Sidney Crosby is cooped up in Pittsburgh binge-watching the “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” series on Netflix.
Alex Ovechkin is waiting it out in Washington, where his go-to show is “Deal or No Deal,” though he admits time isn’t passing very quickly as the NHL hit Day 14 of its pause amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Try to do some workouts, but getting bored,” Ovechkin said. “First week was kind of a good thing, relaxing and chilling. It’s kind of getting boring right now.”
That’s given two faces of the game plenty of time to play commissioner and ponder how the NHL should resume the 2019-20 season – if at all possible.
The Metropolitan Division and career-long rivals see it the same way.
“I wouldn’t mind starting right at the playoffs,” Crosby said.
“I’d rather start in the playoffs right away,” Ovechkin said.
But that created a little awkwardness among the six other Metropolitan division players on two video conference calls with reporters on Thursday, each of the players representing teams in slightly different positions with different outlooks.
“Sorry guys,” Ovechkin said, smiling.
“Don’t say sorry to me, we’re in a playoff spot,” Columbus captain Nick Foligno said.
And that may not be true when it’s all said and done. Yes, Foligno’s Blue Jackets currently sit in the East’s final wild-card spot with the season on pause – but they’ve played two more games than Anders Lee’s New York Islanders, who would knock the Blue Jackets out if the final standings are instead determined by points percentage.
Claude Giroux, captain of the Philadelphia Flyers and one of the NHL’s hottest teams at the pause, said: “Whatever is the fairest, I think everyone would accept that.”
Whatever is fairest is open for interpretation. Because in just about any scenario, at least one team will have something to grumble about.
“Screw the Rangers, let’s start playoffs right away,” Carolina centre Jordan Staal said, lobbing a shot at his brother and Rangers defenceman Marc Staal, who was also on the call. “It’s hard to determine what’s fair, someone is always going to be pissed off about it. Whatever is decided, let’s hope it’s best for the Canes.”
Marc Staal said: “You want to get as many teams as possible to get your true tournament, whether that’s letting a couple [extra] teams in or a play-in [stage].”
Foligno said “any idea is worth it at this point.”
But at some point, the NHL and NHL Players’ Association must answer: When? And for how long?
Foligno pointed out that P.K. Subban’s New Jersey Devils are well out of a playoff spot; they are 13 points back of the Blue Jackets. It would take a 31-team tournament for the Devils to play meaningful hockey again this season.
“I could be working out for no reason,” Subban said.
How beneficial is it for the Devils to go through an abbreviated training camp only to play a few games before taking a couple months off again? Or what if the Devils don’t come back at all until November, as some have proposed?
“No offence to your situation, what if you don’t end up playing and then we come back in November?” Foligno asked. “That’s a long time for you guys to be off. Is that advantageous or is that worse? There’s so much that we have to think about.”
Foligno cautioned against the NHL and NHLPA agreeing to a schedule where the 2020-21 season closely follows the end of the 2019-20 playoffs.
“We’ve got to think about the health and safety of our star players,” Foligno said. “That’s a lot of games in one [calendar] year that we’re not used to. “I’m not saying guys won’t grind out a way to do it, because us hockey players will find a way. But you’ve got to think about the longevity of guys’ careers and their health as well.”
In the meantime, players continue to look after their own health, asked to be in self-isolation at least through April 6. Players do not have access to team training facilities – leaving some players like Lee to run with his dogs as one of his main sources of exercise for the moment.
Lee said the gym in his New York apartment building is closed.
Crosby said he has limited equipment in his house. He told kids at home to keep shooting pucks, like how he famously demolished a dryer in his Cole Harbour, N.S., basement: “It’s a fun way to pass the time. There’s no excuse now.”
Ovechkin has brought his personal trainer to Washington to keep in shape. The Ovechkins are expecting their second child in the next few months.
“It’s kind of hard, to be honest with you, but in this situation – you have to [do] the best you can,” Ovechkin said. “We just go run in the street, play soccer, ride the bike – try to keep busy. When you’re by yourself, it’s hard to push yourself. Sometimes I don’t want to do it, but he says ‘OK, let’s go’ and we have to work out.
“It’s always a good time to sit on the couch, watch TV and play with the kid. But if the season is coming back, we have to stay in shape.”
For now, his chase for a 10th career 50-goal season and pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s goal record will have to wait.
“Of course you want to score 50,” Ovechkin said. “It sucks to not score 50 and get another milestone. You think about those little things, but as soon as you start to think about what’s happening in the world, it’s scary. My mind right now is not about scoring 50 goals or catching the Great One, it’s about what I can do, and my family can do, to be safe.”
Contact Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @frank_seravalli
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
PITTSBURGH – Sidney Crosby plans to remain a Pittsburgh Penguin for at least three more years.
The Penguins announced on Monday that they re-signed the 37-year-old from Cole Harbour, N.S., to a two-year contract extension that has an average annual value of US$8.7 million. The deal runs through the 2026-27 season.
Crosby was eligible to sign an extension on July 1 with him entering the final season of a 12-year, $104.4-million deal that carries an $8.7-million salary cap hit.
At the NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas last Monday, he said things were positive and he was optimistic about a deal getting done.
The three-time Stanley Cup champion is coming off a 42-goal, 94-point campaign that saw him finish tied for 12th in the league scoring race.
Crosby has spent all 19 of his NHL seasons in Pittsburgh, amassing 592 goals and 1,004 assists in 1,272 career games.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Tadej Pogacar was so dominant on Sunday, Canada’s Michael Woods called it a race for second.
Pogacar, a three-time Tour de France champion from Slovenia, pedalled to a resounding victory at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal.
The UAE Team Emirates leader crossed the finish line 24 seconds ahead of Spain’s Pello Bilbao of Bahrain — Victorious to win the demanding 209.1-kilometre race on a sunny, 28 C day in Montreal. France’s Julian Alaphilippe of Soudal Quick-Step was third.
“He’s the greatest rider of all time, he’s a formidable opponent,” said Woods, who finished 45 seconds behind the leader in eighth. “If you’re not at your very, very best, then you can forget racing with him, and today was kind of representative of that.
“He’s at such a different level that if you follow him, it can be lights out.”
Pogacar slowed down before the last turn to celebrate with the crowd, high-five fans on Avenue du Parc and cruise past the finish line with his arms in the air after more than five hours on the bike.
The 25-year-old joined Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet as the only multi-time winners in Montreal after claiming the race in 2022. He also redeemed a seventh-place finish at the Quebec City Grand Prix on Friday.
“I was disappointed, because I had such good legs that I didn’t do better than seventh,” Pogacar said. “To bounce back after seventh to victory here, it’s just an incredible feeling.”
It’s Pogacar’s latest win in a dominant year that includes victories at the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia.
Ottawa’s Woods (Israel Premier-Tech) tied a career-best in front of the home crowd in Montreal, but hoped for more after claiming a stage at the Spanish Vuelta two weeks ago.
“I wanted a better result,” the 37-year-old rider said. “My goal was a podium, but at the same time I’m happy with the performance. In bike racing, you can’t always get the result you want and I felt like I raced really well, I animated the race, I felt like I was up there.”
Pogacar completed the 17 climbs up and down Mount Royal near downtown in five hours 28 minutes 15 seconds.
He made his move with 23.3 kilometres to go, leaving the peloton in his dust as he pedalled into the lead — one he never relinquished.
Bilbao, Alaphilippe, Alex Aranburu (Movistar Team) and Bart Lemmen (Visma–Lease) chased in a group behind him, with Bilbao ultimately separating himself from the pack. But he never came close to catching Pogacar, who built a 35-second lead with one lap left to go.
“It was still a really hard race today, but the team was on point,” Pogacar said. “We did really how we planned, and the race situation was good for us. We make it hard in the last final laps, and they set me up for a (takeover) two laps to go, and it was all perfect.”
Ottawa’s Derek Gee, who placed ninth in this year’s Tour de France, finished 48th in Montreal, and called it a “hard day” in the heat.
“I think everyone knows when you see Tadej on the start line that it’s just going to be full gas,” Gee said.
Israel Premier-Tech teammate Hugo Houle of Sainte-Perpétue, Que., was 51st.
Houle said he heard Pogacar inform his teammates on the radio that he was ready to attack with two laps left in the race.
“I said then, well, clearly it’s over for me,” Houle said. “You see, cycling isn’t that complicated.”
Australia’s Michael Matthews won the Quebec City GP for a record third time on Friday, but did not finish in Montreal. The two races are the only North American events on the UCI World Tour.
Michael Leonard of Oakville, Ont., and Gil Gelders and Dries De Bondt of Belgium broke away from the peloton during the second lap. Leonard led the majority of the race before losing pace with 45 kilometres to go.
Only 89 of 169 riders from 24 teams — including the Canadian national team — completed the gruelling race that features 4,573 metres in total altitude.
Next up, the riders will head to the world championships in Zurich, Switzerland from Sept. 21 to 29.
Pogacar will try to join Eddy Merckx (1974) and Stephen Roche (1987) as the only men to win three major titles in a season — known as the Triple Crown.
“Today gave me a lot of confidence, motivation,” Pogacar said. “I think we are ready for world championships.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2024.
