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CTV News
10 hours ago
- Sport
- CTV News
Brick Invitational bringing top youth hockey players to showcase talent at West Edmonton Mall
Players and organizers said the main goal of the Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament is for the young athletes to have fun. Some of North America's most promising young hockey players will be in Edmonton this weekend for the annual Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament. The tournament will celebrate 36 years on Monday, when the opening puck drop takes place at 7:30 a.m. at the West Edmonton Mall Ice Palace. 'The 36 years have gone very fast. The first one is a great memory, and as well as the one last year,' said tournament chair Craig Styles. The week-long competition features 14 youth hockey teams, with players aged nine and 10, from Canada and the U.S. It wraps up on July 6 with the final championship game at noon. Styles said about 82 per cent of kids who play in the invitational go on to play hockey at higher levels, from the Alberta Junior Hockey League to the American Hockey League and the National Hockey League. 'They form a foundation here. More and more in the last 10 or 15 years, we see where the cream has risen to the top at this tournament,' he added. Former invitation players who have gone on to NHL careers include Connor Bedard, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Steven Stamkos. A full schedule, live feeds and up-to-date game results can be found on the Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament website.
CTV News
17-06-2025
- Sport
- CTV News
Stanley Cup live updates: Oilers at Panthers Game 6
The Edmonton Oilers are in Florida for a must-win Game 6 in the Stanley Cup Final vs. the Panthers. This is it. The Edmonton Oilers need to win tonight. If they do, they'll get to play one more game. And not just any game: Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers. That should sound familiar. Last year, the Oilers and Panthers took it to the best-of-seven limit in the Cup Final, won by Florida. If the Oilers lose, their season is over. The Panthers lead the best-of-seven series heading into Tuesday's tilt three games to two. Follow along here for live updates as I keep tabs on Game 6 in Sunrise, Fla. Play Oilers hoping to force Game 7 in Stanley Cup Final As CTV Edmonton's Nicole Lampa reports, the Florida Panthers are one game away from a second consecutive Stanley Cup. 3:05 p.m. - Skinner to start in goal Stuart Skinner is getting the call for Game 6. The Oilers goalie will start Tuesday night, head coach Kris Knoblauch said after the morning skate. Skinner was pulled in Game 4 after allowing three goals on 17 shots in the first period. Calvin Pickard took over the net as the Oilers won that game in overtime, but lost as their Game 5 starter. Forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins didn't skate Tuesday morning, but Knoblauch said he expects the 15-year veteran of the team to play in Game 6. Other lineup changes announced by Knoblauch:
Associated Press
16-06-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Skinner or Pickard? Oilers' Knoblauch still not naming starting goalie for Stanley Cup Final Game 6
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — It's anyone's guess who starts in goal for the Edmonton Oilers when they face elimination in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night. Coach Kris Knoblauch did not say Monday whether it would be Stuart Skinner or Calvin Pickard. 'It's who we feel can win us a game,' Knoblauch said after practice. 'That's how it's gone in other games, and we'll make that decision.' Skinner was Edmonton's starting goaltender to begin the playoffs, lost the first two games and was replaced by Pickard, who went 6-0 before getting injured. Skinner also started the first four in the final, got pulled twice and for Pickard, who won Game 4 and lost Game 5. 'A strength of our team is that we can go with both guys,' winger Connor Brown said. 'They're up for the challenge. I mean, they're both absolute pros. Both have given this their best every time they come in there, and they both work hard, so we're in it as a group.' Ryan Nugent-Hopkins did not practice Monday, though Knoblauch expects the Oilers' longest-tenured player to be in the lineup Tuesday night in Sunrise. That is a constant, even if Nugent-Hopkins is not 100% healthy, though there could be other changes coming. Either Jeff Skinner or Vasily Podkolzin may be ticketed for the press box as a healthy scratch up front, while John Klingberg is a candidate to return on defense. Status quo Panthers Florida will be making no such changes, barring something unforeseen, in the first chance to clinch back-to-back championships. The same 12 forwards and six defensemen who have been in place since A.J. Greer returned from injury in Game 3 figure to be in the lineup again. 'It's all health based,' coach Paul Maurice said. 'We're a pretty healthy team, fortunately, at this point, and we've got good players.' That includes Matthew Tkachuk, who missed the remainder of the regular season after getting injured at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February. After some ups and downs and uncertainty, he's 'feeling the best' he has during this run. 'I thought there was maybe a 50% chance I wouldn't be playing as close to about a week or five days before the playoffs started,' Tkachuk said. 'Very lucky and fortunate that I've got great trainers and doctors, and they all somehow got me healthy enough to play.' Florida Olympians The Panthers have five players already bound for the 2026 Olympics in Milan: Tkachuk for the U.S., Sam Reinhart for Canada, Aleksander Barkov for Finland, Nico Sturm for Germany and Uvis Balinskis for Latvia. The 12 teams participating unveiled their preliminary six-man rosters Monday. Sturm and Balinskis have not played in the final, but the Olympic announcements put them in the spotlight. 'Being an Olympian is something that not a lot of athletes can say about their careers,' Sturm said. 'It's the best athletes in the world from every sport, and it's definitely something that I've marked on my calendar, something that I want to achieve in my career. It'd be a huge accomplish to be able to play there and, once your career's done, to say you participated in the Olympics, I think that's a huge accomplishment not to be understated.' ___ AP NHL playoffs: and
Washington Post
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Panthers power play production could be an edge in tight Stanley Cup Final against the Oilers
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Staying out of the penalty box is a good place to start for all the players involved in the Stanley Cup Final. After talking all week about being more disciplined , the Edmonton Oilers were whistled for high-sticking a couple of times and tripping once in the first 16 minutes of Game 4 on Thursday night. Naturally, Matthew Tkachuk scored twice for Florida Panthers, and then a slashing call put the Oilers on the power play and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' goal sparked their comeback that tied the series . 'It's a good series,' Tkachuk said. 'Special teams, both teams' power play seemed to be clicking.' Florida is clicking at a higher rate at 33%, going 7 of 21 with the man advantage, compared with 20% on 4 of 20 for Edmonton. In a final knotted 2-2 that has often been as tight as it can be with three games already decided in overtime, the Panthers' power play production has the potential to be a difference-maker. Until Tkachuk broke through, it had been the second unit of Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe, Evan Rodrigues and Nate Schmidt doing most of the damage. 'We're building a lot of chemistry playing together,' Verhaeghe said. 'We have so many great players on the unit. Both units have been pretty good. I mean, we just want to move the puck right and get pucks to the net.' The Panthers have five power play goals over the past two games and have scored at least one every night in the final. The Oilers have also cracked Sergei Bobrovsky at least once on the power play each game. Nugent-Hopkins scoring Thursday night could be a sign Connor McDavid and Co. are revving up against what has been a fairly effective Florida penalty kill. Coach Paul Maurice believes that task has gone 'reasonably well.' 'I think they're still going to generate some action,' Maurice said Friday before flying across North America. 'I think the even strength chances are pretty tight through four games.' Tkachuk almost completed a hat trick in Game 4, and it could have changed the course of the entire series. With the score tied at 3-all late in the second period, he had the puck with a wide-open net to shoot at. Edmonton defenseman Mattias Ekholm got his right skate and leg in front of Tkachuk's shot just in time . 'I didn't even know that the net was empty or anything — I was just in the moment trying to get as big as possible,' Ekholm said. 'It ended up hitting me. It was obviously a big block at the time. I haven't thought too much more about it. It was a block, and sometimes you need those.' Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov picked up his first two points of the series in Game 4 with assists on Tkachuk's power-play goals. He has none at even strength. Some of that could be connected to how much energy Barkov — a three-time Selke Trophy winner as the NHL's best defensive forward — is expending trying to keep McDavid's line and also Leon Draisaitl from scoring. He does not want to use that as an excuse. 'It's tough to say,' Barkov said. 'You need to know, those two guys, where they are on the ice. Of course you're trying to have your head on a swivel, but I think I could be better, for sure.' ___ AP NHL playoffs: and
Associated Press
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Panthers power play production could be an edge in tight Stanley Cup Final against the Oilers
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Staying out of the penalty box is a good place to start for all the players involved in the Stanley Cup Final. After talking all week about being more disciplined, the Edmonton Oilers were whistled for high-sticking a couple of times and tripping once in the first 16 minutes of Game 4 on Thursday night. Naturally, Matthew Tkachuk scored twice for Florida Panthers, and then a slashing call put the Oilers on the power play and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' goal sparked their comeback that tied the series. 'It's a good series,' Tkachuk said. 'Special teams, both teams' power play seemed to be clicking.' Florida is clicking at a higher rate at 33%, going 7 of 21 with the man advantage, compared with 20% on 4 of 20 for Edmonton. In a final knotted 2-2 that has often been as tight as it can be with three games already decided in overtime, the Panthers' power play production has the potential to be a difference-maker. Until Tkachuk broke through, it had been the second unit of Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe, Evan Rodrigues and Nate Schmidt doing most of the damage. 'We're building a lot of chemistry playing together,' Verhaeghe said. 'We have so many great players on the unit. Both units have been pretty good. I mean, we just want to move the puck right and get pucks to the net.' The Panthers have five power play goals over the past two games and have scored at least one every night in the final. The Oilers have also cracked Sergei Bobrovsky at least once on the power play each game. Nugent-Hopkins scoring Thursday night could be a sign Connor McDavid and Co. are revving up against what has been a fairly effective Florida penalty kill. Coach Paul Maurice believes that task has gone 'reasonably well.' 'I think they're still going to generate some action,' Maurice said Friday before flying across North America. 'I think the even strength chances are pretty tight through four games.' Ekholm's block Tkachuk almost completed a hat trick in Game 4, and it could have changed the course of the entire series. With the score tied at 3-all late in the second period, he had the puck with a wide-open net to shoot at. Edmonton defenseman Mattias Ekholm got his right skate and leg in front of Tkachuk's shot just in time. 'I didn't even know that the net was empty or anything — I was just in the moment trying to get as big as possible,' Ekholm said. 'It ended up hitting me. It was obviously a big block at the time. I haven't thought too much more about it. It was a block, and sometimes you need those.' Better Barkov? Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov picked up his first two points of the series in Game 4 with assists on Tkachuk's power-play goals. He has none at even strength. Some of that could be connected to how much energy Barkov — a three-time Selke Trophy winner as the NHL's best defensive forward — is expending trying to keep McDavid's line and also Leon Draisaitl from scoring. He does not want to use that as an excuse. 'It's tough to say,' Barkov said. 'You need to know, those two guys, where they are on the ice. Of course you're trying to have your head on a swivel, but I think I could be better, for sure.' ___ AP NHL playoffs: and
