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Bo Horvat puts up four points as Vancouver Canucks top Columbus Blue Jackets

Published

2 months ago

January 28, 2023

Elias Pettersson scored twice and the Vancouver Canucks will head into the NHL all-star break on a win after downing the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 on Friday.

Quinn Hughes had a goal and a helper for the Canucks (20-26-3) and Bo Horvat contributed a career-high four assists.

Ilya Mikheyev and Dakota Joshua also scored for the home side, while J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser each added a pair of assists.

Kirill Marchenko replied with two power-play goals for the Blue Jackets (15-30-3).

Vancouver’s Collin Delia made 23 saves and Joonas Korpisalo stopped 29-of-34 shots for Columbus.

Both teams have struggled mightily this season and came into the game lingering near the bottom of the NHL.

Columbus bit into the lead when Vancouver defenceman Tyler Myers was sent to the box for tripping midway through the third period.

Marchenko swiped at a puck from below the goal line, sending it into the back of Delia’s leg before it popped into the net for the rookie’s second goal of the night. He now has 13 goals in 26 games.

Pettersson put the Canucks up 5-1 with a power-play goal 12:52 into the final frame, firing a blistering shot on net from high in the face-off circle. Korpisalo got a piece of the shot but it dribbled across the goal line for Pettersson’s second goal of the night and 21st of the season.

Joshua scored 8:20 into the third on an errant pass. The depth forward looked to send a puck across the slot to Brock Boeser, but the puck hit Columbus defenceman Adam Boqvist in the leg and caromed into the net to make it 4-1.

Vancouver took a two-goal cushion into the first intermission thanks to a lucky bounce.

Mikheyev unleashed a blast from above the face-off circle and his shot ricocheted off the end glass, hitting Korpisalo’s skate and skittering into the net.

It was the Russian winger’s 13th goal of the season and marked his 100th NHL point.

Earlier in the frame, a scrum erupted when Sean Kuraly slammed Vancouver’s Andrei Kuzmenko into the glass, prompting a multiplayer tussle in the Blue Jackets’ end.

Kuraly was called for boarding and Vancouver capitalized on the man advantage when Hughes sent a long bomb through traffic from the point. The tally put the home side up 2-1 at the 13:21 mark.

Both the Canucks and Blue Jackets went 2 for 4 on the power play Friday.

An early penalty saw both sides score.

With Miller in the box for slashing, Horvat picked the puck off Patrik Laine and streaked down the ice with Pettersson on a two-on-one. The Canucks captain sliced Pettersson a pass at the hash marks and the Swedish centre wrapped it around Korpisalo’s outstretched leg for his 20th goal of the season 1:25 into the game.

Thirty-three seconds later, the Blue Jackets replied when Marchenko, stationed in the slot, tipped in Boqvist’s shot to tie the score at 1-1.

Laine also registered an assist on the play, extending his point streak to five games with two goals and six helpers across the stretch.

UPS AND DOWNS

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced Friday that forward Lane Pederson had been put on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the American Hockey League’s Abbotsford Canucks. Pederson played 10:58 against Columbus, spending much of the night on a line with Pettersson and left-winger Andrei Kuzmenko.

UP NEXT

Vancouver’s now off for the all-star break. The Canucks will resume their campaign with a four-game road swing, starting with a matchup with the Devils in New Jersey on Feb. 6.

The Blue Jackets will take on the Kraken in Seattle on Saturday.

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What we know – and don’t know – about the Blue Jays’ opening-day roster

Published

34 mins ago

March 25, 2023

nigemord@gmail.com

DUNEDIN, Fla. – Months from now, when the Toronto Blue Jays’ season is on the line and the shape of their roster looks different than anyone predicted, this might all seem pretty trivial. It’ll definitely seem distant.

So, before we get too invested in the specifics of the Blue Jays’ opening-day roster, it’s worth remembering players such as Gosuke Katoh, Zack Collins and Tayler Saucedo, all of whom began the season on Toronto’s big-league team a year ago. Or the one making the announcements, current White Sox bench coach Charlie Montoyo. In baseball, rosters are built to be tinkered with. The only given is change.

But the early games count, too, and in an American League East division that features five competitive teams, every advantage matters. With that in mind, the Blue Jays take the challenge of building their opening-day roster seriously. So what if this group is destined to shift as the season unfolds? This group is still the best the Blue Jays have to offer right now.

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In the days ahead, the Blue Jays must finalize their 26-man roster, a group that’ll be evenly split between pitchers and position players. Until then, let’s take stock of what we know – and don’t know – about the group of players that’ll fly north to St. Louis after the team’s final Grapefruit League game Tuesday evening:

POSITION PLAYERS
Locks (12): Alejandro Kirk, Danny Jansen, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Brandon Belt, Bo Bichette, Matt Chapman, Santiago Espinal, Cavan Biggio, Whit Merrifield, Daulton Varsho, Kevin Kiermaier, George Springer
Leading contenders (3): Otto Lopez, Nathan Lukes, Vinny Capra

Now that Addison Barger and Wynton Bernard are no longer in big-league camp, the competition here seems relatively straightforward.

Tactically speaking, this last player won’t get many starts to begin the year, but should be able to provide a quality at-bat against left-handed pitching and pinch-run. Typically, the last player on a team’s bench should be versatile, and that’s obviously ideal at all times, but the flexibility of Biggio and Merrifield would also let the Blue Jays use this spot for more of a specialist if they wanted – someone who offers elite speed, or power or defence.

Capra bats right-handed, a positive on a team that might want to find ways to complement its new collection of left-handed starters: Belt, Varsho and Kiermaier. Yet Capra is in camp as a non-roster invitee, meaning the Blue Jays would have to select his contract. Conversely, Lukes is already on the 40-man roster, but as a left-handed hitter he doesn’t complement the team’s starters quite as neatly.

At the intersection of those two sweet spots is Lopez, a right-handed hitter who already has a 40-man spot. Plus, Lopez has arguably had the best spring of the three with an impressive showing for Canada at the WBC to go along with stellar Grapefruit League play. That makes him the favourite to head north.

Of course, there’s always the chance that the Blue Jays make a late-spring acquisition and fill this spot from outside the organization. Barring a waiver claim or trade, though, it’s down to these three, with Lopez seemingly in the lead.

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PITCHERS
Locks (12): Alek Manoah, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, Jose Berrios, Yusei Kikuchi, Jordan Romano, Erik Swanson, Yimi Garcia, Tim Mayza, Anthony Bass, Adam Cimber, Trevor Richards
Leading contenders (4): Mitch White, Zach Pop, Nate Pearson, Jay Jackson

This last spot appeared to be White’s to lose, but a shoulder impingement delayed the start of his spring and he has yet to appear in a big-league game. He still hasn’t been ruled out, but if he does start the season on the IL, that would leave an opening for the Blue Jays.

Asked about the final bullpen spot Friday night, manager John Schneider said a small group of pitchers are in competition for it.

“A few. Probably three or four that are in the mix,” he said. “We’re still trying to figure out how we’re going to how we’re going to open, but there’s guys that won’t start with us that are deserving to be up with us at some point. Really good teams have some tough conversations at this point in time, knowing that you have really good options that are sent to triple-A.”

Case in point: Trent Thornton and Zach Thompson, both of whom appear more likely to join the likes of Casey Lawrence and Drew Hutchison in the Blue Jays’ triple-A rotation.

Both Thornton and Thompson will likely see big-league time in 2023, but traditional long relievers are no longer seen as a necessity, which opens the door for Pearson, Jackson or Pop. The velocity Pearson offers is undoubtedly tempting, and he’s struck out 13 in 8.1 innings this spring, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Blue Jays send him to triple-A – at least to open the season.

In Jackson, they have a veteran in ring-chasing mode with a 95-96 mph fastball and a hard slider. He has impressed in camp this spring, with 13 strikeouts in 9.1 innings, and it’d now be a surprise if he doesn’t contribute at some point in 2023.

But don’t forget about Pop, who’s already on the 40-man roster, which may give him an edge over Jackson. As pitching coach Pete Walker recently pointed out, there’s Clay Holmes-type upside for Pop, whose two-seam fastball averaged 96.5 mph last year. So far this spring, he has six strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work with just one earned run allowed. If that’s the last arm in your bullpen, you’re in a good spot.

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Mexico submits letter of intent to host Summer Olympics in 2036 or 2040

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1 hour ago

March 25, 2023

nigemord@gmail.com

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Mexico has declared its desire to host the Summer Olympics in 2036 or 2040 and says it already has most of the sports infrastructure required.

Interest in hosting the 2036 Olympics had earlier been expressed by officials in countries including Egypt, England, India, Indonesia, Qatar and South Korea.

Mexico City hosted the Summer Games in 1968.

Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard and Mexican Olympic Committee president Maria Jose Alcala met Friday with IOC president Thomas Bach. Ebrard delivered a letter of intent to Bach.

A city or region wasn’t specified but Ebrard and Alcala said a committee would be formed to support the initiative.

Last October, International Olympic Committee director general Christophe De Kepper said they were talking to “10 interested NOCs and regions across four continents” regarding potential candidacies for future Summer Games. The 2036 edition is the next available to be awarded.

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Leeds’ Elland Road stadium evacuated after ‘security threat,’ man arrested

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2 hours ago

March 25, 2023

nigemord@gmail.com

LEEDS, England — The stadium of English Premier League club Leeds was evacuated because of a security threat that led to the arrest of a man on Friday.

Elland Road, its offices and the club shop were closed as police carried out checks after Leeds received a threat via social media.

West Yorkshire Police said a 20-year-old man was arrested in connection with the incident. The force said earlier that officers attended Elland Road “following reports of a security threat to the premises.”

The Premier League is on hold this week because of international matches.

Leeds’ next game is at Arsenal on April 1.