Sheldon Keefe only really noticed the fact his team was playing in front of no fans during Tuesday’s national anthem.
Other than that, the Toronto Maple Leafs head coach felt like it was a pretty normal game — in an extremely abnormal time.
Morgan Rielly had a goal and two assists, Alexander Kerfoot scored twice, and the Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 in their exhibition matchup as the NHL’s restart to its pandemic-hit 2019-20 season got into full swing.
“During the anthems is a time when you’re looking at the flag and you’re taking in the whole environment,” Keefe said. “It’s much different today than what you’re accustomed to. It’s the time when you really feel the moment and are really missing the fans and the environment, and recognize what they bring.
“Once the puck dropped…it really just felt like hockey and you didn’t notice it a whole lot.”
The first-ever July meeting in the franchises’ 103-year rivalry, things were made even stranger by the fact Montreal was designated as the home team and occupied the Leafs’ dressing room at Scotiabank Arena.
“2020’s been strange,” Habs forward Brendan Gallagher said. “That was probably the strangest thing we’ve been through.”
Toronto, meanwhile, wore its road whites and used the visitors bench for the first time in the building’s 21-year history.
“The whole atmosphere is just different considering what we’re going through,” Leafs captain John Tavares said. “You just kind of go the flow and try to focus on proper preparation as best you can.”
Roughly a dozen rows of seats up from the glass were tarped off in the spectator-less venue, while eight separate screens were suspended from the ceiling, adding a video game-like feel as both teams played a game for the first time in 140 days.
“There’s a lot that’s been put into this,” Tavares added. “Just fortunate to be back out there competing.”
WATCH | Kerfoot’s pair lifts Leafs over Habs:
Alexander Kerfoot records 2 goals in the middle frame as Toronto doubles up Montreal 4-2. 0:31
Ilya Mikheyev had the other goal for the Leafs, who got 28 saves from Frederik Andersen. Tomas Tatar and Paul Byron replied for the Canadiens. Carey Price stopped 19 shots for Montreal.
The Canadiens open their best-of-five qualifying round series against the heavily-favoured Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday — the first day the games will truly matter — before the Leafs do the same 24 hours later against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Gallagher said his team will need to simplify its approach this weekend.
“We were all probably guilty of it,” he said. “The brain wasn’t keeping up.”
Mikheyev, who suffered a gruesome wrist laceration in late December, scored just 33 seconds into his first game back inside an empty, cavernous building as the league resumed action after shuttering operations in mid-March because of COVID-19.
Kerfoot made it 2-0 at 6:46 of the second when he roofed a rebound after Kasperi Kapanen was stopped on a shorthanded breakaway.
WATCH | Rob Pizzo previews Leafs vs. Blue Jackets:
In part 3 of 10, Rob Pizzo breaks down the Leafs, and the now healthy Blue Jackets 1:18
Tatar got one back for Montreal with 3:04 left in the second on a power play, but Kerfoot tipped Rielly’s shot late in the period to make it 3-1. Leafs rookie Nick Robertson, who was making his NHL debut after a 55-goal season in the Ontario Hockey League, picked up the other assist.
“He’s a very impressive young kid to step into this situation,” Kerfoot said. “You can see whenever he’s on the ice how good he is.”
Byron made it 3-2 at 8:07 of the third, but Rielly restored the two-goal lead 1:22 later with Toronto’s second shorthanded goal of the night.
“Overall we were happy with it,” the Leafs defenceman said of his team’s effort. “Any time you play any kind of pre-tournament, a pre-season game like this, there’s going to be some kinks to work out.”
While television viewers were treated to artificial crowd noise, media seated in the upper bowl could hear almost every word uttered on the ice — including a couple of expletives — which is why the NHL has implemented a five-second delay on broadcasts. One particularly loud curse word bellowed in the second period, however, got past censors.
Music blared as the players, who are staying inside the NHL’s tightly-controlled bubble that includes the Fairmont Royal York a short walk away, hit the ice for warmups with only journalists, arena employees and league staff looking on.
WATCH | Rob Pizzo previews Canadiens vs. Penguins:
Can Carey Price help the Habs pull off a huge upset over the Penguins? Rob Pizzo breaks down their chances. 1:17
One member of the Leafs let out a giant “wooooo,” while Toronto winger Mitch Marner kept up his pre-game tradition by pretending to throw a puck over the glass to an imaginary fan after warmups.
“It reminds me a little bit of like a minor hockey tournament where you’re there and staying in the same hotel as a bunch of other teams,” Kerfoot said of the first few days in the bubble. “It’s got obviously a different feel, but this whole this whole tournament is unique and situation that we’re in is unique.”
Players from both teams stood side-by-side on the blue line for the national anthem as a show of solidarity with social justice movements which, like the pandemic, have been front of mind since hockey was last played in North America.
The Eastern Conference clubs are situated in the Toronto hub as part of the 24-team restart, while the West has been centralized in Edmonton.
With the Canadiens designated as the home side, Coldplay’s “Fix You” rang out around the building as the teams took to the ice before Mikheyev finished off a 2-on-1 with John Tavares on the game’s first shot.
WATCH | Hockey is finally underway:
After a 138-day hiatus because of COVID-19, the NHL season has returned with exhibition games ahead of the official puck drop on Aug. 1. Players, fans and officials are hoping that the league’s bubble strategy can keep the pandemic out. 2:01
There was barely any contact in the only exhibition contest for both teams until Toronto defencemn Jake Muzzin thumped Montreal winger Alex Belzile to the ice early in the second.
The offensively loaded Leafs looked disjointed much of the night, but neither team was helped by sloppy ice conditions in the second game of the day in humid Toronto.
Montreal was all but buried as the NHL’s 24th-ranked team when the schedule was suspended 4 1/2 months ago because of the virus, but was handed a lifeline when the league settled on a 24-team restart plan.
Toronto sat in a playoff spot, but because it sat outside the top-4 in the conference, has to go through Columbus to make the usual 16-club playoff bracket.
“I thought we gave up the neutral zone at times a little bit too easily,” said Keefe, who has focused heavily on defensive structure during training camp. “But I like the way we worked.”
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
PITTSBURGH – Sidney Crosby plans to remain a Pittsburgh Penguin for at least three more years.
The Penguins announced on Monday that they re-signed the 37-year-old from Cole Harbour, N.S., to a two-year contract extension that has an average annual value of US$8.7 million. The deal runs through the 2026-27 season.
Crosby was eligible to sign an extension on July 1 with him entering the final season of a 12-year, $104.4-million deal that carries an $8.7-million salary cap hit.
At the NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas last Monday, he said things were positive and he was optimistic about a deal getting done.
The three-time Stanley Cup champion is coming off a 42-goal, 94-point campaign that saw him finish tied for 12th in the league scoring race.
Crosby has spent all 19 of his NHL seasons in Pittsburgh, amassing 592 goals and 1,004 assists in 1,272 career games.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Tadej Pogacar was so dominant on Sunday, Canada’s Michael Woods called it a race for second.
Pogacar, a three-time Tour de France champion from Slovenia, pedalled to a resounding victory at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal.
The UAE Team Emirates leader crossed the finish line 24 seconds ahead of Spain’s Pello Bilbao of Bahrain — Victorious to win the demanding 209.1-kilometre race on a sunny, 28 C day in Montreal. France’s Julian Alaphilippe of Soudal Quick-Step was third.
“He’s the greatest rider of all time, he’s a formidable opponent,” said Woods, who finished 45 seconds behind the leader in eighth. “If you’re not at your very, very best, then you can forget racing with him, and today was kind of representative of that.
“He’s at such a different level that if you follow him, it can be lights out.”
Pogacar slowed down before the last turn to celebrate with the crowd, high-five fans on Avenue du Parc and cruise past the finish line with his arms in the air after more than five hours on the bike.
The 25-year-old joined Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet as the only multi-time winners in Montreal after claiming the race in 2022. He also redeemed a seventh-place finish at the Quebec City Grand Prix on Friday.
“I was disappointed, because I had such good legs that I didn’t do better than seventh,” Pogacar said. “To bounce back after seventh to victory here, it’s just an incredible feeling.”
It’s Pogacar’s latest win in a dominant year that includes victories at the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia.
Ottawa’s Woods (Israel Premier-Tech) tied a career-best in front of the home crowd in Montreal, but hoped for more after claiming a stage at the Spanish Vuelta two weeks ago.
“I wanted a better result,” the 37-year-old rider said. “My goal was a podium, but at the same time I’m happy with the performance. In bike racing, you can’t always get the result you want and I felt like I raced really well, I animated the race, I felt like I was up there.”
Pogacar completed the 17 climbs up and down Mount Royal near downtown in five hours 28 minutes 15 seconds.
He made his move with 23.3 kilometres to go, leaving the peloton in his dust as he pedalled into the lead — one he never relinquished.
Bilbao, Alaphilippe, Alex Aranburu (Movistar Team) and Bart Lemmen (Visma–Lease) chased in a group behind him, with Bilbao ultimately separating himself from the pack. But he never came close to catching Pogacar, who built a 35-second lead with one lap left to go.
“It was still a really hard race today, but the team was on point,” Pogacar said. “We did really how we planned, and the race situation was good for us. We make it hard in the last final laps, and they set me up for a (takeover) two laps to go, and it was all perfect.”
Ottawa’s Derek Gee, who placed ninth in this year’s Tour de France, finished 48th in Montreal, and called it a “hard day” in the heat.
“I think everyone knows when you see Tadej on the start line that it’s just going to be full gas,” Gee said.
Israel Premier-Tech teammate Hugo Houle of Sainte-Perpétue, Que., was 51st.
Houle said he heard Pogacar inform his teammates on the radio that he was ready to attack with two laps left in the race.
“I said then, well, clearly it’s over for me,” Houle said. “You see, cycling isn’t that complicated.”
Australia’s Michael Matthews won the Quebec City GP for a record third time on Friday, but did not finish in Montreal. The two races are the only North American events on the UCI World Tour.
Michael Leonard of Oakville, Ont., and Gil Gelders and Dries De Bondt of Belgium broke away from the peloton during the second lap. Leonard led the majority of the race before losing pace with 45 kilometres to go.
Only 89 of 169 riders from 24 teams — including the Canadian national team — completed the gruelling race that features 4,573 metres in total altitude.
Next up, the riders will head to the world championships in Zurich, Switzerland from Sept. 21 to 29.
Pogacar will try to join Eddy Merckx (1974) and Stephen Roche (1987) as the only men to win three major titles in a season — known as the Triple Crown.
“Today gave me a lot of confidence, motivation,” Pogacar said. “I think we are ready for world championships.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2024.
