Article content
In his 52nd NHL playoff game, the same amount that vaulted Doug Gilmour to the Maple Leafs’ franchise lead with 77 playoff points, it was high time for Auston Matthews to step up this spring.
Most of this year’s field at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts have packed their bags and gone home, leaving the last few teams to battle it out for the Canadian women’s curling title.
The remaining rinks – five playoff teams and two more set to battle in a tiebreaker – are a mix of perennial contenders, up-and-comers and a few teams that have never played this deep into the prestigious tournament.
Curling Canada implemented a six-team playoff and expanded the field at this year’s Scotties after numerous provincial playdowns were cancelled due to COVID-19.
Canada’s Kerri Einarson and Wild Card 1’s Tracy Fleury finished first in their respective pools following round-robin play, earning byes to the four-team page playoff.
The second and third-place teams in each pool will cross over to play each other in an elimination game. Winners move on to the page seeding round while the losers go home.
The winners of the page seeding round will then meet in the 1 vs. 2-page playoff while the losers battle in the do-or-die 3 vs. 4-game.
Let’s take a closer look at the playoff field.
Canada (Kerri Einarson)
Record: 8-0
The two-time defending champions have been the most consistent team this week in Thunder Bay. No question.
Kerri Einarson, Val Sweeting, Shannon Birchard and Brianne Meilleur won all eight of their games in the preliminary round, capped by an amazing comeback over Mackenzie Zacharias and Team Manitoba Thursday night. Team Einarson gave up a rare five-spot in the second end, but would battle back, highlighted by a score of four in the fifth, to stun the 2020 world junior champs, 10-7.
“We just clawed back and kept putting pressure on them,” said Einarson.
Team Canada looks like a team that wants to make history, shooting a Scotties-leading 86 per cent collectively with Einarson throwing at a red-hot 87 per cent clip and Sweeting at 88 per cent.
The rink from Gimli, Man., are looking to win a third straight national title which would put them in elite company, joining the likes of Jennifer Jones (2008-2010), Colleen Jones (2001-2004, four in a row) and Vera Pezer (1971-1973). Einarson, 34, has been in three of the last four Scotties finals, leading Fleury’s current team to the 2018 championship game in Penticton before falling to Team Jones. In fact, Birchard played for Jones that year as a spare for Kaitlyn Lawes and can win a fourth career Scotties title this weekend in Thunder Bay.
The Scotties championship will go through Team Einarson one way or another.
Wild Card 1 (Tracy Fleury)
Record: 7-1
Tracy Fleury returned just in time to clinch first-place in Pool A.
Fleury was placed in COVID-19 protocols ahead of last Friday’s Draw 1 and wasn’t able to return until Thursday afternoon, helping Wild Card 1 beat Northern Ontario to earn a bye to the page playoffs.
Wild Card 1, with Selena Njegovan calling the game and throwing skips stones, lost their opener on Friday to New Brunswick, but would reel off six in a row in Fleury’s absence.
Njegovan is shooting 82 per cent this week in Thunder Bay.
“The three girls have been unbelievable all week,” Njegovan said on Wednesday. “They have had so much confidence in me and believed in me going up to skip. As everyone knows, this isn’t my preferred position, so they’ve been so great in front of me and making it easy for me on my last two.”
Njegovan’s sister-in-law, Robyn Njegovan, was expecting to be the alternate for Team Fleury at the Scotties but instead filled in at vice and shot 80 per cent over seven games.
Fleury didn’t look too rusty in her one and only game on Thursday, finishing with at an 85 per cent shooting percentage.
“I’m happy to be back and reunited with the girls,” said Fleury after the win. “I was a little worried coming in, but it helps that the ice is so fantastic and get a feel for a couple of draws and get your confidence, but once I got back out there with the girls it felt natural.”
Fleury and company were a win away from representing Canada at the Beijing Olympics but lost to Team Jones in the final earlier this season. Capturing their first Scotties title would help lessen the sting from that loss considerably.
Team Fleury will take on the winner of Nova Scotia’s Christina Black and Northern Ontario’s Krista McCarville in the page seeding round on Friday night.
New Brunswick (Andrea Crawford, 6-2) vs. winner of tiebreaker between Northwest Territories-Manitoba
In her 10th career appearance at the Tournament of Hearts, 36-year-old Andrea Crawford will get the opportunity to play in her first playoff game after putting together an impressive 6-2 week in Thunder Bay.
Crawford, who now has 100 career Scotties games under her belt, had never finished better than 6-5. They won their first five games before dropping two of their last three in Thunder Bay.
“This team has worked really hard. The last few years we’ve just started to put more time on the ice, more time off the ice, working very hard physically,” said Crawford after clinching the playoffs earlier this week. “We just came into this event believing we had the ability to play well, and I think that has made a big difference for us.”
Sylvie Quillian, who has skipped the eastern province at four previous Scotties, joined the team this season and has proven to be a very valuable addition as Team Crawford has won 25 out of 30 games this season.
New Brunswick will play the winner of the tiebreaker between Northwest Territories’ Team Kerry Galusha and Manitoba’s Team Zacharias, who both finished round-robin play with identical 5-3 records.
This matchup is also an interesting one.
Like Crawford, Galusha has never qualified for the Scotties playoffs in 18 previous appearances. The only time the territory qualified for the Scotties playoffs was in 1983 when Shelly Bildfell led the joint Northwest Territories/Yukon team to an 8-2 record in the round robin before losing to Cathy Shaw and Team Alberta in the semifinals.
Due to an injury suffered last year inside the Calgary bubble, Galusha calls the game, but throws leads stone while Jo-Ann Rizzo serves as the team’s fourth.
On the other side of the sheet will be Team Zacharias, making just their second appearance at the national championship after winning the world junior title in 2020.
Either rink making the playoffs will add some intrigue going into championship weekend.
The winner of Crawford vs. Galusha/Zacharias will take on Team Einarson in the page seeding round Friday night.
Northern Ontario (Krista McCarville, 5-3) vs. Nova Scotia (Christina Black, 5-3)
Another Scotties, another playoff appearance for Northern Ontario’s Team Krista McCarville.
The hometown Thunder Bay foursome have now made the Scotties playoffs in all five of their appearances dating back to 2016.
Team McCarville dropped their preliminary round finale Thursday afternoon against Team Fleury. A win would have given them first-place and a bye to the page playoffs.
“We like to take the hard road,” McCarville told the media. “Obviously we wanted to get first place, but we do feel successful. We are in the playoffs and we’re starting our next goal. We just have to keep it rolling form here.”
McCarville won’t have to worry about facing Rachel Homan this year as the Ottawa skip is competing at the Beijing Olympics with mixed doubles partner John Morris. Homan has eliminated McCarville in the playoffs at their past three Scotties.
The path to their first Scotties title will first need to go through Nova Scotia’s Team Christina Black, another east coast rink having a solid week.
Black, 34, won a bronze medal at the 2018 Scotties as a third for Mary-Anne Arsenault and has now taken the reigns of her own team.
Team Black has a collective shooting percentage of 77 per cent this week, compared to Team McCarville’s 78 per cent. Black has the edge at skip, shooting 76 per cent, four better than McCarville.
Vancouver, BC – The Vancouver Canucks today announced that Rogers Arena doors will open at 5:30 p.m. PT, for Tuesday’s Stanley Cup Playoff Game #2, 30 minutes earlier than normal. The enthusiasm and passion of fans wanting to arrive early and not miss the Toyota Party on the Plaza as well as the in-arena pre-game show experience, encouraged the team to ensure the bowl is loud and proud when the pre-show begins at 7:00 p.m.
“Our players could not have been clearer after Game #1 that the fans played a huge part of the victory on Sunday night,” said Michael Doyle, President, Canucks Sports & Entertainment, Business Operations. “Our players are feeding off this energy and we want them to feel it from the second they step out of the dressing room.”
“I know the players and there was a lot of ‘wow’ with how loud the crowd was,” said Rick Tocchet, Head Coach. “Some guys told me they got emotional during it. I’m sure the crowd is going to be just as loud (for Game 2).”
The Toyota Party of the Plaza will open at 4:30 p.m. with a wide range of activities for fans of all ages. From face-painting and ball hockey to the Michelob Ultra beer garden and live music on the Air Canada Stage with The Anthony LaRosa Band, the North Plaza will be the place to be to get ready for Game #2.
The Canucks also announced that a number of tickets and suites have been released and are available to the public at canucks.com/tickets.
We remind our fans to be cautious of fraudulent ticket sites and activities. Only authentic and verified Ticketmaster resale seats are protected. We encourage fans to avoid off-platform sites and purchasing through social media platforms as we cannot validate the legitimacy of tickets purchased outside of our organization or through Ticketmaster directly.
Rogers Arena will host an official ‘Away Game Viewing Party’ for Game #3 of the first round of NHL Playoffs. Presented by Rogers, the Viewing Party will be a ticketed event, costing $15, with proceeds benefiting the Canucks for Kids Fund. Watch the game on one of the biggest and brightest videoboards in the NHL, be entertained throughout the experience, and receive special Rogers Value Menu food and beverage offerings thanks to Rogers. Visit canucks.com/watch to secure your tickets.
Vancouver Canucks playoff merchandise is now available on vanbase.ca. From locker room exclusive items and jerseys, to car flags, player fanchains and Viper sunglasses, we recommend you order quickly or drop by the Canucks Store at Rogers Arena to get playoff ready.
Follow us on social media, download the Canucks App, and stay connected as unique content, contests and more announcements are made.
Media are reminded that any content-gathering on the plaza requires approval from the Vancouver Canucks Communications Team at [email protected]
Go Canucks Go!
In his 52nd NHL playoff game, the same amount that vaulted Doug Gilmour to the Maple Leafs’ franchise lead with 77 playoff points, it was high time for Auston Matthews to step up this spring.
Advertisement 2
Article content
Toronto’s season likely would be toast if it came home trailing 2-0 to playoff nemesis Boston, with faith already shaken outside the room after a Game 1 clunker. Matthews, highest paid of the Core Four forwards at $13.25 million US a season, needed to have a huge presence in a Game 2 that looked at times as it, too, would be fumbled away.
Article content
He embraced his inner Killer and like Gilmour, had significant shifts throughout the 200-foot stage, capped by the 3-2 winner on a full steam breakaway. Matthews’ three-point night tied a career single-game high and though still trailing Gilmour 77-47 in post-season production, Matthews earned himself and his club and extended runway in this series, tied 1-1 heading home.
“Auston’s all over the stat sheet tonight,” head coach Sheldon Keefe praised to media in Boston. “A goal, two assists, but to me it’s the way he worked — hard, physical, winning puck battles all over the ice.”
Article content
Advertisement 3
Article content
Game 3 is Wednesday in Toronto, where the Leafs could get William Nylander back and now have a very confident Ilya Samsonov in net after Boston chose to take Leaf nemesis Jereny Swayman out Monday for Linus Ullmark.
In the teeth of the Bruins’ TD Garden den, Matthews played a team-high 23 minutes and 24 seconds, had eight shots on Ullmark and delivered six hits. After labouring in vain to reach his 70th goal in the last three regular season games, he finally nailed it in style, one-handing a long aerial bomb from Max Domi at the Boston line away from the flailing stick of Charlie McAvoy, settling the disc and deking Ullmark.
“It’s all about just trying to get to the net,” Matthews said. “It’s a battle at the net fronts out there, and I guess on the goal, just a flip out of the zone and just try to anticipate and time it well.”
Advertisement 4
Article content
With less than eight minutes to go, it was Toronto’s first lead on Boston in six games all season. Matthews then helped kill the final seconds with Ullmark on the bench, after Tyler Bertuzzi served a potentially devasting penalty.
“There is just a lot of belief and trust in that room in one another,” captain John Tavares told Sportsnet. “A lot of guys have been in different situations over the years. We just continued to stay with it and got rewarded.
“Good for the power play to come through (1-for-16 against Boston this season coming in) and anytime you give No, 34 a look like that, he’s obviously a special player who made a good play.
“The way the guys were blocking shots, closing time and space, Sammy being big and seeing pucks and guys battling hard for him, it was a hard-fought win.’
Advertisement 5
Article content
The Leafs had lost the previous eight to Boston going back to last year and in their previous eight playoff game versus Tampa, Florida and Boston, had not scored more than two.
Recommended from Editorial
At times Keefe flipped Domi and Mitch Marner on Matthews’ right side to put Marner with his long-time centre. It’s just as important to give Marner some jump, too, especially with William Nylander missing a second game with an undisclosed injury … Tavares’s goal when Matthews found him alone in the slot was preceded by two power play video reviews that went against the Leafs, which Keefe cited in saying he “loved the resolve” of the Leafs. Calle Jarnkrok’s shot that Ullmark gloved was inconclusively not over the goal line, and a Bertuzzi’s mid-air bat looked low enough until the cameras zoomed in … As in Game 1, a good Leaf start came undone trying to show Boston they wouldn’t be intimidated on Causeway Street. Jake McCabe cross-checked Jakub Lauko after a whistle and Boston capitalized, Jake DeBrusk adding to his productive Game 1 setting up Morgan Geekie after David Kampf and Timothy Liljegren got confused on who should make an easy clear.
Advertisement 6
Article content
Kudos to the Leafs for coming right back 14 seconds later, Matthews corralling a high puck, firing it off of the crossbar, with Domi following up, which made Max and Tie Domi the first Leaf father and son with Toronto playoff goals … The fourth line of Ryan Reaves, Kampf and Connor Dewar once more out-played Boston’s group, though the Leafs cratered in the last 20 seconds of the first period. Samsonov whiffed on a hand-off to Liljegren, giving Charlie Coyle an extra shot that broke Samsonov’s mask. In the time it took the goalie to get his broken strap fixed, Boston had time to double check a faceoff drill, Pavel Zacha winning it, defenceman Simon Benoit unable to tie up David Pastrnak, who then eluded Marner for his first of the series … Starting Ullmark left Boston cosch Jim Montgomery open to criticism, messing with Jeremy Swayman’s 4-0 record against the Leafs this season with only three goals against the past three in regular season and playoffs. But Montgomery was not going to break up what has been an effective rotation.
X: @sunhornby
Article content
* public_profileBlurb *
* public_name *
* public_gender *
* public_birthdate *
* public_emailAddress *
* public_address *
* public_phoneNumber *
Honda to build electric vehicles and battery plant in Ontario, sources say – Global News
Will We Know if TRAPPIST-1e has Life? – Universe Today
Down 80%, Is Carnival Stock a Once-in-a-Generation Investment Opportunity?
See how chicken farmers are trying to stop the spread of bird flu – Fox 46 Charlotte
Simcoe-Muskoka health unit urges residents to get immunized
Own a cottage or investment property? Here's how to navigate the new capital gains tax changes – The Globe and Mail
Honda expected to announce multi-billion dollar deal to assemble EVs in Ontario
Watch The World’s First Flying Canoe Take Off
Comments