Tinam Polo

Minggu, 31 Desember 2023

Winners and Losers from OG Anunoby trade to Knicks - NBC Sports

Toronto trading OG Anunoby was not a shock, there had been rumors and plenty of other interested teams for more than a year.

However, the surprise was the timing of this Dec. 30 deal and the haul the Raptors got back. After seemingly years of indecision, the Raptors made a move, and the Knicks paid a premium for a player on an expiring contract.

Who won this trade, and who lost? Let’s break it all down.

That starts with the details of the trade itself:
New York receives: OG Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa, Malachi Flynn
Toronto receives: Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, 2024 second-round pick (via Detroit, likely pick 31 or 32)
(Also, both teams generated small trade exceptions.)

Winner: OG Anunoby

Anunoby was going to get paid no matter what happened. He’s a free agent to be (he will opt out of the $19.9 million he is owed next season because he is worth at least $12 million a year more on the open market) and there were teams lined up to pay him.

Instead, Anunuby is a winner in this trade because of opportunity. He didn’t fit perfectly with the Raptors, his usage rate was shrinking season after season as Scottie Barnes took on a larger role (as he should have, Anunoby is brilliant off the ball but never became the shot creator the Raptors hoped). Combine that with Pascal Siakam on the ball and Anunoby was getting squeezed in Toronto.

He will have a better fit in the offense with the Knicks, where his shooting is needed and he will not be asked to do much shot creation next to Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle (the offense will run through them). Anunoby gets a better fit in a brighter spotlight and that will be good for his career — and that next paycheck.

Tepid winner: New York Knicks

New York did not lose this trade — they got the best player in the trade. Anunoby is an elite on-ball defender, works well off the ball on the wing, is a more efficient shooter than Barrett, and should fit like a puzzle piece next to Brunson. In an Eastern Conference where the Knicks playoff run will mean facing some combination of Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler, Tyrese Maxey, Damian Lillard and Donovan Mitchell (among others), having Anunoby’s defense matters.

Also, the Knicks kept their powder dry by not giving up even one first-round pick — if a superstar does become available via trade this summer (or whenever) they will still be front-and-center with a strong offer.

However, giving up Quickley hurts — it’s not radical to think he is the best player in this trade three years from now. Would New York have been better off sending out Barrett and a first-round pick (plus salary filler) for Anunoby and keeping Quickley? Would Toronto have even gone for that?

Also, even with the addition of Achiuwa (and maybe Flynn, if he can crack the rotation), the Knicks bench just got worse. A lot more falls on Quentin Grimes and Josh Hart now.

Winner: Immanuel Quickley

Like many around the league, Quickley seemed caught off guard by the trade.

As noted above, the best player in this trade today is OG Anunoby. In a couple of seasons, it’s not ridiculous to say we’d answer that question Immanuel Quickley.

For reasons that frustrated and perplexed Knicks fans, Tom Thibodeau never seemed to fully trust Quickley. It’s not like Thibs buried him deep on the bench, but Quickley deserved more run than he was getting while the New York coach trusted Barrett, particularly in crunch time of games.

Now Quickley is about to get all the run he can handle, and for those who think the Knicks overpaid in this trade, that’s essentially a belief in Quickley. Opportunity has come knocking for the guard.

Loser: Knicks fans

Quickley has been a fan favorite — it’s easy to relate to and get behind the overlooked, underused guy. Now Knicks fans will watch him go to Toronto, to a roster that needs his exact skill set, and see him thrive. That will be a punch to the gut, especially if his game keeps developing.

Losers: 76ers, Pistons, any other teams considering Anunoby as a free agent target

This offseason’s free agent (or potential trade) class keeps shrinking. There was a time when teams held out hope Giannis Antetokounmpo might become available (he extended with the Bucks), or maybe Joel Embiid (he seems happy right now). Then there was the tier of potential free agents, and Anunoby was at or near the top of teams’ lists. Might as well cross him off now. There is no way the Knicks threw all these assets at Toronto without an assurance from Anunoby and his camp he would re-sign in New York (while there are rumors that it might be at a discount, we’ll believe that when we see it).

Winner: Toronto Raptors

It’s not about the particulars of this trade; it’s that they have finally picked a direction. There appears to be a plan. After letting Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet walk for free, after leaning too long into a three-forward rotation that didn’t work, and with a 12-20 team needing a new direction, the Raptors picked one. That’s a start.

Whether they won this particular trade is TBD. It’s too early to judge Toronto because: 1) It depends on how Quickley develops; 2) This is not a stand-alone trade — the Raptors have made it clear they are retooling and this is going to be Scottie Barnes’ team. That means Pascal Siakam will be on the move. What they get in that eventual trade rounds out this deal.

That said, you can see a path forward for Toronto: Start Quickley at the point next to Barnes (which means moving Dennis Schroder to the bench), with Barrett at the three and — for now — Siakam at the four, with Jakob Poeltl at the five and suddenly this is a pretty good team, one that fits together better than what we have seen in Toronto this season. Quickley and Barnes should thrive next to each other.

Also, getting that Detroit second-rounder, which is essentially a late first-round pick, is a good get in this trade for Toronto.

Winner: CAA Conspiracy theorists

Leon Rose left his job as the president of power agency CAA to become the Knicks president. Since then he hired CAA-represented Thibodeau and drew a CAA player, Jalen Brunson, as a free agent. Now he has to reach a new deal with Anunoby this season and… you guessed it, he is a CAA client.

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2023-12-31 07:04:33Z
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The Edmonton Oilers Connor McDavid. He got bottled up in the first period, then failed to cover Trevor Lewis in the slot on two 5-alarm shots. But he got Edmonton's first Grade A shot, hitting the crossbar on the power play from a tight angle. A moment late - Edmonton Journal

Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner, center, makes a glove save on a shot by Los Angeles Kings center Pierre-Luc Dubois, right, as center Mattias Janmark defends during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023, in Los Angeles. Photo by Mark J. Terrill /AP

Stuart Skinner came up big, first outplaying Cam Talbot in regular and over-time, then in the shoot-out, as the Edmonton Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2.

The Kings dominated the first period, scoring twice. The Oil were superior in the second, scoring twice.

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The game went to OT, then won in the shootout as Derek Ryan scored to win it.

In total, the Oilers had 11 Grade A shots, the Kings 13, with the subset of most dangerous 5-alarm shots being Edmonton five, Los Angeles eight. Grade A shots on in on average 25 per cent of the time, 5-alarmers 33 per cent of the time.

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Connor McDavid, 8. Eight major contributions to Grade A shots, one goal and one assist in 25:52. He was bottled up in the first period, then failed to cover Trevor Lewis in the slot on a 5-alarm shot. But in the second period he got Edmonton’s first Grade A shot, hitting the crossbar on the power play from a tight angle. A moment later, taking the same shot, he threaded in Edmonton’s first goal off of Cam Talbot’s head. He then drove hard to the net on a rush and almost scored. Next he won the puck in the corner and set up Drai for a successful slot shot. In the third he broke in hard and almost beat Talbot yet again, first with a quick shot, then on the rebound. He scored in the shoot-out. Contributions to Grade A Shots (GAS): Even Strength +4/-1; Special Teams +4/-0

Zach Hyman, 5. Not his best game. McD set him up in the second for a wide-open slot shot, but Hyman failed to score. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST +0/-0.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 7. He did strong work on the PK early on. He won a n-zone battle to set up McDavid’s rush chance in the second. In OT he saved the day with a huge stop on Kopitar’s wrap-around try. He scored in the shootout. GAS: ES +2/-0; ST +01-0.

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Leon Draisaitl, 6. He was caught puck-watching on his first shift, allowing in Anze Kopitar for a 5-alarm backhand shot in the slot. He took a bad penalty early in the second, bashing Gavrikov. He got open in the slot in 4-on-4 play, took a pass from McDavid and harpooned in a goal to tie up the game. He almost jammed in McD’s slot pass on the power play in the third. He won a puck and almost jammed in a rebound shot with a few seconds left in the third. He got away with a great hook on Trevor Moore in OT to prevent a 5-alarm shot. He led the team with six shots. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST +3/-0.

Ryan McLeod, 4. He looked a bit out of sorts against the tough-checking Kings early on, was a bit better in the third. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-0.

Warren Foegele, 4. He stole a puck on the PK early in the second and fired on net, a rare early sign of life from the Oilers. He got beat by Dubois on a rush chance late in the second. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST +0/-1.

Derek Ryan, 8. Good game even before the shootout. Solid work on the PK and some good hustle at even strength. He won the game with the Oilers were a shootout goal. GAS: ES +1/-0; ST +0/-0.

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Connor Brown, 7. Excellent effort, not bad results. He got off a hard high slot shot, then a Grade A one-timer, in the third after his line worked the Kings with hard forechecking. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST +0/-1.

Mattias Janmark, 6. Good work on the PK and fine hustle all game. He won a puck at the blueline in the sequence where Brown got off his Grade A. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST +0/-1.

James Hamblin, 6. Finds a way to help out. He charged back hard to break up a dangerous Kings rush in the first. He almost cashed in Lavoie’s board crashing shot at the side of the net in the third. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +1/-0.

Raphael Lavoie, 5. He followed McDavid to the net in the second and almost jammed in a rebound goal. The refs gave him a ridiculous penalty when Kempe ran into him, and that marked the first time I’ve seen Coach K get upset on the Oilers bench. He got caught out of position on an L.A. 5-alarmer early in the third. But followed up with a hard-working shift where he drilled two shot on net. GAS: ES +2/-1; ST +0/-0.

Adam Erne, 5. He came to the defence of Ryan after #10 took a dirty hit from Doughty. Quiet game otherwise. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-0.

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Mattias Ekholm, 6. Another strong game, but he made an ill-advised pinch late in the second to give up a 2-on-1 but Quinton Byfield missed the. net with his shot. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-1.

Evan Bouchard, 7. Moved the puck well in 29:01 of icetime. He got beat by Grunsdtrom behind the net on the 5-alarm shot by Lewis in the first. GAS: ES +1/-1; ST +0/-0.

Cody Ceci, 7. Quiet game, good game. GAS: ES +0/-1; ST +0/-1.

Darnell Nurse, 6. He got caught out of position on Kempe’s goal, not playing it cautious enough at the offensive blueline. Was otherwise hard, tough and effective. GAS: ES +1/-2; ST +0/-0.

Vincent Desharnais, 4. He struggled in this one. He got beat out of the corner early on, leading to one Grade A and one 5-alarm shots in bang-bang fashion. A moment later he and Ekholm allowed a pass out to the slot to Kevin Fiala, who ripped in the first L.A. goal. GAS: ES +1/-2; ST +0/-1.

Brett Kulak, 7. Another good game from the veteran. GAS: ES +0/-0; ST +0/-0.

Stuart Skinner, 9. He held his team in the game early on, then won it for them in overtime and the shootout. He gave up a big rebound but made an even bigger save off Kopitar early on. A moment later he sprawled to thwart Dubois on a wide-open net. He had little chance on Fiala’s one-timer goal. He thwarted a 5-alarm shot in a from Lewis. Kempe has a great shot, but his scoring snipe was far enough out that Skinner might well have stopped it. Huge save early in the second on a Doughty-to-Kopitar slap pass and tip shot, then another one on a rebound that fell to Lizotte in the slot., and yet again on a Doughty one-timer early in the third.

Connor McDavid behind the L.A. net celebrates his goal as Kings goalie Cam Talbot looks downcast, Mattias Ekholm in the foreground with his arms raised — Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid, right, and defenseman Mattias Ekholm, left, celebrate a goal by center Leon Draisaitl Photo by Mark J. Terrill /AP

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Canadiens’ penalty kill fails again in Florida, leaves no margin for error - Sportsnet.ca

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Sabtu, 30 Desember 2023

Professional Women's Hockey League different than leagues that came before - CP24

After nearly a quarter-century of women's hockey leagues that came and went, one shows signs of staying power.

The six-team Professional Women's Hockey League opens Monday afternoon with Toronto hosting New York at the downtown Mattamy Centre.

Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, New York, Boston and Minnesota are the PWHL's original six teams. Ottawa's home-opener is Tuesday against visiting Montreal.

The first NWHL (1999-2007), the Western Women's Hockey League (2004-2011), the Canadian Women's Hockey League (2007-2019) and the NWHL 2.0 that begat the Premier Hockey Federation (2015-2023) took turns striving to be the league that could capture the attention and dollars of the corporate world and the public.

Lack of sustained financial investment, manpower or player unity impeded those leagues.

The PWHL has those three elements, although a key business and marketing blank still to be filled on the eve of its inaugural season was the announcement of actual team names.

A man with deep pockets adding women's hockey to his mega-portfolio of pro teams is the prime difference between the PWHL and its predecessors.

Los Angeles Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter, who also has ownership stakes in the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers and Premier League's Chelsea Football Club, is accustomed to spending money to make money. The Dodgers committed in recent weeks over $100 million to two Japanese pitchers.

"Mark Walter is one of the most prominent sport owners in the world," said PWHL hockey operations senior vice-president Jayna Hefford.

"He knows professionalism, he knows excellence. He comes with the capital that's required, which is a big thing."

PWHL player salaries between US$35,000 and $80,000 are among several costs of constructing a league in just six months to operate at a professional level.

Walter's capital gave the PWHL the payroll to hire what board member and Dodgers president Stan Kasten stated was 120 people for league operations before November's training camps opened.

"This is the most backing that we've ever seen for a women's league in terms of having the resources to be able to hire the amount of people required to run each individual team, plus at the league level," Montreal head coach Korie Cheverie said.

"I saw, when I was a player, minimal staff members trying to wear multiple hats and do the job of five people versus just one job and their own job."

Hires include people who previously worked for the Toronto Blue Jays, the Vancouver Canucks, Winnipeg Jets ownership True North Sports and Entertainment, the WNBA and the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).

"I met somebody who left their job from the Toronto Blue Jays that they had been at for over a decade," Montreal defender Erin Ambrose said. "They left a male professional sports team to come to a female brand new league, which I think speaks volumes in itself."

The PWHL is the first women's hockey league to claim it has the best players in the world under one umbrella, which is a marketing necessity.

"In many sports there have been multiple leagues until they get to the one. It's not unusual, I think, the path we were on," Hefford said. "Now that we have an opportunity to be the league, and eliminate the confusion that some may have . . . that makes us very different.

"Looking at past leagues, all of them are part of the journey and part of getting here. We're not here without those."

While top-name players who held out for the PWHL and those who played in the PHF were often painted as blocking progress toward one league, the PHF deserves an assist for extending players' careers to the PWHL's opening day.

"It gave a lot of players, seven teams' worth of players, a place to play for the last number of years," Montreal goaltender Elaine Chuli said.

Unprecedented in pro sport were the women and their new owner agreeing to an eight-year collective bargaining agreement before there was even a league. NHL management veteran Brian Burke brings his pro hockey experience to the helm of the players' association.

"It's been really awesome to see the business side of the league evolve, because in my mind, that's what's always been missing," Hefford said. "We've had great players before. We've had good hockey people before. We haven't been able to bring this many great people together because there hasn't been the investment."

Unlike the WNBA, which was operated by the NBA for its first five years, the PWHL gets underway with NHL involvement limited to consulting services.

But a television and digital rights package so lucrative in men's pro sports is a PWHL work in progress.

Watching the first season's games on a screen is a hodgepodge of linear TV and streaming by TSN/RDS, CBC and Sportsnet in Canada. TSN gets playoffs and the championship. All games will be streamed via on the PWHL's YouTube channel.

Air Canada and Canadian Tire, as well as several hockey and sports gear companies, are on board. Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal have declared sellouts for their home-openers, with Toronto selling out all 12 of its home games.

"Time will tell as long as the money and sponsorships, ticket sales (bring) revenues," Chuli said. "If there's just always a big loss at the end of each year, it makes it hard to sustain super long-term, but there's going to be some serious cash burn here at the beginning.

"It looks like sellouts for a lot of the games, so that's encouraging to see. Big brands and big sponsorships, that'll help the league too. As long as we have all that backing, it should go pretty well."

When it comes to the world's top sports properties in soccer, basketball and hockey, women get a smaller piece of the pie than men, but there is now some money to be made in women's sport.

The 2023 FIFA women's World Cup, for example, attracted what GlobalData estimated was a record US$307 million in sponsorship. That's a lot less than the reported $1.7 billion of the 2022 men's World Cup, but the women's side was hardly a loss leader.

An NWSL franchise is now valued as high as US$50 million.

"We finally are creating an entity that's also an investment and a return on investment," Ottawa head coach Carla Macleod said. "I think there's money to be had in women's sport."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 30, 2023.

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World Juniors Recap: Canucks' trio contribute to both goals as Sweden takes down Canada 2-0 - Canucks Army

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Bratt has 4 points, Devils cruise past Senators for 3rd straight win - NHL.com

“That was a lot of fun,” Daws said. “Obviously, I was pretty nervous for the first period and getting the first couple of shots, but after that I kind of settled into it and settled into the pace of the game. I’m happy to get the win.”

Daws missed six months after having hip surgery in June. He was recalled Wednesday after a three-game conditioning stint with Utica of the American Hockey League.

“A great first game,” New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said of Daws' performance. “He probably made three or four game-changing saves that, you know, momentum could’ve went either way.”

Jack Hughes and Luke Hughes each had a goal and two assists, and Tyler Toffoli and Dawson Mercer scored for the Devils (19-13-2), who have won three straight after losing three in a row.

“Everybody played fantastic,” Daws said. “It was a full 60-minute effort from everybody, which was huge. Obviously, I can’t take all the credit for the game; they did basically everything, they made my job really easy tonight.”

Drake Batherson and Jacob Bernard-Docker scored for the Senators (13-18-0), who had won two straight. Joonas Korpisalo made 24 saves.

“I don’t think that we were very effective,” Ottawa interim coach Jacques Martin said. “We didn’t play to our game. When I look at the game, we had a lot of frustrations tonight. To me, we took a step back. It reminded me a little bit about when I took over (on Dec. 18).”

New Jersey was 2-for-4 on the power play; Ottawa was 0-for-4.

“The penalty-killing did a fantastic job tonight,” Ruff said. “And part of it was we got a couple of big saves that allowed us to keep them off the board.”

Batherson gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 9:47 of the first period when he took a centering pass from Brady Tkachuk and slipped the puck under the outstretched glove of Daws in tight. It was Batherson’s fourth goal in four games.

Jack Hughes tied it 1-1 at 13:10 on the power play with a wrist shot from the left face-off dot that went under Korpisalo’s left arm.

“They obviously got a few goals on the power play tonight,” Batherson said. “That’s a really good top six over there. You give them time and space and they’re going to score. That’s what happened there.”

Bratt gave the Devils a 2-1 lead at 19:52, also scoring on the power play with a wrist shot into the top right corner from the right slot.

“This was a huge game for us,” Bratt said. “We really needed these two points. It was a full team effort and obviously Nico played great in net and helped us out getting this win.”

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Samsonov struggles again, Leafs errors costly in OT loss to Jackets - Toronto Sun

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Blue Jackets forward Dmitri Voronkov deflects a shot past Maple Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov for a goal during second period NHL action at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Friday, Dec. 29, 2023. Photo by Kirk Irwin /Getty Images

Before any more armchair psychoanalysts try and figure out what’s gone wrong in Ilya Samsonov’s head, maybe call a lawyer, too, about lack of support.

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While four goals on the first 11 shots on net on Friday at Columbus did little for Samsonov’s shaken confidence, the Maple Leafs continue to do the Russian few favours, other than to try scoring their way past his and their mistakes.

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For the first time, the Core Four of Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares struck in the same road game. But they couldn’t hold a late third-period lead and lost 6-5 to the Blue Jackets on Johnny Gaudreau’s overtime goal.

Just as it seemed that Samsonov would get it together in the third period, young star Adam Fantilli rushed through the Leafs ranks to snap in the 5-5 equalizer. A couple of Samsonov stops in the extra period went for naught, after the Leafs sacrificed offence late in the game to over-compensate protecting their beleaguered goalie.

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“We made bad mistakes at bad times (and) you can’t make those the way Sammy is going through (issues) right now,” coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters. “We scored five. We should win that game every time.”

While Keefe didn’t want to speak for any moves general manager Brad Treliving might be considering, he indicated the plan was to keep letting Samsonov work through his slump — which includes four or more goals against in his past eight starts, and a save percentage well down in the .800s.

Martin Jones is the only other healthy goalie while Joseph Woll recovers from a high ankle sprain and there is no appetite to rush Marlies’ Dennis Hildeby.

Jones starts Saturday’s home game against Carolina to end the club’s calendar year and likely Tuesday against his first NHL team, the L.A. Kings, as Toronto begins a California road trip.

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“Tough game for me,” said Samsonov, who wound up stopping just 15 of 21 shots. “Last three games, I haven’t seen a lot of luck. It’s easy to put your head down, just cry and be sad. But I need to continue to work and maybe next game, maybe the next three games, the luck is back.”

At the other end, Elvis Merzlikins had to pull himself with an illness after one period, leaving Spencer Martin to claim the win.

“When we’re on our game, we’re attacking,” Marner said of sitting back too much. “Stay on the stuff we do extremely well.

“I have a ton of confidence (in Samsonov) and I hope he knows that this whole team is behind him. We haven’t done the greatest job of stopping Grade-A chances against him and a couple of those were Grade-A’s in front.”

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Keefe’s 300th NHL game was Toronto’s third against the Jackets this month, the two teams totalling 27 goals, including the Leafs’ five-goal comeback in Toronto two weeks ago.

The Jackets, meanwhile, added to the group of bottom seven NHL clubs that have held the Leafs to a 3-6-2 record this season. Toronto has lost three of four against bottom-feeder teams this month.

At least the Leafs stuck to the script early on to keep pressure off Samsonov. Until Timothy Liljegren stumbled on a breakout to give Cole Sillinger a puck in the slot with maximum bodies in front.

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With a two-goal lead, the Leafs were slow on a shift change in which Brendan Gaunce scored, Samsonov’s puck control once again under scrutiny when he couldn’t find a high rebound that landed behind him.

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Marner had opened the scoring and then assisted on Matthews’ precision shot, his league-leading 29th goal. Matthews has been murder on the Jackets, netting 13 goals in 15 games against them and 15 in his past 11 overall.

He also became the fourth player in franchise history with a 15-goal month, joining Rick Vaive, who had 17 in January of 1983, Frank Mahovlich with 15 in December of 1960 and Babe Dye of the St. Patricks, 15 in February of 1921.

Nylander had another nifty delivery under the bar on a power play, but Samsonov couldn’t hold the lead. Big Dmitri Voronkov both screened and nicely deflected on a 4-on-3 power play from a needless Nylander minor. Then the Leafs defensive pair of Morgan Rielly and TJ Brodie coughed up an open look for Kent Johnson.

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Nick Robertson earlier ended a 14-game goal slump when he cruised through the slot and had a Liljegren shot deflect off of him.

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With Mark Giordano back after 12 games recovering from a broken finger, William Lagesson joined Conor Timmins as a healthy scratch on defence. Giordano was with Liljegren, who was recently activated from an ankle injury as Simon Benoit held his spot in the lineup, now with Jake McCabe, an effective duo most of the evening.

But until they get the goaltending and defence straightened away, there’s little to celebrate.

lhornby@postmedia.com

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2023-12-30 03:56:15Z
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