A quick mix of the things we gleaned from the week of hockey, serious and less so, and rolling four lines deep. Zoom is making all the hockey-related revenue these days.
1. Nick Robertson could find himself in a tricky spot when 2020-21 is ready to roll.
The prized Toronto Maple Leafs prospect will be 19 by October. He’ll be too young to join the AHL Marlies. At five-foot-nine and 164 pounds, he’ll perhaps be too slight to make the leap all the way to the NHL — and swiping a roster spot from one the club’s established top-nine wingers is no easy task.
Yet how much would a fourth OHL season improve his development? Robertson dominated the junior circuit with a 55-goal, 86-point showing in 46 games for the Peterborough Petes.
In retrospect, GM Kyle Dubas might’ve underestimated the second-rounder’s readiness and buried him too far down the pecking order at the Leafs’ 2019 camp.
“Looking back and reflecting on it, I think we probably should’ve given him more of a look in training camp and probably rewarded him with an exhibition game or two to see how he did there,” Dubas said Tuesday. “But he went back to Peterborough, he had a great attitude, and he was an excellent player for them right away.
“It’s disappointing, of course, that he won’t be able to see how far he could have run it up in regard to chasing 60 goals, but he’s one of the more focused and hardworking prospects that I’ve seen in my time in hockey. I think he knows the areas that he needs to continue to work on. He’s got a great read on that.”
Robertson is back home in California, dedicating this extra-long summer to weight gain, strength training and boosting his acceleration with the hopes of hanging with the pros.
While he has arrived with less fanfare and expectations, Robertson could find himself in a similar situation as Mitch Marner did in 2016: undeniable talent packaged in a frame so small that there is real risk of getting injured trying to create offence while weaving around towering defencemen.
“The part of his game that I think that we really came to admire during the season was his play on the defensive side and, especially on the penalty kill, his ability to win the puck back and then tear down the ice and produce chances and scoring for the Petes,” Dubas said.
Marner made the jump out of juniors at 19, put up 61 points as a small teenager and never glanced back at the O. That’s the challenge being thrown at the feet of Robertson. A lofty blueprint to match.
“I think come training camp we’ll give him every opportunity to potentially make the team and put the ball in his court and see what he can do in in the fall,” Dubas said.
2. Inside the pressure cooker that is Toronto, new captain John Tavares has faced some criticism for failing to live up to the high standard he set in his first year as a Leaf.
In 2018-19, Tavares was healthy for all 82 games and centred one of the league’s most dominant trios with Mitch Marner and Zach Hyman. The result was a career-best 47 goals, 88 points and plus-19 rating. A lofty bar.
This season, he’s had to battle through a broken finger and a juggling of wingers. Still, he was tracking for a 31-goal, 71-point season with seven missed games.
It was refreshing, then, to hear how his young competitors view him.
Brady Tkachuk has skated with Tavares in the summer and is blown away with his “no-days off” work ethic.
“We do some skill sessions and I see his skill and try to do it, but it doesn’t really work out,” Tkachuk said.
Dylan Larkin is usually the Red Wing tasked with facing off against Tavares.
“It seems like you can never break him. His intensity and his drive out there, he never gives up, and it’s one thing I admire about him,” Larkin said. “He’s definitely the rock of a team that has a lot of skill, but he plays the right way and leads in that department.”
3. Have 24 minutes to kill? (Yes, you do.)
I thoroughly enjoyed the dual interview GQ set up with Wayne Gretzky and Connor McDavid(watch below). Three highlights:
On Edmonton…
McDavid: “What’s it like to win there?”
Gretzky: “Oh, wow. Well, we created a job for the guy who carries around the Stanley Cup.”
Gretzky: “It would be something you would never, ever forget.”
McDavid: “I’m dying to play, for sure.”
Gretzky: “Hear that, everyone.”
On getting checked…
McDavid: “Now they’re starting to do the shadowing, which I’m sure you got a lot of. Which is the dumbest thing ever. It’s not a lot of fun to deal with.”
Gretzky: “It should be an automatic penalty soon as the guy’s standing beside you.”
McDavid: “The coach should get kicked out.”
Gretzky: “It’s the dumbest thing in hockey. I used to hate it, but you’re too fast for any of those guys. I don’t know who’s gonna shadow you.”
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4. Selfishly, an upside of this paused season is that interviews with hockey players have become more varied, more human. Questions around last night’s power play or tomorrow’s big tilt have disappeared, opening space for more personality-based interviews.
Capitals star Nicklas Backstrom held court over video conference this week and happily reported that he and fiancée Liza Berg had just returned from the hospital with their third bundle of joy, baby Alizee. He left struck by all the good work nurses and doctors are doing.
“Without them, this is going to take a lot longer,” Backstrom said.
“I mean, they’re sacrificing themselves for others, which is probably the nicest thing a human being can do. God bless them.”
Backstrom has been texting back and forth with Nationals star Ryan Zimmerman over this break and staying active with runs, bike rides, baseball and hopping in the pool with his children.
“Me, personally I can’t sit around too long. My kids can’t either,” Backstrom said. “I know Zoom, as a business, is probably doing good.”
Backstrom gets a chuckle at the Instagram stickhandlers out there — “That’s not the same,” he said — and believes a mini training camp with a couple exhibition games would be necessary before a return to action.
Despite the uncertainty of staying in shape without an end goal, the star playmaker definitely wants playoffs — even if that means waiting until August.
“You want to have a champion this year if possible,” Backstrom said. “The best-case scenario would be to finish the season.”
5. Backstrom negotiated his own contract extension in-season and will get a well-deserved bump from a $6.7 million AAV to $9.2 million in the fall.
But Capitals GM Brian MacLellan said on a conference call Monday that he now finds himself in a holding pattern that makes it difficult to work plot a course for all his UFAs still unsigned: Ilya Kovalchuk, Radko Gudas, Brenden Dillon and Braden Holtby.
The likelihood of a flattened salary cap will be particularly challenging to MacLellan considering Washington has already committed more than $71 million in salary for 2020-21 and was banking on a raised ceiling.
“We talk over all the possible scenarios and you try to prepare mentally for anything. What happens to the cap? Does the cap go down because revenues are going to decrease? Do they artificially keep it where it’s at? So, the answer to those questions puts us on pause on your UFA negotiations,” MacLellan said.
“If we did (play) through August, could we have a couple of months off and then start back up in November? What do they do with that cap number? I think there are so many questions that we haven’t even considered that’ll pop up given whatever the result is at the end of this.”
Backstrom confessed he actually forgot the Capitals were leading the Metropolitan Division at the pause. He made a pitch Wednesday to maintain the core intact because he likes their chances of hoisting a second Cup. He’d love to see Holtby re-sign.
“You obviously know the salary cap is going to be different,” Backstrom said. “Hopefully we can keep the same.”
6. John Chayka, who’s been generous in these difficult times, spoke to NHL.com this week about his very preliminary contract extension talks with Taylor Hall.
Outside of the rink, the Coyotes GM is hoping Hall has fallen for Phoenix’s great weather and the city’s affordability.
“That was our bet when we acquired Taylor,” Chayka told Jon Lane. “I think he’s enjoyed living here and enjoyed playing with our team. He’s always wanted to be in a playoff hunt and have a chance to compete for a Stanley Cup. We feel like we’ve got that here, and not just this year but every year moving forward.
“We can be a real top destination for any player in the league.” Chayka’s negotiations with Hall’s agent, Darren Ferris, won’t plunge into the nitty-gritty of exchanging numbers and salary structures until the economic landscape of the NHL becomes clear.
“It’s tough to do any business of that magnitude,” Chayka said. “Taylor knows what we think of him as a person, as a player, and at the right time we’ll maybe look to move forward on those discussions. But anything right now is probably on the back burner, realistically.”
Front-line workers in the Golden Horseshoe will get 1,000-plus free Wendy’s meals thanks to Coyotes GM and his wife https://t.co/QDRRFsgSxG
7. “Tootka” Rask, a strong Vezina candidate, is tempering expectations that he might retire after his current contract ends in July of 2021.
Rask can begin negotiating an extension with general manager Don Sweeney as early as this off-season.
“I’m sure we’re going to have good conversations with (Sweeney) after this season and go from there,” Rask said on WEEI 93.7 FM’s The Greg Hill Show Tuesday. “But I’m only 34 (when my deal expires), so it’s not too old. So, I might play another year or two and then go from there.
“But I don’t want to promise anything either way because you never know what’s going to happen.”
It’s worth noting that the Bruins’ two greatest cap hits — Rask ($7 million) and David Krejci ($7.25 million) — are set to come off the books at the same time.
Marc-Andre Fleury inked a three-year, $21-million extension with Vegas around the same age Rask will be, so that might provide a ballpark for negotiations.
8. Blake Wheeler and wife Sam don’t have time to get bored. Their days are packed with homeschooling three young children and breaking up squabbles between Louis, 7, Leni, 4, and Mace, 2.
“It’s a full day job, and I’m more tired now than I was a few weeks ago,” the Jets captain sighed on a Zoom call with Central Division leaders. “We get ’em all down by typically 8 on a good night, and then there’s a half-hour of just numbness. Our wine collection’s getting low, so… yeah.”
Fellow dad Zach Parise said he and his wife started cracking a bottle at 5 p.m. the other day.
“Five o’clock cocktail hour? That’s actually pretty impressive,” Wheeler countered. “Our’s is starting to creep into the threes.”
The candid Wheeler also let us into his love-hate relationship with rival Jamie Benn. The two finally met off-ice last summer and shared “a couple laughs and a couple of cold ones,” but the possibility of an on-ice throwdown remains. Largely because Benn keeps asking to drop the gloves.
“There was one game we faced off against each other, like, 20 times, and he asked me to fight 20 times,” Wheeler said. “Third period of a tied game, whatever: ‘We goin’?’”
“I think I ask (Wheeler) to fight every game we play.” – @jamiebenn14
“There was one game I think we faced-off against each other like 20 times, he asked me to fight 20 times.” – Blake Wheeler #GoStarspic.twitter.com/Zf42AWxPhK
“I was in the basement for hours trying that shot, and I finally nailed it and was pretty proud of myself,” Kadri confessed on Good Show on Friday.
We appreciate the honesty, but sometimes you don’t want to hear how the sausage gets made.
10. Sad thought: What if Zdeno Chara has played his last NHL game and no one knows it?
Not that Big Z has suggested retirement, but he does not have a contract for next season, and the Bruins’ UFA priority has to be the younger Torey Krug.
The oldest man in the league put up an assist and helped shut out the Philadelphia Flyers on March 10, logging a mellow 23:49 of ice time against one of the hottest clubs in hockey.
One week later, Chara “celebrated” his 43rd birthday by packing up his family and driving 24 hours south from Boston to their place in a gated Florida community. Why? Warmer weather for the kids to run around outside. A private pool and a gym to keep in tip-top shape.
“So, not really big celebrations,” Chara says. “You reach a certain age, you try to hide it.”
11. I love the creativity that has sprung out of this stagnant state (and I’m not just talking about the Toosie Slide).
NHL players and teams have drummed up some fun. The Maple Leafs created Zoom backdrops for fans to use.
The Vancouver Canucks reached back and retweeted their original in-game tweets during a broadcast of their classic 2011 Game 7 overtime match versus the Blackhawks.
And the Edmonton Oilers brilliantly found a Simpsons image to match every NHL club. Great stuff:
12. So, Dylan Larkin, now that you’re cooped up with your girlfriend and your dog and have some time on your hands, can we expect a sequel to your legendary “D-Boss Shooting Pucks in the Basement” video?
“Might come,” Larkin teased. “I got a little shooting area in the garage — the Dungeon 2.0. So, I might have to get out there and make a video. Fans might like it, so we’ll see.”
NAPA, Calif. (AP) — Patton Kizzire ended a long victory drought Sunday in the Procore Championship, closing with a scrambling 2-under 70 for a tournament-record, five-stroke victory in the FedEx Cup Fall opener at Silverado Country Club.
Kizzire had gone 176 events without a victory after winning tournaments in Mexico and Hawaii in a two-month span in late 2017 and early 2018.
“I’m going to enjoy this win,” Kizzire said. “It’s just so sweet to get through the ups and downs. That’s life. You just got to stay positive. That’s what led me to here, to right now.”
The 38-year-old former Auburn player earned a PGA Tour card for the next two years after entering the event 132nd in the fight to earn a card with a top-125 finish in the standings. He also gets spots in the Masters and PGA Championship and The Sentry at Kapalua.
Kizzire finished at 20-under 268. On Sunday, he repeatedly misfired off the tee for a second consecutive day, but stayed steady with his approach shots and had three birdies, an eagle and three bogeys.
“I knew that it would be difficult not to get ahead of myself with a four-shot lead heading into today,” Kizzire said. “I wrote down in my yard book, ‘I am here, I I am now.’ Kept going back to that. That helped me be disciplined and stay present. That’s what really helped me come out on top.”
David Lipsky was second after a 71.
Patrick Fishburn (71) was third at 14 under. Mackenzie Hughes of Hamilton, Ont. (72), Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont. (71) and Greyson Sigg (72) were another stroke back.
Sahith Theegala, the winner last year, closed with a 72 to tie for fifth at 12-under 276.
Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., finished tied for seventh at 12 under. He carded a 1 over on his final round. Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., finished tied for 13th at 9 under. He shot a 4 under Sunday. Roger Sloan of Calgary finished tied for 37th at 6 under.
Unlike in 2023 when Theegala was followed by a large gallery on his way to winning, Kizzire and Lipsky played the final round in front of a small crowd at the picturesque course in the heart of the Napa Valley wine country.
For the second straight day, Kizzire had to make up for his erratic tee shots. He missed 11 fairways and hit three drives into bunkers but got out of trouble and limited the damage each time.
Lipsky also had issues off the tee trying to battle winds that had been mostly absent for the first three rounds.
“It was really tough out there,” Lipsky said. “The wind was swirling and it was strong and the greens were so firm. Where they put some of those pins is really tough to get close.”
After Lipsky made birdies on Nos. 1 and 4 to get within two shots, Kizzire responded with an eagle on the par-5 fifth. Kizzire hit his second shot past the green, then holed a soft wedge shot coming back from 50 feet to get to 20 under.
Kizzire bogeyed No. 11 after another errant tee shot, while Lipsky birdied to get within two strokes again. Kizzire then made a birdie save after driving into a greenside bunker on No. 12, and had another birdie on No. 13.
Kizzire was ahead by five strokes after a birdie on No. 15, then missed a short par putt on No. 16. He had a chance to get the stroke back on No. 17, but pushed his putt to the right of the hole and settled for par.
VANCOUVER – As the Major League Soccer season ticks down, Vanni Sartini wants his Vancouver Whitecaps to make a declaration — the team is ready to compete.
“The time of hiding ourselves, I think it’s over,” the coach said after the ‘Caps earned a 2-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday.
“We need to really say that we are here to try to be at the ball until the end and trying to shoot for the highest position. That doesn’t mean that we’re going to make it, but we have the quality to do it.”
With seven games left on their regular-season schedule, the ‘Caps (13-8-6) sit in fifth spot in the congested Western Conference, just two points out of fourth.
Saturday’s loss officially eliminated the last-place Earthquakes (5-21-2) from post-season action.
Vancouver has been on a hot streak since returning from the Leagues Cup break and is unbeaten (3-0-1) in its last four outings across all competitions. The team has not allowed a goal in those matches.
“It’s the fact that we play really well,” Sartini said of the clean sheets. “We have the ball a lot, we finish our attack most of the time in their box. So it’s really hard for the other team to attack us. And then when they attack us, in the rare times that they arrive in the final third, we’re very solid.”
Recent additions have bolstered the team’s ranks, including the club’s newest designated player, Stuart Armstrong. The 32-year-old Scottish midfielder scored his first MLS goal Saturday.
Three minutes after coming on as a substitute for Alessandro Schopf, Armstrong gave Vancouver a two-goal cushion in the 87th minute.
Midfielder Pedro Vite dished a short pass to ‘Caps captain Ryan Gauld, who tapped it toward Armstrong. The former Southampton FC player then blasted a shot into the top of the net for his first strike in a Whitecaps’ jersey.
He was mobbed by teammates in the corner of the field.
“I think everyone was happy. Also for the first goal, but also that it was an important three points,” said Armstrong, who signed with the ‘Caps on Sept. 3.
“It kind of felt a little bit like last week, when we had a lot of chances and we didn’t get the three points. So today, I think everyone was just relieved to have that two-goal cushion.”
Vancouver was the dominant team from the outset Saturday and did not relent, outshooting the visitors 19-5 and controlling 54.1 per cent of possession.
Fafa Picault also found the back of the net for Vancouver, while Gauld contributed a pair of assists.
Whitecaps goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka stopped both shots he faced to collect his seventh clean sheet of the year, while Daniel made nine saves for the Quakes.
Gauld and Picault teamed up in the 22nd minute when Gauld curled a cross in and the Haitian striker headed it down toward the net, only to see Daniel catch a piece of the shot with his forearm and redirect it out of harm’s way.
The duo connected again in the 35th minute on a Vancouver corner. Gauld swung a ball in and Picault jumped up from the pack to send a glancing header in past Daniel for his ninth MLS goal of the season.
San Jose briefly appeared to level the score in the 68th minute when an unmarked Ousseni Bouda collected the ball, froze Takaoka and tapped a shot into the Vancouver net. An official quickly raised the offside flag and waved off the tally.
Daniel kept San Jose’s deficit to a single goal with a pair of solid stops in the 82nd minute.
First, the Brazilian ‘keeper dove sideways on his line to tip away a bomb from Alessandro Schopf. He was tested again on the ensuing corner and jumped up to send a header from Picault over the crossbar.
“I think we created a lot of chances again,” Gauld said.
“We probably should have put the game out of their reach sooner. But we’d be more worried if we weren’t creating the chances. Three clean sheets in a row in the league, I think it’s a big thing for us. And it gives us a good platform to go forward.”
NOTES
Vancouver played without leading scorer Brian White for a third consecutive game as the American striker works his way back from a concussion. … Gauld’s second assist marked his 15th goal contribution (six goals, nine assists) in his last 15 Whitecaps games across all competitions. … An announced crowd of 21,309 took in the game at B.C. Place.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps kick off a two-game road swing Wednesday against the Houston Dynamo. The Earthquakes host the Seattle Sounders the same night.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
MILAN (AP) — Bologna’s preparations for its Champions League debut are not going well though it managed to spoil Como’s first Serie A home match in 21 years on Saturday.
Bologna came from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw to gather three points from its opening four matches.
Bologna hosts Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. Its only other appearance in Europe’s top competition was in 1964 in the preliminary round of the old European Cup.
AC Milan is also winless as it prepares for a Tuesday Champions League match against Liverpool. The Rossoneri hosted promoted Venezia later. Juventus drew at Empoli 0-0.
Como made a great start in the fifth minute when Patrick Cutrone attempted to roll the ball across the six-yard box but it took a huge deflection off Bologna defender Nicolò Casale for an own goal.
Bologna thought it was gifted a way back into the match on the stroke of halftime when referee Marco Piccinini signalled for a penalty following an Alberto Moreno handball, but he revoked his decision and instead gave a free kick because the handball was just outside the area.
Bologna improved after the break but found itself further behind when Cutrone raced onto a through ball and cut inside past a defender and fired into the far bottom corner.
Tommaso Pobega hit the post for Bologna, which finally pulled one back in the 76th through substitute Santiago Castro.
Another substitute helped the visitors snatch a point when Samuel Iling-Junior curled a fine strike into the top left corner in stoppage time.
Unbeaten sides
Juventus, and more surprisingly Empoli, are among six unbeaten sides.
Empoli held Monza and Bologna to draws either side of a shock 2-1 win at Roma. Juventus’ perfect start to the season was ruined by Roma in a goalless draw before the international break.
On Saturday, there were few clearcut chances in Empoli although home goalkeeper Devis Vásquez made spectacular saves to fingertip out a Federico Gatti header and deny Dusan Vlahovic in a one on one with the Juventus forward.
Empoli had a good opportunity in the 73rd minute following an Alberto Grassi one-two with Pietro Pellegri but the finish was straight at Mattia Perin.
The host could have won it right at the death but Gatti flew in with a great sliding block to keep out Emanuel Gyasi’s close-range effort.
Juventus hosts PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday.
