Day: November 11, 2019

Mets first baseman Pete Alonso became the sixth Met to win the National League Rookie of the Year Award.

Pete Alonso wins 2019 National League Rookie of the Year Award — HardballTalk

The league had been awarding a belt as a prize to the team that, essentially, suppressed salaries the most in arbitration. It will no longer award that tasteless prize.

MLB will stop awarding prize belt to team that best suppresses salaries in arbitration — HardballTalk

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canahttps://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-don-cherry-fired-sportsnet-cuts-ties-comments-coachs-corner/da/article-don-cherry-fired-sportsnet-cuts-ties-comments-coachs-corner/

By The Canadian Press

Brash, outspoken, opinionated – longtime hockey broadcaster Don Cherry was never afraid to ruffle feathers during his “Coach’s Corner” segment on “Hockey Night in Canada.”

His latest outburst cost him his job.

In a two-paragraph statement Monday afternoon, Sportsnet confirmed that it was cutting ties with Cherry.

“Sports brings people together – it unites us, not divides us. Following further discussions with Don Cherry after Saturday night’s broadcast, it has been decided it is the right time for him to immediately step down,” said Sportsnet president Bart Yabsley. “During the broadcast, he made divisive remarks that do not represent our values or what we stand for.

“Don is synonymous with hockey and has played an integral role in growing the game over the past 40 years. We would like to thank Don for his contributions to hockey and sports broadcasting in Canada.”

Cherry’s ouster came after a segment that sparked a swift backlash from inside and outside the hockey world. The network apologized Sunday for Cherry’s comments about his belief that new immigrants don’t wear poppies, and in turn, don’t support veterans.

On Monday – Remembrance Day – the network took it one step further.

Cherry, 85, had singled out new immigrants in Toronto and Mississauga, Ont., where he lives, for not honouring Canada’s veterans and dead soldiers.

“You people … you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey, at least you can pay a couple bucks for a poppy or something like that,” Cherry said Saturday night. “These guys paid for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada, these guys paid the biggest price.”

“Coach’s Corner” and HNIC are broadcast on CBC in a sub-licensing deal with Rogers Media, which owns Sportsnet.

Cherry did not respond to multiple phone calls seeking comment. He has yet to publicly apologize.

Budweiser, the sponsor of “Coach’s Corner”, put out a statement condemning Cherry’s comments after Sportsnet’s decision.

“The comments made Saturday on Coach’s Corner were clearly inappropriate and divisive, and in no way reflect Budweiser’s views,” says the statement from Todd Allen, vice-president of marketing for Labatt Breweries of Canada, which has Budweiser as one of its brands.

“As a sponsor of the broadcast, we immediately expressed our concerns and respect the decision which was made by Sportsnet today.”

Outrage over Cherry’s words mounted over the weekend and into Remembrance Day until the broadcaster’s dismissal was announced Monday afternoon.

Shakir Mousa, who came to Canada from Iraq roughly 30 years ago, said earlier Monday he was hurt and disgusted by Cherry’s words and worried they could ignite hatred and discrimination.

Though he wears a poppy to mark Remembrance Day, Mousa said there are many ways to honour those who serve their country – like his son, who served in Haiti, Afghanistan and Iraq and just returned to Ottawa from his most recent deployment.

“I come from a dictatorship country,” the Montreal resident said. “There is a real appreciation for Canada and what Canada represents … I appreciate what democracy is and what liberty is and the freedom that we enjoy.”

“I don’t need somebody like Don Cherry to tell me about it because he doesn’t represent the good side of Canada with comments like these,” he added.

Others noted many newcomers have relatives who fought and lost their lives in various conflicts, including the world wars, something Cherry overlooked in his comments.

“Canada is my country as much as it is yours, both of us are settlers on this land,” Pardeep Singh Nagra, executive director of the Sikh Heritage Museum of Canada in Mississauga, said in an open letter to Cherry posted over the weekend.

“When you are talking about ‘our way of life’, people who look like me have ‘built’ your way of life. It isn’t something exclusive, the sacrifices were made for us. Shame on you. You don’t deserve to wear the poppy.”

The Canadian Broadcasting Standards Council said it was so overloaded with complaints about the segment that it exceeded the organization’s technical processing capacity. The CBSC said it was dealing with the broadcast under its normal process, but was not able to accept any further complaints.

Segment co-host Ron MacLean apologized Sunday evening.

“Don Cherry made remarks which were hurtful, discriminatory, which were flat out wrong … I owe you an apology, too. I sat there, did not catch it, did not respond,” MacLean said. “Last night was a really great lesson to Don and me. We were wrong, and I sincerely apologize. I wanted to thank you for calling me and Don on that last night.”

Criticism of Cherry’s comments poured in quickly as video clips of the segment circulated online. A consistently polarizing figure throughout his long broadcasting career, Cherry also had his share of supporters weigh in on social media over the last couple days.

A hard-nosed career minor-leaguer who won coach of the year honours with the NHL’s Boston Bruins in 1976, Cherry moved in front of the camera in 1980.

Known for his outlandish suits and thumbs-up gesture, Cherry was liable to say anything during the popular first-intermission segment on Saturday nights. Over the years, he occasionally weighed in with thoughts on European players, francophones, and politics – to name only a few subjects – which often landed him in hot water.

“Hockey Night in Canada” was a longtime CBC Saturday night staple, but the show and its games moved to Sportsnet when Rogers landed a $5.2-billion, 12-year national broadcast rights deal with the NHL that began in 2014.

There was no immediate word on who might replace Cherry on “Coach’s Corner” or if the segment would continue in its current form.

– With files from Paola Loriggio in Toronto.

MILOS RAONIC FORCED TO WITHDRAW FROM THE DAVIS CUP FINALS BY RAKUTEN: BRAYDEN SCHNUR TAKES HIS PLACE

November 11, 2019 – On Monday, Tennis Canada announced that Milos Raonic (Thornhill, ON) would not be representing Canada at the Davis Cup Finals by Rakuten in Madrid on account of a back injury. In his place, Brayden Schnur (Pickering, ON) will team up with Denis Shapovalov (Richmond Hill, ON), Félix Auger-Aliassime (Montréal, QC) and Vasek Pospisil (Vernon, BC). Held at Caja Magica stadium, the Davis Cup Finals will run from November 18 to 24.

“It is very hard and disapointing for me that I will not be able to represent my country at Davis Cup. My health has continued to let me down through this entire year and now once again. I will take the appropriate time to get healthy and I look forward to being back on court next season” said Raonic. “I believe in my teammates, and I know they’ll give everything to secure Canada’s first Davis Cup title. I’ll be following them very closely and I wish them the best.”

Currently ranked World No.94, Brayden Schnur has climbed 100 places in the rankings since the start of the season. The 24-year-old took the tennis world by surprise when he appeared in the final of the New York Open ATP 250 event last February. In his most recent final appearance, he fell to Vasek Pospisil at the Charlottesville Tennis Challenger in Virginia. Schnur will be competing in Davis Cup for the second time in his career. In 2017, he joined the national squad in its World Group play-off tie against India. Despite his two singles losses, Canada managed to secure a 3-2 win. 

“I’m very happy to be able to play in the Davis Cup Finals but, of course, I first want to wish Milos a speedy recovery,” affirmed Schnur. “It’s an honour for me to represent Canada in this team competition. We know every win will be hard-won but I’m ready to support my teammates and go all the way.”

The 18 countries that qualified for the Finals are divided into six groups of three nations. Canada is in Group F along with the United States and Italy and will face both in a round robin. It will cross paths with Italy on November 18 and the United States on the following day. The Davis Cup Finals will be played on an indoor hard court surface.

The winners of the six groups and two runners-up based on the number of wins and percentage of sets and games won/lost will qualify for the quarterfinals, which get underway on Thursday, November 21. If Canada finishes first in its group, the team will face the winner of Group D. The semifinals will be played on Saturday and the final on Sunday, November 24. Each matchup will consist of two singles matches and a doubles match in a best-of-three format.

The Canadian Davis Cup team qualified for the Finals when it overpowered Slovakia by a score of 3-2 on February 1 and 2, 2019. Shapovalov won both of his singles battles and Auger-Aliassime notched an important win in the decisive match.

For more details, please visit: http://www.tenniscanada.com/team-canada/davis-cup/about-the-davis-cup/.

About Davis Cup
Davis Cup by Rakuten is the World Cup of Tennis. It is the largest annual international team competition in sport, with 133 nations entered in 2019. The competition is 119 years old, having been founded in 1900. In 2019, the all-new Davis Cup by BNP Paribas finals will be hosted at the iconic La Caja Magica in Madrid, Spain. Twenty-four nations will contest the Qualifiers on 1-2 February, competing in 12 locations around the world on a home-and-away basis. The 12 winning teams will join the 2018 semifinalists plus two wild card teams in an 18-nation Davis Cup season finale.

About Tennis Canada
Founded in 1890, Tennis Canada is a non-profit, national sport association with a mission to lead the growth of tennis in Canada and a vision to become a world-leading tennis nation. We value teamwork, passion, integrity, innovation and excellence. Tennis Canada owns and operates the premier Rogers Cup presented by National Bank WTA and ATP World Tour events and one professional ITF sanctioned event. Tennis Canada also owns and financially supports 13 other professional tournaments in Canada. Tennis Canada operates junior national training centres/programs in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary. Tennis Canada is a proud member of the International Tennis Federation, the Canadian Olympic Committee, the Canadian Paralympic Committee and the International Wheelchair Tennis Association, and serves to administer, sponsor and select the teams for Davis Cup, Fed Cup, the Olympic and Paralympic Games and all wheelchair, junior and senior national teams. Tennis Canada invests its surplus into tennis development. For more information on Tennis Canada please visit our Web site at: www.tenniscanada.com and follow us on Facebookand Twitter.

SIAKAM NAMED EASTERN CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

The National Basketball Association announced Monday that Pascal Siakam has been named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played Nov. 4-10. Siakam earns the honour for the second time in his career and becomes the sixth player in franchise history win the award multiple times joining DeMar DeRozan (10), Vince Carter (7), Chris Bosh (7), Kyle Lowry (4) and Kawhi Leonard (2).

Siakam averaged team highs of 30.3 points and 11.3 rebounds as the Raptors finished the week with a perfect 3-0 record. He also shot .515 (34-for-66) from the field, .286 (6-for-21) from three-point range and .810 (17-for-21) at the free throw line. Siakam began the week by posting 23 points and 13 rebounds Nov. 6 vs. Sacramento, helping the Raptors improve to an Eastern Conference-best 4-0 at home. He then tied his career high with 44 points Nov. 8 at New Orleans, marking the second time he has recorded a 40-point game and the first time on the road. Siakam finished the week by leading the Raptors with 24 points and 11 rebounds in a 113-104 comeback victory Nov. 10 against the Los Angeles Lakers, snapping the Lakers’ seven game winning streak.

A native of Cameroon, Siakam was selected 27^th overall in the 2016 NBA Draft following two seasons at New Mexico State. He was named the NBA’s Most Improved Player during the 2018-19 campaign and the MVP of the 2017 NBA G League Finals. 

-RAPTORS-

https://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/story/2019-11-10/lakers-winning-streak-ends-against-shorthanded-raptorshttps://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/story/2019-11-10/lakers-winning-streak-ends-against-shorthanded-raptors

From the Los Angeles Times

 TANIA GANGULISTAFF WRITER NOV. 10, 2019 9:15 PM

On Sunday night, the Lakers faced an opponent that refused to wallow in its recent misfortune.

The Toronto Raptors preferred to sprint past it.

They ended the Lakers’ winning streak at seven, beating the team with the best record in the NBA 113-104.

The Raptors (7-2) won despite missing two key players, and despite a triple-double from LeBron James and 27 points from Anthony Davis for the Lakers (7-2). Toronto was led by Pascal Siakam (24 points) and Fred VanVleet (23), and also received impactful performances off the bench from Chris Boucher (15 points) and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (10).

“They are the best, the fastest team in the league, [most] fast-break points per game,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “We knew that coming in. We had to execute offensively, and when we didn’t it was going to be a run-out that we couldn’t recover from. We’ve been showing great effort in transition defense, getting back in sprints and trying to make recovery plays. But that wasn’t really there for us tonight and it cost us.”

The Raptors are the defending NBA champions, but they entered this game looking very different from the team that toppled the Golden State Warriors in June. Kawhi Leonard left to play for the Clippers, Danny Green joined the Lakers, and on Friday starters Kyle Lowry (fractured hand) and Serge Ibaka (sprained ankle) suffered injuries that sidelined them for Sunday and beyond.

That meant players like Boucher, who came into the game averaging six minutes per game and whose name Davis struggled to pronounce afterward, Hollis-Jefferson and former Lakers developmental league player Matt Thomas all got early playing time and a chance to make their mark.

“They still got championship players, no matter,” said James, who had 13 points on five-for-15 shooting to go with 15 assists and 13 rebounds. “They were short-handed but they still got guys who are championship DNA players, so we didn’t take that lightly, and the guys that came in gave them a good boost.”

LAKERSColumn: Lakers’ loss is part of learning process as reality sets in1 hour ago

They forced Siakam to miss 10 of his first 13 shots, including all five three-point attempts. The Lakers’ bench outscored the Raptors’ 29-16 in the first half, and while L.A. trailed in fast-break points, the disparity wasn’t stark (11-8).

Then Toronto figured out a way to take the game from them, dominating the second half. The Raptors showed how dangerous they can be on fastbreaks, and held the Lakers to 18 points in the third quarter.

The Lakers didn’t have a single fastbreak point in the second half, while the Raptors had 21.

Kyle Kuzma called transition defense the Lakers’ “Achilles’ heel,” albeit one talked about less during their winning streak.

“There was times where we were crashing, or corner guys are not getting back,” Davis said. “And once they get the rebound they have four guys who can get it and push it … And their guys are running. So it was a little bit of an effort thing where we wasn’t getting back.”

With 3:50 left in the game, the Lakers trailed by 12 and had one final burst left.

Kuzma, who had two points in the first three quarters, hit back-to-back threes to bring the Lakers to within six. A pair of free throws by James cut the deficit to four, but that was as close as the Lakers came. They missed five three-pointers in the next two minutes, while the Raptors just kept running.

“They played a better basketball game and credit the Raptors,” Vogel said. “They were terrific tonight. The guys that had started the game, but their guys coming off the bench with opportunities to play they don’t normally get, they made the best of it.”

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  MORE FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

• LAKERSLakers hopeful Rajon Rondo will make season debut against Raptors on SundayNov. 9, 2019
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• LAKERSWoike: Lakers’ trust in Frank Vogel exemplified in team’s hot startNov. 8, 2019
• LAKERSLeBron James turns on ‘attack mode’ as Lakers beat Heat to extend winning streakNov. 8, 2019

A

HEAD COACH MIKE BABCOCK

On tonight’s game:

We didn’t start very good, obviously. They shot it in our net. We thought we competed way earlier than the third but, in the end, we didn’t compete good enough or enough to win. So, we had lots of chances, their goalie was real solid, made lots of saves. In saying that, the first 10 minutes of the game wasn’t good enough. You spend the whole night battling, we were right there, we were right there for our opportunity at the end, but in the end we leave disappointed. It’s not going to go your way every night but you want to start better.

On his confidence level in Hutchinson:

I think big thing to do always is after a game, instead of commenting a whole bunch, I always want to watch the whole game and see where it’s at and go through every situation. There were a couple of – a power play goal where we left the net, there was another where we left the net – so I put those on us and not on the goaltender, but we’ll have a look at it.

On the play of Matthews and Nylander:

I thought they were dominant. I thought Kane’s line was dominant and I thought they were dominant and I played them way too much, but they were dominant and they played well, those guys.

On Nylander’s recent play:

I just think, obviously, right now he’s battling way harder so he has the puck way more and you end up with more shots and then you score a bit, you get more confidence and now you hit your spot because you take the time you need to hit your spot.

On the team approaching back-to-backs:

We haven’t done a good enough job this year. That was our fourth or fifth one this year and we’re 0-5 in those games – I think we’ve got one point if I’m not mistaken. That’s not good enough. We have [14] back-to-backs this year, you’ve got to get going, you’ve got to get points, you’ve got to get playing well. You have to leave the rink feeling good. We’ve just been on a good real good run here, feeling good about ourselves, started to get our swagger back and then we have to get regrouped after today.

On how he feels about Marner’s absence moving forward:

Well, no different than last night. Obviously, I talked to Mitch a few times here today. I’m disappointed for Mitch, I’m disappointed for our hockey team. In saying that, someone else is going to get an opportunity. As a coach, we’ve got to figure it out, get our lines – we had a different line for each period – we’ve got to get our lines right to maximize the group we have, get the right people in the right spots. That’ll give us a day tomorrow to figure it out and get back at it and figure it out.

On if he expects Hyman back next week:

Yeah, I thought we’ve had Hyman for a while though so I don’t want to get ahead of myself but I think we’re optimistic that’ll he’ll get going now. He’s probably not going to be the Hyman we all know, reasonably speaking that’s probably unfair, but we’d like to get him back, obviously.

MICHAEL HUTCHINSON (29 SAVES)

On the team’s overall game tonight:

I think if you look at what we did in the third period, I think that’s more the team that we can be like on a consistent basis. We played most of the third period in their zone, we got pucks to the net, we got to the rebounds and got retrievals. I think the third period is what we’ll look towards and looking at what we did there for success moving forward and trying to emulate that night in and night out.

On his own play tonight:

Obviously, five goals is never great. That first period they made some good plays, some high-end chances with some high-end skill players. The first one is a little bit of an unlucky bounce and from there the fifth goal, looking back on that, that one stings a bit. That’s one, a big save in the third period, is one you’d like to come up with. Knowing how the guys are pushing in the third period, it’s unfortunate I wasn’t able to make that save and give us a chance to come away with at least a point tonight.

AUSTON MATTHEWS (4 ASSISTS)

On going down 0-3 early in the first period:

I don’t know, it’s obviously been a bit of a problem for us this year. These back-to-backs have been killing us, especially that first period, so, I mean, we’ve just been finding ourselves in a hole early and having to crawl out of it. On one side you’re proud of the guys in this room for trying to crawl our way back but we shouldn’t have been in that situation to begin with.

On the team’s frustration level:

Well it’s really frustrating, I think everyone in the locker room is frustrated. I think it’s just the mindset coming in, that first period we’ve got to be ready to play, it’s got to come within each other, within the guys that lead this group and wear letters. We’ve got to be ready to go from puck drop. Tonight we left [Hutchinson] out to dry in that first period. I mean there’s really nothing he can do on any of those goals so that’s really on us.

WILLIAM NYLANDER (2 GOALS)

On the news that Mitch Marner will miss time due to injury and the importance of his line:

It’s tough to hear that, hopefully he has a speedy recovery and I’ve got to step it up here down the stretch.

On tonight’s start to the game:

I think we were just slow. They came out humming and we were just flat footed and then it was too late to get going. It’s something we’ve got to do better on back-to-backs.

On playing against his brother:

Of course it’s special playing here, been here a lot when I was a kid and playing against your brother is always special. Too bad we couldn’t come out on top tonight, though.

JOHN TAVARES (1 GOAL, 1 ASSIST)

On falling behind 0-3 early in the game:

It’s not good enough. It starts with myself, leaving our goalie out to dry, one of the best players in the league coming down the slot, uncovered, untouched. We made it too easy for them and then the rest of the game we played hard, we competed, structure was much better and we gave ourselves a great opportunity, we just can’t start like we did and, again, it starts with me.

On the news that Mitch Marner will miss a minimum of four weeks:

Well, we’ve had injuries already this year, it’s part of the game. No question Mitch is a huge part of our team, huge part of our success. It’s an opportunity for guys to step up, not expecting anyone to be Mitch, but as a group I think we have a lot of depth, a lot of talent to do the job we need to do.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (9-5-4 – 22 Points) vs.

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (6-7-4 – 16 Points)

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2019

GAME SUMMARY         |           EVENT SUMMARY        |           FACEOFF SUMMARY

ON THE SCORESHEET

• William Nylander put the Maple Leafs on the board at 16:29 of the first period before scoring Toronto’s second goal of the night at 2:27 of the third period. Tonight’s game is Nylander’s first multi-goal performance of the season and the sixth multi-goal performance of his career. He has had three multi-point performances over his last four games.
• John Tavares scored the third Maple Leafs goal of the game on the power play at 12:41 of the third period before registering the primary assist on Andreas Johnsson’s third period goal. Tavares has four points (2-2-4) over his last three games played.
• Andreas Johnsson had the primary assist on Tavares’ third period goal before scoring Toronto’s fourth goal of the night on the power play at 19:18 of the third period. Tonight’s game is Johnsson’s third multi-point performance of the season.
• Auston Matthews collected the lone assist on Nylander’s first and third period goals before picking up the secondary assist on Tavares’ third period goal and Johnsson’s third period goal. Tonight’s game is Matthews’ second consecutive multi-assist performance of the season. He has nine points (2-7-9) over his last four games.
• Michael Hutchinson stopped 29 shots in the loss.

SHOTS ON GOAL (5-on-5 in brackets)

SHOT ATTEMPTS (5-on-5 in brackets)

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

MAPLE LEAFS LEADERS

RECORD WHEN…

OF NOTE…

• The Maple Leafs went 4-for-5 on the penalty kill and 2-for-5 on the power play tonight.
• Tyson Barrie was on the ice for a team-high 31 Toronto shot attempts-for at 5-on-5 tonight. He finished the game with a 5-on-5 shot attempt percentage of 64.6 percent (31 for, 17 against).
• Cody Ceci and Frederik Gauthier were the lone Maple Leafs to not start a 5-on-5 shift in the offensive zone.
• John Tavares won 64 percent (7 won, 4 lost) of his faceoffs when matched up with Chicago centre Jonathan Toews.

UPCOMING GAMES:

• Wednesday, November 13, 7:00 p.m. at New York Islanders (Sportsnet, FAN 590)
• Friday, November 15, 7:00 p.m. vs. Boston Bruins (TSN4, TSN 1050)
• Saturday, November 16, 7:00 p.m. at Pittsburgh Penguins (Sportsnet, TSN 1050)
• Tuesday, November 19, 10:00 p.m. at Vegas Golden Knights (TSN4, TSN 1050)
• Thursday, November 21, 9:00 p.m. at Arizona Coyotes (Sportsnet Ontario, FAN 590)