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Wheeler says players 'can't be silent anymore' about racism – NHL.com

Published

4 years ago

June 2, 2020

Blake Wheeler spoke from the heart Tuesday about racism, why more NHL players are sharing their thoughts about it now and how he hopes they can help effect change.

The Winnipeg Jets captain grew up 20 minutes outside Minneapolis, where a white police officer has been charged with third-degree murder after George Floyd, a black man, died in custody May 25, sparking protests in cities across the United States.

“Clearly, it’s hit home,” Wheeler said.

Calling the destruction caused by some heartbreaking, Wheeler said for the most part he’s proud of his hometown “for the people standing up and not tolerating this anymore and helping each other clean up the mess.”

Wheeler was one of the first NHL players to share his thoughts publicly when he wrote a post on his Twitter account Saturday. More NHL players and teams have made statements via social media since.

Why now? Especially for white players like Wheeler, when a black player like San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane, who played with Wheeler in Winnipeg, has been speaking about it for a long time?

Wheeler cited the graphic video of the death of Floyd and the pause of the NHL the season since March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

“I think putting a visual to what’s being talked about, I think it’s changed for a lot of people,” the forward said. “I think you read about it and you hear about it and you know it’s injustice and you know how horrible it is, but then once you see it, you’re able to … It puts it in a new light.

“Being in a pandemic right now where people … You know, there’s no other distraction. We’re not preparing for a game tomorrow. Our minds don’t go elsewhere right now. Like, we’re able to really digest this, and I think that that has made it to the point where guys just … You can’t be silent anymore.”

Wheeler and his wife, Sam, have been showing news reports to their children: Louie, 7; Leni, 5; and Mase, almost 3.

“They watched George Floyd die on TV,” Wheeler said.

Though things don’t register as much for the younger children, they are challenging to explain to the 7-year-old.

“I mean, he’s asking, ‘Why won’t he get off his neck? Why won’t he get off his neck?'” Wheeler said.

The Wheelers have not been in Minnesota, self-quarantining at their offseason home in Florida.

“We would have loved to take our family out to the protest to show [the children] how powerful it can be and really what a beautiful thing it was, all the people coming together in our hometown,” Wheeler said. “So we’ve talked about it a lot and showed them as much as we can to just try to continue that education and try to show them and really have it be imprinted in their mind that this is what it should look like.”

Wheeler said white athletes have to be as involved as black athletes.

“It can’t just be their fight,” he said. “… I want to be real clear here: I look in the mirror about this before I look out at everyone else. I wish that I was more involved sooner than I was. I wish that it didn’t take me this long to get behind it in a meaningful way. But I guess what you can do is try to be better going forward. …

“As pro athletes, we have a platform. I think that in and of itself is a big step to put yourself out there and talk about it. It’s not an easy thing to do. … I think it’s something that over time we need to be more comfortable doing, but we need to be OK voicing our opinion on this.”

Wheeler, who has represented the United States in international competition, said he feels strongly this is has nothing to do with politics.

“I think we can all agree this is a problem, and human rights should apply to everyone,” he said. “Whether I’m voting Democrat or I’m voting Republican, I think I can find a candidate on either side that this is important to and agrees with the fact that this needs to stop.”

Asked if he was worried about his country, Wheeler said, “Yeah, terribly, honestly.” He talked about how he was a worrier by nature and the list of problems that seems never-ending.

“To have a country be going through this economically, socially, everything, and then we’re still, we’re still, treating each other like this, yeah, it’s worrisome,” he said. “But being American, growing up, though, I truly believe that better days are ahead, and through that anxiety and through that fear and through kind of that worry about the country, I’m optimistic and hopeful about the future.”

Wheeler’s father, Jim, grew up in Detroit, which went through racial unrest in the late 1960s.

“He just said, ‘My generation didn’t get it right, and hopefully yours does,'” Wheeler said. “So I’m hopeful my generation and my kids’ generation fix this and get this country so that there’s better days ahead.”

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Canada’s Marina Stakusic falls in Guadalajara Open quarterfinals

Published

9 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.

The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.

Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.

In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.

The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Kirk’s walk-off single in 11th inning lifts Blue Jays past Cardinals 4-3

Published

9 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.

With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.

Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.

Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.

Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.

He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.

The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.

Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.

He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.

George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.

Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.

In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.

St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.

ON DECK

Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.

The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Stampeders return to Maier at QB eyeing chance to get on track against Alouettes

Published

10 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.

It won’t be an easy assignment.

Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.

“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”

Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”

Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.

After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.

“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”

Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.

“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.

A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.

“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”

But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.

“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”

Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”

“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.

Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.

“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”

While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.

“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”

The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.

“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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