The old saying is you can’t go home again, but as Jacques Martin stood in a dressing room in the bowels of the Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday morning, it felt like his career has come full circle.
Sports
The Ottawa Senators bring back Jacques Martin as senior adviser
“Being from Ottawa, it’s a great opportunity for me to comeback and join a great organization and some great people,” Martin said. “I really appreciate the opportunity to work with these young athletes, and the coaching staff, and just keep trying to get better on a daily basis.”
“Our commitment from the beginning was we’re going to look at all areas of the organization and where we can support it,” Staios said. “Jacques is going to come in and support our coaching staff.
“D.J. and the coaches bring many good qualities to our team. Jacques is unique and he’s got an incredible amount of experience. He’s got great poise and a lot of wisdom. He’s done this in the past, where he comes in with this advisory role, and it’s a great benefit to our coaching staff to have him around.”
Staios says Martin will serve as a “day-to-day resource” to the coaches. He’ll work as eye-in the sky during games with Daniel Alfredsson and assistant Ben Sexton. Martin will accompany them downstairs after each period to make suggestions on adjustments.
“Steve brought it to me awhile ago and right away I thought it was a good idea,” Smith said. “When I was Toronto, I had a chance to work with Jacques Lemaire, who won 11 Stanley Cups, and myself and Jim Hulton were the assistants and we used him every day.
“Just on how to speak to players and the little things to go with it. As a head coach, you’re always trying to get better. (Martin) is going to bring a real calming presence. Especially in a Canadian market, and we’re lucky to be here, but sometimes you get too excited or fired up one way another.
Michael Andlauer, a part-owner of the Montreal Canadiens before purchasing the Senators in September, spent time with Martin when he was behind the Habs bench, so there’s familiarity there.
You have to think Alfredsson, who has been working with the staff in an advisory role, would have been one of the voices in the organization along president Cyril Leeder that would have supported adding Martin.
There has been no shortage of criticism about the way the Senators have played defensively under Smith. Martin noted the club’s young core has to make a commitment to get the job done at both ends.
“I was telling the coaches earlier today that when I look at this team compared to last year it’s not about wins and losses,” Martin said. “To me, it’s about commitment away from the puck. A lot of these players, when they come into the league, they focus on offence.
Martin took over the Senators midway through 1996 campaign. He helped bring the club to respectability by instituting a strong approach to defensive play and led the Senators to their first playoff berth in 1997.
Martin posted a 341-255-96 (.562) regular-season record with Ottawa.
Fired by general manager John Muckler after the club lost in four straight to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the spring of 2003-04, Martin is still the team’s all-time leader in games coached (692), regular-season wins (341), playoff victories (31) and playoff games coached (69).
“The program is way ahead of where it was when I first came in here. We weren’t at the level this organization is at now,” Martin said. “They’ve been building over the last four or five years. They’re on the cusp of being able to take another step in the right direction and challenge for a championship.”
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VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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