TSN Toronto reporter Mark Masters checks in daily with news and notes on the Maple Leafs. The Leafs (optional) and Lightning skated at Amalie Arena on Tuesday.
The Leafs hope the voice of Jake Muzzin will become even louder in the dressing room now that the defenceman has inked a four-year extension.
“This signing is significant in terms of just giving him the ability to know that he’s really in this with us,” said coach Sheldon Keefe. “Not that he wasn’t before, but just to now have him secured as part of our core [will] allow him to dig in even a little bit deeper with our core and help us get to the level we have to get to.”
Keefe often refers to Muzzin, a native of Woodstock, Ont., as the conscience of the group.
“I wanted to be here,” said Muzzin, who was due to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. “That’s pretty much it. I like the team, I like the city, the organization. Me and my wife really enjoyed it, so we wanted to be here.”
Muzzin on four-year extension with Toronto: ‘I wanted to be here’
After officially signing a four-year, $22.5 million contract extension with the Maple Leafs, Jake Muzzin says he is happy remain in Toronto and he’s gotten used to the craziness in the city. Head coach Sheldon Keefe speaks about the impact Muzzin has had on the team and calls it a ‘significant signing’.
That’s a good thing, because Toronto has never needed Muzzin more. The Leafs have struggled to put forward consistent efforts of late, going just 8-9-3 since Jan. 5. Toronto has just five regulation wins in the past 20 games.
“The core of the team needs to take a jump,” Muzzin said. “We can’t have it one night and not the next and that’s everyone and that’s bringing along the younger core as well. We have to give them no option but to come with us.”
Keefe points out that Muzzin’s background with the Kings, including a championship run in 2014, gives him credibility in the room. The coach has urged the 31-year-old to use his platform to create an honest dialogue when things are going poorly.
“He has an interesting perspective,” Keefe observed. “He comes from a different place, a place that had success, a place that had to find its way, so that gives him a little more power in terms of his ability to speak with our group. He also has the type of that personality that is comfortable saying what’s on his mind and also just has really good perspective on what’s happening.”
There are not a lot of veteran players on the Leafs. Jason Spezza, 36, is the only player older than Muzzin.
“Dig down,” Muzzin said when asked how the Leafs can escape their current funk. “Everyone’s got to get comfortable getting pushed a little harder and being uncomfortable, so it’s a crucial time for us. We’re going to need everyone’s best efforts the rest of the way.”
Muzzin and Kyle Clifford are the only players on the roster to win the Stanley Cup.
Leafs searching for effort and consistency as they enter crucial stretch
With the deadline passed and the team set for the playoff race, the Leafs enter a crucial stretch. The team recognizes they haven’t played to the level they’re capable of and are searching for more effort and consistency. As Jake Muzzin says, ‘everyone has to get comfortable being pushed a little harder and being uncomfortable.’
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Tyson Barrie is relieved to still be with the Leafs.
“It was touch and go for a couple of days but I’m glad I made it through it,” the pending unrestricted free agent said with a smile.
The defenceman, who had risen to No. 5 on TSN’s trade bait list, spoke with Kyle Dubas on deadline day.
“It was nice of him to reach out,” Barrie said.
What was the message from the general manager?
“He’s got belief in this team,” Barrie said, “and we’re still in a spot and we’re trying to make the playoffs and he believes in myself and the team and he wants me here.”
Dubas didn’t trade away Barrie, but he also didn’t boost the roster. And then, during a news conference yesterday, Dubas admitted he wasn’t sure why his highly skilled core wasn’t leading the team to more consistent efforts.
Overall, it seemed to be a lukewarm endorsement at best, but for the players there was only one takeaway.
“He believes in this group is what we need to take from it,” said Muzzin. “He’s brought in pieces earlier [backup goalie Jack Campbell and gritty forward Clifford] and he believes in the group in here and now we have to go out and perform.”
The Leafs can make a big statement tonight in Tampa. The Lightning are the hottest team in hockey, going 23-4-1 since Dec. 23.
“We need a bounce back after that last game,” Barrie said. “With the deadline going by and we’re keeping the team together and management showing belief in this team, it’s a huge game to show we’re going to respond and have a big push here at the end of the year.”
Toronto is looking to turn the page after Saturday’s embarrassing loss when they fell meekly to a tired Hurricanes team even though Carolina was forced to play with an emergency backup goalie – 42-year-old David Ayres, who serves as Toronto’s fill-in goalie at practice – for almost half the game.
The Leafs are trying not to get caught up in any of the bad press since that debacle.
“It’s kind of the old saying, you’re not as good as everyone tells you are and not as bad when everyone says the same thing,” captain John Tavares noted. “I know our team was built to, obviously, want to go all the way and we still have an opportunity to earn that chance to try and do that.”
Keefe, meanwhile, recalled a conversation he had shortly over taking on the Leafs head coach job back in November.
“A very accomplished coach I was speaking with said to me, ‘The difference between your job and mine is we have a bad month and nobody notices and you have a bad week and the world is ending.’ So, it’s on me to manage that, but also acknowledge that for a while now we haven’t been able to play at the level that we’re capable of and it’s on me to help find those solutions.”
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Down the hall in the Lightning room it was a much different feel as three new players got situated in their new home. GM Julien BriseBois added forwards Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow and defenceman Zach Bogosian before the deadline.
“It shows that our ownership and management is determined to win and that’s the same thing we feel in this room,” said captain Steven Stamkos. “To go out and add some guys like that at the deadline, as a player, that’s a dream come true, so you want to go out there and have their back.”
All three newcomers are expected to make their home debut for the Lightning tonight.
“I bring some grit, some physicality,” said Goodrow. “I take a lot of pride in my defensive game, try to eliminate whoever I’m playing against that night. I play a hard game.”
After dropping the final two games of a road trip, the Lightning are looking to avoid their first three-game skid since late November.
On the new additions: “It shows that our ownership and management is determined to win. That’s the same way we feel in this room, so to go out and add some guys like that at the deadline, as a player, that’s a dream come true.”#TORvsTBL | Steven Stamkos: pic.twitter.com/dx7qtbOLej
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.
Inter Milan winger Tajon Buchanan, recovered from a broken leg suffered in training at this summer’s Copa America, is back in Jesse Marsch’s Canada squad for the CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal against Suriname.
The 25-year-old from Brampton, Ont., underwent surgery July 3 to repair a fractured tibia in Texas.
Canada, ranked 35th in the world, plays No. 136 Suriname on Nov. 15 in Paramaribo. The second leg of the aggregate series is four days later at Toronto’s BMO Field.
There is also a return for veteran winger Junior Hoilett, who last played for Canada in June in a 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in Marsch’s debut at the Canadian helm. The 34-year-old from Brampton, now with Scotland’s Hibernian, has 15 goals in 63 senior appearances for Canada.
Midfielder Ismael Kone, recovered from an ankle injury sustained on club duty with France’s Marseille, also returns. He missed Canada’s last three matches since the fourth-place Copa America loss to Uruguay in July.
But Canada will be without centre back Derek Cornelius, who exited Marseille’s win Sunday over Nantes on a stretcher after suffering an apparent rib injury.
The Canadian men will prepare for Suriname next week at a camp in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
“We are looking forward to getting the group together again with the mindset that there is a trophy on the line,” Marsch said in a statement. “We want to end 2024 the right way with two excellent performances against a competitive Suriname squad and continue building on our tremendous growth this past summer.”
The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., with the two semifinals scheduled for March 20 and the final and third-place playoff March 23, and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Thirteen of the 23 players on the Canadian roster are 25 or younger, with 19-year-old defender Jamie Knight-Lebel, currently playing for England’s Crewe Alexandra on loan from Bristol City, the youngest.
Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies captains the side with Stephen Eustaquio, Jonathan Osorio, Richie Laryea, Alistair Johnston and Kamal Miller adding veteran support.
Jonathan David, Cyle Larin and Theo Bair are joined in attack by Minnesota United’s Tani Oluwaseyi.
Niko Sigur, a 21-year-old midfielder with Croatia’s Hadjuk Split, continues in the squad after making his debut in the September friendly against Mexico.
Suriname made it to the Nations League quarterfinals by finishing second to Costa Rica in Group A of the Nations League, ahead of No. 104 Guatemala, No. 161 Guyana and unranked Martinique and Guadeloupe.
“A good team,” Osorio said of Suriname. “These games are always tricky and they’re not easy at all … Suriname is a (former) Dutch colony and they’ll have Dutch players playing at high levels.”
“They won’t be someone we overlook at all,” added the Toronto FC captain, who has 81 Canada caps to his credit.
Located on the northeast coast of South America between Guyana and French Guiana, Suriname was granted independence in 1975 by the Netherlands.
Canada has faced Suriname twice before, both in World Cup qualifying play, winning 4-0 in suburban Chicago in June 2021 and 2-1 in Mexico City in October 1977.
The Canadian men, along with Mexico, the United States and Panama, received a bye into the final eight of the CONCACAF Nations League.
Canada, No. 2 in the CONCACAF rankings, drew Suriname as the best-placed runner-up from League A play.
Canada lost to Jamaica in last year’s Nations League quarterfinal, ousted on the away-goals rule after the series ended in a 4-4 draw. The Canadians lost 2-0 to the U.S. in the final of the 2022-23 tournament and finished fifth in 2019-20.
Canada defeated Panama 2-1 last time out, in an Oct. 15 friendly in Toronto.
Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau and Jonathan Sirois, defenders Joel Waterman, Laryea and Miller and Osorio took part in a pre-camp this week in Toronto for North America-based players.
Canada Roster
Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Portland Timbers (MLS); Jonathan Sirois, CF Montreal (MLS); Dayne St. Clair, Minnesota United FC (MLS).
Defenders: Moise Bombito, OGC Nice (France); Alphonso Davies, Bayern Munich (Germany); Richie Laryea, Toronto FC (MLS); Alistair Johnston, Celtic (Scotland); Jamie Knight-Lebel. Crewe Alexandra, on loan from Bristol City (England); Kamal Miller, Portland Timbers (MLS); Joel Waterman, CF Montreal (MLS).
Midfielders: Ali Ahmed. Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Tajon Buchanan, Inter Milan (Italy); Mathieu Choiniere, Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland); Stephen Eustaquio, FC Porto (Portugal); Junior Hoilett, Hibernian FC (Scotland); Ismael Kone, Olympique Marseille (France); Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC (MLS); Jacob Shaffelburg, Nashville SC (MLS); Niko Sigur, Hadjuk Split (Croatia).
Forwards: Theo Bair, AJ Auxerre (France); Jonathan David, LOSC Lille (France); Cyle Larin, RCD Mallorca (Spain); Tani Oluwaseyi, Minnesota United (MLS).
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
