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Shapiro gets chance to build Blue Jays up after tearing things down – Sportsnet.ca

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TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays doubled down on the leadership of Mark Shapiro by handing him a five-year extension as president and CEO, matching the original term that lured him from Cleveland.

Parent company Rogers Communications Inc., which also owns this website, announced the move via Twitter on Wednesday morning, with company and club chairman Edward Rogers saying, “Mark’s leadership and commitment to excellence over the last five years have been critical to the team’s growth and development. We’re extremely pleased that Mark will continue to lead the Toronto Blue Jays and build on the team’s progress as we work towards our goal of bringing a World Series championship back to Canada.”

The extension isn’t a surprise, as Shapiro hinted that one was coming back in October, although it wasn’t clear at that point that term of the deal would be announced. Shapiro argued then for keeping the details private, saying “it’s more of an extension of the desire to have that focus be on the players. I think when things are going well, that naturally happens anyway.”

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Perhaps, but the transparency is important for fans to understand how long a period the team intends to operate under its current structure, while establishing the same standard of performance under public scrutiny players, managers and coaches face.

With Shapiro now locked in through the 2025 season, he’s in position to see through the Blue Jays build up after the tear down that started on his watch.

“From a personal and professional standpoint, I am thrilled to continue being a Toronto Blue Jay. I am fortunate to work with exceptional people and am proud of the progress we have made together, to build a culture, community, and clubhouse that our incredible fans can cheer on,” he said in a statement through the club. “Living in Toronto and Canada has been life-changing for me and my family and I am excited to experience the feeling of winning a championship with this city and country.”

Shapiro’s next steps with the team are especially crucial with a young core on the upswing after the dreadful nadir of a brutal 2019 season and a rebound trip to the playoffs amid the pandemic-shortened campaign last summer.

The Blue Jays have been involved with nearly every available player of consequence this winter but thus far their only addition of note is re-signing left-hander Robbie Ray to an $8-million, one-year deal.

How effectively the Blue Jays augment a young core featuring Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Teoscar Hernandez, Danny Jansen and Nate Pearson is the next test of Shapiro’s leadership after he inherited a team that won the 2015 AL East title.

Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins, his choice to replace Alex Anthopoulos who left because of philosophical differences, guardedly saw through that competitive window while rebuilding the organization around the major-league team.

In 2016, that led to a wild-card berth and a trip to the American League Championship Series, but cracks on the roster began to show in 2017, expanded the next year and led to total collapse during a 95-loss 2019.

The payoff for that on-field pain began surfacing last summer, when the Blue Jays went 32-28 to claim the eighth and final spot in the expanded playoff format.

That jump forward has led them to big-game hunt this off-season, when free agents George Springer, D.J. LeMahieu, J.T. Realmuto and Trevor Bauer have been among their targets. Attempts to land free agents like Liam Hendriks, Kevin Gausman, Ha-seong Kim and Tomoyuki Sugano didn’t work out, while the New York Mets beat their attempts to trade for Francisco Lindor.

Other near-term issues on Shapiro’s plate include finding a home for the team in 2021 if pandemic travel restrictions prevent the Blue Jays from playing in Toronto again and the futures of Atkins (believed to be signed through ’21) and manager Charlie Montoyo (club option for ’22). Longer-term is seeing through the baseball end of the property redevelopment project ownership is considering that would include a new stadium.

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Canucks place goalie Thatcher Demko on long-term injured list – CBC.ca

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The Vancouver Canucks have placed all-star goalie Thatcher Demko on the long-term injured reserve list retroactively.

“It’s just cap related,” coach Rick Tocchet said after practice Wednesday. “We get some cap relief, that’s all it is.” 

The 28-year-old netminder has been considered week to week since being sidelined with a lower-body injury midway through Vancouver’s 5-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets on March 9.

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That injury designation hasn’t changed, Tocchet said.

Demko boasts a 34-18-2 record this season, with a .917 save percentage, a 2.47 goals-against average and five shutouts.

Casey DeSmith has taken over the starting job for Vancouver, going 3-2-1 since Demko’s injury. He has a .899 save percentage on the season with a 2.73 goals-against average and one shutout. 

The earliest Demko could be back in the Canucks’ lineup is April 6 against the Kings in Los Angeles.

He’s expected to be a key piece as Vancouver (45-19-8) prepares for its first playoff appearance since the COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign. 

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin also announced Wednesday that the club has called up forward Arshdeep Bains from the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League. 

“I’d like to see where [Bains is] at,” Tocchet said, noting he isn’t sure whether the 23-year-old winger will slot into the lineup when the Canucks host the Dallas Stars on Thursday. 

WATCH | Bains makes NHL debut

Surrey, B.C.’s Arshdeep Bains makes Canucks debut

1 month ago

Duration 2:20

Arshdeep Bains from Surrey, B.C., has made his NHL debut with the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night against the Colorado Avalanche. As CBC’s Joel Ballard reports, it’s been a hard-fought journey for the hometown kid to the big leagues.

Bains played five games for the NHL team in February before being sent back to Abbotsford. 

“He went down, he’s done a couple of things that we like, and he’s got some speed,” Tocchet said. 

Vancouver may get another forward back in the lineup Thursday. 

Dakota Joshua practised in a full-contact jersey on Wednesday for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury in Vancouver’s 4-2 win over the Blackhawks in Chicago on Feb. 13. 

The physical winger, who’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, has a career-high 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) this season.

Sitting out injured “hasn’t been fun,” Joshua said.

“It feels like forever,” he said. “But at this point, that’s behind me and I’m moving forward.”

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Senators score 5 in 1st, cruise past Sabres – NHL.com

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“I thought that we were ready to go,” Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said. “We got some pucks at the net, we got people at the net. Took advantage of our opportunities and, I think, built a nice lead. And then I thought, in the third period, we continued again. Our goaltending was good. Made some key saves. But I thought we shut them down in the third period good.”

Shane Pinto had a goal and three assists, and Brady Tkachuk, Boris Katchouk, Jakob Chychrun and Drake Batherson each had a goal and an assist for the Senators (31-36-4), who have won three in a row. Korpisalo made 34 saves.

“If you want to win, you need balance,” Pinto said. “And we had that tonight and it’s going to be big for the back-to-back tomorrow (against the Chicago Blackhawks) to have that same thing. So, going to need all the guys on board.”

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JJ Peterka and Connor Clifton scored for the Sabres (34-34-5), who have lost four of six. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed four goals on nine shots before he was replaced by Devon Levi, who made 31 saves in relief.

“We wanted, I guess, to play as individuals,” Clifton said. “I’m disappointed we let ‘Upie’ down, he’s the heart and soul of this team. He’s kept us in so many games, and just to not show up and play that careless style, give them freebies all over the place. … Yeah, obviously, the first 20 really dictated the rest of the game.”

Artem Zub gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 2:37 of the first period. He stuffed in a loose puck on the goal line after Katchouk’s shot was redirected by Mark Kastelic between Luukkonen’s pads.

Katchouk made it 2-0 at 4:56, tipping Parker Kelly’s shot from the top of the right face-off circle past Luukkonen.

“It’s keeping the consistency with good effort, right habits,” Katchouk said. “The small things matter so much in this game. And obviously, it worked out tonight with the tip. But kudos to my linemates. ‘Kels’ and ‘Kassy,’ they worked hard to get the puck as well. Those two battle hard every night as well. We feed off each other, and it’s good to play with them.”

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Vasilevskiy stops 23 as surging Lightning beat Bruins – Sportsnet.ca

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