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Pandemic World Series draws smallest crowd in over century – Sportsnet.ca

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ARLINGTON, Texas — Julie and Lance Smith walked through the mostly empty concourse of Globe Life Field.

Tampa Bay infielder Joey Wendle is married to one of their cousins, and they weren’t going to miss his World Series debut.

“It’s so weird,” said Julie Smith, 38, from Gadsden, Alabama.

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“It’s kind of nice in a way, too,” Lance, 39, said before they headed to their seats in the first deck behind home plate.

They wore masks, but many fans ignored the requirement for facial coverings except while eating or drinking at their ticketed seats.

A crowd of 11,388 attended the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ 8-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in Tuesday night’s World Series opener, spread in groups of up to four, mostly in alternate rows and none directly behind each other among the forest green seats.

That was the smallest Series crowd since 10,535 attended Game 6 in 1909 between the Tigers and Pittsburgh at Detroit’s Bennett Park, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Major League Baseball planned to make about 28% available of the 40,518 capacity at the retractable-roof stadium of the Texas Rangers. The new $1.2 billion venue opened this year and replaced Globe Life Park, the team’s open-air home from 1994 through 2019. During batting practice, through the new stadium’s glass walls, the sun glistened off the red brick of the old stadium across the street beyond left field, a field now used for high school football.

Behind home plate, the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium gleamed like a spaceship.

World Series games are usually festive, packed early with fans celebrating the dual accomplishments of their team making it to baseball’s ultimate stage and of their snagging hard-to-find tickets, usually displayed in plastic hanging from lanyard draped around their necks.

But this World Series had a surreal, at times sombre feel caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic. The small crowd was supplemented with fan audio from stadium speakers.

No fans were allowed into any of the 898 regular-season games this season, which were played in mostly empty ballparks due to governmental health restrictions.

Players’ families were allowed starting for the 18 first-round playoff games, the 15 Division Series games and the AL Championship Series between Tampa Bay and Houston in San Diego, with fans added for the Dodgers’ matchup against Atlanta in the NL Championship Series in Arlington, an average of 10,835 for the seven games. Roughly the same amount of tickets were sold for each World Series game.

Behind third base, a group of fans in Dodgers gear watched after flying in.

Brian Casey, a 29-year-old from Glendale, California, booked a plane ticket ahead of Sunday night’s win over the Braves, knowing he had 24 hours to cancel without penalty, then made a decision after the Dodgers rallied for a 4-3 win. He was in attendance when they last won the World Series in 1988 as a kid and was at Dodger Stadium when they played Boston in 2018. He watched Tuesday with Ryan Radenbaugh, 37, from Burbank.

“We just went to buy souvenirs and it was all Rangers stuff,” Radenbaugh said.

Noah Garden, MLB’s chief revenue officer, said the pandemic made it difficult to get gear shipped in the short time after teams won pennants last weekend.

MLB made the decision to play with the roof open. It was closed until the Dodgers started to warm up about 3 1/2 hours ahead of first pitch, then slid open as the public address system played Strauss’ “Also Sprach Zarasuthra,” known to many as the opening music from Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

The usual pregame introductions of teams were dispensed with. When the a cappella group Pentatonix sang a recorded version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” played on the 58×150-foot video board in right field and the 40-x111-foot board in the left-field corner, about 18 Dodgers were in front of the first base dugout and on the right field line, and roughly a dozen Rays were by the third base dugout and on the left-field line.

A live flyover of four jets followed, and ceremonial first pitches were thrown by medical personnel who assisted during the pandemic: Brittney Burns, a nurse practitioner from San Antonio; Erika Combs, an oncology and kidney transplant nurse at a Dallas hospital; and Jamie Edens and Ryan Ward, nurses from Tulsa, Oklahoma, who are a married couple.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who was on hand, yelled “Play Ball!” into a microphone and retired Dodgers announcer Vin Scully delivered by video recording: “It’s time for Dodger baseball!” just before Clayton Kershaw walked to the mound.

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Sault duo celebrates historic perfect season for university hockey team – SooToday

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With some help from a pair of Sault products, the University of New Brunswick Reds men’s hockey team capped off a historic perfect season over the weekend with a national championship.

For Cole MacKay and Camaryn Baber, a pair of childhood friends from the Sault who joined UNB’s team last season, it’s their second consecutive national championship.

UNB capped off the USPORTS national championship win on Sunday with a 4-0 win over UQTR.

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In Sunday’s win, MacKay had four shots on goal for the Reds while Baber was busy in the faceoff circle, taking 19 draws and winning eight of them.

UNB went 3-0 in the national championship tournament.

The Reds advanced to Sunday’s final by winning their semi-final game on Saturday by a 7-0 margin over Toronto Metropolitan. Baber had a goal in the win while MacKay had seven shots on goal.

UNB opened the tournament on Thursday with a 4-0 win over the Brock Badgers in quarterfinal play.

UNB won the Atlantic University Sport playoff title by running the table, first sweeping Saint Mary’s in a best-of-five semi-final series and then sweeping Moncton in a best-of-three championship series.

The Reds went 30-0 in regular season play and 38 straight including the playoffs and national championship tournament. The school’s winning streak dates back to last season’s AUS championship series when the team dropped a double-overtime decision in game two against Moncton.

UNB’s winning streak currently stands at 42 games. The team also won five exhibition games this season.

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Sean Martin takes closer look at what makes Scottie Scheffler's PLAYERS win so special – PGA TOUR – PGA TOUR

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Four of the five hardest par 4s on Sunday were on the back nine (Nos. 14, 10, 18 and 15, in order of difficulty). But the back nine also had three of Sunday’s four easiest holes (Nos. 11, 16 and 12, in order of ease). At last year’s PLAYERS, Scottie pulled five ahead by making five straight birdies on Nos. 8-12. He birdied four of those holes (Nos. 8-9, 11-12) on Sunday to tie the lead. It was almost six in a row. He missed a 12-footer for birdie on 10 and a 5-footer on 13.

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Wayne Simmonds Announces His Retirement from the National Hockey League | Philadelphia Flyers – NHL.com

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Former Philadelphia Flyer Wayne Simmonds today announced his retirement from the National Hockey League (NHL). In honor of his retirement, the Philadelphia Flyers will sign Simmonds to a one-day contract and honor his career on Saturday, April 13 when the Flyers host the New Jersey Devils at Wells Fargo Center (5 p.m. ET).

“It’s hard to describe my emotions on a day like this, but one of my very first thoughts as I look back is my life in Philadelphia and playing for the Flyers,” said Simmonds. “Taking the ice in a Flyers sweater is a special feeling and it’s one that I’m truly proud of. The history of this franchise and standard of being a Flyer that was set is unique and one that I hold in the highest regard. Perhaps the biggest reason for that is the way the fans embrace this team. It was a thrill to play for you all these years, and you mean so much to me. I’d like to thank Dan Hilferty, Keith Jones and Danny Briere for making this a special day and the fans for all their support throughout the years for me and my family.”

“I want to congratulate Wayne on an exceptional career. He was as tough and fierce of a competitor as they come. No one could ever question his commitment to his team and doing whatever it took to win, whether it was scoring goals, blocking shots, sticking up for a teammate or teaching them how to be a true professional on and off the ice,” said Chairman & CEO of Comcast Spectacor Dan Hilferty. “If there was anything that stood out more than Wayne’s dedication on the ice, it was his passion for giving back to the community. Wayne’s impact on both this city and his hometown of Scarborough through his charitable work is immeasurable and continues to be felt to this day. Simply put, Wayne Simmonds was born to be a Philadelphia Flyer and I am very proud to welcome him back.”

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“Wayne has had a tremendous career, on and off the ice, and to celebrate him and his accomplishments with the Philadelphia organization and fans on April 13 is not only fitting, but right,” said Flyers President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones. “Wayne is a special member of the Flyers family and an icon for our surrounding Philadelphia communities. It was an honor to cover his career and watch him grow into the person that he is today. Congratulations to him and his family on his well-deserved retirement from the NHL.”

“It is a privilege to congratulate Wayne on his retirement from the NHL and I look forward to celebrating his career on April 13 with our great fans,” said Flyers General Manager Daniel Briere. “He was an excellent teammate, a leader in the locker room and a class act for the Philadelphia community. He had such passion for this city and team that it was an honor to witness it all and play alongside him. I wish him all the happiness and success to him and his family as he embarks on this new chapter.”

Simmonds, 35 (8/26/88), skated in eight of his 15 NHL seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers (2011-19). The native of Scarborough, Ontario, collected 378 points (203-175=378), 91 power-play goals, 34 game-winning goals and 786 penalty minutes in 584 games. He ranks second in franchise history in hits (1,108), T-3rd in game-deciding goals (4), sixth in shootout goals (7), seventh in PPG, T-13th in GWG and 14th in goals. The right-shot winger set career highs in scoring twice with 60 points each during the 2013-14 and 2015-16 campaigns. He led the Flyers during the 2015-16 season with a career-high 32 goals and led the team and ranked T-6th in the NHL in PPG (13) that season. Simmonds also collected 15 playoff points (5-10=15) in 30 contests with the Flyers.

Simmonds was acquired by Philadelphia on June 23, 2011 from Los Angeles along with Brayden Schenn and a second-round pick (DAL, 61st overall – Devin Shore) in the 2012 NHL Draft in exchange for Mike Richards and Rob Bordson. Simmonds represented the Flyers at the 2017 NHL All-Star Game and was named the All-Star Game MVP. He won the 2011-12 Gene Hart Memorial Award, 2015-16 Yanick Dupre Class Guy Memorial Award and the 2016-17 Bobby Clarke Trophy and Toyota Cup.

Simmonds was a finalist for the 2017-18 Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award and won the award in 2018-19 with Philadelphia and Nashville. The award is presented annually to the player who exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team, on and off the ice, during the regular season and who plays a leading role in his community growing the game of hockey. During his tenure with the Flyers, Simmonds hosted “Wayne’s Warriors,” an in-game initiative in which he purchased a full season suite and donated every game to local military members. He served as a board member of the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation and was active with Make-A-Wish Foundation and March of Dimes. Throughout the course of his NHL career, Simmonds also founded “Wayne’s Road Hockey Warriors” which was a summer ball hockey tournament hosted in his hometown of Scarborough that allowed children to experience the game who otherwise would not be able to do so due to a lack of resources.

Simmonds registered 526 career points (263-263=526) in 1,037 NHL regular season games in 15 seasons with Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Nashville, New Jersey, Buffalo and Toronto (2008-23). He recorded 22 playoff points (8-14=22) in 53 career Stanley Cup Playoff contests with the Kings, Flyers, Predators and Maple Leafs. He skated in his 1,000th NHL regular season game on March 5, 2022 with Toronto and was originally selected by Los Angeles in the second round (61st overall) of the 2007 NHL Draft.

Internationally, Simmonds represented Canada at the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship (gold) and at the 2013 and 2017 (silver) IIHF World Championships.

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