Sports
Skinner, Holloway, Benson star as Oilers nudge Jets
Strong game too from the coaching staff who rotated a group of six defencemen, none of whom is a lock for an NHL job come the 12th. All played from 24-28 shifts in the narrow range of 18 to 21 minutes; each of the six led the club in at least one statistical category on the event summary, not something that happens often. Then there was the time Jay Woodcroft went against the book and used 2 d-men on a 5-on-3 powerplay; within 20 seconds one of them had scored on an assist by the other (along with middleman Dylan Holloway who had an excellent game). The staff also made a successful video challenge, and some interesting in-game adjustments with forward combinations that paid off with a very strong third period.
Player notes
No player grades for preseason, even as we will provide commentary for each of the 19 Oilers who saw action, sorted by (starting) lines and pairings. Lots of comments tonight as this was a high-event, highly-entertaining game with plenty at stake for many of the hopefuls.
Forwards
- Holloway-Malone-Puljujarvi
Dylan Holloway had his skating legs going from the start, pouring in on the forecheck. Had a clearcut breakaway on the PK but rang his shot off the post. Slammed a one-timer on the first 5-on-3 that found Hellebuyck’s waiting breadbasket. Got a good bounce off the linesman, fought off a check and fired a great shot that Hellebuyck gloved, drawing the second 5-on-3 in the process. Made a great cross-seam pass to Demers for the 2-2. Rang iron a second time with a wicked wrister. Unable to execute a high-speed deke in a well-earned shootout opportunity. Led all Oilers with 21:40 ice time, playing close to 4 minutes on each special team, and got some time at pivot in the third.
Jesse Puljujarvi was in octopus mode in Jets territory, disrupting the breakout a couple of times in the early going. He also made a couple of strong stops inside his own line, making a good outlet pass after the first, then leading the rush and firing a slapshot and a close-in rebound on the second, Edmonton’s first 2 shots of the game after 11 minutes of play. Failed to cash a close-in rebound of Samorukov’s point shot. Nice rush through traffic led to a tricky screened shot. Provided a PP screen but got drilled on the knee by Broberg’s heavy shot and limped to the bench. Made a splendid play to maintain possession on the powerplay, then fed Ryan at the doorstep for the tip-in. Seconds later hammered a drive from the slot that Hellebuyck somehow got his blocker on. Made a splendid play in overtime when he rode Brad Lambert off the puck hard, crunching the young Jet into the boards before turning the puck north for a strong Edmonton possession. 5 shots on net to lead the Oilers.
- Janmark-Shore-Ryan
Mattias Janmark did some strong work along the walls to win possession and advance the puck. Made a fine pass through a narrow lane to Ryan in tight to the net that very nearly clicked. Another good feed to Kesselring at the point with room to move into the slot for a good shot. Started a 3-way passing play with a good feed to Shore. Made a beautiful steal at the end of a Winnipeg powerplay, breaking away 2-on-1 with Demers emerging from the box.
Devin Shore was in solid position to intercept a centring pass, make a move and start the play the other way very late in the first, ultimately leading to an Oilers powerplay. Tried a rush through the neutral zone but lacked the speed to separate, skating into 2 traps and coughing up the puck on the second. Made 2 fine plays on the same PK shift, the first to tip Perfetti’s slot shot, the second to corral a loose puck in the corner and safely clear it down to enable a much-needed change. Made a lovely one-touch pass to McKegg for a dangerous slot shot. Switched off to wing in the third period and remained effective. Netted the only goal in the shootout with the ol’ Jussi Jokinen Special.
- Benson-Hamblin-Virtanen
Tyler Benson had a very strong game and was rewarded with 18:46 ice time, second among forwards. He opened the scoring late in the first when he jumped on a clearing pass just inside the Jets blueline, skated in and wired a shot past Connor Hellebuyck high glove: Edmonton’s first road goal of the preseason after a mere 135 minutes of play. Aggressive on the forecheck throughout, he landed a heavy hit that created a loose puck in Jets territory. Crunched Mason Appleton in the exact same spot minutes later, taking a boarding penalty but drawing one in return as big Adam Lowry came in to retaliate. Did a great job early in the third to win a race to the boards and establish position on the puck to clear the zone, paying a physical price in the process. That small play led to an Oilers powerplay on the counter attack. Made a great cross-ice feed that Bourgault nearly chipped home from the edge of the crease. Then came an even better aerial pass that sprang Bourgault in alone. To these eyes Benson was comfortably the best of the minimum-salary group of forwards (also Malone, McKegg, potentially Virtanen), of whom at least one will earn a spot on the eventual roster.
Jake Virtanen turned the puck over in the neutral zone on his first touch. Had a much better moment later in the first with a strong forecheck on Ville Heinola that forced a weak clearing pass from the young Jet that Benson picked off, then scored. Officially unassisted, but there would have been no goal without that forecheck. But not much thereafter, just 1 weak shot from outside, and 0 hits for the third straight game.
- Esposito-McKegg-Bourgault
Luke Esposito made a fine read, interception and clear on the penalty kill. Hammered Logan Stanley with a good hit. Kept his feet moving and drew a penalty because of it. Took a dubious minor for interference on a net drive, was challenged by big Blake Wheeler in an extended scrum, eventually taking a solid punch to the head because the one linesman who bothered to engage held back Esposito and allowed Wheeler a free shot. To make matters worse, the Jets scored the 2-1 on the subsequent powerplay — twice!
Xavier Bourgault made some nice subtle plays in tight quarters along the walls. Made a patient set of moves through the high slot before firing a good low shot that tested Hellebuyck. Made a good setal on the forecheck, and instantly found Hamblin cruising in the slot with a quick pass. But twice wasted powerplay rushes with a poor handle at the blueline. Got on the end of Benson’s lob pass but couldn’t solve Hellebuyck.
Defencemen
- Broberg-Demers
Philip Broberg was beaten by speedy Jets rookie Brad Lambert early but got a tiny piece of the puck on the way through to slightly disrupt the rush. Did a better job containing the same player on a similar 1-on-1 shortly thereafter; the puck again slipped through, but the man was safely steered to the side. He was beaten on the 5-on-3, stepping up to the shooter in the high slot but not containing the shot, leaving two Jets free at the edge of the blue paint to eventually bang it home. Looked good on the powerplay point, and earned an assist on Demers’ goal with a perfectly-timed pass to Holloway. Made a sweet one-look stretch pass to Hamblin. After an iffy start he appeared more comfortable as the game went on.
- Niemelainen-Kesselring
Markus Niemelainen made a big shot block of a PP one-timer with Skinner scrambling behind him. Took a high-sticking minor early in an Oilers penalty kill that left the Oilers two men short, leading to the 1-1 goal. Crushed Kevin Stenlund with a heavy hit, then easily shrugged off Jansen Harkins’ attempt at the return hit moments later. Twice blocked a shot and cleared the zone in a late second-period penalty kill, but coughed up the puck in between times. Beaten by Perfetti’s fine pass to Toninato, but Skinner had the answer. Made a nice pinch and keep-in leading to Shore’s screen shot, though he later betrayed a lack of offensive instincts when he dumped the puck in during 3-on-3 overtime. Had 15 different entries on the Event Summary, 11 of them without the puck (5 hits, 5 blocked shots, 1 penalty) along with 1 shot and 3 giveaways. But make it 4 straight games in just 7 days that he landed 5+ hits, a number attained only by 2 teammates so far, once each. Niemo is making his case the best way he knows how, and he’s in with a chance.
- Samorukov-Kemp
Dmitri Samorukov fired a good outside shot through a screen that led to a dangerous rebound. Quiet but mostly solid, leading all Oilers with 4:20 on the penalty kill.
Goalies
Stuart Skinner became the first Oilers goalie to play a full game (and then some). He held his team in through a shaky opening 10 minutes that saw the Jets forge a 9-0 edge in shots. He stoned Blake Wheeler from the slot in the early going. Fought off Adam Lowry’s powerplay chance from the edge of the crease. Made a terrific stop off Heinola’s one-timer off a cross-ice feed on the 5-on-3, but was beaten on a 3-shot barrage seconds later. Some iffy puckhandling with 2 turnovers in the first. Fought off Harkins’ high drive through a screen with a good blocker stop. Robbed Perfetti’s one-timer early in the third. Came across quickly but couldn’t quite seal all the holes and Perfetti expertly found one from close range. But absolutely slammed the door thereafter with a series of stellar stops allowing his mates to claw back into the game. Robbed Toninato on a doorstep deflection. Made a superb stop off Stenlund on a well-executed 3-on-2 with 2 minutes left, and somehow held the rebound. Made 5 saves in overtime, most of them eyeball-to-eyeball as Winnipeg turned on the Jets and created several point-blank opporunities. The exclamation point was a shootout stuff of Perfetti at the nearside post with an outstretched pad after a nifty deke by the youngster. 35 shots, 33 saves, .943 save percentage, followed by perfection in the shootout.
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CALGARY – Gabby Wood says her curling team is ready for anything this season after facing the No. 1 women’s team in the world.
The Canadian women’s college champions took on Rachel Homan in the opening draw of the single-knockout PointsBet Invitational on Wednesday.
Wood’s Edmonton foursome took their lumps in an 11-2 loss, and will also take the experience of playing on arena ice and on television against the reigning Canadian and world champions.
“It’s a crazy first game of the season, so honestly, none of our opponents after this are going to seem that scary,” said the 20-year-old Wood.
The PointsBet Invitational that unofficially kicks off the Canadian curling season offers a purse of over $350,000, including $50,000 each to the men’s and women’s victors, to an eclectic 32-team field.
There’s a soccer FA Cup element as underdog junior, college, university, under-25 and club champions attempt to upset, and send home early, the likes of Homan and reigning Canadian men’s champion Brad Gushue.
And 13th seed Jordan McDonald provided those fireworks Wednesday by eliminating fourth-seeded Matt Dunstone 8-5 in an all-Winnipeg matchup.
“It means the world,” McDonald said. “It was an unbelievable experience out there today.”
Kaitlyn Lawes, who ranked fourth in Canada at the end of last season, beat recently crowned national women’s under-25 champion Taylor Reese-Hansen 5-2.
“Every time we get to play on arena ice, we’re really excited, and playing against a top team, that’s what we want to do. That’s where we want to be,” said Reese-Hansen. “These are the teams that we want to play against and see how we stack up, so it’s super valuable.”
National No. 8 Corryn Brown doubled university women’s champion Serena Gray-Withers 8-4 in the opening draw.
“It just makes us hungrier for more, to be honest, because we’re just super blessed with great ice, great rocks and great conditions here, so we just want to be back for more,” said Gray-Withers.
Selena Sturmay edged Ashley Thevenot 8-7 in the other women’s game to kick off the five-day cashspiel at Calgary’s WinSport Arena.
In the men’s draw Wednesday evening, Gushue defeated Canadian men’s club champion Dan Sherrard 12-4.
Kevin Koe, who played a three-man team after firing second Jacques Gauthier the previous day, downed university men’s champion Josh Bryden 8-4. Rylan Kleiter defeated Sam Mooibroek 5-2.
McDonald, who won last month’s national under-25 championship, kept the pressure on Dunstone with pressure draws and timely runbacks.
Dunstone attempted a tough angle raise to score one and force the PointsBet’s tiebreaking draw to the button, but missed to give up a steal of two.
“Playing a team like at all for us is a really big experience,” said McDonald, who said his team drew confidence from playing Reid Carruthers and Mike McEwen in the last year.
“We feel like we can hang with these teams a little more.”
Among Thursday’s games, defending men’s champion Reid Carruthers faces Felix Asselin, national women’s under-21 champion Allyson MacNutt squares off against four-time Canadian champ Kerri Einarson, and men’s under-21 champion Kenan Wipf faces 2024 Brier runner-up McEwen.
“We are just so grateful that they include the college champions, the university champions,” Wood said. “We don’t get a ton of opportunities to play on arena ice, and so that makes a huge difference developmentally.
“Having a chance, other than our nationals, to play on arena ice, on this big stage, to get to experience just a little bit of what the pros experience is just really exciting and really inspiring.”
Seven months after claiming the Scotties Tournament of Hearts title on the same WinSport ice, Ottawa’s Homan opened defence of her PointsBet crown by scoring four in the second end en route to victory.
“It’s great to get them on this kind of stage, on a national platform and getting some arena ice experience is really key for next gen to get as much experience as possible,” Homan said.
“There’s lots they can take out of it for sure. Lots of great throws and I thought they communicated well.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2024.
CALGARY – Kevin Koe will skip a three-man curling team for now.
The four-time Canadian and two-time men’s world champion dropped second Jacques Gauthier from his Glencoe Club team on the eve of the PointsBet Invitational that started Wednesday in Calgary.
Koe opened the event that offers $50,000 in prize money to each of the men’s and women’s winners with an 8-4 doubling of national university men’s champion Josh Bryden.
Koe, who also represented Canada in the 2018 Winter Olympics, says there wasn’t enough time to find a replacement for Gauthier for the PointsBet, and there won’t be enough time before next week’s first Grand Slam of the season, which is the HearingLife Tour Challenge in Charlottetown.
“We haven’t talked to anyone yet,” Koe said. “We’ll see who can come and play an event or two. I don’t think we’re going to rush out and grab someone right away, but come to an event with us and see how it goes.
“We’ll get through these next two weeks and start talking about it and seeing what our options are.”
A big-name curling free agent without a team in Koe’s home province is Brendan Bottcher. The skip of the No. 2 men’s team in Canada last season was supplanted on his team by Brad Jacobs.
When asked if it was a possibility Bottcher would join his team, Koe replied “no, it’s not.”
After skipping his own team for four years and representing B.C. in the 2023 Brier, Gauthier joined Koe, his cousin Tyler Tardi and Karrick Martin to play second for the 2023-24 season.
The team won a pair of tour events and made five finals with Gauthier on the squad, but didn’t qualify for playoffs in five Grand Slam appearances and went 2-6 at the Canadian championship in Regina to miss playoffs.
Koe went 2-3 in the ATB Okotoks Classic last week before Gauthier was axed.
The 25-year-old son of Canadian champion and television commentator Cathy Gauthier, said Wednesday in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Elephant in the room. I got cut yesterday.”
“I wasn’t sure if I should make a public comment on it, but I wanted to provide some clarity,” Gauthier wrote.
“The team decided I wasn’t performing to their standard and decided they’d pursue alternative options moving forward.
“It happens. Nothing is a given in this sport, and although I am surprised at the timing, I know I can be better as a player. I plan on using this as an opportunity to grow both as an individual and a curler, looking to improve in all areas.
“For now, it’s back to the lab.”
The 49-year-old Koe wants to skip a team that can qualify for, and win, next year’s Olympic trials, which he says is likely his last trials.
“We struggled at the end of last season and we had some good talks and meetings and thought we could turn it around at the start of the year,” Koe said.
“If the trials were a couple years away we probably would have been a little more patient. They’re 14 months away basically.
“They’re never easy, these moves. Jaques was a great teammate, great curler, best person, but we felt we needed to do what was best for the team.”
Koe finished last season ranked fifth in the men’s Canadian Team Ranking System.
Four teams ranked higher — Brad Gushue, Jacobs, Mike McEwen and Matt Dunstone — have pre-qualified for the 2025 Montana’s Brier in Kelowna, B.C.
Koe will have to win Alberta provincials to join them. Since Koe, Tardi and Martin live in Alberta, the team can recruit a player from outside the province.
“We’ve had a few people kind of inquire, but this was yesterday, right?” Koe said. “It’s a big week for us. We need some better results.
“We’ll start talking about it in a week or two. Maybe we’ll get some offers we weren’t expecting.
“We’re better than kind of the last half-year has shown, but it’s time for us to prove it.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2024.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps have won their third straight Canadian Championship title, defeating Toronto FC 0-0 (4-2 on penalties) in the final at BC Place on Wednesday.
Defender Bjorn Utvik scored the decisive penalty for Vancouver, firing a shot into the left side of the net in the fifth round of kicks.
Goalkeeper Isaac Boehmer stopped seven on-target shots for the ‘Caps and Sean Johnson made two saves for TFC.
Toronto was the dominant side for much of the game, but Boehmer made a series of critical saves, including a penalty-kick stop on Toronto star Federico Bernardeschi in the 38th minute.
Vancouver earned its way into the final after edging Canadian Premier League side Pacific FC 2-0 in the tournament’s two-legged semifinal.
Vancouver, which hoisted the Voyagers Cup for the fourth time in its history, is now assured a place in next year’s CONCACAF Champions League tournament.
Bernardeschi proved tough for the ‘Caps to handle from the opening minute.
Thirty seconds into the match, the Italian launched a left-footed rocket that Boehmer tipped out of harm’s way.
Toronto controlled much of the play across the first half while Vancouver struggled to connect on passes early.
Boehmer kept the game scoreless in the 21st minute after Bernardeschi dished off to Richie Laryea. The Canadian defender fired a quick shot on net, only to see Boehmer knock it down.
Vancouver settled into the game and, in the 34th minute, got a prime opportunity when Brian White and Fafa Picault broke away from the Toronto defence. The duo raced into the penalty area, where White was taken down without a call.
Minutes later, TFC was awarded a penalty kick after Whitecaps defender Mathias Laborda hauled Laryea down near the goal line.
Loud boos emanated from the announced crowd of 12,516 as Bernardeschi lined up his shot. He took a few steps, then blasted a left-footed kick on net as Boehmer dove and punched the ball away to ecstatic cheers.
The score remained level at 0-0 as both sides headed to their locker rooms after the first 45 minutes. The first half saw Toronto control 71 per cent of the possession and outchance Vancouver 3-1 in shots on target, though the ‘Caps held a 6-5 edge in total shots.
The visitors came into the second half with renewed vigour.
TFC appeared poised to open the scoring in the 53rd minute when an unmanned Laryea collected the ball inside the penalty area. Boehmer came well off his line to challenge and when Laryea sent a rolling ball toward the net, the ‘keeper got a hand in its path for another save.
With neither side able to find the back of the net in regulation, the game went to penalties — and Vancouver pulled it out for a three-peat.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2024.
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