Jumat, 31 Juli 2020

Ferraro on why Maple Leafs' fire power likely have edge in Stanley Cup qualifiers - TSN

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  1. Ferraro on why Maple Leafs' fire power likely have edge in Stanley Cup qualifiers  TSN
  2. Pronman: The short- and long-term potential of Toronto's Nick Robertson  The Athletic
  3. Why Wouldn’t the Toronto Maple Leafs Start Nick Robertson?  Editor In Leaf
  4. The Leafs get to start their playoff run with a clean slate  The Globe and Mail
  5. Scott's Thoughts: The Leafs scare me more than the Blue Jackets  theleafsnation.com
  6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2020-08-01 01:09:42Z
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Who would be the most compelling Stanley Cup champion? - TSN

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  1. Who would be the most compelling Stanley Cup champion?  TSN
  2. Five bold predictions for the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs  Sportsnet.ca
  3. Objective Prediction: Toronto Maple Leafs Will Win the Stanley Cup  Editor In Leaf
  4. Why I raised my fist: JT Brown  NHL.com
  5. One player to watch closely on each of the NHL’s 24 playoff teams  Sportsnet.ca
  6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2020-08-01 01:29:46Z
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Oilers, Flames both favourites on Saturday NHL odds - Sportsnet.ca

Four Canadian teams will be in action on Saturday when the NHL postseason finally gets underway, starting with the Edmonton Oilers taking on the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1 of their Western Conference qualifying series as -150 betting favourites on the NHL odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.

Edmonton makes its return to the playoff picture following a two-year absence, but has plenty of work to do to reverse its shaky 1-3-0 record in four previous meetings with Chicago going into Saturday afternoon’s matchup at Rogers Place.

The Oilers closed out the abbreviated regular season schedule with losses in three of their final four games. However, with the lengthy pause in the season allowing the team to recover from a rash of injuries to key personnel, including captain Connor McDavid, the Oilers have emerged as strong -175 favourites at online betting sites to knock off the 12th-seeded Blackhawks, and sit as a +400 wager to sweep the series.

The Blackhawks open their first playoff series in three years pegged as +130 Game 1 underdogs. Chicago posted a mediocre 32-38-8 record this season, but ended its schedule with wins in five of its final seven contests.

Later on Saturday, the Montreal Canadiens enter Game 1 of their best-of-five series with the Pittsburgh Penguins as +145 underdogs, while the late game has the Calgary Flames taking on the Winnipeg Jets as -120 chalk.

Losers of eight in a row on two occasions, the Canadiens struggled badly over the final four weeks of the season, posting wins in just four of their final 14 contests. Montreal also came out flat in this week’s exhibition clash with Toronto, failing to convert on six power play opportunities while surrendering a pair of shorthanded goals in a 4-2 loss.

After being bitten by the injury bug that contributed to a dismal 3-8-0 stretch run, the Penguins hit the ice for Game 1 as -165 favourites on the NHL odds. Pittsburgh has a lot to prove after being swept by the New York islanders in the first round in last season’s playoffs, and is listed as a strong -235 wager on the NHL playoff series prices.

The Flames will be looking for redemption after following up last year’s playoff failure with a streaky performance this season. However, Calgary has been held to a single goal in four of its last six meetings with the Jets, who sport +110 odds of handing the Flames yet another playoff disappointment.

Elsewhere on Saturday, the Carolina Hurricanes are -130 favourites in their Game 1 matchup with the New York Rangers, while the New York Islanders battle the Florida Panthers as -120 favourites.

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2020-08-01 00:15:00Z
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Report: Marlins didn't follow safety protocols in Atlanta - theScore

Major League Baseball's investigation into the Miami Marlins' COVID-19 outbreak found that the team didn't follow health and safety protocols during a preseason road trip to Atlanta, according to Scott Miller of Bleacher Report.

Marlins players left their hotel to go out at night while in Atlanta on July 21 and 22, Miller reports. They also spent time in the hotel bar. It's not clear where the players went when outside the hotel.

The Marlins declined to comment on the report, instead stating that they're "gathering all the facts," according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.

Tampa Bay Rays starter Tyler Glasnow was quick to react to the report, saying it's "ridiculous" for players to not follow league protocols in such a manner.

The Marlins have been at the center of MLB's growing coronavirus outbreak during the season's first week. As of Friday morning, 20 Marlins had reportedly tested positive for COVID-19, and over a week's worth of their games have been postponed.

Miami played the Phillies in Philadelphia last Sunday despite having already learned of four positive tests on its team. Since then, one Phillies coach and one clubhouse attendant have tested positive for COVID-19; none of their players tested positive, but Citizens Bank Park was closed for cleaning and the Phillies also haven't played since Sunday.

There were 29 positive tests across MLB over the past week, the league and MLBPA announced Friday. Twenty-one of the 29 positive tests came from "a single MLB club," though the league didn't specify which team that was.

Commissioner Rob Manfred reportedly threatened to shut down the season if teams don't do a better job of following health and safety protocols.

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2020-07-31 23:07:00Z
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One player to watch closely on each of the NHL’s 24 playoff teams - Sportsnet.ca

This is going to be fun.

Beginning Aug. 1, the next two months or so are going to be jam-packed with Stanley Cup Playoff action, with up to six games a day — all day long — to start off. That’s a lot of hockey to watch, but after a four-month hiatus, we’ll take it.

The only truth is that no one knows how anything will play out. No one knows what impact bubble life will have on individuals and teams. There’s no telling what, if anything that happened in the regular season, has any relevance any more. All we can do is watch, and find out.

So ahead of the drop of the puck on Saturday, we present you one player to watch closely on each team.

From the Stanley Cup Qualifiers to the Stanley Cup Final, livestream every game of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, blackout-free, on Sportsnet NOW.

QUALIFYING ROUND TEAMS

Pittsburgh Penguins: Jake Guentzel
The third-most important forward on the team behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, Guentzel was Pittsburgh’s leading scorer when he was forced out of the lineup due to injury on Dec. 30. The only game action we’ve seen him in since was this week’s exhibition game, and it took him just over five minutes to record a primary assist. In 41 playoff games, Guentzel has 24 goals and 43 points.

Montreal Canadiens: Phillip Danault
It’s going to be a tough assignment for the should-have-been Selke Trophy finalist. But if Danault plays a key role in limiting (or, less likely, shutting down) Crosby and/or Malkin, he’ll probably open eyes and garner more “defensive forward of the year” attention next season. But he needs to find time for offence, too — Danault was Montreal’s second-highest point-getter at the pause. He’d really make a name for himself on a national scale with a strong playoff.

Carolina Hurricanes: Sami Vatanen
In case you forgot, yes, the Hurricanes added another defenceman at the trade deadline, picking up Vatanen from the Devils (they got Brady Skjei from the Rangers, too). They always seem to have depth at the position and it is really going to come in handy right now. Both Brett Pesce and Dougie Hamilton will not be ready for Game 1 and that’s going to clear room for someone to get an expanded role. And even though Vatanen, who was injured at the time of his trade, hasn’t played an official game for Carolina yet, in the one exhibition game he suited up for, he logged a game-high 20:16 of ice time and saw action on both the power play and penalty kill.

NY Rangers: Igor Shesterkin
We’ve only seen 12 NHL games from the hyped 24-year-old and his stat line reads: 10-2-0, .932, 2.52. In 25 AHL games earlier in the season he was 17-4-3, .934, 1.90. That’s the reason why there’s so much excitement around him. Still, 12 NHL games is such a small sample and the numbers he posted were so outrageous that it’s hard to know exactly where he’ll settle — especially under playoff pressure. Can he be a series-stealer right away, or are there inevitable bumps ahead? The silver lining for Rangers fans is that if Shesterkin falters, Henrik Lundqvist will be as motivated a backup as there is. But let’s see just what Shesterkin can provide.

NY Islanders: Anthony Beauvillier
New York’s strength is in its structure and they’re at their best when playing tight defence that frustrates opponents. But they’re not quite where they were in this department last season — and offence is also a bit of a sore spot. Most of the pressure to produce will fall on Mat Barzal, Brock Nelson, Jordan Eberle and the like, but Beauvillier slides way under the radar. The 23-year-old had a career-best season even though it was shortened and his return to play has started well, scoring once and recording four shots in the exhibition game. He’s an X-Factor in the Isles’ search for goals.

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Florida Panthers: Erik Haula
Haula joined the Panthers for seven games after being dealt there at the trade deadline and produced only two assists. This is a player two years removed from a 29-goal campaign, but who has also changed teams twice since then and is up for unrestricted free agency this off-season. He’s got work to do if he’s to re-establish himself as a second-line scoring threat and the Panthers will give him all the leeway to do it. He’s their second-line centre and only Jonathan Huberdeau logged more ice time among Panthers forwards in their only exhibition game. What impact can he have?

Toronto Maple Leafs: Morgan Rielly
There are bigger names on the Leafs who must have larger impacts, but on a team that’s primary weakness is depth on the blue line, Rielly needs to be a standout performer. He returned to register three points in the exhibition game, but the playoff-ready Columbus Blue Jackets are built to slow down a team as skilled as Toronto. Rielly has to be terrific at both ends, not just on the attack, and he’s going to pull in monster minutes.

Columbus Blue Jackets: Oliver Bjorkstrand
While Columbus isn’t known for its offence, the 25-year-old Bjorkstrand has potential, at least in a short series. Over the past three seasons combined, Bjorkstrand ranks 23rd league-wide in goals per 60 minutes played at five-on-five, but his career-best is just 23 goals in a season because he’s never sustained a big-minute role. That started to change in the late stages of this season. He logged over 20 minutes of ice time in 11 of his last 23 games played and scored 15 goals in that time. A breakout is coming.

Edmonton Oilers: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
RNH has been a key cog for the Oilers this season. Drafted as a centre, he’s now more often used on the wing next to Leon Draisaitl or Connor McDavid and finished with the best points per game mark of his career — 61 points in 65 games. But the playoffs are a different beast, and in the one season he was exposed to them, Nugent-Hopkins logged only four assists (and no goals) in 13 games. The Oilers can’t afford for him to go quiet again.

Chicago Blackhawks: Corey Crawford
After joining the Hawks late due to a positive COVID-19 test, Crawford is a full go for their qualifying-round series against Edmonton. The two-time Stanley Cup champion has the benefit of experience and was able to put together a good season behind a porous defence, but he’s also 35 years old and there’s no telling what effect the pause and illness could have on his conditioning. He’s going to continue to get peppered with shots against Edmonton and needs to be big for Chicago to have a chance.

Nashville Predators: Viktor Arvidsson
Over the past three seasons only Auston Matthews, Alex Ovechkin and Brendan Gallagher have scored more goals per 60 minutes of five-on-five play than Arvidsson — and that includes the fact he struggled to just 15 in 57 games this season. Arvidsson scored twice in Nashville’s exhibition game and has huge scoring upside after the pause. We know Nashville’s defence is their strength, and that there’s a bit of a goalie controversy between Juuse Saros and Pekka Rinne, but that either should be fine. Scoring has been the challenge, and Arvidsson is the key to unlocking it.

Arizona Coyotes: Taylor Hall
We’re trying to stay away from naming every team’s best player in these (because of course you’re watching them!), but Hall’s situation is too juicy to ignore. There’s money motivation here, as he’s a pending unrestricted free agent, but he’s also just hungry for playoff action — Hall has been involved in just five post-season games across his entire 10-year career. He had 27 points in 35 games after being dealt to Arizona this season. To what heights can he go?

Vancouver Canucks: Micheal Ferland
There was certainly a time when it looked like Ferland may have had to call it a career. He’s dealt with major concussion concerns recently and played just 14 times for Vancouver this season. But he returned to their camp, looked well, and is now projected to be in the team’s Game 1 lineup. He could be a real force, too. It’s not that Ferland would be a likely candidate to lead Vancouver in scoring, but he’ll add experience and sandpaper to the third line, and he’s not a liability on offence either. More than anything, though, we’re rooting for a safe and successful return for him.

Minnesota Wild: Mats Zuccarello
Last season Zuccarello was a trade deadline pickup by Dallas and he went on to be a key contributor in their two-round playoff run. He earned a big contract from Minnesota in the off-season, but fell flat in his first year with the Wild, posting just 15 goals and 37 points in 65 games. “We really expect some really good things of Zuccy,” Wild coach Dean Evason said.

Calgary Flames: Sam Bennett
While all the pressure is on Calgary’s top line, Bennett was an important factor in their playoff lineup a year ago, leading the team with five points in five games. And it’s not just that — Bennett plays with the kind of edge and intensity that tends to thrive in the post-season. As long as he’s drawing more penalties than he’s taking, Bennett will be a positive contributor.

Winnipeg Jets: Nikolaj Ehlers
Zero goals in 21 playoff games for a locked-in 20-goal scorer is a clear sign that Ehlers is due. He did score in Winnipeg’s exhibition matchup, but also had to leave the game for “precautionary reasons.” As long as he’s not nicked up too bad, this is shaping up to be the post-season where he does get rolling. Winnipeg could use him, too — one of the worst defences in the league will need all the scoring support it can get.

ROUND ROBIN TEAMS

Boston Bruins: Jake DeBrusk
Without Ondrej Kase around, DeBrusk’s place on the second line next to David Krejci seems secure. What can he do with it? He seemed to get better as last year’s playoffs went on, finishing with four points in the Stanley Cup Final. His goal rate did drop a little this season, though, so let’s see if he can get it back at the right time.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Steven Stamkos
Stamkos is listed here mostly because he’s missed recent practices and Tampa’s exhibition game due to injury, but he was back with the team on Friday and appears set to go for their first round robin game. Conditioning is a question mark for anybody right now, but especially so for someone like Stamkos who missed a large chunk of Phase 3 training camps. At least he’ll have a few games to work it out before it really starts to matter for Tampa Bay, but it goes without saying Stamkos needs to be a big producer for them.

Washington Capitals: Braden Holtby
Goalie Ilya Samsonov did not join the Capitals in the Toronto hub and it was revealed on Friday that he’s out of these playoffs due to an injury sustained over the pause. Had Samsonov been healthy, this would have had the makings of an interesting goalie controversy. The Russian was the better of the two this season and Holtby is a pending UFA. Now it’s unquestionably Holtby’s crease again. His save percentage finished under .900 this season and his GAA was over 3.00, so it’s not really clear what Washington will get from him. Will we see a rebound that could up his value in free agency, or will the spiral continue and make it a real tough go for the Caps?

Philadelphia Flyers: Travis Konecny
The 23-year-old had a breakout season this year, posting 61 points in 66 games. But any time this happens with a young player, you wonder how it will go in the playoffs. This is Konecny’s second post-season try after scoring just once in six games two years ago. He looked quick in the Flyers’ exhibition game and ready to start strong again.

St. Louis Blues: Vladimir Tarasenko
Tarasenko only played 10 games this season before sustaining a shoulder injury that required surgery, and aside from the exhibition game this week, he hasn’t played with the Blues since Oct. 24. St. Louis went on to be the best team in the Western Conference anyway, and now they have a 30-plus goal man back. Tarasenko scored 11 times with two game-winners in last year’s run to the Stanley Cup, but it’s been such a long layoff for him, the adjustment back to that form may take a little time.

Colorado Avalanche: Nazem Kadri
Kadri was having a solid season for the Avalanche after an off-season trade sent him there from Toronto, and that’s no big surprise. He was a third-liner on the Leafs, but his contributions are more level with a second-liner. He’s a good agitator, too, and that generally plays well in the playoffs, although part of the reason Toronto traded him was that in two consecutive post-seasons, Kadri overstepped and was slapped with a suspension. He’s got to toe that line a little better, and if he does, he could have the best post-season of his career.

Vegas Golden Knights: Shea Theodore
Ask most analytics-leaning writers and it won’t take long to mention Theodore’s name among the most underrated defencemen in the game. That distinction should have become a little more obvious in 2019-20 as Theodore scored a career-high 46 points in 71 games and was Vegas’ time on ice leader. Watch him closely and see what’s so special.

Dallas Stars: Roope Hintz
A personal favourite, Hintz came on strong towards the end of last season and then had five goals and eight points in 13 playoff games. Dallas doesn’t score a bunch (even though their lineup looks like it should have no trouble on offence) so they need all the contributors they can get. Hintz is just fun to watch and comes with sneaky-good upside.

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2020-07-31 21:44:00Z
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Report: MLB commissioner warns of shutdown if COVID-19 isn’t managed better - Sportsnet.ca

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred told MLBPA executive director Tony Clark on Friday that if the sport doesn’t do a better job of managing COVID-19 that the league could be forced to shut down, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

The conversation between Manfred and Clark was a “reality check that was relayed to players” rather than a “threat,” as per Passan, and this weekend is seen as a critical period for the determination of the continuation of the season.

According to Passan, state and local governments have expressed concerns with the league as broadcasts have shown players not wearing masks, high-fiving and spitting which has “left government officials wondering how seriously players are taking the protocols.”

The report of the conversation between Manfred and Clark comes after MLB was forced to postpone another game on Friday, this time between the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals, after two players on the Cardinals tested positive for the coronavirus.

Friday’s postponement of Brewers vs. Cardinals means those two teams plus the Washington Nationals, Miami Marlins, Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies will all miss games this upcoming weekend due to the spread of the virus.

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2020-07-31 21:16:00Z
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MLB’s inherent steadfastness blinding the sport to COVID’s cold realities - Sportsnet.ca

TORONTO – There is an unbreakable steadfastness and tunnel-visioned determination needed to survive the tortuous grind of an 162-game season, and both are shining through in Major League Baseball’s response to this week’s COVID-19 outbreaks.

Under normal circumstances, those are qualities to be admired and respected. Resilience in the face of adversity, be it injuries or struggle, is often the difference between success and failure. Sometimes, you just have to power through problems, or to "sack up," as Tanner Roark put it this week, when talking about his Toronto Blue Jays having to call Buffalo’s Sahlen Field home.

Here’s general manager Ross Atkins with a bit more of a polished take.

"I wish you guys could see the amount of isolation we’re in, how we’re going about our daily lives," the Blue Jays general manager said Friday during a Zoom call with reporters. "The only times that our players are really ever together are when we’re in a bus, on a plane or at the field. And then we go back to our hotel rooms and we’re all in isolation. I think that the industry has a great deal of respect for this virus and the fact that it has no boundaries. I can’t say that it could be proven that it went from one team to another. I don’t think anyone knows that. But I do know that everyone is very respectful of how serious this virus is, and we can’t control what that means for other teams in other environments.

"What we can do is to the best of our ability stay safe and keep communities safe, not just our baseball team, but the communities in and around us. We are in a pandemic. We did not expect this to be smooth and without hiccups, without bumps. We all expected that there would probably be challenges, some anticipated and some not anticipated. And I can’t say enough about our staff and players and how respectful they’ve been, how thoughtful they’ve been, how disciplined they’ve been, the amount of sacrifice that they’ve made for the love of the game and for one another. It has been inspiring."

All of that is true, yet the coronavirus doesn’t care.

A fundamental issue facing a sport conditioned to fight through any and all obstacles, that the bus doesn’t stop moving for anyone, is that it’s totally the wrong mentally to have amidst a pandemic.

Consider that last Sunday, when the Miami Marlins should really have been self-isolating in their hotel rooms, they decided to persist through a handful of infections and take the field against the Philadelphia Phillies. So very baseball.

The consequences of that call is that they’re up to 18 positives among their players, or 60 per cent of their 30-man roster. The Phillies on Thursday reported two positive cases and while it’s unclear if they’re related to the Marlins exposure, their weekend series with the Blue Jays was postponed as a result.

Then, Friday morning, a pair of positive tests among the St. Louis Cardinals led to the postponement of their series opener Friday at the Milwaukee Brewers to Sunday, when the teams will play a double-header. They’ll still play as scheduled Saturday, with the delay Friday "consistent with protocols to allow enough time for additional testing and contact tracing to be conducted," MLB said in a release.

This, however, is where things get sticky, and the sport’s blind determination becomes really reckless in the face of the widely accepted science on COVID-19.

The onset of symptoms can take up to five days and a patient can be infectious for up to nine days afterwards for a total of 14 days, which is why quarantines are set at 14 days. In theory, an untested person could be spreading virus without knowing for up to two weeks, but baseball has mitigated that with every other day testing.

Those results provide bookends for a player’s exposure period, which is very helpful in contact-tracing – i.e., Player X was negative Tuesday but positive Thursday so his infection likely occurred Wednesday. At that point, work can begin on identifying whether transmission occurred on the field, in the clubhouse, socially, at home or in the community.

Still, within the gap from negative to positive, there are countless contact points with teammates, even with the current protocols in place, and the virus’s incubation period can last up to 14 days. So a player who tests negative one day could still become positive a few days later, and in the meantime, he’s spread the virus to several others.

All that is why 14-day quarantines are the gold standard for breaking transmission chains and avoiding silent spread. But two-week breaks don’t really line up with a 60-game season played across 9½ weeks, so you end up with a situation like the Marlins, and allowing the Cardinals to play as soon as Saturday is a recipe for replicating that outbreak.

Richard Deitsch and Donnovan Bennett host a podcast about how COVID-19 is impacting sports around the world. They talk to experts, athletes and personalities, offering a window into the lives of people we normally root for in entirely different ways.

Major League Baseball has thrown around the phrase "abundance of caution" quite a bit lately, but a real abundance of caution is in stopping people who have been exposed to the virus from being exposed to other people.

In the Cardinals’ case, that would mean keeping them away from the Brewers all weekend, and contact-tracing them up to five days backwards, which takes them through series versus the Pittsburgh Pirates and Minnesota Twins, who on Thursday played Cleveland.

All of them are, to some degree, at risk right now, and then there’s the risk of them vectoring disease into the wider community, too.

This isn’t fear-mongering or nay-saying – it’s math and probabilities, which has been the problem with MLB’s return-to-play plan from the outset. The United States reopened too quickly, never quelled COVID-19’s first wave and, unable to logistically bubble up the way the NHL and NBA have, MLB decided to go ahead with a season cut off but not totally isolated from a general population spreading the virus at alarming levels.

Whenever that hard truth is raised, baseball people fall back on the usual mantras used to survive the 162-game grind, about focusing on themselves, controlling the controllables, not worrying about matters outside their purview, blah, blah, blah.

Even with stricter protocols coming – "we’ve already instituted them in how we’re interacting with families, how we’re interacting with people away from the field," Atkins said of the Blue Jays – it’s wishful thinking to insist that the MLB season can get to the finish line without some real bubbling from the wider community.

"When someone leaves the ballpark and we obviously consult with Major League Baseball and talk to them about extenuating circumstances, like myself of driving to Buffalo to see the facility, I would by no means have jumped on a commercial flight and come back to this team," Atkins said in describing the extra cautions he and the Blue Jays are taking. "The amount of testing and intake process for myself as I come back to join the team, the same for our players with Ken Giles as he left the team (to see a specialist about an injury) and came back to join us. We’re going to isolate him from the team before he rejoins the group. Our interactions with families, how we’re testing families. Major League Baseball is very supportive, but I think everyone’s having to do their part to deal with circumstances that are changing every day."

Diligence is great but adherence to MLB’s current plan, under current circumstances, isn’t enough to avoid the coronavirus. Persistence and resolve may be commendable hallmarks of the sport, but what a shame it will be if they leave the game’s decision-makers too blind to grasp the realities in front of them.

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2020-07-31 20:30:00Z
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Virus rocks MLB: Cards-Brewers off; 2 St. Louis positives - Sports - Castanet.net

The coronavirus forced another change in Major League Baseball’s schedule, bringing the league’s total to eight teams affected in the first nine days of the season.

Friday's game between St. Louis and Milwaukee was postponed after two Cardinals players tested positive for the coronavirus.

The league announced the schedule change hours before the game was to be played. It said the postponement in Milwaukee is "consistent with protocols to allow enough time for additional testing and contact tracing to be conducted.”

The Cardinals said in a statement they learned Thursday night about positive tests from samples collected Wednesday. Players and staff have been instructed to isolate in their hotel rooms in Milwaukee, and the club did not leave the hotel Friday for Miller Park.

“The team is currently conducting rapid testing of the entire travelling party, has implemented contact tracing, and will continue to self-isolate,” the team said.

The Brewers and Cardinals plan to resume their schedule Saturday night at Miller Park, pending results from the testing and contact tracing, and make up Friday’s game as part of a doubleheader Sunday.

“We are supportive of Major League Baseball’s decision to postpone today’s game and look forward to playing our home opener as soon as conditions safely allow," Brewers general manager David Stearns said in a statement. "The health and safety of our players and employees are, and will continue to be, our top priorities.”

Two other games scheduled for Friday involving the Marlins, Nationals, Blue Jays and Phillies had already been postponed because of an outbreak among Miami players and two positive tests on Philadelphia's coaching staff.

The Cardinals played in Minnesota on Tuesday and Wednesday before a scheduled day off Thursday. The Twins hosted Cleveland on Thursday night, and the Indians used the same visiting clubhouse as St. Louis.

It's uncertain if the Indians and Twins will move forward with their scheduled game Friday night. Cleveland planned to hold a team meeting early in the afternoon to discuss the situation.

A week into its virus-shortened season of 60 games in 67 days, Major League Baseball is scrambling to adjust its schedule.

The Marlins haven't played since Sunday, and Miami’s situation has also led to schedule changes for the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles.

Miami learned Friday that another player tested positive, bringing its total to 18 players and two staff members, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made, said none of the Marlins has shown serious symptoms.

The infected Marlins left Philadelphia in sleeper buses Friday to return to Miami, where they will remain together in quarantine, according to the person. The trip is expected to take about 18 hours.

The rest of the team will spend the weekend in isolation in Philadelphia, where the Marlins have been stranded since their outbreak began. It's uncertain when or where they will next play.

Officials were concerned that the latest Marlins positive test result came five days after the team was last together, when the Marlins beat Philadelphia.

To help make up all the postponements, MLB and the players’ union agreed Thursday that doubleheaders this season will become a pair of seven-inning games, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because there was no announcement.

The Brewers have never hosted a doubleheader at Miller Park, which has a retractable roof. The last twinbill in Milwaukee was Sept. 23, 2000 against the Pirates at Milwaukee County Stadium.

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2020-07-31 21:06:00Z
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Ovechkin, Capitals won't discuss contract extension until after playoffs - NHL.com

Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals will not discuss a contract extension until after the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"We're waiting until after the playoffs to see how everything pans out here," Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said Friday. "I think it's constantly been changing the whole year. I don't think anybody could have predicted. We're going to wait and assess where we're at at the end of the year and make decisions then."

Ovechkin, who has been eligible for a contract extension since July 13, has next season remaining on the 13-year, $124 million contract (average annual value $9.54 million) he signed Jan. 10, 2008. The 34-year-old forward scored 67 points (48 goals, 19 assists) in 68 games before the NHL season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

He has scored 1,278 points (706 goals, 572 assists) in 1,152 NHL games. He scored his 700th NHL goal in a 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 22 and is eighth in NHL history, two behind Mike Gartner for seventh.

The Capitals play their first Eastern Conference round-robin game of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday (4 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV, TVAS, SN360, SUN, NBCSWA) at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, the Eastern hub city. Washington also plays the Philadelphia Flyers (Thursday) and Boston Bruins (Aug. 9) to determine seeding for the playoffs.

Asked about an extension when training camp began July 13, Ovechkin said, "Not even talking, not even thinking about it because right now we have lots of stuff to do."

He had two goals and an assist in a 3-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes in an exhibition game in Toronto on Wednesday.

"I think he's had a very good camp," MacLellan said of the Capitals captain. "He's serious. He's pretty much focused in on winning a championship. He's worked hard through camp, he's been a good leader on and off the ice, so feel good about where he's at right now."

Video: CAR@WSH: Ovechkin buries second one-timer of the game

MacLellan also said he has been talking to Brenden Dillon's representatives "pretty consistently" since the Capitals acquired the defenseman in a trade with the San Jose Sharks on Feb. 18. Dillon had no points in 10 games with Washington; he scored 14 points (one goal, 13 assists) in 59 games with San Jose this season.

Dillon, who can become an unrestricted free agent after this season, said July 14 he'd like to stay with the Capitals.

"I'm trying to get better every year and I feel like I truly have been throughout my career, and to come in and see a special group like this, to see how skilled the guys are, to see how much fun they have at the rink, it truly is an awesome place to be," he said. "Those types of conversations I think, just the [NHL salary] cap was just getting figured out ... kind of a mutual kind of talk amongst my agent and Brian, and those things are kind of confidential with them, but again for me as a player and being a part of the Caps, it has been awesome, and hopefully [I] can be here."

MacLellan said goalie Ilya Samsonov, who was ruled unfit to play July 25 after sustaining an off-ice injury in Russia, should be healthy in time for next season. As part of the NHL Return to Play Plan, a team is not permitted to disclose player injury or illness information. The 23-year-old rookie was 16-6-2 with a 2.55 goals-against average, .913 save percentage and one shutout in 26 games (22 starts) for the Capitals this season.

NHL.com staff writer Tom Gulitti contributed to this report

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2020-07-31 18:07:00Z
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10 storylines to watch as the NHL presses play - TSN

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Hockey is back.

So much time passed – and so much changed – over the 142 days between meaningful National Hockey League games that it feels like an entirely new season rather than the restart of 2019-20.

Here is a refresher, along with 10 storylines to watch during this sprint for Lord Stanley as the NHL hits play on Saturday after a historic pause:

1. Bringing Stanley Home: With the Stanley Cup being contested in Canada in its entirety for the first time in 95 years, how many of Canada’s six clubs will make it through to the qualifiers? The maximum is five, with one of the Flames or Jets bound to be knocked off in five or fewer, but none earned a guaranteed chance to end the 27-year drought.

2. Lose for Lafreniere: Given the commitment to testing, protocol and life in the bubble, no team will be happy with a five-game showing in Toronto or Edmonton. But a 12.5 per cent shot at the No. 1 overall pick and Alexis Lafreniere is a heck of a consolation prize. Teams would need to finish in 30th place over a full 82-game season for those odds. The NHL’s second phase of the Draft Lottery will be held on Aug. 10.

3. Baby Boosters: Five players from Team Canada’s gold medal-winning 2020 World Junior entry are on return-to-play rosters: captain Barrett Hayton (Arizona), Bowen Byram (Colorado), Ty Dellandrea (Dallas), Liam Foudy (Columbus) and Connor McMichael (Washington). Foudy, Byram, McMichael and Toronto’s Nick Robertson are making the jump from the CHL. Edmonton’s Philip Broberg, 19, is also knocking on the door of a spot in the Oil’s top six after playing this season in Sweden.

4. No Home Cooking: Bubble life will bring the purest experiment yet on the benefits of home-ice advantage. Historically, the home team has a .575 winning percentage (2393-1774) in Stanley Cup playoff games. In addition, the home team has enjoyed an advantage of 1,042 fewer penalties than the road team over the last three regular seasons, according to The Athletic. We will soon find out the impact of missing fervent fans in buildings, which could also put a dent into game intensity – while broadcast microphones pick up everything.

5. Remember These Guys? Trade-deadline acquisitions only got two weeks to get acclimated before the NHL hit pause. Don’t be surprised when you see these guys on the scoresheet with their new clubs: Tyler Toffoli (Vancouver), Andreas Athanasiou (Edmonton), Cody Eakin and Dylan DeMelo (Winnipeg), Jason Zucker (Pittsburgh), Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Andy Greene (Islanders), Robin Lehner and Alec Martinez (Vegas), Ondrej Kase (Boston), Erik Haula (Florida), Ilya Kovalchuk and Brenden Dillon (Washington), Patrick Marleau and Conor Sheary (Pittsburgh), Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow (Tampa Bay), with Vincent Trocheck, Brady Skjei and Sami Vatanen in Carolina.

6. Break out the Brooms? There are eight juicy best-of-five showdowns in the qualifier round, the first five-game NHL series in more than 34 years. The last time there were five-game series, in 1986, six of those eight ended in three-game sweeps. Nearly half of all best-of-five series – 27 of 56 – held between 1980 and 1986 ended in a sweep.

7. Information Trickle: Unlike the NBA, the NHL has no independent media inside the bubble. Media are not permitted to view practices or morning skates, and teams have the option to skip morning skate media availabilities until the Conference Finals. The NHL has already clamped down on injury information in deference to medical privacy laws with COVID-19. But will the NHL-approved information flow leave knowledgeable fan bases in the dark on changes and developments until puck drop each game?

8. Friendliest Playoffs Ever? The Stanley Cup playoffs are legendary for the healthy hate that ratchets up during every series. It’s one of hockey’s great calling cards. But with players sharing communal spaces while staying in the same hotels in the bubble, it’s possible this once-in-a-lifetime playoff run won’t feel the same. One player described the scene in his Toronto hotel as a ‘minor hockey tournament with booze.’ Will there be a record set for fewest fights or suspensions? Will the hockey be any less fractious? Without the energy supplied by home crowds, will players be calmer? We’ll see.

9. Fashion Forward: The NHL abolished its traditional, buttoned-up dress code for these most unusual playoffs. Get your popcorn ready. Players will have a chance to express themselves in ways we haven’t seen before and fans are ready to gobble up their new game-day threads on social media.

10. The David Ayres Effect: With no way to replace goaltenders in the bubble, even in the event of injury, more teams have four goaltenders (13) than three goaltenders (11) on their 31-man roster. There are also a number of tantalizing tandems where the bona fide starter is still to be determined: Mike Smith/Mikko Koskinen (Edmonton), David Rittich/Cam Talbot (Calgary), Elvis Merzlikins/Joonas Korpisalo (Columbus), Juuse Saros/Pekka Rinne (Nashville), Matt Murray/Tristan Jarry (Pittsburgh), plus Marc-Andre Fleury figures to have a relatively short leash in Vegas with Lehner on the bench. Then again, all leashes might be short in a five-game series.

Contact Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @frank_seravalli​

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2020-07-31 17:43:41Z
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Feds offer short-term loan to CFL - TSN

Sources tell TSN Football Insider Dave Naylor that the federal government has offered to help the Canadian Football League with a short-term loan at a high interest rate and fees.

Naylor reports the league believes taking that kind of loan would put them in a worse position going forward.

Naylor adds he is hearing there has been no decision made on the 2020 CFL season and there will not be one coming on Friday.

If the CFL is to have a 2020 season, the league has previously stated it will be played in Winnipeg in hub city/bubble environment format to further decrease the risk of possible COVID-19 transmission.

The season was originally supposed to begin in mid-June before the coronavirus pandemic pushed back play indefinitely.

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2020-07-31 17:36:22Z
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Baseball trying to salvage season by adjusting on the fly - TSN

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What a difference a week makes. Major League Baseball went from extremely low positive COVID-19 test results across the sport to a full-blown outbreak with the Miami Marlins.

The latest count has 18 Miami players and two coaches having tested positive. The Marlins are still stranded in Philadelphia where they opened the season last weekend. The team’s entire travelling party is under isolation at the team hotel as they undergo further testing and treatment. Marlins games have been postponed through the weekend.

The same is true for the Philadelphia Phillies as their players, coaches and clubhouse staff are all being tested for COVID-19 to make sure they weren’t infected by the Marlins. So far, one visiting clubhouse worker, one home clubhouse worker and one coach have tested positive.

The league is being extra cautious with the Phillies, postponing their weekend series against the Blue Jays. The goal is to avoid another massive outbreak, which would put more players at risk and further complicate scheduling.

On Friday morning reports surfaced that the St Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers game scheduled for tonight is also cancelled due to positive tests on the Cardinals. It’s unclear at this point how many members of the Cardinals traveling party in Milwaukee are affected.

The quick response by the league to postpone the game shows a much more aggressive approach to containing the virus. It’s a significant change from last Sunday, when the Marlins and Phillies played even after four Marlins players had already knowingly contracted the virus.

There is no manual for trying to play a season during a pandemic, so everyone is learning as we go and adjusting where appropriate.

It is unclear how many games will be affected by the Cardinals situation, but it will be extremely difficult to reschedule all of the postponed games with such a short window until the end of the season.

It is likely that the standings in the AL and NL East will be determined by winning percentage and not actual wins and losses. That might now also be the case in the Central Division of both leagues.

Making up lost games is far less important than the health and well-being of the team personnel. The focus now is on containing the spread of COVID-19 throughout the league.

Owners had no thought of cancelling the season when news of the Marlins’ outbreak became clear early in the week. By all accounts, they still feel that way. The league, as well as the MLB Players Association, contemplated the possibility, if not the probability, of an outbreak like this.

The health and safety protocols do not indicate any specific circumstances under which the season would be cancelled. The ultimate decision is in the hands of the commissioner Rob Manfred.

What team executives are saying

Prior to the news about the Cardinals, I spoke with executives in the West, Central and East divisions from both leagues, and they all expressed concerns about the Marlins’ and Phillies’ health as a priority.

But executives in the West and Central said that for them it was “business as usual.”  They were focusing on keeping their own players healthy and trying to win as many games as possible. They understand there will likely be a variance in the number of games played in the East divisions, but that is out of their control. That will obviously now change for teams in the Central divisions, as their schedules are likely to be impacted.

All of the executives I spoke with wondered if the recent outbreaks would cause some players to reconsider playing out the season.

For instance, Mike Trout is on paternity leave as his wife is set to deliver their first child. Could he opt to just stay home for the rest of the season? There are players, like Astros outfielder George Springer and Cincinnati Reds starter Trevor Bauer, who have already accumulated the few days of service time this season they needed to qualify as free agents at the end of the season. They don’t need to play to get their big paydays this off-season.

One East Division executive wondered whether more teams would take positions like the Washington Nationals did this week when they voted to not go to Miami to play this weekend because of the Marlins positive tests.

Things remain fluid in the East divisions. So far, the Marlins have had four games against the Orioles and three against the Nationals postponed. The Phillies have had four games against the Yankees and three against the Blue Jays postponed.

The Yankees and Orioles did take advantage of the gaps in their schedule created by the postponements to play a two-game series against each other, which could create scheduling flexibility later in the season. It’s unclear how games will be made up as the schedule is rigidly bound to the calendar, with the regular season expected to end on Sept. 27.

It remains to be seen how the Cardinals situation will be handled and how it will impact games in the short-term. But we know the Cardinals and Brewers will have games to make up at some point.

In order to facilitate making up lost games in the way of doubleheaders, Baseball is getting creative. There are reports that double-headers will be played as two seven-inning games to protect the arms of pitchers and reduce the risk of injuries. It is something that is done in the minor leagues and now we will see it in the majors.

Injuries were a major concern for all three executives I spoke with. We have already seen a significant number of pitchers suffer significant injuries. The execs believe the starting and stopping of training has led to severe reactions in some player’s bodies.

Baseball players react well to consistency and continuity. Long periods of time without intense workouts followed by a quick summer camp may have been too much for some players. The executives were particularly concerned about how the postponed games and gaps in the schedule will impact players who just got heated up and now have to sit and wait for live game action again.

Learning on the fly 

There is no precedent for any of this. We are all learning on the fly how to handle circumstances as they present themselves. Adjustments are being made as we learn more about the challenges of keeping players healthy.

Players now have to wear surgical masks when travelling, as opposed to cloth masks, and each team needs an accountability officer to police players at the home stadium and on the road. It is highly recommended that players stay in the hotel when travelling and only leave when going to the ballpark.

The layers of the protocols have been effective for 29 teams. It is imperative that MLB gets to the bottom of what happened with the Marlins and Cardinals. They need an idea about which players initially contracted the virus and how it spread through the clubhouse.

As a general manager, I would want to take the pressure off of my manager. I would take on the role of the nagging principal trying to get players to follow the rules. I understand that spitting and licking fingers to grip the baseball can be instinctive, but those are habits that need to be broken in order to keep everyone healthy.

There is no excuse for celebrations that include physical contact. I have seen high-fives, fist bumps and hugs in the on-deck circle, dugout and at home plate. Players typically have time to think about what is appropriate while waiting for a teammate to get to the dugout after a good play or a big hit. There needs to be someone (probably a trainer) in the dugout shouting at the players to remind them to not engage one another. It is critical that this gets cleaned up around the game. The blatant disregard of the protocols in the dugout and on the field is inexcusable.

In just a week we’ve gone from feeling safe and confident the season could be completed to fear that we might not get through another couple of weeks. Containment is the name of the game right now. Commissioner Manfred and MLBPA president Tony Clark will earn the biggest save ever if we get to the end of the season without a shutdown.

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2020-07-31 17:01:08Z
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Five bold predictions for the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs - Sportsnet.ca

When you try to make bold predictions, all you’re really doing is setting yourself up for failure. This year’s playoffs are a special kind of wild card, too — nobody knows how anything will translate after such a long pause.

But I’ll give it a try anyway.

The following five bold predictions aren’t meant to be presented as surefire, or even likely, results. They’re also not completely outlandish (at least to me). You won’t see a Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup pick here. In this article, we’re trying to predict some long-odds result, but with a basis in reality.

Yell at me in the comments.

From the Stanley Cup Qualifiers to the Stanley Cup Final, livestream every game of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, blackout-free, on Sportsnet NOW.

NEW YORK RANGERS ARE THIS YEAR’S CINDERELLA TEAM

New York is a popular upset pick over Carolina in the first-round, though the ‘Canes could easily blow up this whole prediction. You pretty much know what you’ll get from them and if they go out, it won’t be quietly. The Rangers did, however, sweep the season series 4-0 (take that with a grain of salt).

But let’s go a step further and say New York will be the surprise team of this post-season and win a few rounds. The Rangers are an intriguing mix of established star power and a whole bunch of high-upside uncertainty.

Take goalie Igor Shesterkin for example. A highly touted prospect, the plan was to keep him in the AHL this season but he was too darned good to keep down. He earned 12 NHL appearances in the late stages of the season and immediately snatched the starter’s job by posting a .932 save percentage and 10-2-0 record. But what can he sustain, really?

If he’s going to be anything close to that, it’ll combine with an offence that was top-five on the season and top-three from Jan. 1 until the pause. Artemi Panarin is the headliner, but Mika Zibanejad is a back-to-back 70-point player and Chris Kreider is always a handful. And what about the younger players? Adam Fox had a stellar rookie campaign — how will that translate to the playoffs? Kaapo Kakko’s transition to the NHL wasn’t as smooth, but will the pause help him find a higher level?

The Rangers will be fun either way. In the back half of the shortened regular season they were one of the highest-event teams — second in shots for at 5-on-5 and bottom-eight in shots against. If the goaltending stands up, they could be a tough out. And, hey, if Shesterkin starts slow, you could do worse than having Henrik Lundqvist as your Plan B.

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WINNIPEG JETS WILL BE CANADA’S LAST TEAM STANDING

The biggest question in Winnipeg is whether or not Connor Hellebuyck can be in the playoffs what he was all season: an absolute wall behind one of the leakiest defences in the league. If his exhibition showing is any indication, he and the Jets will be just fine.

But the Jets are about more than their goalie. They can score and they can be hard to play against. After losing the likes of Jacob Trouba, Dustin Byfuglien and Tyler Myers from last year’s roster, the team size isn’t quite as big this season but they’re more of a hybrid. They can play big and physical, and they can play fast and loose.

And while that blue line is a real concern, Winnipeg may actually have the fewest questions of any Canadian team. Few teams have better goaltending. Few teams have as nice a spread of skill and traditional “playoff grit” in the lineup. They’re two years removed from reaching the Western Conference final. Most of this roster has been there and done that before — which you can’t say for Edmonton, Toronto, Calgary, Montreal or Vancouver.

Winnipeg’s qualifying round matchup against the Flames appears to be a good one, too. Neutralize Calgary’s top line and this could be a quick series. It was last year when Colorado limited Elias Lindholm, Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan to five points. Hellebuyck himself could eliminate the trio.

On top of that, Nikolaj Ehlers is due for a playoff breakout. Still without a goal in 21 post-season games, Ehlers has scored 100 times over the past four regular seasons and converted once in the exhibition. If he can be unlocked and add to what Winnipeg already throws at you with Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Kyle Connor and Patrik Laine, they could have the best offence in Canada.

SERGEI BOBROVSKY LEADS ALL GOALIES IN SAVE PERCENTAGE IN QUALIFYING ROUND

Florida’s $10-million man garnered a lot of negative attention for posting the worst season of his career as a starter after signing a monster free-agent contract last summer. But there’s a path for him to redeem himself.

Consider that last season Bobrovsky finished with a .913 save percentage, but that through January he was sitting at .901. It took a great push late in the year and through two playoff rounds for him to come out of it somewhat of a hero, leading Columbus to a sweep of Tampa Bay. The two-time Vezina winner could find that form again at the drop of a hat.

But Florida’s defence leaks high quality chances against and will make it harder on the goalie.

So does Winnipeg’s and Hellebuyck keeps them in the running.

If Florida was up against a team like Toronto or Pittsburgh this prediction would be hard to fathom, but the Islanders offence doesn’t have that kind of high upside. While the Isles ranked middle of the league in 5-on-5 scoring chances this season, they converted the fewest of any returning Eastern Conference team. They don’t have a game-breaking goal-scorer and rely on structure to win. When the Islanders play a bit boring, they’re on the right track.

If Bobrovsky plays as we’ve come to expect, the Islanders are going to be in an even worse spot on offence. Florida’s defence perhaps doesn’t need to be an improved unit in this series, though that is a concern for them. This is a series Bobrovsky can absolutely steal. He’s one year removed from a stellar post-season, three from a Vezina-winning year. The break could have done some good, to clear his mind and provide rest from his heavy workload.

Florida needs the real Bobrovsky back.

KEVIN FIALA WILL LEAD THE QUALIFYING ROUND IN SCORING

Over the 2019-20 regular season, only Chicago, the Rangers and Ottawa allowed more shots against per game than Vancouver and they were getting progressively worse in that department all year. From January to the pause, only New Jersey averaged more shots against than Vancouver, and in just the last six weeks of action no one allowed more than the Canucks’ 35.2.

Minnesota, meanwhile, was finding a groove and piling up wins. Fiala was front and centre to that charge, with 14 goals and 26 points in his final 19 games.

Now, it’s impossible to tell what, if anything, will carry over from a regular season that concluded nearly five months ago, but Fiala was far and away Minnesota’s best player in their exhibition game. It certainly looks like he’s achieved some level of a sustainable breakout, though we need more evidence to be sure. A strong playoff series or two will do that.

The Wild-Canucks series is, on paper, one of the closest of the qualifying round and a popular pick to run the full five games. It could be a high-scoring one as well — these are the eighth- and ninth-best offences from Jan. 1 on.

The Canucks do have Jacob Markstrom back healthy and that could be a game-changing addition for them, but if the defence in front of him is as loose as when we last saw it, his return may not matter enough.

It’s not bold enough to say Fiala will lead the Wild in scoring — he’ll have to be a productive player for them to win. But if this thing goes the distance, he could come out of it with a pile of points.

MORE THAN HALF OF ROUND 1 SERIES WILL BE UPSETS

Note: Remember, first up is the qualifying round, which will be followed by ‘Round 1.’

Upsets regularly happen in Round 1 of the playoffs, so it would be just as bold to predict a clean sweep in favour of all the teams that are getting a bye through qualifying. But having at least five lower-seeded teams knocking out a favourite in the opening round is much less common. It did happen in 2019, but that was the first time since 2013 there had been so many upsets. In the past 30 years, it’s only happened one other time (1993).

The rationale for this one is simple: the eight teams that survive their qualifying series will have already played high-stakes playoff hockey and lifted their game to the required levels of intensity. And while the eight round-robin teams will be playing for seeding, there’s just not as much on the line there. Sure, you’d rather put yourself in position to play a Florida or Columbus than a Pittsburgh or Carolina, but the threat of elimination just won’t be there. We’d expect those games to have a higher sense of urgency than the exhibition matches we’ve seen, but it’s just not exactly a playoff atmosphere.

The qualifying winners could just be better from the get-go and running on the inside of the track. Home-ice advantage is just not really a factor this year. The bigger advantage could be a short best-of-five introduction back to game action. Injuries, of course, could blow this right up.

But this is a two-fold prediction. While the qualifying-round winners could have an advantage to start, over the long haul playing fewer games may favour the higher seeds. They’re still having to play four official rounds to win it all, while the rest have to play five. The regular playoffs are enough of a grind. An extra round — even if short — could wind up being a curse.

So while Part 1 of this prediction is that a ton of upsets will happen in the first round, Part 2 is that a bye team will win the Stanley Cup. It’s certainly less spicy to predict that one of the best regular-season teams will end up as champion, but since I’ve eliminated five of them early, it’s hot enough.

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2020-07-31 16:00:00Z
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Why I raised my fist: JT Brown - NHL.com

Editor's note: NHL players have spoken out against racism and social injustice since the death of George Floyd, a Black man, while in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. Three years ago, JT Brown, then a forward for the Tampa Bay Lightning, raised his fist during the national anthem to draw attention to the same issues. With calls for social justice and the fight against racism taking center stage during the NHL's Return to Play, Brown wrote a special essay for the League about his decision to raise his fist:

On Oct. 7, 2017, I had a choice. I could shut up and play hockey, or I could do something so loud that the entire hockey community would hear me. Nothing will ever get accomplished if we all keep our heads down and our mouths shut. So, during the national anthem in Sunrise, Florida, I raised my fist to protest police brutality and racism. The same fist that got arenas to their feet while I exchanged blows with outweighed opponents. The same fist that shattered from blocking a shot during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The same fist that has given countless daps to Black and Hispanic kids in the community while teaching them how to play hockey. I have always sacrificed for my team, for the fans, for my community. In 2017 I had an opportunity to sacrifice for something bigger than hockey, and I knew that I needed to do it.

While everyone was focused on making the team out of camp or getting ready for the season to start, I was being asked by media if I was going to protest during the national anthem. I was already feeling the pressure that comes with a contract year, and now I needed to decide if I was willing to do something uncomfortable and uncharacteristic for my sport. I'm an in-and-out-of-the-lineup guy who has just enough grit to stick around the fourth line. I knew I was replaceable. I knew protesting could make it even harder to get another contract next season. My family and I were prepared for this to end my NHL career. I had decided that I was comfortable with being uncomfortable. 

Hockey is played predominantly by affluent white males and conforming to a team mentality that is ingrained from a young age. My entire professional career, I have been one of 30 something Black hockey players in the League. For most of my whole hockey career, I have been the only Black person or person of color on my team. It is an experience that can leave you feeling like the token Black guy. An experience that makes you hyperaware of your Blackness, questioning whether or not you are acting too Black or too white. Understanding where and how you fit in can be lonely and it fundamentally shapes you as a person. I will be honest, most of the time, we're all just teammates. We joke, we play videogames, we play cards, and we bet on the football game. Then there are times when I'm the only player asked by arena security for my credentials when I'm just trying to get to my locker room. Or when I'm asked by hotel security to leave the hockey players alone and leave the hotel lobby when I'm just waiting with my teammates for our bus. Let's not forget the classic line that every Black hockey player knows too well, "go play basketball," which I heard during a hockey game at the highest level from an opposing player. I worked hard my whole life to prove that I belong in the NHL, and when I made it, I was still reminded that I was a Black man playing a white sport. 

Before I raised my fist during the national anthem, I spoke with the team's owner, general manager, coach, and teammates. I told them that I intended to raise my fist in solidarity during the national anthem as a symbolic protest against police brutality and racism. They were welcome to come and talk with me if they wanted to have a better understanding of my intentions. When I spoke with my coach about my plans to protest, I told him about the time I had a shotgun pointed at my head. I usually tell the story about when I was called the n-word during a youth hockey game, and my coach told the ref that our team would all leave the game if he didn't kick out the kid who said it. The ref wouldn't kick the kid out, and so my teammates and coach all stood with me as we left the game. Those are the stories people like to hear because they offer resolution and a sense of community. I usually don't talk about when I was at a house party in high school, and some kids from school pulled out a shotgun and aimed it at my head as they were calling me the n-word. People don't like those stories because they reveal truths they choose to ignore. These are the things that shaped me as a man. These are the things that all led up to putting my fist in the air.

Video: Predators and Stars stand arm in arm for anthems

My dad and I spoke at length about how this decision could impact my career, my family, and my livelihood. I leaned on him for advice because of his unique experience as not only a former National Football League running back, but also his post-football career as a Ramsey county probation officer and a juvenile correctional officer. I have always gone to my dad for life and career advice. While he was scared for me and the repercussions I would face, he knew this was something I needed to do, and he fully supported me.

I decided to go fist up after a long heart-to-heart with a friend who is a retired U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant (E-7) who served during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. We talked about how I needed to protest, but I also wanted to be mindful of those who are serving and have served our country. Given the logistics of where we stand during the anthem, I would have been unable to take a knee. I felt a raised fist best represented my intentions as it symbolizes solidarity, support, strength, and even resistance. 

My first protest was during a preseason hockey game and went unnoticed. However, on Oct. 7, 2017, I was back in the lineup for a regular-season game. That protest went viral almost immediately. In the weeks following the game, I had an in-person meeting with management and then a meeting at the team owner's home. Both wanted to know what I needed and how they could help me achieve what I was trying to do. That was a tough question because I didn't know how to solve racism in America, and I still don't. Even before I protested, I knew I might not be able to make a national impact, but I was hopeful that it would facilitate a positive impact in Tampa.

My team was able to support my initiatives and with the resources provided I was able to implement changes I thought could benefit my community. The action plan included two things. The first was working with the Tampa Police Department. I developed a relationship with the police chief, I went on ride-alongs, and some of my teammates and myself even went through police training. The second, which unfortunately never came to fruition because I found myself playing in Anaheim, was a program that would bring police and kids from the community together to watch Lightning games. I got a lot of flak from the Black community for these actions. I understood how it was problematic to integrate myself into a situation where the narrative shifted from police brutality to using my actions for something that some viewed as pro-police rhetoric. As Black athletes, we were automatically put in a unique position that year. We were the only athletes continually asked if we would protest. It also put us all in a tough spot. We were forced to pick a side. Am I Black, or am I a hockey player? We were all dammed if we did and dammed if we didn't. 

Video: Penguins, Flyers unite for social justice

I asked my wife before that preseason game to stay off social media. I knew it was going to get ugly. I want to make sure I also mention all the incredible support and love I received in the aftermath of my protest. Unfortunately, not everyone was understanding. I received death threats; people were telling me they hoped I had a career-ending injury; people were even calling my baby daughter the n-word. To this day, when I speak out against racism, there is someone in my Twitter mentions telling me they want to hang me or calling me the n-word. The backlash reinforced my belief that I did the right thing. I know the hockey community, and specifically, the Black community heard me acknowledge their pain and understood that I took an oath that game to always fight for equality.

Before I raised my fist, I never considered myself an activist. I was always focused on being a professional hockey player and figuring out how I could stay in the NHL. That changed in June 2017, when the Falcon Heights, Minnesota police officer who killed Philando Castile in 2016 was acquitted of murder at trial. Castile was shot and killed sitting in his car in front of his girlfriend and her 4-year-old daughter. The viral video of that little girl consoling her handcuffed mom as they were both placed in the back of a cop car broke me. By this time, I had a daughter, Lily, and I realized that I have a responsibility to fight for a better future for her and other Black kids. 

Fast forward to 2020, when Minneapolis police murdered George Floyd. For the first time, I saw a glimpse of a League consisting of predominately affluent white males speaking out against issues that were once ignored. It has been promising to see activism in the NHL progressing. The urgency for social change does not cease as the roars from protests fade and disappear from our timelines. So whether you use your hands for giving donations, volunteering, holding signs as you march in a protest, being vocal online, or raising a fist in solidarity, we all have a responsibility to fight for equality. History cannot continue to repeat itself. 

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2020-07-31 14:48:03Z
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Report: Brewers-Cardinals game postponed due to positive test - TSN

Friday’s game between the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals has been postponed due to two positive COVID-19 tests in the Cardinals organization.  Saturday's game remains as scheduled and Friday's game will be made up on Sunday as part of a doubleheader. 

Major League Baseball said in a statement that the postponement is to, "allow enough time for additional testing and contact tracing to be conducted."

The teams were set to open a three-game series at Miller Park in Milwaukee, with the first game being played on Friday at 2:10pm et.

The postponement joins a list of games that MLB has had to delay since the season began last week, including a weekend series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies.

The Miami Marlins were the first team to suffer an outbreak among their team as there have been 19 positive tests among both their players and staff.

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2020-07-31 13:55:46Z
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