The Vancouver Canucks finally won the draft lottery.
Sort of.
The NHL brought back the player draft for this year’s edition of the All-Star Game, with Canucks captain Quinn Hughes named as the captain of one of the four All-Star teams. Joining him as co-captain were his brother, Jack Hughes, who is injured and won’t be playing in the game, and crooner and Canucks fan Michael Bublé, as well as Elias Pettersson as alternate captain.
When it came time for the draft, Team Hughes won the lottery, with an inaudible Wayne Gretzky revealing a picture of Michael Bublé to show who would be picking first overall. It was the first of many awkward moments for the draft.
Hughes snubs his Canucks teammates with first pick
Given the opportunity to pick first and build an all-Canuck team, Hughes and his compatriots instead took the approach of every general manager in a draft and went with the best player available: the NHL’s leading scorer, Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
It seemed like Hughes would start going with Canucks after when he took Thatcher Demko with his second pick bit then threw a curveball with the Winnipeg Jets’ Kyle Connor, who was a late addition to the All-Star Game in place of the injured Jack Eichel.
With their fourth and fifth picks, Team Hughes still eschewed Canucks.
“Do you think Brock will be mad?” asked one of the four co-conspirators, likely Quinn, on their hot mics as they debated their fourth pick. “He’ll be okay,” said one of the others, possibly Jack.
Eventually, Hughes went with his longtime friend Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators, then did his brother a favour by picking his New Jersey Devils teammate, Jesper Bratt, fifth.
“We can try to trade for Millsy after.”
It was an unexpected sequence of events but there were some suggestions that Hughes might have worked out some side deals with the other team captains, Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon, and Connor McDavid to ensure that he got all of his Canucks teammates.
That was hinted at by Matthews at one point and seemingly confirmed by Hughes before they picked Bratt.
“We’re going to have five Canucks no matter what,” said Hughes, “And then we can try to trade for Millsy after.”
“Hot mic,” cautioned Pettersson with a grin.
The plan, then, seemed to be to take two of the three remaining Canucks — as well as one of the goaltenders, which was a requirement — with their final three picks, leaving J.T. Miller for last. The final four players wouldn’t be picked but instead sorted randomly into the four teams, so the Canucks could hope to get Miller by chance or trade whoever they got for Miller.
“I told Quinn that he should take Lindy before me.”
Things almost went according to plan. Sure, they botched their sixth pick, where they were required to take a goaltender but announced Brock Boeser instead, forcing Boeser to skate back to his seat while looking forlornly back over his shoulder.
Team Hughes took Los Angeles Kings goaltender Cam Talbot with their sixth pick instead, then took Boeser with their seventh pick after a commercial break.
“Nothing that happens tonight better cost me a Stanley Cup,” quipped Bublé before the Boeser pick, seemingly hoping that their decision to wait to pick Canucks wouldn’t cause a locker room rift.
That’s when Tate McRae, the celebrity co-captain for Team MacKinnon, threw a wrench in the works by picking a player from her favourite team, the Calgary Flames. Or, rather, a player who was on the Flames up until Wednesday: Elias Lindholm.
It’s a possibility that Boeser had hoped to avoid.
“Hopefully, Quinn just drafts [Lindholm] right away so we’re all on the same team,” said Boeser on the All-Star red carpet before the draft. “I told Quinn that he should take Lindy before me.”
“I feel bad we made you wait that long.”
That took Lindholm off the board for Team Hughes, who were able to pick Miller rather than hoping for random chance.
“I feel bad we made you wait that long,” said Hughes as he gave Miller a hug.
That left their final player up to chance and they got the Anaheim Ducks’ Frank Vatrano.
The Canucks regrettably weren’t able to work a trade to get Lindholm from Team MacKinnon, which means Quinn Hughes evidently isn’t as good of a general manager as Patrik Allvin.
The NHL’s choice to mic up all of the captains, co-captains, and alternate captains led to some chaos, as there was plenty of cross-talk throughout, but it did lead to some unintentionally hilarious moments, even beyond Hughes unintentionally revealing his draft strategy.
The best of those moments was definitely the two Edmonton Oilers picking Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck with their first pick, with Draisaitl loudly declaring, “We need goaltending.”
I mean, Stuart Skinner was just named the NHL’s second star for January, but the Oilers probably do still need goaltending.
Bublé jokes that All-Star draft felt like he was on mushrooms
The goofiest moment came after the All-Star draft, however, as Michael Bublé stepped up to the podium for a press conference
“My buddy told me this is just a microdose of mushrooms and he was lying,” said Bublé. “So, I’ll be honest, I thought I was in Blades of Glory for most of the time that I was out there until it sort of settled down and then I realized, ‘Holy shit, I’m at the NHL All-Star Game.’”
Bublé clarified that it was a joke to professional sports-yeller Steve Dangle shortly after.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
