CALGARY — Buoyed by the arm and legs of their young quarterback Dustin Crum, the Ottawa Redblacks won their second straight in overtime with a 43-41 victory Sunday over the host Calgary Stampeders.
The Redblacks (3-3) picked up their first road win and also won back-to-back games for the first time this CFL season.
“Just a lot of firsts and a confidence-booster,” Crum said. “Just to be able to know what we’re capable of when we’re playing and executing at our highest level, to be able to take that moving forward will be huge.”
A week after Crum’s late rushing touchdowns, including one in OT, spurred the Redblacks to an OT upset of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the 24-year-old was effective again in the air and on the ground Sunday.
Crum threw an interception-free 23 passes for 257 yards and a pair of touchdown throws. The Kent State alum also rushed for 63 yards, including a two-point convert.
Ottawa cashed two interceptions and a fumble by Calgary quarterback Jake Maier into three touchdowns.
“Any time you can win the turnover battle is huge,” Crum said. “You look at the scoreboard. You give up 40 points and you’re going to think your defence played bad, but them getting three turnovers for us was huge and allowed us to honestly win that game in the end.”
The Redblacks scored a pair of two-point conversions, which Crum credited to the schemes of Ottawa offensive coordinator Khari Jones.
Calgary went 0-for-3 attempting an extra two points after touchdowns.
Crum has amassed 667 passing yards, rushed for 257 and thrown four touchdown passes in just over two-and-a-half games since Jeremiah Masoli ruptured his Achilles tendon in the second quarter July 10 against Hamilton.
“As he continues to grow, and we continue to have success, it builds confidence in everybody and our confidence in Dustin,” Redblacks head coach Bob Dyce said.
Redblacks’ Ante Milanovic-Litre ran for a pair of touchdowns, including one in extra time. Nate Behar caught a touchdown pass plus the two-point convert throw in overtime to seal the victory.
Justin Hardy caught a touchdown pass and Brandin Dandridge ran an interception back for a major.
Ottawa’s Lewis Ward kicked field goals from 33 yards and 36 yards and added another three points in converts.
The Redblacks top the CFL in defending the run. Calgary took to the air Sunday while rushing for a season-low 38 yards.
Maier threw for a season-high 450 yards, including four touchdown passes and two interceptions. He was denied three times, however, attempting two-point convert throws.
Marken Michel caught a pair of touchdown passes, Clark Barnes scored his first career CFL touchdown, backup quarterback Tommy Stevens contributed a rushing major and Tre Odoms-Dukes caught a touchdown pass in OT for the Stampeders (2-4).
Kicker Rene Paredes was good from 26 yards, 32 yards and 47 yards, and made one of two converts in front of an announced 21,226 at McMahon Stadium.
“We made some explosive plays. We didn’t do too bad controlling the line of scrimmage pass-wise, but we didn’t get the running game going again,” Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson said.
“We could have won that game. We feel like we should have, but we didn’t.”
The Stampeders dropped to 0-3 at home with a second straight OT loss at McMahon.
“Winning breeds winning and we don’t want to wait until the last drive,” Dickenson said. “We’ve got to put the pedal down when we have that momentum and put somebody away. We really haven’t done that.”
Odoms-Dukes scored in OT with a seven-yard catch, but Maier couldn’t get the ball to Barnes in the end zone for an extra deuce.
Ottawa countered with Milanovic-Litre’s second major of the game on a three-yard dash. Crum’s throw to Behar for another two points sealed the Redblacks’ win.
Trailing by a point at halftime, Calgary jumped ahead 25-20 on its first possession of the second half.
The visitors pulled ahead again for a 28-25 lead heading into the fourth quarter, when Calgary punter Cody Grace cut the deficit to two points with a punt single.
From deep in their own zone following an Ottawa punt, Maier threw to Michel for a 95-yard touchdown and a 32-28 lead with eight minutes to play.
Ottawa turned the ball over on downs, but Maier was subsequently intercepted a second time when his throw was tipped into the arms of Alonzo Addae.
Crum moved the chains on a 12-play, 87-yard drive and finished with a 23-yard touchdown throw to Behar. Ottawa led by a field goal on Ward’s convert with 1:20 to play.
The Stampeders’ offence pushed into field-goal range for Paredes to force OT with his 47-yard boot.
A 26-yard Tommylee Lewis punt return and a horse collar tackle by Abdul Kanneh put the Stampeders on Ottawa’s doorstep for Stevens to finish with a one-yard plunge on Calgary’s first drive of the second half.
After Levante Bellamy blocked Richie Leone’s punt, Jordan Herdmann-Reed landed on the loose ball to give Calgary possession on Ottawa’s 48.
But Calgary’s faked field goal and a Stevens run that came up short turned the ball over on downs.
Crum then marched Ottawa’s offence downfield to cap a 72-yard drive with a 24-yard touchdown throw to Hardy. The Redblacks’ pivot then kept and ran for another two points.
Ottawa turned a pair of Calgary turnovers into a 17-6 lead early in the second quarter. The Stampeders responded with a 75-yard scoring drive that Michel finished with an over-the-shoulder catch for a 33-yard TD.
Lewis’s 33-yard punt return and Ottawa’s unnecessary roughness penalty put the ball on the Redblacks’ 36 with a minute to play in the second quarter, but the Stampeders settled for a Paredes 32-yard field goal to trail 20-19 at the half.
Maier’s fumble handing the ball off to Dedrick Mills was recovered by Redblacks defensive end Lorenzo Mauldin to start the second quarter.
Crum ran the ball 28 yards to Calgary’s doorstep, followed by Milanovic-Litre’s three-yard carry to the end zone.
Dandridge picked off a Maier pass intended for Reggie Begelton for a pick six in the final minute of the first quarter. Ward’s convert spotted the visitors a 10-6 lead.
“I think I’ve turned the ball over every game that we played in and whether I’ve responded or not, eventually we’ve got to eliminate those so that we can give ourselves some more breathing room and not feel like we have to overcome ourselves,” Maier said.
On Calgary’s second drive of the game, Maier threw downfield to Barnes for a 54-yard catch and run to the end zone.
The Stampeders led 6-3 after Paredes missed the convert. Ottawa scored a 33-yard field goal on its opening drive.
Temperature at kick off was 30 Celsius under slightly hazy skies at McMahon.
UP NEXT
The Redblacks are at home to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2-4) on Friday. The Stampeders travel to Montreal to face the Alouettes (2-3) on Sunday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2023.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.
The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.
Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.
He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.
Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.
Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.
The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.
Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.
Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.
Veterans Tyson Beukeboom and Karen Paquin will lead Canada at the WXV 1 women’s rugby tournament starting later this month in the Vancouver area.
WXV 1 includes the top three teams from the Women’s Six Nations (England, France and Ireland) and the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series (Canada, New Zealand, and the United States).
Third-ranked Canada faces No. 4 France, No. 7 Ireland and No. 1 England in the elite division of the three-tiered WXV tournament that runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 12 in Vancouver and Langley, B.C. No. 2 New Zealand and the eighth-ranked U.S. make up the six-team WVX 1 field.
“Our preparation time was short but efficient. This will be a strong team,” Canada coach Kevin Rouet said in a statement. “All the players have worked very hard for the last couple of weeks to prepare for WXV and we are excited for these next three matches and for the chance to play on home soil here in Vancouver against the best rugby teams in the world.
“France, Ireland and England will each challenge us in different ways but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves and another step in our journey to the Rugby World Cup next year.”
Beukeboom serves as captain in the injury absence of Sophie de Goede. The 33-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont., earned her Canadian-record 68th international cap in Canada’s first-ever victory over New Zealand in May at the Pacific Four Series.
Twenty three of the 30 Canadian players selected for WXV 1 were part of that Pacific Four Series squad.
Rouet’s roster includes the uncapped Asia Hogan-Rochester, Caroline Crossley and Rori Wood.
Hogan-Rochester and Crossley were part of the Canadian team that won rugby sevens silver at the Paris Olympics, along with WXV teammates Fancy Bermudez, Olivia Apps, Alysha Corrigan and Taylor Perry. Wood is a veteran of five seasons at UBC.
The 37-year-old Paquin, who has 38 caps for Canada including the 2014 Rugby World Cup, returns to the team for the first time since the 2021 World Cup.
Canada opens the tournament Sept. 29 against France at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver before facing Ireland on Oct. 5 at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, and England on Oct. 12 at B.C. Place.
The second-tier WXV 2 and third-tier WXV 3 are slated to run Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, in South Africa and Dubai, respectively.
WXV 2 features Australia, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales while WXV 3 is made up of Fiji, Hong Kong, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Samoa and Spain.
The tournament has 2025 World Cup qualification implications, although Canada, New Zealand and France, like host England, had already qualified by reaching the semifinals of the last tournament.
Ireland, South Africa, the U.S., Japan, Fiji and Brazil have also booked their ticket, with the final six berths going to the highest-finishing WXV teams who have not yet qualified through regional tournaments.
Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team WXV 1 Squad
Forwards
Alexandria Ellis, Ottawa, Stade Français Paris (France); Brittany Kassil, Guelph, Ont., Guelph Goats; Caroline Crossley, Victoria, Castaway Wanderers; Courtney Holtkamp, Rimbey, Alta., Red Deer Titans Rugby; DaLeaka Menin, Vulcan, Alta., Exeter Chiefs (England); Emily Tuttosi, Souris, Man., Exeter Chiefs (England); Fabiola Forteza, Quebec City, Stade Bordelais (France); Gabrielle Senft, Regina, Saracens (England); Gillian Boag, Calgary, Gloucester-Hartpury (England); Julia Omokhuale, Calgary, Leicester Tigers (England); Karen Paquin, Quebec City, Club de rugby de Quebec; Laetitia Royer, Loretteville, Que., ASM Romagnat (France); McKinley Hunt, King City, Ont., Saracens (England); Pamphinette Buisa, Gatineau, Que., Ottawa Irish; Rori Wood, Sooke, B.C., College Rifles RFC; Sara Cline, Edmonton, Leprechaun Tigers; Tyson Beukeboom, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England);
Backs
Alexandra Tessier, Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, Que., Exeter Chiefs (England); Alysha Corrigan, Charlottetown, P.E.I., CRFC; Asia Hogan-Rochester, Toronto, Toronto Nomads; Claire Gallagher, Caledon, Ont., Leicester Tigers (England); Fancy Bermudez, Edmonton, Saracens (England); Julia Schell, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England); Justine Pelletier, Rivière-du-Loup, Que, Stade Bordelais (France); Mahalia Robinson, Fulford, Que., Town of Mount Royal RFC; Olivia Apps, Lindsay, Ont., Lindsay RFC; Paige Farries, Red Deer, Alta., Saracens (England); Sara Kaljuvee, Ajax, Ont., Westshore RFC; Shoshanah Seumanutafa, White Rock, B.C., Counties Manukau (New Zealand); Taylor Perry, Oakville, Ont., Exeter Chiefs (England).
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.
The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.
He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.
Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.
He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.
Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
