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Stu Cowan: Canadiens management setting sights on playoffs next season – Montreal Gazette

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“It’s a team that’s showed us a lot and I think we’ll spend the summer trying to figure out if we can move that forward,” Jeff Gorton says.

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Since taking over as the Canadiens’ executive vice-president of hockey operations in November 2021, Jeff Gorton has been preaching patience.

Now, he is talking about hope.

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The hope the Canadiens can make the playoffs next season, which will be the third full season of his rebuilding plan. At the team’s golf tournament last September, Gorton wouldn’t even use the “P word” when asked about the playoffs.

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The Canadiens finished last season with a 31-45-6 record and they improved by eight points this season, finishing 30-36-16.

Twenty-seven of the Canadiens losses this season were by one goal, which is a sign of hope for the future. So was the play of captain Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky, along with Cole Caufield regaining his scoring touch at the end of the season with eight goals in the last nine games. There was added hope and excitement when offensive-minded defenceman Lane Hutson joined the team for the final two games after finishing his NCAA career at Boston University.

The most impressive thing about the Canadiens this season was how hard the players competed every game, even when it became obvious they wouldn’t make the playoffs. Martin St. Louis deserves much of the credit for that and on Wednesday GM Kent Hughes announced the team was exercising its two-year option on the head coach’s contract, meaning St. Louis is now under contract for three more seasons.

“We’re at the point where we have a lot of assets, we have a lot of good players,” Gorton said when he and Hughes met with the media for their post-mortem news conference Wednesday in Brossard. “It’s moving in the right direction and that’s for Kent and I and Marty to figure out what that is.”

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Playoffs is no longer a taboo word.

Hughes said his priorities moving forward are to add more offensive talent, improve the special teams and bring more physicality to the lineup. The GM is aware he doesn’t have a lineup to win the Stanley Cup now and that it can’t be done in 24 hours. But Hughes does believe he can build a lineup for next season that can compete for a playoff spot.

“As far as the playoffs are concerned, I want to make the playoffs,” Hughes said. “Jeff wants to make the playoffs. Are we prepared to sit here today and say it’s a zero-sum game that we failed if we didn’t (next season)? No.

“First year, end-of-year press conference, we didn’t think that was something that needed to be discussed,” the GM added. “We were coming off a last-place finish. We’ve improved from year to year and we expect there to be improvement. How big that is, we’ll see. I think (team owner/president) Geoff Molson said we’d like to be in the (playoff) mix and I think that’s a fair characterization. Whether we push it over the threshold, I don’t know. But we need to be better. We understand that. The fans deserve that and we’re going to try to do what we can. But we won’t do it at the expense of this long-term goal.”

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Gorton said if there’s a free agent available this summer who can help speed up the rebuild he will be looking for him. Same thing when it comes to trades.

“It’s a team that’s showed us a lot and I think we’ll spend the summer trying to figure out if we can move that forward,” Gorton said.

“There’s a lot of good players here,” he added. “There’s a lot of good young players coming. It’s really exciting. We’re excited. It’s a big job. This is the part right now that’s probably going to be the hardest where we’re identifying who’s going to be part of that as we move forward. It’s really exciting, but it’s also the fun part of putting a team together and hopefully we’re right in what we’re doing.”

Gorton had a lot on his plate when he took the job and his patience is starting to pay off. I asked him during Wednesday’s news conference what he’s most proud of in his work so far.

“The thing I’m most proud of is the fact that bringing Kent and Marty in, it’s worked really well,” he said. “They work great together. I think the three of us work really well together. We have a plan. We’re sticking to it, we all believe in it. All the people that we’ve brought into the organization are there with us and have been very good hires and very capable people. We have a lot of work to do.

“We didn’t come here to work here to have fun,” he added. “We came here to win. That’s what we’re trying to do. That’s the plan, that’s our long-term plan. We all want it to be sooner than later. Hopefully it plays itself out.”

scowan@postmedia.com

twitter.com/StuCowan1

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Champions Trophy host Pakistan says it’s not been told India wants to play cricket games elsewhere

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LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.

“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”

Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.

The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.

Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.

“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”

Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup but all India games were played in Sri Lanka under a hybrid model for the tournament. Only months later Pakistan did travel to India for the 50-over World Cup.

Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.

“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”

The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.

“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”

Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.

“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.

___

AP cricket:

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Dabrowski, Routlife into WTA doubles final with win over Melichar-Martinez, Perez

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.

Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.

The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.

The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.

Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Winger Tajon Buchanan back with Canada after recovering from broken leg

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Inter Milan winger Tajon Buchanan, recovered from a broken leg suffered in training at this summer’s Copa America, is back in Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname.

The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., underwent surgery July 3 to repair a fractured tibia in Texas.

Canada, ranked 35th in the world, plays No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg of the aggregate series is four days later at Toronto’s BMO Field.

There is also a return for veteran winger Junior Hoilett, who last played for Canada in June in a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Marsch’s debut at the Canadian helm. The 34-year-old from Brampton, now with Scotland’s Hibernian, has 15 goals in 63 senior appearances for Canada.

Midfielder Ismael Kone, recovered from an ankle injury sustained on club duty with France’s Marseille, also returns. He missed Canada’s last three matches since the fourth-place Copa America loss to Uruguay in July.

But Canada will be without centre back Derek Cornelius, who exited Marseille’s win Sunday over Nantes on a stretcher after suffering an apparent rib injury.

The Canadian men will prepare for Suriname next week at a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“We are looking forward to getting the group together again with the mindset that there is a trophy on the line,” Marsch said in a statement. “We want to end 2024 the right way with two excellent performances against a competitive Suriname squad and continue building on our tremendous growth this past summer.”

The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the two semifinals scheduled for March 20 and the final and third-place playoff March 23, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Thirteen of the 23 players on the Canadian roster are 25 or younger, with 19-year-old defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, currently playing for England’s Crewe Alexandra on loan from Bristol City, the youngest.

Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies captains the side with Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller adding veteran support.

Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Theo Bair are joined in attack by Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi.

Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old midfielder with Croatia’s Hadjuk Split, continues in the squad after making his debut in the September friendly against Mexico.

Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.

“A good team,” Osorio said of Suriname. “These games are always tricky and they’re not easy at all … Suriname is a (former) Dutch colony and they’ll have Dutch players playing at high levels.”

“They won’t be someone we overlook at all,” added the Toronto FC captain, who has 81 Canada caps to his credit.

Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands.

Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.

The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the United States and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF Nations League.

Canada, No. 2 in the CONCACAF rankings, drew Suriname as the best-placed runner-up from League A play.

Canada lost to Jamaica in last year’s Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament and finished fifth in 2019-20.

Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.

Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Joel Waterman, Laryea and Miller and Osorio took part in a pre-camp this week in Toronto for North America-based players.

Canada Roster

Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal (MLS); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United FC (MLS).

Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel. Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Bristol City (England); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).

Midfielders: Ali Ahmed. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Inter Milan (Italy); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Junior Hoilett, Hibernian FC (Scotland); Ismael Kone, Olympique Marseille (France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).

Forwards: Theo Bair, AJ Auxerre (France); Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

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