimous selection for The Associated Press preseason All-America men’s basketball team released Monday, earning all but one vote from a 55-person national media panel. Davis was right behind him, nabbing 51 votes.
They were joined by Kansas big man Hunter Dickinson, Auburn forward Johni Broome, Arizona guard Caleb Love and Duke freshman Cooper Flagg. Love and Flagg tied for the final spot, creating a six-man team that includes only the ACC, Big 12 and SEC.
Alabama twin bill
Sears was a key cog in the Crimson Tide’s first trip to the Final Four a year ago, orchestrating one of college basketball’s highest-scoring teams.
The 6-foot-1 guard was named a second-team AP All-America after averaging 21.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists. He was the first Division I player in 31 years to have 795 points, 150 rebounds, 145 assists and 95 three-pointers in a single season while breaking the Alabama single-season record with 26 games with at least 20 points.
Sears worked out for NBA scouts during the offseason before deciding to return to Alabama, earning the Crimson Tide a No. 2 ranking in the preseason AP Top 25.
“I saw the team that we had and I wanted to be a part of it, and bring home Alabama’s first national championship in basketball,” Sears said.
Across the state at rival Auburn, Broome made a quick decision about his future, announcing in April that he would be back for a fifth season.
The 6-10 forward was a third-team AP All-American last season after averaging 16.5 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting nearly 55% from the floor. With an eye on an NBA future, Broome worked hard on his perimeter shooting during the offseason and his return earned Auburn a No. 11 preseason ranking.
“My main goal is a team goal, which is to win the national championship, to make it as far as I can in March Madness,” Broome said. “When a team shines, everyone shines individually.”
Along Tobacco Road
Like Sears, Davis has similar aspirations after opting to return for his fifth season at North Carolina.
The 6-foot guard was an AP All-American last season and the ACC player of the year after averaging 21.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists on a team that reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Davis enters this year within reach of former North Carolina big man Tyler Hansbrough’s all-time ACC scoring record.
“I know there’s more work to be done,” Davis said. “I know my jersey’s not going up until I leave. So there’s some more records to break and some more work to be done. I’m satisfied but I’m not satisfied, if that makes sense.”
Up the road at Duke, Flagg was the only underclassman on the preseason All-America team after arriving with tons of hype. The 6-9 swingman was the No. 1-rated high school recruit out of Newport, Maine and has been projected as the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft.
Flagg has the skills of a guard, but can also play inside and has worked hard on his perimeter shooting, giving him the potential to be one of college basketball’s most versatile players. He’s part of a stellar recruiting class that has No. 7 Duke eyeing a deep March run.
Big 12 duo
Dickinson was the biggest move in the transfer portal last spring after leaving Michigan for Kansas. The 7-2 center lived up to the billing, averaging 17.9 points and 10.9 rebounds while leading the Jayhawks back to the NCAA Tournament.
Love’s decision to return for a second season at No. 10 Arizona has ratcheted up expectations in the desert for the Big 12 rival of Kansas.
The athletic 6-4 guard had a high-scoring career at North Carolina and continued it after transferring to Arizona last season. He was the Pac-12 player of the year and a third-team All-American after averaging 18 points per game and making 92 3-pointers.
Love tested the NBA waters this summer before deciding to return.
“He’s had a very successful college career thus far,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. “He’s kind of this last generation of player that’s going to get better with this extra year, and so I just encourage him to take advantage of it.”
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CLEVELAND (AP) — Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson will miss the rest of Cleveland‘s season after rupturing his right Achilles tendon on Sunday against Cincinnati, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Monday.
Watson will soon undergo surgery, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the team has not announced the results of imaging tests taken on his leg.
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year.
The 29-year-old Watson went down without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson collapsed to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
As he laid on the ground, there was cheering by some Cleveland fans, leading to some of Watson’s teammates criticizing that behavior during the team’s fifth straight loss.
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s divisive stay with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks to Houston and signed him to a fully guaranteed $230 million in 2022. The deal came amid Watson being accused by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions. He settled civil lawsuits in all but one of those cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games with the Browns and then made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
