ST. LOUIS — Some of the key figures in what’s once again the NHL’s most heated rivalry briefly put their differences aside at the league’s all-star game.
It’ll soon be back to regularly scheduled programming.
Tomas Hertl scored the winner — his fifth goal of the night — as the Pacific Division defeated their Atlantic counterparts 5-4 to win the 3-on-3 showcase tournament Saturday.
The victorious squad featured Matthew Tkachuk of the Calgary Flames, as well as Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers — combatants on teams embroiled in a war of words over the last two weeks.
The Oilers and Flames have been at odds since Tkachuk levelled Zack Kassian with two huge hits in a recent testy matchup. Kassian eventually had enough and mauled Calgary’s winger/chief antagonist to earn himself a two-game suspension.
“Nothing added to the fuel to the rivalry this weekend,” Tkachuk said in the winning locker room Saturday. “This was just a bunch of really good hockey players coming and trying to put on a show.”
Tkachuk actually set up Draisaitl for a goal with a slick no-look pass in the Pacific’s 10-5 triumph over the Central Division in the semifinal, but skated straight to the bench instead of celebrating.
“Just wanted to get off the ice,” Tkachuk said. “I was out there for a while.”
Draisaitl said after the latest instalment of the Battle of Alberta that he would “probably get off the ice” himself if he was ever out there with Tkachuk at the all-star game.
“Nice play by him,” he said with a smile. “Like I said all along, we’re all here to have fun, we’re all here to have a good time. Things like (Tkachuk-Kassian), they happen in the game, but this is not the time to be grumpy about anything or whatever it is. Everyone here had a great time.”
Draisaitl said something to Tkachuk after the goal, but the former insisted there was nothing malicious in the exchange.
“I was just joking around,” he said. “I hope everyone knows I was just joking.”
Tied in the standings with 57 points and in a battle for playoff positioning, the Flames and Oilers will renew regular-season hostilities Wednesday in Edmonton and then again three nights later in Calgary.
“It was fine,” Flames captain Mark Giordano said of sharing space with a pair of Oilers. “This is away from the regular season. It’s a different atmosphere. I thought both sides handled themselves really well this weekend. I’m sure next week when we get back to the Battle of Alberta there’ll be that fire.”
“I know it’s a big battle between us,” Calgary goalie David Rittich added. “We just want to have fun. We’re doing this for fans, for kids.”
McDavid, the NHL’s leading scorer, finished with a combined four assists on the night.
“I definitely didn’t feel my best out there, but it’s all for fun,” he said. “We have a couple days to get ready for the real stuff.”
Boston Bruins winger David Pastrnak took home the most valuable player award after the NHL’s leading goal-scorer found the back of the net once and added an assist in the final for the Atlantic. He also recorded four points (three goals, one assist) in his division’s 9-5 semifinal victory over the Metropolitan inside Enterprise Center.
Hertl, who showed his personality by wearing a Justin Bieber mask during one of Friday’s events at the skills competition, scored the winner with 2:36 left when the San Jose Sharks centre beat Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy off a setup from Draisaitl and McDavid.
Vancouver Canucks centre Elias Pettersson scored two goals in the final as the Pacific battled back from a 3-1 deficit to grab the US$1-million prize at the home of the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues.
“I’m not going to take this for granted,” said Pettersson, who tried and failed on his attempt at what would have been a jaw-dropping lacrosse-style goal. “It’s awesome to be here. I remember I grew up watching this. Now I’m here sharing this with everybody.”
The Pacific took the all-star crown in both 2016 and 2018, while the Metropolitan captured the title in 2017 and again last year.
Tkachuk, who grew up in St. Louis when his father Keith played for the Blues, suited up against younger brother Brady, a winger with the Ottawa Senators, in the final.
He actually stole the puck from his sibling to set up one of Pettersson’s goals.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Matthew Tkachuk said. “I was humbled and honoured to be here.”
ANDERSEN’S CONNECTION TO WOMEN’S GAME
The NHL and its all-stars were overwhelmingly supportive of the 20 female players that took part in a 3-on-3 game during Friday’s skills competition. But for Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen, whether or not the NHL gets involved the same way the NBA did with the WNBA hits close to home because his sister Amalia plays in the NCAA at the University of Maine. “I don’t know what the right answer is, the right solution is,” said the netminder. “Of course I want see a (league) for young girls to dream of playing in. I know first-hand with my sister, she goes to college, and after that I don’t really know what’s in the future. It’s just important we keep trying to grow it and hopefully something down the road can come up and they can have something to strive for besides playing college.”
KANE KONUNDRUM
Fans in St. Louis booed Chicago Blackhawks sniper Patrick Kane throughout the festivities. But with the star winger on the same side as their Blues in the 3-on-3 tournament, they briefly cheered when he scored for the Central in its loss to the Pacific before resuming the jeers. “It’s all in good fun,” Kane said. “Sometimes you get booed, you kind of like it a little bit … St. Louis-Chicago, it’s a huge rivalry.”
NEXT YEAR’S ALL-STAR FORMAT COULD CHANGE
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed the 2021 all-star game will be hosted by the Florida Panthers. He also alluded to there being a “distinct international flavour” at the annual festivities, but didn’t provide concrete details. The all-star game format from 1998 through 2002 saw players from North America take on the rest of the world.
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.
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.
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.
