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What will Canada's Olympic roster look like without NHLers? You might know more names than you think – Toronto Star

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No Connor McDavid, no Steven Stamkos, no Mitch Marner.

There’s disappointment for players and fans in the wake of Tuesday’s news that the NHL and the NHLPA agreed to not send league players to the Beijing Olympics in February. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be some familiar faces donning the Canadian jersey, or that the Canadian team won’t be a favourite for a medal.

It’s still uncertain if NHL teams will allow AHL players to represent Canada. The Marlies have at least two potential candidates in Josh Ho-Sang and Brett Seney. But there is still a deep pool of Canadians playing around the world. Here is what the roster in Beijing could look like:

Forwards

Eric Fehr: A former Maple Leaf and a veteran of five NHL teams. The 36-year-old is a Team Canada staple and a free agent who last played full time in the Swiss A League in 2020.

David Desharnais: A veteran of eight NHL seasons, Desharnais is the third leading scorer (11 goals, 15 assists) for Fribourg-Gotteron in the Swiss A League.

Chris DiDomenico: The Toronto-born forward, a Leafs sixth-round draft pick in 2007, leads Fribourg-Gotteron in scoring (11 goals, 26 assists).

Cory Conacher: The swift skater had a strong rookie season in 2012-13 for Tampa and Ottawa, when he finished sixth in the Calder Trophy race that. He is now playing with Bern SC of the Swiss A League.

Jordan Weal: A Montreal Canadiens alumnus playing in the KHL, Weal has nine goals and 23 points in 29 games with Kazan Ak-Bars.

Eric Staal: The 36-year-old was part of the Canadiens’ Stanley Cup run last spring. An unsigned free agent, he has 441 goals and 593 assists in 1,293 NHL games, and won the Stanley Cup with Carolina in 2006.

Daniel Audette: The 25-year-old could be a top-line player. He is second in scoring with the KHL’s Podolsh Vityaz (14 goals, 17 assists, in 36 games). Audette was drafted by Montreal (fifth round, 2014) but never played a regular-season game in the NHL.

Ryan Spooner: The Ottawa native played 325 games in the NHL after Boston drafted him in the second round in 2010. Spooner, 29, currently leagues Yekaterinburg Automobilist of the KHL in scoring with 11 goals and 19 assists in 40 games.

Landon Ferraro: The son of former NHL veteran and NHL broadcaster Ray Ferraro is the leading scorer for the Kolner Haie (Cologne Sharks) in the German league (9 goals, 17 assists, in 28 games). He should feature prominently in Beijing if he goes.

Corban Knight: The former Florida fifth-rounder earned top-10 votes for the 2012-13 Hobey Baker Award. He leads Omsk Avangard of the KHL in scoring, with 16 goals and 29 assists in 40 games.

Philippe Maillet: An undrafted player, the speedy Maillet leads the KHL’s Magnitogorsk Metallurg in scoring, with 12 goals and 20 assists through 39 games. The University of New Brunswick graduate appeared in two games for Washington.

Josh Currie: Also undrafted, and a teammate of Maillet’s in the KHL, Currie is ninth in scoring for Magnitorgorsk Metallurg. He played in 22 NHL games with Edmonton and Pittsburgh.

Defence

Cody Goloubef: One of the best skating defenceman Canada has internationally, Goloubef played in 160 NHL games for Columbus, Colorado, Ottawa and Detroit. He is related to former Leafs great Dick Duff.

Jason Demers: A veteran of 12 NHL seasons, he moved to the KHL at age 33 to play for Ak Bars Kazan. A solid two-way defenceman to anchor the Canadian blue line.

Eric Gelinas: New Jersey’s second-round pick in 2009 played in 189 NHL games before moving on, at age 30, to Rogle BK of the Swedish Hockey League.

Brandon Gormley: He played in 58 NHL games for Arizona and Colorado, and is now with Riga Dynamo of the KHL.

John Gilmour: A Calgary seventh-rounder 2013. Gilmour is playing the KHL’s CSKA Moscow.

Matt Robinson: The 35-year-old has played in the KHL since 2011-12. He spent four years with CSKA Moscow before moving to Saint Petersburg SKA this season.

Goalies

Devon Dubnyk: The three-time NHL all-star is on a professional tryout with Charlotte of the AHL. He had a brilliant season in 2014-15 with the Wild, finishing third in Vezina voting and fourth in the Hart. He could be the starter for Canada.

Justin Pogge: The former Leaf is 18-0 with the Cologne Sharks over the last two seasons.

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Canada’s Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Routliffe pick up second win at WTA Finals

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.

The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.

The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.

Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.

The final is scheduled for Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Allen nets shutout as Devils burn Oilers 3-0

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EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.

The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.

Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.

TAKEAWAYS

Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.

Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.

KEY MOMENT

New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.

KEY RETURN?

Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.

OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN

The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.

The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.

UP NEXT

Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

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Mahomes throws 3 TD passes, unbeaten Chiefs beat Buccaneers 30-24 in OT

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.

DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.

Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.

Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.

Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.

It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.

The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.

Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.

Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.

The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”

Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.

The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.

Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.

UP NEXT

Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

Chiefs: Host the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

AP NFL:

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