D.J. Smith was fired as coach of the Ottawa Senators on Monday.
Jacques Martin, who was hired as senior adviser to the coaching staff on Dec. 6, will serve as interim coach. Daniel Alfredsson, the Senators all-time leader in points, will be an assistant to Martin.
They will both be behind the bench when the Senators play at the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, ALT2).
“I think with some of the things that I’ve [seen] with our group, as far as inconsistencies, [are] a strength of Jacques Martin’s, along with Daniel Alfredsson,” Ottawa president of hockey operations and interim general manager Steve Staios said Monday. “I think we’re all looking for more consistency, more detail to our game, more structure. So, I explained the rationale behind it all (to the players), and Jacques has been around the group a little bit now and they’re getting to know him, and Jacques had an opportunity to address the group about what his expectations were.
“Like any time on days like this, there’s disappointment because we all feel somewhat responsible for being in this situation, and optimism moving forward.”
Staios said Martin will be “in the middle of the bench with the clear messaging, the leadership and the calm demeanour,” while Alfredsson will work with the forward group and the power-play units.
Alfredsson was an assistant under Smith during Ottawa’s two games in Stockholm during the 2023 NHL Global Series Sweden. Jack Capuano, who was an assistant under Smith, will stay on and work with the defensemen and penalty kill, along with Ben Sexton, who also remained on staff.
Assistant coach Davis Payne was fired along with Smith.
“Even from the beginning, the more that Daniel Alfredsson could be around our group, I think the bigger benefit it was for all of us,” Staios said. “So, I always kept that in mind. In my more recent conversations with him, I think he saw the same things that I did as far as our game play. He cares so much about this team and about this organization, so when I approached him again about coming on full-time, he said, ‘I’ll do whatever it takes.’ So, that started the ball rolling on maybe looking at a different dynamic and having ‘Alfie’ in here.”
The Senators (11-15-0), who are coming off a 6-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday, are last in the Atlantic Division. They have not qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2017, when they lost in seven games to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final.
“As a coach, you take all the responsibility and I deserve that, my team’s not winning,” said Smith, was fired after running practice at Mountain America Community Iceplex in Tempe, Arizona. “I’m the one that’s putting them on the ice, I’m the one making the decisions, so I’m my own biggest critic. But in saying that, I believe in this group and I believe in the leaders and the core guys that they’re going to find a way.
“The one thing I know is these guys are trying. Part of the growing process is figuring out how to do it right for 60 minutes. Every first period we’re coming out in the right way. And we’ve found ways in the second period maybe to not play the right way. That was the message today, but ultimately, it’s more mental than it is physical or effort based. I know that the leadership group here is outstanding, and I know that these guys are doing everything in their power to get this thing turned around.”
LONDON – Canada will meet three-time champion Germany in the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Malaga, Spain this November.
Canada secured a berth in the quarterfinals — also called The Final 8 Knockout Stage — with a 2-1 win over Britain last weekend in Manchester, England.
World No. 21 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal anchored a five-player squad that included Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., Gabriel Diallo of Montreal, Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., and Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C.
The eight-team draw for the quarterfinals was completed Thursday at International Tennis Federation headquarters.
Defending champion Italy will play Argentina, the United States will meet Australia and Spain will take on the Netherlands. Schedule specifics have yet to be released but the Final 8 will be played Nov. 19-24.
Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz were unbeaten in doubles play last week to help Germany reach the quarterfinals. The country’s top singles player — second-ranked Alex Zverev — did not play.
The Canadians defeated Germany in the quarterfinals en route to their lone Davis Cup title in 2022. Germany won titles in 1988, ’89 and ’93.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Canada, fuelled by a 2-1 win over the U.S. and scoreless draw with Mexico, has jumped two places to No. 38 in the FIFA men’s world rankings released Thursday.
Of the top six CONCACAF teams, Canada was the only one to move up. Mexico was unchanged at No. 17 while the U.S. and Panama each fell two rungs to No. 18 and 37, respectively
Costa Rica slipped one spot to No. 50 and Jamaica two places to No. 61.
It marks Canada’s highest ranking under coach Jesse Marsch, who was hired in mid-May when the Canadians were ranked 50th. Since then, the team has climbed to No. 49, 48, 40 and now 38.
Canada has been as high as No. 33 in the men’s ranking, achieved in February 2022 under John Herdman with Canada, named the “Most Improved Side” in 2021 by FIFA, turning heads with an unbeaten run in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.
The new rankings encompass 184 internationals involving teams from all six confederations including 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, Oceania and South America.
The top 10 was unchanged with Argentina ahead of France, Spain, England, Brazil, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Colombia and Italy. But the gap at the top is closing with Argentina losing 2-1 away to Colombia and 3-1 at home to Italy.
Teams 10 through 15 were also unchanged. But there was movement after that in the form of Japan (, up two), Iran (No. 19, up one) and Denmark (No. 20, up one). Egypt (No. 31), Ivory Coast (No. 33), Tunisia (No. 36) and Algeria (No. 41) all jumped five places while Greece (No. 48) climbed six spots.
The biggest movers were Brunei Darussalam (No. 183) and Samoa (No. 185), who vaulted seven spots on the back of two wins apiece.
Qatar suffered the biggest drop, tumbling 10 places to No. 44.
San Marino remains at the bottom of the rankings in 210th place despite recording its first victory in more than 20 years, San Marino defeated Liechtenstein 1-0 on Sept. 5, ending a 140-game winless run since a 1-0 decision over the same opponent in April 2004.
Liechtenstein fell four places to No. 203.
Canada’s next match is an Oct. 15 friendly against Panama at Toronto’s BMO Field. The next men’s ranking will be released Oct. 24.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024
It has been a difficult start to the NFL season for quarterback Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers.
Carolina has dropped its opening two games after Sunday’s 26-3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. And Young, the first player taken in the ’23 NFL draft, was 18-of-26 passing for 84 yards with an interception while being sacked twice.
As a result, veteran Andy Dalton will start Sunday when Carolina faces the Las Vegas Raiders (1-1).
According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp., the Chargers’ win was the most accurately predicted moneyline selection by Proline bettors. A whopping 92 per cent of wagers were on Los Angeles beating Carolina with 92 per cent also picking the Chargers to cover -4.5.
In other action that went in favour of Proline bettors: Kansas City edged Cincinnati 26-25 (86 per cent correctly selected the Chiefs to win); Houston got past Chicago 19-13 (81 per cent); the New York Jets defeated Tennessee 24-17 (78 per cent); Pittsburgh beat Denver 13-6 (76 per cent), Washington beat the New York Giants 21-18 (73 per cent); and Seattle toppled New England 23-20 (62 per cent).
However, only five per cent of bettors had the Raiders upsetting Baltimore 26-23.
And there was one winner of Proline’s second week main NFL pool of $407,613.
In NFL futures bets after the second week of the season, the odds for offensive player of the year got shorter for running backs Breece Hall (Jets) and Bijan Robinson (Atlanta) and Detroit receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. But they got longer for running backs Kyren Williams (Rams), Christian McCaffrey (San Francisco) and Jonathan Taylor (Colts).
Quarterbacks Bo Nix (Denver), Jayden Daniels (Washington) and Caleb Williams (Chicago) all had their odds for offensive rookie of the year go up while they went down for running back Ray Davis (Buffalo), tight end Brock Bowers (Raiders) and receiver Malik Nabers (Giants).
Quarterbacks Patrick Mahones (Chiefs), Aaron Rodgers (Jets) and Jalen Hurts (Eagles) all had their odds for regular season MVP go up. But quarterbacks Jordan Love (Packers), Lamar Jackson (Baltimore) and Joe Burrow (Cincinnati) all saw theirs go down.
Kansas City, Philadelphia and Houston had their Super Bowl odds increase while Green Bay, Baltimore and Cincinnati all decreased.
Not surprising, the week’s top events were all NFL games. In order, they were; Buffalo-Miami, Chicago-Houston, Cincinnati-KC, Raiders-Ravens; and Saints-Cowboys.
A Proline retail player cashed in a $26,183 winner from a $10 bet on a 12-leg major-league baseball parlay. Another won $24,602 from a $10 wager on a 12-leg NFL parlay.
A third received $1,737 from a $3 bet on a six-leg NFL parlay.
A digital bettor earned $2,927 from a $25 bet on a five-leg NFL parlay while a second had a $704.35 return from a $1 wager on a seven-leg NFL parlay.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
