Sports

Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness ‘thrilled’ with trade for Sean Monahan

Published

8 months ago

February 4, 2024

Rick Bowness and the Jets were looking to bolster their roster.

The team also wanted to make sure any player potentially on the move to Manitoba’s capital was the right fit off the ice.

Winnipeg’s head coach feels like Sean Monahan checks both boxes.

The Jets acquired the veteran centre from the Montreal Canadiens on Friday for a first-round pick in this year’s NHL draft and a conditional 2027 third-rounder.

“We’re absolutely thrilled,” Bowness said Saturday during the league’s all-star festivities. “He’s a very important addition to our team. He’s going to help us in an awful lot of ways. We know he’s strong on faceoffs. He’s a solid 200-foot player, which we like to play. I hear nothing but great things about his character and his work habits and being a real good teammate.

“A really good fit.”

The 29-year-old from Brampton, Ont., had 13 goals and 35 points in 49 games this season with Montreal. Bowness said he expects Monahan will start on a line Nikolaj Ehlers and Cole Perfetti.

“We’ll see what it looks like — you never know,” Bowness said. “Your eye test, it tells you everything, the chemistry of the line. We’ve got to give it a good chance to go. We know what (Mark Scheifele’s) line looks like, we know what (Adam Lowry’s) line looks like when it’s going well.

“We’ll give Sean a good chance with (Perfetti and Ehlhers) and we’ll see how it all goes.”

Bowness, whose team hit the all-star break two points behind the Colorado Avalanche for first in the Central Division with two games in hand, is looking forward to getting Scheifele back after he suffered a lower-body injury Jan. 11.

“Makes the coach’s job a lot easier when you’re on the bench and need a goal and he’s sitting there,” Bowness said. “He’s played a wonderful 200-foot game this year. We certainly missed him while he’s been gone offensively. It did hurt, there’s no question, but again at both ends of the ice he’s been a wonderful teammate this year, he’s a great leader.

“It’s all the little things that he does. He’s one of the first guys on the ice every day in practice, always working on things. He’s a very committed professional. We’ve missed him and we’re hoping he can play Tuesday.”

That should also be Monahan’s debut after a couple of practices.

“It’s great that we got them in, and it’s great that we got him in now coming out of the break,” Bowness said. “Guys are happy to have him, I know he’s happy to come to Winnipeg. And really that’s the most important thing for us.

“He’s had a good year offensively. He’s just a very reliable player. Just as important to us, he’s bringing the right character into our locker room. We’ve had a wonderful locker room — great chemistry — and we know he’s going to fit right in with us.”

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Sports

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

Published

1 hour ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

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

Published

2 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

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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Sports

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

Published

3 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

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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