
Canada's para hockey players join women, NHLers at 2026 orientation camps
The roster includes 16 players who helped Canada win gold at the 2024 world championship, as well as nine who claimed a silver medal at the 2022 Paralympic Games in Beijing.

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National Post
17 hours ago
- National Post
SIMMONS SAYS: If the Blue Jays can play .500 the rest of the way, they should reach playoffs
Article content HEAR AND THERE Article content Last season, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner combined for 60 goals with the Maple Leafs. The number was rather low because of the 15 games Matthews missed, his mystery injury and the fact he had the lowest goal-scoring numbers of his career. If whoever plays right wing alongside Matthews and Matthew Knies scores something around 15 goals, they'll be above the 60 goal mark combined. The Leafs were still third in the East in scoring last season, 16 goals ahead of the Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers … The Leafs' largest challenge this coming season: Finding a way to replace the 47 primary assists Marner had last season. That's 20 more than anyone else had on the team. One reason for optimism: Max Domi had 19 primary assists while not playing much power-play time or not playing much on the first two Toronto lines … A weird stat: The Leafs were 26-1 last season in games in which Morgan Rielly had an assist … They were 21-2-1 in games William Nylander had two points … This is why Hockey Canada decided on just three goaltenders — the same three from the 4 Nations team — for its summer Olympic team gathering. General manager Doug Armstrong and staff looked at Washington's Logan Thompson, Edmonton's Stuart Skinner, Los Angeles' Darcy Kuemper and Mackenzie Blackwood of Colorado and considered them quite similar to their three named goaltenders. My understanding of this: Jordan Binnington is a sure thing for the Olympic team and, after that, two of Adin Hill, Sam Montembeault and the other four being looked at while being selected for the team in Milan … Montembeault is French Canadian, which helps his chances of being the third goalie … With rosters enlarged for the Olympics to 25 players, expect the 4 Nations forwards and defence to be much the same on the Olympic team, with the likely additions of Tom Wilson, Nick Suzuki and maybe Mark Scheifele up front and Evan Bouchard on defence. Still in tough to be named: Zach Hyman. A nice invite but with no chance of making it: Maple Leafs forward John Tavares. You can't pick Tavares over Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Brayden Point, Suzuki, Scheifele or Rob Thomas. He's not physical enough to play the wing or quick enough to be an effective forechecker. Article content SCENE AND HEARD Article content Elaine Tanner, once known as Mighty Mouse as Canada's greatest swimmer, predicted to me the other day that Summer McIntosh will soon be 'Canada's all-time greatest athlete ever.' So who wins Canada's athlete of the year this year? The MVP and NBA champion Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, or McIntosh, the multi gold-medal winning, record-breaking swimmer. A strong case could be made for both legends, and it's only August … SGA will be honoured in Hamilton on Thursday and presented with the first key to the city in 27 years … The NFL does Hall of Fame much better than Major League Baseball, the NBA or NHL. They do their inductions in the off-season, with no regular-season games playing opposite. Baseball and hockey have their induction ceremonies opposite league games being played. It means if you're a fan, you can't watch the Hall speeches and inductions and your favourite team play because it's happening at the same time. 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He lost in his first match at the National Bank Open, as did fellow Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, who also looks like he should be significantly better than his results … How much does NHL regular-season scoring matter? In their back-to-back Stanley Cup seasons, the Florida Panthers finished 13th and 11th in goal-scoring … Rafael Nadal won 63 tournaments in his career and lost only 51 matches in his entire career. 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They both will be on the Olympic roster in 2030 in the French Alps … Happy birthday to Marv Levy (100), Tom Brady (48), Marcel Dionne (74), Jim Gott (66), Dominic Moore (45), Kristaps Porzingis (30), Evander Kane (34), Bombo Rivera (73), Troy Glaus (49), Sid Bream (65), and Tony Amonte (55) … And hey, whatever became of Devon Travis? Article content


Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Dupont, Ruck twins named to Canadian team for Hlinka Gretzky Cup
CALGARY – Defenceman Landon DuPont headlines Canada's roster for the upcoming Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Czechia and Slovakia. The 16-year-old Dupont from Calgary was the first defenceman granted exceptional status by the Western Hockey League, which allowed him to enter the league at age 15. He was among 25 players named to the team by Hockey Canada for the annual summer tournament that showcases many of the world's top male players aged 18 and under. Canada seeks a fourth straight gold medal in the eight-country tournament that runs Aug. 11-16 in Brno, Czechia and Trencin, Slovakia. Canada beat Czechia 2-1 to win last year's tournament in Edmonton. Three goaltenders, eight defenceman and 14 forwards were named to Canada's 2025 edition, including a half dozen who won a gold medal at the world under-18 championship in May in Frisco, Texas: Carson Carels, Alessandro Di Iorio, Beckham Edwards, Ryan Lin, Daxon Rudolph and Keaton Verhoeff. Medicine Hat Tigers twin brothers Markus and Liam Ruck of Osoyoos, B.C., were also named to the squad. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. Canada opens the tournament Aug. 11 against Finland. The Canadians will play pre-tournament exhibition games against Hungary's under-20 team in Budapest on Aug. 7 and another Aug. 9 against Slovakia. The roster was selected by general manager Alan Millar, Yanick Lemay, director of hockey operations Benoit Roy, head scout Byron Bonora and senior vice-president of hockey operations Scott Salmond. 'Our selection camp was highly competitive and provided an opportunity for our players to showcase themselves against the top talent in the country, and we believe we have assembled a roster that will compete for gold and wear the Maple Leaf with pride in Czechia and Slovakia,' Millar said Friday in a statement. Mathieu Turcotte, who has coached the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League's Blainville-Boisbriand Armada for the past two seasons and was an assistant coach of the victorious under-18 team in Frisco, will be Canada's head coach in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 1, 2025.


Toronto Star
2 days ago
- Toronto Star
Canada's para hockey players join women, NHLers at 2026 orientation camps
CALGARY - Hockey Canada has invited 20 para hockey players to a national team orientation camp in Calgary as first step toward the 2026 Paralympic Games. The roster includes 16 players who helped Canada win gold at the 2024 world championship, as well as nine who claimed a silver medal at the 2022 Paralympic Games in Beijing.