Maple Leafs hockey returns after a two-and-a-half-week hiatus tonight on Hockey Night in Canada (7 p.m. EST, Sportsnet/CBC).
A lot has transpired in just two and a half weeks:
The team spent nearly a week on the road out in Western Canada but only played one game before the COVID-19 outbreak — eventually affecting 15 players and seven staff — swept through the team. The organization needed to charter separate flights for its positive and negative players, including a delay flying the positive players home due to a pilot bailing on them due to safety concerns at the last minute.
All told, six consecutive games were postponed with two additional postponements announced by the NHL in January (vs. CAR on Jan. 3 and @ MTL on Jan. 8). The nationally-broadcasted games this week (tonight vs. Ottawa on HNIC, Wednesday Night Hockey vs. Edmonton this week, and HNIC vs. Colorado next Saturday) will play on, health permitting.
Jason Spezza successfully reduced his suspension through an appeal to four games but tested positive for COVID-19 the day Gary Bettman announced his decision.
The team did not step on the ice for over a week between December 18 and 26 before the group slowly reassembled over the course of five practice days this week.
The organization announced it would go without fans in the building while the 1,000-person capacity-limit regulations, announced by the provincial government this past week, are in place.
Timothy Liljegren tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday and is currently in the protocol.
Mitch Marner and Rasmus Sandin both finished their injury rehab and are ready to return.
Such a unique set of circumstances makes it hard to know what to expect from the game tonight, especially knowing the Senators also haven’t played since December 18 and are down quite a few bodies. It’s more than just a couple of weeks without games; there was a full week without practice time in there as well, which could make for sloppy hockey tonight. No fans in the stands will also have its effect.
As far as the lineup goes, the players who most recently exited protocol and returned to practice — William Nylander, Jake Muzzin, and Morgan Rielly — are all considered game-time decisions. It appears as though Nylander and Rielly will play and Muzzin will not, but it remains to be seen what the final determinations are by the medical staff. As for Marner and Sandin, both will see their first game action since December 1 and December 5, respectively.
The major boost at 5v5 and on the penalty kill Marner provides requires no explanation, but it will be interesting to see how it might change the dynamic on the top power-play unit (assuming he is immediately reinserted there). The Leafs went a remarkable 11 for 21 (52.4%) during his absence — more than 15% clear of the next best power play in the month of December. They were also top three in the league in the month of November (29.7%) with Marner in the mix, to be fair to him, but it was hard to ignore the benefit of major shot threats on both flanks of the ice.
Game Day Quotes
Sheldon Keefe on the challenge of getting back into game mode:
You just have to be really mindful and aware — extra focused on your habits and your details. Those are the kinds of things that take a while to get going. You have to get in a groove in games with your habits. We have tried to really harp on that through our practices. We feel like we have had some really good practices here, especially over the last few days. The team very much looks ready to play a game.
We are going to have to work our way back into it. We have the extra layer tonight with having an empty arena. It is another way you have to be focused on your own and be ready to execute. You can’t rely on the energy and the atmosphere. We have to get back into that mindset we had to have last season.
Keefe on the excitement among the team to be returning to game action at the SBA:
A lot of excitement. It is different. We don’t spend a lot of time in this facility unless we are playing on a game day. It has been a while since we have been here. It is a different part of your routine coming in and making your way down here. It is a different environment and the facility is much different.
Lots of excitement. That is why I like the fact that we use this building only for games. You come in here, and you know it is game day. With that, it brings a level of excitement that you are bringing back at it.
DJ Smith on Brannstrom and Thompson entering the lineup with the absences on the Senators’ blue line:
Branny [and Lassi Thompson] will play tonight. Toronto has a full lineup. They have everyone back. It is a perfect time for these young guys to go in there and play against one of the league’s best teams. Let’s see what they got.
Smith’s reflections on 2021 for the Ottawa Senators:
It was crazy with the no fans, the shortened season, the positive tests, and all of the things. Looking forward, with where the Ottawa Senators are as an organization when we are healthy, the young guys have come along — the Drake Bathersons, the Josh Norris’, the Tkachuks, the Stutzles. Especially the guys up front, they have now [established] themselves as real NHL players.
2022 brings continued growth amongst all of these guys. I think you are going to see the Ottawa Senators turn the corner.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards #58 Michael Bunting – #34 Auston Matthews – #16 Mitch Marner #15 Alex Kerfoot – #91 John Tavares – #88 William Nylander #65 Ilya Mikheyev – #64 David Kampf – #25 Ondrej Kase #47 Pierre Engvall – #19 Jason Spezza – #24 Wayne Simmonds
Defensemen #44 Morgan Rielly – #78 TJ Brodie #38 Rasmus Sandin – #3 Justin Holl #23 Travis Dermott – #33 Alex Biega
Goaltenders Starter: #36 Jack Campbell #35 Petr Mrazek
Extras: Nick Ritchie, Jake Muzzin COVID-19 protocol: Timothy Liljegren
Ottawa Senators Projected Lines
Forwards #7 Brady Tkachuk – #18 Tim Stutzle – #19 Drake Batherson #10 Alex Formenton – #71 Chris Tierney – #28 Connor Brown #13 Zach Sanford – #27 Dylan Gambrell – #16 Auston Watson #62 Clark Bishop – #17 Adam Gaudette – #20 Logan Shaw
Defensemen #72 Thomas Chabot – #60 Lassi Thompson #5 Nick Holden – #2 Artem Zub #26 Erik Brannstrom – #98 Victor Mete
Goaltenders Starter: #30 Matt Murray #32 Filip Gustavsson
Injured/Out: Colin White, Shane Pinto, Josh Brown COVID-19 protocol: Anton Forsberg, Josh Norris, Tyler Ennis, Nick Paul, Dillon Heatherington
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
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.”
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.
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.
