Three more Calgary Flames players have entered the National Hockey League’s COVID-19 protocol, the team announced Tuesday morning.
Forwards Milan Lucic and Sean Monahan, and defenseman Noah Hanifin join six other skaters and a member of the training staff in the coronavirus protocol. NHL teams carry 25 players on their roster.
“Our team is 100 per cent vaccinated and some like myself also have a booster,” Lucic wrote Tuesday in a Twitter post that was later deleted.
“Looking forward to being back on the ice soon!”
#Flames Roster Update: Noah Hanifin, Milan Lucic and Sean Monahan have entered the NHL’s COVID-19 Protocol.
On Tuesday afternoon, Flames GM Brad Treliving addressed the media virtually, outlining the series of events that led to the players and staff testing positive for COVID-19.
Treliving said the team tested Saturday morning ahead of their game against the Boston Bruins, part of the regular testing the team does as part of league and international travel requirements. Results from subsequent rounds of testing in the following 48 hours revealed the total of nine players and one staff had COVID-19.
“Number one priority for everybody is the health and safety of our players, their families, those closest to them, everybody impacted by that,” the Flames GM said.
On Monday, the league said “concern with continued spread and the likelihood of additional positive cases in the coming days” led it to postpone all Flames games through at least Dec. 16.
Calgary hosted the Boston Bruins on Saturday, Dec. 11 and the Carolina Hurricanes on Dec. 9.
Treliving said the timing of testing and results made it unclear whether there was on-ice transmission between players on those teams, adding in-game transmission has been a concern since the beginning of the pandemic and Flames players have previously tested positive.
He also said the team hadn’t yet received word on which COVID-19 variant his players could have.
On Monday, the league said “concern with continued spread and the likelihood of additional positive cases in the coming days” led it to postpone all Flames games through at least Dec. 16.
The team’s training facilities were also closed on Monday out of precaution.
The Flames were due to play in Chicago on Monday, in Nashville on Tuesday and play host to Toronto on Dec. 16.
Treliving couldn’t say whether further games would be postponed.
“It’s too early to tell right now.”
He also said it was premature to anticipate having enough of a healthy roster to play a game scheduled for Saturday hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“Tuesday to Saturday seems like an eternity right now.”
On Tuesday morning, the Bruins announced it had placed forwards Brad Marchand and Craig Smith into COVID-19 protocol.
On Monday, the Hurricanes announced it placed two players and a member of the training staff in COVID protocol. On Tuesday afternoon, four more Hurricanes players were added to the COVID protocol and the league announced the game that evening was postponed.
#Oilers forward Ryan McLeod has been placed in COVID protocol.
Also Tuesday afternoon, the Edmonton Oilers added forward Ryan McLeod to the league’s COVID-19 protocol. The Oilers played host to the Hurricanes on Saturday.
On Monday, the Calgary Flames said Elias Lindholm, Andrew Mangiapane, Brad Richardson, Adam Ruzicka, Chris Tanev, Nikita Zadorov entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.
Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis and a member of the training staff have entered COVID protocol and will remain in Vancouver.
Calgary becomes the third NHL team to postpone games this season, following the Ottawa Senators and New York Islanders.
“The stigma around it isn’t because people are doing the wrong things,” Treliving said. “(COVID-19 is) out there. You do your very best to be safe and smart and do the right protocols.”
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 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
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.
