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Toronto Blue Jays to play most home games in Buffalo during COVID-19 pandemic – CTV News

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TORONTO —
The Toronto Blue Jays will play most of their home games at their top minor-league affiliate’s stadium in Buffalo, N.Y. this season.

The Blue Jays announced the decision Friday, hours before their season opener at Tampa Bay.

The team’s home opener was scheduled for Wednesday against the Washington Nationals, but that game and the game the following day both will be played in the U.S. capital with the Jays as the home team. Toronto plays two road games against Washington on Monday and Tuesday.

Toronto’s first game in Buffalo will either be July 31 against the Philadelphia Phillies or Aug. 11 against the Miami Marlins.

Canada’s lone Major League Baseball team was forced to find a new home for 2020 after the federal government last week rejected the club’s proposal for the Blue Jays and visiting teams to stay in the hotel inside Rogers Centre and never leave the facility during stints in Toronto.

The Blue Jays would have needed an exception to the traditional 14-day quarantine from the federal government to play in Toronto during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On a videoconference with reporters last Sunday, reliever Anthony Bass said the players expressed a desire to the team’s front office to play home games at a major-league stadium this season.

But the state of Pennsylvania also didn’t clear the Blue Jays to play home games in Pittsburgh.

Before the federal government’s decision, the Blue Jays were considering their spring-training facility in Dunedin, Fla., and Buffalo.

But surging COVID-19 rates in Florida and a lack of space and lighting concerns in Buffalo raised questions about both those options, leading the Blue Jays to look at other major-league sites.

Several Blue Jays players and staff members reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 last month while working out in Dunedin.

In the end, the Blue Jays couldn’t find another major-league stadium, and settled on Buffalo.

Opened in 1988, Sahlen Field has a capacity of 16,600. But no fans will be in attendance this season.

The Buffalo Bisons became the Blue Jays’ triple-A affiliate for the start of the 2013 season. Minor league baseball has been cancelled this year, creating an opening in Buffalo.

Sahlen Field is in downtown Buffalo, minutes from the Peace Bridge connecting the city to Fort Erie, Ont.

Several of the top young Blue Jays have spent time playing for the Bisons, including Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Cavan Biggio, Bo Bichette and Nate Pearson.

The federal government did agree to the modified quarantine at the Rogers Centre hotel for Blue Jays summer training camp, but said concerns about regular cross-border travel along with road games in hard-hit American states made the regular-season plan a no-go.

It won’t be the first time a Canadian MLB team will play an extended stretch of home games outside the country.

The Montreal Expos, owned by the league at the time, played 22 home games a season in Puerto Rico in 2003 and 2004 before relocating to Washington.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 24, 2020.

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Red Wings sign Moritz Seider to 7-year deal worth nearly $60M

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DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.

The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.

Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.

He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.

Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.

Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.

Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.

The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.

Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.

Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.

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Vancouver Canucks star goalie Thatcher Demko working through rare muscle injury

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PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.

The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.

He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.

Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.

He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.

Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

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Arch Manning to get first start for No. 1 Texas as Ewers continues recovery from abdomen strain

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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — No. 1 Texas will start Arch Manning at quarterback Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe while regular starter Quinn Ewers continues to recover from a strained muscle in his abdomen, coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday.

It will be the first career start for Manning, a second year freshman. He relieved Ewers in the second quarter last week against UTSA, and passed for four touchdowns and ran for another in a 56-7 Texas victory.

Manning is the son of Cooper Manning, the grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, and the nephew of Super Bowl-winning QBs Peyton and Eli Manning.

Ewers missed several games over the previous two seasons with shoulder and sternum injuries.

The Longhorns are No. 1 for the first time since 2008 and Saturday’s matchup with the Warhawks is Texas’ last game before the program starts its first SEC schedule against Mississippi State on Sept. 28.

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