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Presence of Borje Salming lifts Maple Leafs to comeback win over Canucks

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Borje Salming was such a positive influence on the Maple Leafs for so many Saturday nights.

By just making his way to centre ice to drop a puck for this one was he able to bring the building to its feet and — eventually — inspire his team to a win.
That included the six Swedes coach Sheldon Keefe started in Salming’s honour and the rest of the roster demographic, who watched their beloved defenceman struggle with debilitating Lou Gehrig’s Disease, but manage to raise a hand to acknowledge another long ovation.
Fittingly, it was a few of those Scandinavians who helped rally the Leafs for a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver CanucksKeefe was hoping at some point during these back-to-back home games, that Salming’s appearance would give them a lift.

“Any time you have your own alumni (honoured) and you see the reaction of the fans, see the reaction of our players, you feel part of the family, part of the legacy,” Keefe said. “You see how important, how impactful players can be on our city.

“Borje is obviously a legend here. It’s one thing to see his name (on a retired No. 21 banner at Scotiabank Arena ), on Legends Row or see the person here and at this stage of his life. It’s a different era of Leaf fans, but it’s still here.“It’s not just to honour the legacy of Borje, it’s all part of their own legacy and you want to be remembered.”

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Former Toronto Maple Leaf Borje Salming is honoured during a pregame ceremony prior to the game between the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Scotiabank Arena on November 11, 2022 in Toronto.
Former Toronto Maple Leaf Borje Salming, with wife Pia, is honoured during a pregame ceremony prior to the game between the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Scotiabank Arena on November 11, 2022 in Toronto. Bruce Bennett/Getty Images Photo by Bruce Bennett /Getty Images

After seeing the reception for Salming on Friday’s Hall of Fame game, Keefe hit on the all-Swedish starters for his Toronto tribute and read them out before the game — William Nylander, Calle Jarnkrok, Pierre Engvall up front, Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin on defence, Erik Kallgren in net.

“All of us just looked at each other, just smiling,” Sandin said. “We all talked about it, that it was tough for all of us to hold back tears tonight and yesterday. The win tonight was definitely for Borje.”

It would’ve been picture perfect if one of the five skaters scored on that opening shift as they were the last Leafs to fist bump Salming as he and his family exited the ice after a touching video tribute to his two decades in the Gardens era.Vancouver coach Bruce Boudreau, one-time roommate of Salming, did his part for the opening faceoff sending out Oliver Ekman-Larson for Salming’s ceremonial drop with Nylander.

Still, the Leafs were quickly down two — a lost draw by Engvall with Bo Horvat eluding Justin Holl to tip a Luke Schenn shot. Michael Bunting’s retaliation penalty helped J.T. Miller make it 2-0.

But after Auston Matthews settled some booing down with a power play goal, the Tre Kronor vibe gripped the bench, Engvall finishing off a good forecheck with help from Liljegren and Jarnkrok.

It also took the Leafs a while to get used to new lines and defence partners. Keefe broke up Matthews and Mitch Marner 5-on-5 as well as John Tavares and Nylander.Engvall and Nylander were helping with a strong push that led to defenceman Jordie Benn’s winner halfway through the second, jumping up to pop in a backboard rebound. It was his first game as a Leaf after an early season injury as he finally got back in with a sore TJ Brodie getting a night off.

Jordie Benn scores his first goal as a Maple Leaf against the Vancouver Canucks during the second period at the Scotiabank Arena on November 12, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Jordie Benn scores his first goal as a Maple Leaf against the Vancouver Canucks during the second period at the Scotiabank Arena on November 12, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Benn, without a goal since Jan. 22 when he was with the Minnesota Wild, joked he didn’t know what to do after until Matthews hugged him.

“I told the guys to stay with it, find another level,” Keefe said of falling behind 2-0. “To me, we looked like the fresher, faster team in the third despite the back-to-back and as good a third with the lead as we’ve played (three penalty kills).”

Given a choice between using Kallgren on consecutive days back, playing Matt Murray a bit ahead of schedule from a healing groin injury or risking raw rookie Keith Petruzzelli, Keefe gambled Kallgren still had fuel and that the new lines would generate some 5-on-5 offence.
The night before, Kallgren did a credible job against the Penguins before allowing a weak winning goal.Murray is now set to start against his old team, where he won two Stanley Cups, in Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

Ilya Samsonov, who played so well in Murray’s place last month, is still out with a knee injury.

Kallgren, who made 27 saves, now has two wins in eight games, with three of those overtime losses.

“A big win and a big night in many ways,” Kallgren said. “It was emotional.”

lhornby@postmedia.com

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Shane Pinto has a goal, three assists as the Senators roll over the Sabres – Sportsnet.ca

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Here’s what we know about the allegations against Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara

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LOS ANGELES –

Only a week has passed since the Los Angeles Dodgers abruptly fired Ippei Mizuhara, the interpreter and constant companion of their new $700 million slugger, Shohei Ohtani.

But the biggest story of baseball’s spring is still murky — and shocking — as the regular season begins in earnest Thursday.

The scandal encompasses gambling, alleged theft, extensive deceit and the breakup of an enduring partnership between the majors’ biggest star and his right-hand man. Investigations are underway by the IRS and Major League Baseball, and Ohtani publicly laid out a version of events Monday that placed the responsibility entirely on Mizuhara.

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Here are the basics as Ohtani and the Dodgers prepare for their home opener against St. Louis on Thursday:

Why was Ippei Mizuhara fired by the Dodgers?

Ohtani claims his close friend repeatedly took money from his accounts to fund his illegal sports gambling habit. Ohtani also says he was completely unaware of the “massive theft,” as his lawyers termed it, until Mizuhara confessed to him and the Dodgers last week in South Korea, where the team opened its regular season against the San Diego Padres.

Mizuhara has given more than one version of his path to this trouble, which was catalyzed by the IRS’ investigation of Mathew Bowyer, an alleged illegal bookmaker. Mizuhara has consistently said he has a gambling addiction, and he abused his close friendship with the Dodgers superstar to feed it.

Did Shohei Ohtani ever bet on sports?

That’s the biggest question to be answered in Major League Baseball’s investigation, and the two-time AL MVP emphatically says he has never gambled on sports or asked anybody to bet on sports for him.

Further, Ohtani said Monday he has never knowingly paid a bookie to cover somebody else’s bets. Mizuhara also said Ohtani does not bet, and Bowyer’s attorney said the same.

Mizuhara told ESPN on March 19 that Ohtani paid his gambling debts at the interpreter’s request, saying the bets were on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL and college football. If that were true, Ohtani could face trouble even if he didn’t make the bets himself — but ESPN said Mizuhara dramatically changed his story the following day, claiming Ohtani had no knowledge of the gambling debts and had not transferred any money to bookmakers.

MLB rules prohibit players and team employees from wagering — even legally — on baseball. They also ban betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers.

What’s next for Ohtani?

Ohtani has played in every Dodgers game since the story broke, and he is expected to be their designated hitter in most regular-season games this season while baseball’s investigation continues.

Ohtani says his legal team has alerted authorities to the theft by Mizuhara, although his team has repeatedly declined to say which authorities have been told, according to ESPN.

Ohtani’s new interpreter is Will Ireton, a longtime Dodgers employee and fluent Japanese speaker who has filled several jobs with the team in everything from game preparation and analytics to recruiting free-agent pitches. But Ireton won’t be Ohtani’s constant companion, and manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday he’s optimistic that Ohtani will become closer to his teammates without the “buffer” provided for years by Mizuhara.

What don’t we know?

MLB’s investigation of Ohtani’s role in the events could last weeks or months, and it’s unlikely to be publicized until it’s complete. No one outside of Ohtani’s inner circle knows what it will find or how serious any repercussions could be, and nobody outside the circle is making informed speculation about the process.

One major question looms: How did Mizuhara have enough access to Ohtani’s bank accounts to get the alleged millions without Ohtani knowing? Is the slugger overly trusting, or is he wildly negligent in managing his vast fortune, which includes years of lavish endorsement deals in addition to his baseball salaries? Why didn’t the team around him, including his agent, do more to prevent the possibility of the theft he claims?

Finally, where is Mizuhara? Anybody who knows isn’t saying. He was fired in South Korea and apparently didn’t travel home with the Dodgers. Japanese media have visited his home in Southern California to look for him. Although he was born in Japan, Mizuhara’s life is in the U.S. — but his life will never be the same.

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NHL analyst gets absolutely roasted for ‘insanely rich’ take on Zach Hyman

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They say everyone is entitled to their opinion, but when you’re a member of the media and you share a truly awful take, you’re going to get called out for it.

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That’s what happened when NHL analyst/podcast host Andrew Berkshire decided to post a video on X (formerly known as Twitter) mainly attributing Zach Hyman’s success to the fact that he grew up “insanely rich.”

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The post came on the heels of the Oilers winger reaching the 50-goal milestone for the season and was rightly ripped apart by several notable colleagues, former players and fans in general.

In the video, which has been viewed more than 5.4 million times as of Wednesday morning, begins by stating that he has been in the sports media industry professionally since 2012 and that the industry “has to do a better job of telling truthful stories,” before discounting Hyman’s accomplishment.

“The story that’s being sold right now … is that, you know, if you work hard, if you stick to it, you can get there too, 31-year-old guy finally hits the 50-goal mark, harder worker, all that,” Berkshire said.

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“Yeah, great, except you’re missing the part of the story where Zach Hyman grew up insanely rich.”

Berkshire, who works as an analyst and host with the Steve Dangle Podcast Network, then details how Hyman’s parents bought a league to “guarantee him playing time,” and that he did “exclusive training that only a rich person … could afford.”

“This is a person that has had every single possible advantage to get where they are today,” Berkshire continued, before also bringing up the fact that Hyman has been fortunate enough to play on teams and lines with Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid most of his career.

While Berkshire does state that Hyman is a hard worker and brings grit when he plays, he also discounts it almost immediately.

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“Working hard, everybody works hard. You think every NHLer didn’t get there by working hard?” he asks. “Let’s not build this stupid narrative of ‘work hard, you’ll succeed.’ It’s just not true.

“There are people who’ve worked as hard as Zach Hyman their entire lives and never got a sniff of the American Hockey League, let alone the NHL because they didn’t have the advantages he had.”

Former Leafs defenceman turned NHL analyst Carlo Colaiacovo thought the whole take was ridiculous, posting the following: “Let me tell you something Andrew. You can’t buy your way to the NHL. You definitely can’t buy your way to having the career Hyman has had which includes scoring 50. Pretty ridiculous thing to say.”

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Retired NHLer Bobby Ryan was one of the first to weigh in, calling the opinion “purely false.”

“As someone who has maybe lived on both ends of the ‘financial edge’ I can say this is just purely false. Who cares, he accomplished a feat not many do and to downplay the way it’s reported is just wrong. You show up, do the work, good things happen,” Ryan posted on X.

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Jonathan Goodman, who claims he was Hyman’s personal trainer and tasked with getting the budding pro ready for the combine, had a glowing review of his former pupil’s work ethic.

“Yes, he had advantages. His family was wealthy and father obsessed with his success,” he said. “But the dude worked hard. Harder than anybody I’ve ever seen.”

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But, perhaps another former NHLer, Jason Strudwick said it best, replying to the video by asking: “Did Hyman not sign an autograph for you one time?”

 

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