A Canadian team lacking game legs opens defence of its world junior men’s hockey title Saturday in Edmonton.
The host team kicks off its preliminary round against Germany at Rogers Place.
Canada has played one game against an opponent — Wednesday’s 1-0 pre-tournament win over Russia — since selection camp started Nov. 16.
Canadian captain Kirby Dach injured his right wrist in the third period of that game and won’t be able to play in the tournament.
Canada coach Andre Tourigny said Saturday he will not name another captain for the tournament.
“It’s really heartbreaking what happened, but we prepared since Day 1 to go through adversity,” he said.
Germany will be minus nine players Saturday. Those players are in quarantine because of positive COVID-19 tests on the team.
Three Germans can return to the tournament Sunday and another five Tuesday barring more positive tests.
The 46 players invited to Canada’s selection camp went into quarantine mid-camp after two players tested positive for the virus, so four exhibition games against university teams were cancelled.
An extended quarantine for Sweden upon arrival in Canada wiped out a pre-tournament game between the two countries.
Of the 25 players on Canada’s roster, 20 haven’t played any games in months because the pandemic postponed the start of their leagues this season.
“It’s definitely challenging and something we’ve talked about, not being able to play that many games aside from the (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) guys,” said forward Alex Newhook of St. John’s N.L., who hasn’t seen game action with Boston College this season.
“In saying that, we’ve really built up our intensity and pace of play in practice. Regardless of how many games we’ve played, I think our practices will set us up well for the highest level of competition we’ve played in a long time.”
“Resilience” has been a word frequently uttered by Tourigny and his coaching staff in a challenging lead-up to the tournament.
“In team-building exercises, the players had to talk about that value of resilience,” Tourigny said.
“That’s one of the reasons our country is so special in hockey. We’re resilient. We never quit. We stay with it. We never stop. You need that to perform in a championship.”
The Canadians won’t have a sellout crowd at Rogers Place providing adrenalin. All games are without fans to avoid the spread of the virus.
“It’s definitely unfortunate (to) not have fans and having that home crowd,” Newhook said.
“Everyone wants to have that energy. The world juniors are such a large stage and we know the country’s behind us, regardless of having fans or not.
“I think we’re going to have to supply our own energy and we have a lot of guys in that room that can do that really well.”
Canada is arguably in the easier pool alongside Finland, Switzerland, Slovakia and Germany. Russia, the United States, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Austria comprise Pool B.
The Canadians start with back-to-back games Saturday and Sunday against the Germans and Slovakia, respectively.
Canada versus Switzerland on Tuesday and a New Year’s Eve matchup with the Finns complete the preliminary round for the host country.
“I can talk to you about our guys for hours about how they work in practice, when we teach them or ask them different things, and how they are off the ice,” Tourigny said.
“But in terms of knowing how they will react in game, when they heat will be on, when mistakes will happen, where there are breakdowns or stuff like that, I cannot tell you right now we know them a lot.”
The top four teams in each group advance to the Jan. 2 quarterfinals, followed by semifinals Jan. 4 and the medal games Jan. 5
Canada boasts considerable talent up front with all 14 forwards drafted in the first round by NHL teams.
Six players are veterans of the 2020 championship in Ostrava, Czech Republic, where Canada scored three goals in the third period to down Russia 4-3 for gold.
Tournament MVP Alexis Lafreniere wasn’t released by the New York Rangers to play for Canada again.
A lack of warmup games made choosing a starting goaltender difficult, particularly because Devon Levi, Taylor Gauthier and Dylan Garand haven’t previously played in the tournament.
Levi, of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que., posted a 23-save shutout against Russia. Tourigny indicated prior to the exhibition game the job is Levi’s to lose. He’ll start again Saturday against Germany.
“We knew going into camp our goalies would not have a lot of games to prove themselves,” the head coach said.
“According to what we saw in practice and during the intrasquad games, that led to our decision to go with Devon.”
As the home team, Canada gets the palatial dressing room of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers.
Forward Dylan Holloway, Edmonton’s first pick (10th overall) in October’s draft, is enjoying a preview of what his NHL future could be.
“It’s massive,” gushed the winger from Bragg Creek, Alta. “There’s a ton of square feet. It’s definitely the biggest dressing room I’ve ever been in.
“They’ve got a ping-pong table. The lounge kind of looks like a hotel lobby. The hot tub and cold tub are really nice.
“There’s so many amenities and so many cool things. It’s crazy to be in there and it’s super-cool.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 25, 2020.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings signed forward Lucas Raymond to an eight-year, $64.6 million contract Monday, completing a deal with one of their best young players less than 72 hours before training camp begins.
Raymond will count $8.075 million against the salary cap through 2032. The 22-year-old was a restricted free agent without a contract for the upcoming NHL season and was coming off setting career highs with 31 goals, 41 assists and 72 points.
The Red Wings have another one of those in defenceman Moritz Seider, who won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2021-22.
Detroit is looking to end an eight-year playoff drought dating to the Original Six franchise’s last appearance in 2016.
Raymond, a Swede who was the fourth pick in 2020, has 174 points in 238 games since breaking into the league.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kirk Cousins led a flawless last-minute drive for Atlanta and connected with Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left to give the Falcons a 22-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.
Saquon Barkley dropped a short pass that stopped the clock with 1:46 left and forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal instead of a game-sealing first down. That was plenty of time for Cousins — especially against an Eagles defense playing soft coverage with a nonexistent pass rush.
The 36-year-old veteran, playing his second game since tearing his Achilles tendon last Oct. 29 while playing for Minnesota, shook off an uneven effort and hit Darnell Mooney for 21 and 26 yards on consecutive plays during the decisive drive.
Cousins found London on a short pass to his right for the tying score, and Younghoe Koo put Atlanta (1-1) on top with a 48-yard extra point after London was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The go-ahead drive took just 65 seconds.
Jalen Hurts had his final pass intercepted by Jessie Bates III to seal Atlanta’s win and set off a wild celebration on the sideline.
The Eagles (1-1) went ahead on Hurts’ 1-yard tush push score with 6:47 left. Barkley finished with 95 yards on 22 carries in his home debut for Philadelphia, but his drop provided the Falcons with some hope.
And then Cousins started playing like the QB Atlanta thought it was getting when it signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract.
Cousins finished 20 of 29 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta’s first TD was a 41-yarder from Cousins to Mooney, who finished with three catches for 88 yards.
Hurts was 23 of 30 for 183 yards, including a touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. With No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury, Smith led the Eagles with seven catches for 76 yards and a score.
Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for the Eagles. His 28-yarder with 1:39 left made it 21-15.
Atlanta kept stalling in the red zone, getting three field goals from Koo, before Cousins fired over the middle to Mooney, who shook loose from C.J. Gardner-Johnson and left him on the turf before he somersaulted into the end zone with 1:21 left in the third quarter for a 15-10 lead. Cousins failed on the 2-point conversion pass.
Hurts had some juice in his step during a second-quarter TD drive, running with abandon for big plays much like he did in the 2022 season. He spiked the ball in a rare, raw show of emotion on a 23-yard run, earning a delay-of-game penalty. He shrugged off the 5-yard setback and scrambled for 9 yards and 15 yards to move the Eagles to Atlanta’s 19.
With comedian Shane Gillis and actor Bradley Cooper among the fans cheering on the Eagles, Hurts connected with Smith in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard TD that made it 7-3.
Under new defensive coordinator Vince Fangio, the Eagles have established an early knack for allowing long drives that end with three points instead of seven. Koo kicked field goals of 39, 22 and 34 yards, the last one enough for a 9-7 lead in the third quarter. In their opener, the Eagles held the Packers to just three field goals when they drove inside the 20.
Questionable call
Rather than take a chip-shot field goal from Elliott, the Eagles’ fourth-and-4 gamble at Atlanta’s 9-yard line in the first quarter failed when Hurts threw an incomplete pass.
Elliott kicked a 29-yarder with 4:31 left in the third quarter for a 10-9 lead.
Running wild
Bijan Robinson ran for 97 yards for the Falcons. The Eagles stuffed him late on fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 39.
Barkley was quiet until the go-ahead drive, a week after he rushed for 109 yards and scored three touchdowns against Green Bay. Eagles fans booed when the opening drive of the game ended without Barkley touching the ball. They went wild when he had consecutive 9-yard runs to open the second drive. Barkley had 40 yards rushing in the first half.
Foles honored
Former Eagles QB Nick Foles, who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl title, served as an honorary captain and led the crowd in a rendition of “Fly, Eagles, Fly.”
Injuries
The Falcons played without LB Nate Landman (calf, quad).
Up next
Atlanta hosts Super Bowl champion Kansas City on Sunday.
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
