
Linus Karlsson leads Abbottsford Canucks to 3-2 victory over Charlotte Checkers to win Calder Cup
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Linus Karlsson scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period and the Abbotsford Canucks beat the Charlotte Checkers 3-2 on Monday night to win their first Calder Cup championship. HT Image
Sammy Blais and Danila Klimovich also scored for the Canucks, and Arshdeep Bains had two assists. Arturs Silovs finished with 28 saves.
Silovs received the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy for being the playoff MVP after getting a record-tying 16 wins in the postseason, including five shutouts. The 24-year-old goalie finished with a .931 save percentage.
Abbotsford, led by first-year coach Manny Malhotra, is Vancouver's first AHL affiliate to hoist the cup and the first Canadian winner since the Toronto Marlies in 2018.
John Leonard and Jack Devine scored first-period goals for the Checkers, who lost the best-of-seven American Hockey League championship series in six games.
The Canucks lost Game 5 in overtime on Saturday in front of the largest crowd to ever witness an AHL game at the Abbotsford Centre in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.
After spotting Charlotte the first two goals on Monday night, the Canucks roared back with three unanswered goals, including the winner from Karlsson with 2:41 left in the second period.
Abbotsford went 1 for 2 on the power play, while Charlotte went 0 for 4.
Abbotsford knocked off the Tucson Roadrunners 2-1 in the Pacific Division's first round, followed by a 3-1 win over the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the semifinals. The Canucks outlasted the Colorado Eagles 3-2 in the Pacific Division final, then bounced the Texas Stars 4-2 in the Western Conference final.
NHL: /hub/nhl
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The Hindu
8 hours ago
- The Hindu
Record-breaking Summer McIntosh on path to emulate Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky
Growing up in Toronto, Summer McIntosh chose her idols well. She named the family cat, an orange tabby, Mikey, for Michael Phelps, the most decorated swimmer of all time. McIntosh's bedroom wall was covered with photos and inspirational quotes from Katie Ledecky, swimming's dominant queen with nine Olympic and 22 world titles. Chasing GOATs At 18, she is well on her way to joining them in the sport's pantheon — indeed, at the ongoing World Championships in Singapore, she is looking to equal a Phelps record and has already defeated Ledecky over 400 metres in the freestyle final. Phelps is the only swimmer to have won five individual gold medals in a single edition of the World Championships. McIntosh, who hopes to compete in five individual events at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, is using this year's championships as something of a test run! 'I'm trying to see if I can do five events individually and how well I can do in them and how I can manage it... doing that run through now, three years out, is definitely something that will give me lots of confidence,' she said ahead of the Worlds' swimming portion, which began on July 27. McIntosh arrived in Singapore after completing one of the greatest weeks in swimming history with a hat-trick of world records in June, becoming the first to set three different individual long-course records in one meet since Phelps in 2008. At the Canadian trials, she broke the world marks in the 200m and 400m individual medleys (IM), as well as the 400m freestyle. ALSO READ | Divya, the girl who could become chess queen Despite owning the 400 free world record, McIntosh had failed to win gold in the event at the Olympics or previous Worlds. She remedied that in ominous fashion, launching her packed programme with a statement win. The highly anticipated battle between McIntosh and Ledecky — an appetiser to the 800m freestyle — failed to materialise, as the Canadian led from start to finish and the American took bronze. McIntosh had little time to savour her first major 400m triumph. The teen sensation exited quickly to prepare for the 200m IM semifinals, where she was again in a class of her own. 'While preparing mentally, I thought this was my biggest night of the whole meet,' she said. 'I've never done a double like that. And the 400m free, at past World Championships and Olympics, I haven't been where I wanted to be. So I'm really happy.' Her joy doubled a day later, when she bagged a second gold, in the 200m IM. On Thursday, she completed a hat-trick of triumphs, clinching the 200m butterfly. The events remaining in her bid to equal Phelps will be swum this weekend: Saturday's 800m free and Sunday's 400m IM. It's a gruelling schedule, especially when you add all the heats and semifinals. 'It means 14 or 15 races in eight days, demanding races,' Canada's head coach Iain McDonald said. Which of those races is her best event? 'She's such a versatile athlete, it's kind of tough to nail what her best events are,' McDonald said. 'She's pretty good right across the spectrum.' Blockbuster main-event There are no doubts, however, about which event the world is waiting for. McIntosh is coming for Ledecky's 800m crown, which the American has kept a tight grip on. In addition to four Olympic wins, Ledecky is hoping to become the first swimmer to claim seven world titles in a single event. In May, Ledecky improbably took down her nine-year-old world record from the 2016 Rio Olympics. But McIntosh represents a clear and present danger. The 18-year-old came within two seconds of the 28-year-old's mark recently, signalling the chance that fans could soon see a changing of the guard. McIntosh famously ended Ledecky's 13-year unbeaten streak in the event in 2024, when she bested the American by nearly six seconds at a sectionals meeting in Orlando, Florida. What's more, the rivalry doesn't faze her. 'Katie always brings the best out of me,' McIntosh said. 'Which is why I'm never nervous to race her.' Ledecky, who won the 1500m freestyle gold in Singapore on Tuesday, is aware of the contender's prowess, but has been mentally preparing to meet an equal for years. 'I've always approached each race with a mindset that something like that could happen,' Ledecky once said. 'Even as that didn't happen for many, many years, I still maintain that approach.' Irrespective of how the race goes, what is certain is that McIntosh will look at it as another learning opportunity. It's this desire to constantly improve, a trait common to great athletes, that has lifted her to soaring heights in a short career. She is never satisfied. ALSO READ | Nikhat Zareen reiterates 'hunger to win medals' ahead of World Boxing Championships After winning three gold medals at the Paris Olympics, McIntosh felt there was room for growth. Her attitude after breaking three world records in June was similar. 'Absolutely wild,' she said of the accomplishment, before promptly pointing to a litany of things she could improve on in each race, saying the self-criticism is part of her mission to keep testing the boundaries of her sport. 'I don't think there is such a thing as a perfect race, at least I haven't done it yet,' she said. 'I always want more. And I'm also still so young, I know I can get so much stronger.' That competitive spirit runs deep in the McIntosh family. Her mother Jill competed at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in swimming and older sister Brooke is a top pairs figure skater. 'We knew even at seven or eight years old that she was going to be an exceptional swimmer... beating 10 and 12-year-olds by a pool length,' her father Greg McIntosh said. 'She is a force of nature. She has been since she was a child.' McIntosh's rapid journey to the pinnacle of swimming has taken her from Canada to Florida, where she trained with the Sarasota Sharks from 2022 and through the Paris Games. After the World Championships, she will begin training with Phelps' mentor Bob Bowman in Texas, as she builds to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Hunter and hunted But even as she is hurtling towards greatness, McIntosh knows the wheel of sport will turn. Just as she is hunting down Ledecky, others will soon pursue her. In Singapore, a pre-teen Chinese swimmer showed she could be nipping at McIntosh's heels. Just 12, Yu Zidi created a sensation at the Worlds after missing the podium by only 0.06 seconds in the 200 IM. Yu is recording faster times than McIntosh did as a 12-year-old, but the Canadian looks at it as further motivation. 'World records are made to be broken. So by the time I leave this sport, I want to make sure that [my] records are as fast as possible,' she said. 'I know there's always going to be the next generation of kids growing up, and they're going to be chasing the record. So I've got to give them my best effort to see how long it can stand.'


New Indian Express
17 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Eugenie Bouchard bids adieu to tennis with throwback performance at hometown National Bank Open
MONTREAL: Genie Bouchard didn't look like a player limping into retirement. You'd be forgiven for thinking she was still in her prime. On center court in her hometown, Bouchard delivered a thrilling performance — and a heartfelt goodbye to tennis — with a hard-fought loss in her final match Wednesday night. "I've always had a feeling I would end my career here," Bouchard said. "Montreal is where I was born and raised, so it just feels right. An emotional moment. I think I just wanted a moment like this because my career deserved a moment like this. "I really think I got it tonight, and I'm so grateful for that." The 31-year-old bowed out 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in the National Bank Open's second round against 17th seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland but electrified the crowd against a top-tier opponent — showing flashes of the assertive game that once powered her rise to world No. 5 in 2014. So is she sure about retiring? "My sister said she started a petition with fans in the crowd, and everyone signed it, so now I have no choice but to rescind my retirement," Bouchard said, smiling. "But there's a lot of hard work that goes into tennis. It was great to be able to perform well, but it's such a tough life of sacrifice and hard work. "I've given so much to tennis, and it's given me so much, but I do feel ready to move on from that and do other things in life, but I will forever be grateful for what tennis has given me." Bouchard had extended her Montreal run with a throwback first-round upset Monday night against Emiliana Arango, her first WTA Tour victory since 2023. The local favorite turned back the clock again Wednesday by rallying from down a set, but Bencic held on to win the match in two hours, 16 minutes. Fans packing the stands at IGA Stadium chanted "Let's Go Genie!" and grew louder throughout the night, standing for several ovations. Bouchard returned the favor with an emotional, teary-eyed speech during an on-court ceremony. "It's so special to play my last match here in Montreal, on this court, in front of you guys," she said. "I remember being a little kid, sitting in these stands, hoping and dreaming that I would play on this court one day. "It feels like such a full-circle moment." And her career almost continued a little longer. After a difficult first set, Bouchard bounced back to win the second and went up a break early in the third, winning a back-and-forth third game when Bencic's shot dipped into the net on the Canadian's fifth breakpoint opportunity. Bencic regrouped and broke back to tie at 3-3 as Bouchard sprayed shots wide and long. Trailing 5-4 and needing to hold serve, Bouchard fell in a 40-love hole and sent her backhand wide while defending the second match point, ending her upset bid. "I knew I could win the match," she said. "It was really close from the second onward." Instead, it marks the end of a roller-coaster career. Bouchard peaked during the 2014 season, winning her only WTA singles title, reaching the Australian Open and French Open semis and becoming the first Canadian to play in a Grand Slam singles final at Wimbledon. But Bouchard's rapid rise at 20 also quickly came falling down after her 6-3, 6-0 loss to Petra Kvitova at the All England Club. Her highly anticipated homecoming one month later ended abruptly with a 6-0, 2-6, 6-0 loss against American qualifier Shelby Rogers at the then-called Rogers Cup. And the following year, Bouchard crashed out of the French Open and Wimbledon first rounds as losing streaks piled up. A run to the U.S. Open fourth round hinted at a return to form, until Bouchard suffered a concussion from slipping in the locker room — for which she later filed a lawsuit — forcing her to withdraw from the tournament. In recent years, Bouchard has sporadically played on the pro tennis circuit, spending more time on the PPA Pickleball Tour, where she ranks 12th in singles. She ramped up for her final event with the WTA 125 Hall of Fame Open in July — her first tournament since last year's National Bank Open — and lost her opener in straight sets. As for what's next, Bouchard says she looks forward to sleeping in, going on vacation and reflecting on what she wants to do with the rest of her life. "I feel like I missed out because I didn't go to college and didn't go to school," she said. "Diving into the TV stuff more is definitely something I enjoy, so that's a probable next step. I mean, are any of you guys hiring (laughing)? I don't know how to even write — what do you even call it when you …". The word Bouchard was looking for? Resume. "I don't even have one of those," she said. "Maybe my agent can come up with one for me. I'm not used to doing that."


New Indian Express
19 hours ago
- New Indian Express
Coco Gauff overcomes 14 more double-faults to advance in Montreal
MONTREAL: Coco Gauff overcame 14 more double-faults to beat Veronika Kudermetova of Russia 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 on Thursday in the National Bank Open. Two days after surviving 23 double-faults and a third-set tiebreaker against fellow American Danielle Collins, the top-seeded Gauff rallied from a set and break down against Kudermetova to reach the round of 16. "It was a tough match," Gauff said. "I thought I did well mentally, especially on the return. I was playing an opponent that served really well. Obviously, I would like to serve better on my end, but overall, just happy to get through." Gauff, No. 2 in the world behind Aryna Sabalenka, entered the week having lost two straight matches since winning the French Open, falling in her opening matches in Berlin and Wimbledon. "It does give positives that I am winning these matches having literally one part of my game on a crutch," Gauff said. "If I can stand on both feet, then I can only imagine that it will be a lot more straight-forward and a lot easier for me." Graf set up a match with 18-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko, a 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 winner over Marie Bouzkova of Czechia in the night session. Mboko is the last of the nine Canadians left. "It was a very difficult match, I feel like, mentally and physically for me," Mboko said. "I'm just really happy to have come out with the win." McCartney Kessler of the United States upset fourth-seeded Mirra Andreeva of Russia 7-6 (5), 6-4. In the next round, Kessler will face Marta Kostyuk of the Ukraine. Kostyuk beat 15th-seeded Daria Kasatkina of Australia 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4). Dayana Yastremska of the Ukraine knocked off eighth-seeded Emma Navarro 7-5, 6-4 in a night match. She'll face ninth-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, a 6-0, 7-6 (5) winner over Jaqueline Cristian of Romania in the last match of the day. Tenth-seeded Elina Svitolina beat Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia 7-5, 6-2.