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Ryan Reynolds wants a piece of the Ottawa Senators. The NHL needs to make sure it happens

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2 years ago

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For nearly five minutes on Tuesday evening, Brady Tkachuk stood near his locker stall and fielded questions about the Ottawa Senators’ 6-4 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.

Tkachuk wore a grim expression on his face for most of the session, a clear indication that the current six-game losing streak is not sitting well with the captain. Many of Tkachuk’s answers were laced with passion as he spoke about the current state of the team.

He used the word “frustrating” to open and close his first answer.

At one point, he bluntly stated, “Everybody in here hates losing. It’s not fun.”

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But at the very end of the media scrum, Tkachuk’s eyes suddenly brightened with a new line of questioning. His expression changed and the more affable version of Tkachuk — the one we usually deal with — reappeared.

And the question that changed his tone?

Was it a bit of a distraction to have Ryan Reynolds show up on Tuesday night?

“I think it’s great. He’s got interest in the team and I think it would be great for the community,” Tkachuk said. “You can see the fans really enjoyed it too. So to have somebody like him kind of have interest in us, it’s pretty cool to see.”

There are few things that can distract a passionate and angry hockey market and its captain from a six-game losing streak. But an A-list celebrity suddenly being on the radar to buy your NHL franchise is certainly one of them. We’ll have plenty of time to wallow in the misery of defensive breakdowns and questionable roster decisions. Heck, I’ve probably written that column a dozen times in the calendar year 2022.

But in the midst of this abysmal losing streak, we need to take a brief moment and appreciate what is unfolding in front of our eyes.

In the span of a week, Reynolds’ interest in the Senators has gone from a vague single emoji on Twitter to a full-court press. And on Tuesday evening, he dropped into the Canadian Tire Centre, where he was given a massive ovation when he was welcomed in the first TV timeout of the contest.  At ice level, Senators players were banging their sticks against the boards to join the chorus of applause inside the arena.

“I’ve definitely enjoyed some of the movies he’s been in,” said Tkachuk. “So to see him live was pretty cool.”

This surprise appearance in Ottawa came less than 24 hours after Reynolds appeared on The Tonight Show and publicly expressed his interest in owning a portion of the team.

“I am trying to do that,” Reynolds told host Jimmy Fallon. “It’s very expensive. So I need a partner with really deep pockets.”

As we’ve reported for several months in this space, there are multiple parties interested in purchasing the Senators and keeping them in Ottawa. It stands to reason that all of them would connect with Reynolds now, as the actor is clearly putting his cards on the table for everybody to see.

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In usual circumstances, Gary Bettman doesn’t like this type of showmanship from potential owners who are outside of the NHL circle. If we’re following the typical league playbook, it feels like splashy PR campaigns and media appearances drastically reduce an outsider’s chances of joining the NHL’s inner sanctum.

But during a media session on Tuesday night in Winnipeg, Bettman seemed to embrace the fact that Reynolds is publicly showing interest in being part of the Senators franchise.

“Listen, anything that engages the fan base, that brings a lot of attention to the franchise or the team is a plus,” said Bettman. “He’s a very popular and well-respected person.”

Bettman’s response feels like a stark departure from the usual script, where newcomers are kept at arm’s length until a thorough vetting process has concluded. But Reynolds doesn’t fit the mould of a typical prospective NHL owner. He’s not a wealthy hi-tech entrepreneur who is trying to become a household name by owning an NHL franchise.

Instead, Reynolds is already a household name and arguably the brightest star in the Hollywood galaxy.

In this case, it would be the Senators using Reynolds’ stardom to build their brand. Not the other way around.

The NHL sphere — especially at the corporate level — is full of milquetoast personalities who generate little buzz and excitement. The board of governors meetings could certainly use an injection of Reynolds’ star power. Over the past week alone, the Senators and the NHL have ended up with significant mentions in People magazine and The Tonight Show.

Sure, the Senators have enjoyed brief brushes with celebrities before.

There was the time Rihanna inexplicably wore a Sens jersey as a fashion statement.

Matthew Perry briefly sported a Senators shirt in the movie The Whole Nine Yards.

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And of course, Carrie Underwood spent some time in Ottawa when Mike Fisher played for the Senators.

But all of these were fleeting moments.

Reynolds, meanwhile, is looking to own a piece of the Senators and ostensibly become a significant voice for the franchise. As a content producer, Reynolds could probably dream up imaginative ways to market the hockey team to a much wider fan base.

The Senators have always suffered from “little sibling syndrome,” geographically stuck in between the two most storied Original Six franchises in Montreal and Toronto. But bringing Reynolds on board could help alter that power dynamic. It won’t erase the decades of history those franchises have on Ottawa, but it will significantly change the perception of Ottawa as the sleepy, boring government town that fun forgot. Even the most obstinate Canadiens or Maple Leafs fan would concede that Reynolds owning a piece of the Senators would improve Ottawa’s street credit in NHL circles.

Reynolds likely has a vision and a plan for how to make this work, with his ownership stake in the Wrexham soccer club serving as a good template for embracing the underdog mantra.

And the fact that Reynolds wants to buy a piece of the Ottawa Senators because he has a personal connection to the city should not be lost on anybody. He’s made it clear on a number of occasions that spending time in Vanier as a teenager had a profound effect on him. And Tuesday’s surprise cameo in Ottawa makes it feel like Reynolds wouldn’t be an absentee owner in this market.

The Senators’ financial picture has always felt like a house of cards, with financial instability and attendance issues putting them just a notch or two above Arizona in the minds of many hockey fans. Just imagine if a celebrity of Reynolds’ stature suddenly expressed an interest in purchasing a stake in the Coyotes. It would seem unfathomable.

But that’s the gift the Senators have been given this week.

Reynolds doesn’t need the Senators. The Senators need him.

But the most important thing is that Reynolds wants the Senators.

And that should be enough for any prospective ownership group to make sure that Reynolds has a stake — and a voice — in the Senators moving forward.

As his media scrum concluded on Tuesday, Tkachuk was asked if Reynolds came by the Ottawa dressing room after the game.

“No, we didn’t see him,” Tkachuk said. “Maybe down the road potentially we can see him.”

If the NHL is smart, they’ll make sure that’s a reality for Tkachuk and his teammates.

(Photo: Richard A. Whittaker / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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Washington Capitals 3-2 win ends Dallas Stars’ winning streak

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5 hours ago

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October 18, 2024

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome and Taylor Raddysh scored to help the Washington Capitals end the Dallas Stars’ season-opening winning streak at four with a 3-2 victory Thursday night.

Wilson’s goal was his third in three games, Strome his second of the season and Raddysh his first since joining the team in free agency last summer. Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves as the Capitals wrapped up this early homestand with back-to-back wins.

The Stars fell from the ranks of the league’s unbeaten teams despite a short-handed goal by Colin Blackwell and one at even strength from Jason Robertson. Rookie Oskar Bäck set up Blackwell for his first NHL point.

Casey DeSmith was screened on two of the three goals he allowed on 26 shots.

LIGHTNING 4, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored the winning goal with less than a minute to play just 1:27 after Brandon Hagel had tied it and Tampa Bay rallied to beat Vegas.

Kucherov’s second goal of the game with 55 seconds left was his sixth of the season.

Janis Moser had a goal and two assists for the Lightning, who remain unbeaten. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves.

Brayden McNabb, Pavel Dorofeyev and Ivan Barbashev had goals for Vegas. Adin Hill turned aside 21 shots.

Jack Eichel, with two assists on Thursday, now has 10 points this season in five games and reached reached double-digit points faster than any other player in Vegas history. He is the 10th U.S.-born player to accomplish the feat.

After Barbashev put Vegas up 3-2 early in the second, Hagel pulled Tampa Bay even at 3 with 2:22 remaining in the third.

BLUE JACKETS 6, SABRES 4

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kirill Marchenko and Mathieu Olivier each had a goal and an assist and Daniil Tarasov made 21 saves to help Columbus to a win over Buffalo.

Yegor Chinakhov, Adam Fantilli, Zachary Aston-Reese and Damon Severson also scored for Columbus, and Zach Werenski added two assists.

Ryan McLeod, Owen Power and JJ Peterka scored for Buffalo, and Jiri Kulich added his first NHL goal. Devon Lev stopped 19 shots for the Sabres (1-5-1), who have lost two straight road games and five of their first six overall.

CANUCKS 3, FLORIDA 2, OT

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — J.T. Miller scored 2:09 into overtime and Vancouver got their first win of the season, beating Florida.

Teddy Blueger and Quinn Hughes had goals for Vancouver, with Kevin Lankinen stopping 26 shots.

Anton Lundell got his fourth goal in the last three games for Florida and Jesper Boqvist also scored for the Panthers, who got 30 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky.

Florida remained without forwards Aleksander Barkov (lower body) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness).

DEVILS 3, SENATORS 1

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 shots and lost his shutout bid in the final minutes as New Jersey beat Ottawa.

Erik Haula, Nathan Bastian and Paul Cotter scored for the Devils, who won for the third time in four games and improved to 5-2-0.

The Senators, who were coming off an 8-7 overtime victory against Los Angeles on Monday, struggled to beat Markstrom.

Brady Tkachuk was the only scorer for the Senators, beating Markstrom, with a power-play goal with 65 seconds remaining in the third period.

Anton Forsberg, making his second straight start and hoping to rebound after getting pulled Monday, made 32 saves in the loss.

Haula opened the scoring early in the second period and Bastian added a short-handed goal, giving New Jersey a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes. Cotter scored midway through the third.

RANGERS 5, RED WING 2

DETROIT (AP) — Artemi Panarin had his eighth career hat trick and New York rolled to a victory over Detroit.

Panarin became the first Rangers player to have multiple points in the first four games of a season. He scored twice on the power play. Vincent Trocheck also had a power- play goal and assisted on all of Panarin’s goals.

Jonathan Quick made 29 saves in his season debut. Victor Mancini also scored.

The Rangers have won the last five meetings, including twice this week. New York had a 4-1 home victory over Detroit on Monday night.

Moritz Seider and J.T. Compher scored for Detroit. Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot was pulled in the second period after allowing five goals.

KINGS 4, CANADIENS 1

MONTREAL (AP) — David Rittich made 26 saves a night after being benched in the second period in Toronto, helping road-weary Los Angeles snap a three-game losing streak with a victory over Montreal.

Los Angeles improved to 2-1-2 on a season-opening, seven-game trip necessitated by arena renovations.

Rittich rebounded after allowing four goals on 14 shots in a 6-2 loss to the Maple Leafs. Alex Laferriere, Mikey Anderson, Andreas Englund and Adrian Kempe scored.

Justin Barron scored for Montreal (2-3-0). Sam Montembeault stopped 28 shots. He made a save on Kevin Fiala on a penalty shot.

BLUES 1, ISLANDERS 0, OT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Joel Hofer made 34 saves and assisted on Jake Neighbours’ goal at 2:04 of overtime in St. Louis victory over New York.

Hofer had his second career shutout in his and the team’s second overtime victory of the season.

Philip Broberg carried the puck into the New York zone and made a centering pass to Neighbours for the winner.

Islanders goalie Ilya Sorkin made 29 saves.

Blues defenseman Nick Leddy sat out because of a lower-body injury, the first game he has missed this season. Leddy played in all 82 games last season.

OILERS 4, PREDATORS 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Brett Kulak scored twice and Connor McDavid added his first goal of the season to lead Edmonton to a victory over reeling Nashville.

Jeff Skinner also scored and Calvin Pickard made 25 saves for the defending Western Conference champion Oilers, who have won consecutive games after beginning the season with a three-game skid.

Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault scored and Juuse Saros made 32 saves for Nashville (0-4).

Forsberg’s goal midway through the first period gave Nashville its first lead of the season. That lasted less than six minutes before Kulak tied it.

Kulak sealed it with an empty-netter in the final minute for the defenseman’s first career two-goal game.

BLACKHAWKS 4, SHARKS 2

CHICAGO (AP) — Tyler Bertuzzi and Nick Foligno each scored a power-play goal, and Chicago beat San Jose.

Taylor Hall and Jason Dickinson also scored for Chicago. Connor Bedard and Teuvo Teravainen each had two assists.

Hall, who missed most of last season because of right knee surgery, put the Blackhawks in front 4:20 into the first period. It was Hall’s first goal since Nov. 5 and No. 267 for his career.

Tyler Toffoli and Fabian Zetterlund scored for San Jose, which trailed 3-0 early in the second. William Eklund and Mikael Granlund had two assists each.

The Sharks dropped to 0-2-2 under Ryan Warsofsky, who was promoted to head coach in June.

Petr Mrazek had 20 saves for Chicago, and Vitek Vanecek made 23 stops for San Jose.

KRAKEN 6, FLYERS 4

SEATTLE (AP) — Eeli Tolvanen, Jordan Eberle, and Shane Wright scored three goals in less than three minutes in the second period and Seattle held off a Philadelphia rally in a victory.

Tolvanen’s goal broke a 2-2 tie at the 14:57 mark. Eberle made it a two-goal game with a goal at 17:44. Eight seconds later, Wright scored to give Seattle a three-goal lead.

Jared McCann tied the game at 2-2 with the first of Seattle’s four second-period goals.

Cam York and Jamie Drysdale scored to pull Philadelphia within 5-4 in the third period, but Oliver Bjorkstrand responded with a goal to push Seattle’s lead to two with just over five minutes left in the game.

Scott Laughton scored twice for the Flyers in the first period, while Brandon Montour scored one in for the Kraken.

Chandler Stephenson had an assist in his 500th NHL game. Seattle’s Philipp Grubauer had 21 saves.

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Canada’s Dabrowski, New Zealand’s Routliffe out of Japan Women’s Open after walkover

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15 hours ago

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October 17, 2024

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OSAKA, Japan – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe are out of the Japan Women’s Open tennis tournament.

Spain’s Cristina Bucsa and Romania’s Monica Niculescu advanced to the final on Thursday by way of walkover.

The fourth seeds were supposed to play the top-seeded Dabrowski and Routliffe in the semifinals.

Bucsa and Niculescu will next face third-seeded Ena Shibahara of Japan and Laura Siegemund of Germany in the final.

Dabrowski and Routliffe defeated Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Eri Hozumi in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday to advance.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Mountain West commissioner says she’s heartbroken over turmoil surrounding San Jose State volleyball

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15 hours ago

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October 17, 2024

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mountain West Conference Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said Thursday the forfeitures that volleyball teams are willing to take to avoid playing San Jose State is “not what we celebrate in college athletics” and that she is heartbroken over what has transpired this season surrounding the Spartans and their opponents.

Four teams have canceled games against San Jose State: Boise State, Southern Utah, Utah State and Wyoming, with none of the schools explicitly saying why they were forfeiting.

A group of Nevada players issued a statement saying they will not take the floor when the Wolf Pack are scheduled to host the Spartans on Oct. 26. They cited their “right to safety and fair competition,” though their school reaffirmed Thursday that the match is still planned and that state law bars forfeiture “for reasons related to gender identity or expression.”

All those schools, except Southern Utah, are in the Mountain West. New Mexico, also in the MWC, went ahead with its home match on Thursday night, which was won by the Spartans, 3-1, the team’s first victory since Sept. 24.

“It breaks my heart because they’re human beings, young people, student-athletes on both sides of this issue that are getting a lot of national negative attention,” Nevarez said in an interview with The Associated Press at Mountain West basketball media days. “It just doesn’t feel right to me.”

Republican governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have made public statements in support of the cancellations, citing a need for fairness in women’s sports. Former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee in this year’s presidential race, this week referenced an unidentified volleyball match when he was asked during a Fox News town hall about transgender athletes in women’s sports.

“I saw the slam, it was a slam. I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head,” Trump replied before he was asked what can be done. “You just ban it. The president bans it. You just don’t let it happen.”

After Trump’s comment, San Diego State issued a statement that said “it has been incorrectly reported that an San Diego State University student-athlete was hit in the face with a volleyball during match play with San Jose State University. The ball bounced off the shoulder of the student-athlete, and the athlete was uninjured and did not miss a play.”

San Jose State has not made any direct comments about the politicians’ “fairness” references, and Nevarez did not go into details.

“I’m learning a lot about the issue,” Nevarez said. “I don’t know a lot of the language yet or the science or the understanding nationally of how this issue plays out. The external influences are so far on either side. We have an election year. It’s political, so, yeah, it feels like a no-win based on all the external pressure.”

The cancellations could mean some teams will not qualify for the conference tournament Nov. 27-30 in Las Vegas, where the top six schools are slated to compete for the league championship.

“The student-athlete (in question) meets the eligibility standard, so if a team does not play them, it’s a forfeit, meaning they take a loss,” Nevarez said.

Ahead of the Oct. 26 match in Reno. Nevada released a statement acknowledging that “a majority of the Wolf Pack women’s volleyball team” had decided to forfeit against San Jose State. The school said only the university can take that step but any player who decides not to play would face no punishment.

___

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