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There's a lot of fight in the Edmonton Oilers dog – Edmonton Sun

Published

5 years ago

March 1, 2020

If we knew in training camp that the Edmonton Oilers would go 4-10-1 in December, and be without Connor McDavid, Oscar Klefbom, Kailer Yamamoto, Zack Kassian, James Neal, Joakim Nygard and Kris Russell for various stages in February, most people would have predicted another lottery season.

Granted, that’s always a pretty safe prediction, given the recent history of this franchise, but it would have seemed certain this time. No way the Oilers could they overcome all that.

But when they were sinking fast in December and the season was starting to get away from them, they regrouped and pulled out of it. When Connor McDavid went down, they culled a winning record out of those six games. When an entire wave of injuries and suspensions left $30 million of their payroll on the shelf, they found a way to maintain their forward progress.

And on Saturday night, when the big, talented and desperate Winnipeg Jets had taken charge of a crucial head-to-head showdown and were whaling away at an Oilers team on the ropes, they fought back again. Leon Draisaitl tied it late in the second, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins won it late in the third and Mike Smith stopped 19 shots in the last 20 minutes to give Edmonton sole possession of second place in the Pacific Division.

It’s not always pretty, and there are still some recurring areas of concern that need to be shored up, like in-game sags, defensive zone coverage and losing to teams like Anaheim and San Jose, but there is a scrappiness to this team that you really have to admire.

“It’s a great sign,” said Draisaitl, who had two goals and an assist to reach 102 points Saturday night, and was named the NHL’s First Star of the Month on Sunday morning. “That’s what you want in your team, a team that doesn’t give up. Our second period was terrible, so to come back out in the third and play a pretty solid period is not easy to do.

“That’s a good (Winnipeg) team over there. They have a lot of skill, they’re right in the race, they’re desperate. It was a good job by us. It would have been easy to fold and let the game get out of hand, but we didn’t do that.”

The Winnipeg game isn’t one Edmonton will want to frame — the Jets aren’t wrong when they say they deserved better — but the Oilers found a way to win. The combination of a scrappy, blue-collar do-whatever-it-takes personality, two or three of the best players in the world and a fiery goaltender who battles as hard as any of his teammates, is becoming one of the tougher outs in the league.

“The word that’s come up in this room lately is ground and pound,” said Smith, quoting the simple, but highly effective mixed martial arts style. “It’s just a gritty group. There’s a never-quit mentality that’s earned us points in a lot of games this year. It’s good to see.”

It becomes a self-perpetuating character trait. If a player sees five other guys on the ice doing it, he doesn’t want to be the sixth who doesn’t. That’s not an easy culture to instil, sometimes it can take 13 years, but it’s the difference between successful teams and talented teams that are still trying to figure it out.

“That’s what’s talked about in here,” said Smith. “You do it for the guy next to you. It’s that time of the year when you want to put it all out there and be able to look at the guy next to you, or the guy across the room, and say, ‘I gave it all I had tonight.’ Those are the types of games we’re going to play from here on out.”

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FIGHTING BACK

No two players exemplify the Oilers’ ability to fight back more than Smith and Draisaitl. They both had miserable Decembers that contributed greatly to Edmonton’s mid-season funk.

Smith went so cold they could hardly play him. He started three games and lost all of them. Draisaitl, meanwhile, went a whopping minus-24 in 14 games.

But they’ve been Edmonton’s most valuable players since and its no accident the season turned around the same time they did.

Smith is 11-1-4 in his last 16 games. And in the 51 games on either side of December, Draisaitl has 88 points and is plus-14.

“(Smith) is a leader,” said head coach Dave Tippett. “A lot of times a goaltender just goes in there and does his job, but he is one of the leaders in that room and wears his heart on his sleeve.

“(Draisaitl) wants to be a top player. He drives himself. In December when our team was struggling a little bit, he was almost trying too hard. He was trying to do too much and putting himself in trouble.

“Now he knows he is a big part of our team and has to play well and do his part. He is playing really well right now.”

E-mail: rtychkowski@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @Rob_Tychkowski

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Sports

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

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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AP cricket:

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Sports

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

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

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.

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Winger Tajon Buchanan back with Canada after recovering from broken leg

Published

1 day ago

November 8, 2024

Anne Joseph

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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