Latest news with #Capitals
Calgary Herald
16 hours ago
- Business
- Calgary Herald
SIMMONS SAYS: The Florida Panthers are one of hockey's greatest teams
Article content HEAR AND THERE Article content The 2025 Hockey Hall of Fame Class will be introduced on Tuesday. So here's my Hall of Fame class a few days early: I'll start with the long-overdue Alexander Mogilny and then add the three first-time eligible Carey Price, Zdeno Chara and Joe Thornton. And apologies to Duncan Keith, who deserves first-ballot Hall of Fame entry but there's only room for four players … My Builder, who has been passed over for far too long, is women's hockey executive Fran Rider. And my choice from the women's side as a player, Jennifer Botterill, who also should have been added by now …. So how exactly did lower taxes in Florida help GM Zito trade for Sam Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk, Bennett, Seth Jones, Brad Marchand and Brandon Montour? Anybody anywhere do better trading than that? And how did lower tax rates in Florida help the Lightning draft Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point over a short period of time? Do they have an accountant as their chief scout? By the way, the Dallas Stars have been in a state without taxes long before the NHL went to a salary cap. They have won the Stanley Cup only once — and that came on an illegal goal in 1999. One more thing: Nashville has won no Stanley Cups in 26 years in business and might be the best place to live in America. How have the tax laws helped the Predators, who had a Hall of Fame general manager in David Poile? … The last three teams to win back-to-back Stanley Cups had terrific third lines: Florida had Anton Lundell centring Eetu Luostarinen and Marchand; Tampa had Yanni Gourde centring Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow; And before that, Pittsburgh had Nick Bonino centring Phil Kessel and Carl Hagelin. The Lundell-Luostarinen-Marchand line finished these playoffs with 57 points. The HBK line had 56 in 2016 … The best defensive defencemen in hockey: 1. Jaccob Slavin of Carolina; 2. Gustav Forsling of Florida; 3. Chris Tanev of Toronto … How great is the combination of Barkov and Forsling on the Panthers? Well, add this up: McDavid had just four even-strength points in the Stanley Cup final and was a minus-7. Last year, he had eight even-strength points and was plus-5 … Washington's Brian MacLellan did not get nominated for the Jim Gregory Award as general manager of the year for one simple reason. He wasn't the general manager of the Capitals this season. Chris Patrick was. But MacLellan was GM last June and early July when the Capitals made eight roster changes to vault them into a first-place season. If there was a GM of the year award for someone no longer a GM, it would go to MacLellan. Article content Article content SCENE AND HEARD Article content Sunday night is Game 7 of the NBA Finals that will not end. And possibly it willl be history in the making. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could become the first Canadian basketball player to win the MVP, the championship with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and win the Finals MVP all in the same year. Steve Nash has won MVPs but never won a title. Other Canadians, most notably Jamal Murray and Andrew Wiggins, have been significant parts of championship teams. But to win all three, if that happens Sunday night against the Indiana Pacers, is something that may only happen once. And you can pencil Gilgeous-Alexander in as Canadian athlete of the year if all this goes his way … Mark Walter, soon to own controlling interest in the Los Angeles Lakers, is already the majority owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the owner of the Professional Women's Hockey League. The league championship trophy is actually called the Walter Cup … As big as Shohei Ohtani may be to American sports and as a large a figure as Patrick Mahomes may be, Caitlin Clark may well be the most significant sporting figure, not necessarily the richest, in North American sports . When she plays, WNBA television audiences are huge. When she doesn't play, and she was injured recently, audiences are tiny. No single athlete moves the needle at this time the way Clark does, and watching her play, she brings a Gretzky-element to her sport. She finds players open that no one knows are there … One year, Mike Krushelnyski scored 88 points playing alongside Gretzky in Edmonton. The rest of his career, he averaged 48 points a game … The WNBA is damn foolish if it doesn't start protecting Clark better than it has through a season and a half … Just when you think you've seen everything in the CFL,. along comes Friday's Argo game. Trailing the entire night, the Argos tie the game in the final seconds against Saskatchewan with a touchdown and a two-point conversion. And they kick off and you expect overtime, not a 99-yard touchdown return to win the game for the Roughriders. Honestly, there is nothing in sports like the last three minutes of a CFL game. Even if you don't care who wins … This is the strangest Blue Jays season I can remember. The Jays spent $15 million on Max Scherzer, $92 million on Anthony Santander and inherited the oversized contract of Andres Gimenez — all of them the kinds of deals that could get a GM fired — and here are the Jays are in position to challenge for the American League East. Go figure. Article content Article content AND ANOTHER THING Article content The next time you hear Mitch Marner talk about his close friends Auston Matthews and William Nylander, understand this. One of the apparent reasons Marner wants out in Toronto is he truly believes he gets more heat for Leafs troubles than either Matthews or Nylander get. Can you say Mitchell Petty? … The NHL free agent class, Marner aside, is rather limited. The Maple Leafs' needs are many. It's easy to have doubt about where the Leafs are headed. But I'll go to a year ago on this: Leafs needed a goaltender and signed Anthony Stolarz for $2.5 million a year. They needed a lead defenceman and signed Tanev for $4.5 million a year. GM Brad Treliving spent $7 million for near all-stars in goal and on defence. That's value buying. Can he do it again? … If the Leafs have Matthews and Matthew Knies on one line, John Tavares and Nylander on another, what they still don't have is anything resembling the third line of the Panthers, assuming that Florida re-signs playoff star Bennett, which I'm assuming. I had been hearing since mid-winter in Florida that the Panthers would be re-signing Bennett but not likely defenceman Aaron Ekblad. I still believe that to be the economic case … Does the possibility of a Matthews-Knies-Marchand line excite you? I still wonder about Marchand. He looked rather lost at the 4 Nations tournament playing for Team Canada, then finished second in Conn Smythe voting in the playoffs. So which player will he be next year or in the future? If the Leafs commit to Marchand in free agency, it remains something of a gamble … What a nice pickup Jonathan Toews is for the Winnipeg Jets, no matter how much he has left. The Jets are a team that has to learn how to win when it matters. Toews is a professor on the subject … Who would have ever believed this would happen: The Edmonton football team, now foolishly known as the Elks, are the saddest in-stadium, ticket-selling team in Canadian football. We expect all that in Toronto. We should never expect that in Edmonton … The greatest teams in Canadian sports history (modern version): The five-time Grey Cup champion Edmonton Eskimos with Tom Wilkinson, Warren Moon and Dan Kepley; The Scotty Bowman-Guy Lafleur-Ken Dryden Montreal Canadians; The Pat Gillick-Cito Gaston-Roberto Alomar Toronto Blue Jays. The Glen Sather-Gretzky-Mark Messier Edmonton Oilers; The Masai Ujiri-Kawhi Leonard-Kyle Lowry Toronto Raptors. The Mike O'Shea-Zach Collaros Winnipeg Blue Bombers … Best way to win a Stanley Cup. Fire Dale Tallon. All Tallon left behind when he was let go by the Panthers as general manager: Barkov, Bobrovsky, Ekblad, Lundell, Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar (traded for Tkachuk) and Spencer Knight (traded for Seth Jones Jr.). When he was fired by the Blackhawks, all he left behind was Keith, Toews, Patrick Kane — three Hall of Famers — Patrick Sharp, Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Seabrook, Nic Hjalmarsson and several other quality players … Happy birthday to Paul Beeston (80), Scottie Scheffler (29), Josh Naylor (28), Tyler O'Neill (30), Danny Green (38), Dustin Johnson (41), Clyde Drexler (63), Richard Jefferson (45), Kurt Warner (54), Ron Low (75) and Bob Bourne (71) … And hey, whatever became of Ilya Bryzgalov?
Ottawa Citizen
16 hours ago
- Business
- Ottawa Citizen
SIMMONS SAYS: The Florida Panthers are one of hockey's greatest teams
Article content HEAR AND THERE Article content The 2025 Hockey Hall of Fame Class will be introduced on Tuesday. So here's my Hall of Fame class a few days early: I'll start with the long-overdue Alexander Mogilny and then add the three first-time eligible Carey Price, Zdeno Chara and Joe Thornton. And apologies to Duncan Keith, who deserves first-ballot Hall of Fame entry but there's only room for four players … My Builder, who has been passed over for far too long, is women's hockey executive Fran Rider. And my choice from the women's side as a player, Jennifer Botterill, who also should have been added by now …. So how exactly did lower taxes in Florida help GM Zito trade for Sam Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk, Bennett, Seth Jones, Brad Marchand and Brandon Montour? Anybody anywhere do better trading than that? And how did lower tax rates in Florida help the Lightning draft Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point over a short period of time? Do they have an accountant as their chief scout? By the way, the Dallas Stars have been in a state without taxes long before the NHL went to a salary cap. They have won the Stanley Cup only once — and that came on an illegal goal in 1999. One more thing: Nashville has won no Stanley Cups in 26 years in business and might be the best place to live in America. How have the tax laws helped the Predators, who had a Hall of Fame general manager in David Poile? … The last three teams to win back-to-back Stanley Cups had terrific third lines: Florida had Anton Lundell centring Eetu Luostarinen and Marchand; Tampa had Yanni Gourde centring Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow; And before that, Pittsburgh had Nick Bonino centring Phil Kessel and Carl Hagelin. The Lundell-Luostarinen-Marchand line finished these playoffs with 57 points. The HBK line had 56 in 2016 … The best defensive defencemen in hockey: 1. Jaccob Slavin of Carolina; 2. Gustav Forsling of Florida; 3. Chris Tanev of Toronto … How great is the combination of Barkov and Forsling on the Panthers? Well, add this up: McDavid had just four even-strength points in the Stanley Cup final and was a minus-7. Last year, he had eight even-strength points and was plus-5 … Washington's Brian MacLellan did not get nominated for the Jim Gregory Award as general manager of the year for one simple reason. He wasn't the general manager of the Capitals this season. Chris Patrick was. But MacLellan was GM last June and early July when the Capitals made eight roster changes to vault them into a first-place season. If there was a GM of the year award for someone no longer a GM, it would go to MacLellan. Article content Article content SCENE AND HEARD Article content Sunday night is Game 7 of the NBA Finals that will not end. And possibly it willl be history in the making. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could become the first Canadian basketball player to win the MVP, the championship with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and win the Finals MVP all in the same year. Steve Nash has won MVPs but never won a title. Other Canadians, most notably Jamal Murray and Andrew Wiggins, have been significant parts of championship teams. But to win all three, if that happens Sunday night against the Indiana Pacers, is something that may only happen once. And you can pencil Gilgeous-Alexander in as Canadian athlete of the year if all this goes his way … Mark Walter, soon to own controlling interest in the Los Angeles Lakers, is already the majority owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the owner of the Professional Women's Hockey League. The league championship trophy is actually called the Walter Cup … As big as Shohei Ohtani may be to American sports and as a large a figure as Patrick Mahomes may be, Caitlin Clark may well be the most significant sporting figure, not necessarily the richest, in North American sports . When she plays, WNBA television audiences are huge. When she doesn't play, and she was injured recently, audiences are tiny. No single athlete moves the needle at this time the way Clark does, and watching her play, she brings a Gretzky-element to her sport. She finds players open that no one knows are there … One year, Mike Krushelnyski scored 88 points playing alongside Gretzky in Edmonton. The rest of his career, he averaged 48 points a game … The WNBA is damn foolish if it doesn't start protecting Clark better than it has through a season and a half … Just when you think you've seen everything in the CFL,. along comes Friday's Argo game. Trailing the entire night, the Argos tie the game in the final seconds against Saskatchewan with a touchdown and a two-point conversion. And they kick off and you expect overtime, not a 99-yard touchdown return to win the game for the Roughriders. Honestly, there is nothing in sports like the last three minutes of a CFL game. Even if you don't care who wins … This is the strangest Blue Jays season I can remember. The Jays spent $15 million on Max Scherzer, $92 million on Anthony Santander and inherited the oversized contract of Andres Gimenez — all of them the kinds of deals that could get a GM fired — and here are the Jays are in position to challenge for the American League East. Go figure. Article content Article content AND ANOTHER THING Article content The next time you hear Mitch Marner talk about his close friends Auston Matthews and William Nylander, understand this. One of the apparent reasons Marner wants out in Toronto is he truly believes he gets more heat for Leafs troubles than either Matthews or Nylander get. Can you say Mitchell Petty? … The NHL free agent class, Marner aside, is rather limited. The Maple Leafs' needs are many. It's easy to have doubt about where the Leafs are headed. But I'll go to a year ago on this: Leafs needed a goaltender and signed Anthony Stolarz for $2.5 million a year. They needed a lead defenceman and signed Tanev for $4.5 million a year. GM Brad Treliving spent $7 million for near all-stars in goal and on defence. That's value buying. Can he do it again? … If the Leafs have Matthews and Matthew Knies on one line, John Tavares and Nylander on another, what they still don't have is anything resembling the third line of the Panthers, assuming that Florida re-signs playoff star Bennett, which I'm assuming. I had been hearing since mid-winter in Florida that the Panthers would be re-signing Bennett but not likely defenceman Aaron Ekblad. I still believe that to be the economic case … Does the possibility of a Matthews-Knies-Marchand line excite you? I still wonder about Marchand. He looked rather lost at the 4 Nations tournament playing for Team Canada, then finished second in Conn Smythe voting in the playoffs. So which player will he be next year or in the future? If the Leafs commit to Marchand in free agency, it remains something of a gamble … What a nice pickup Jonathan Toews is for the Winnipeg Jets, no matter how much he has left. The Jets are a team that has to learn how to win when it matters. Toews is a professor on the subject … Who would have ever believed this would happen: The Edmonton football team, now foolishly known as the Elks, are the saddest in-stadium, ticket-selling team in Canadian football. We expect all that in Toronto. We should never expect that in Edmonton … The greatest teams in Canadian sports history (modern version): The five-time Grey Cup champion Edmonton Eskimos with Tom Wilkinson, Warren Moon and Dan Kepley; The Scotty Bowman-Guy Lafleur-Ken Dryden Montreal Canadians; The Pat Gillick-Cito Gaston-Roberto Alomar Toronto Blue Jays. The Glen Sather-Gretzky-Mark Messier Edmonton Oilers; The Masai Ujiri-Kawhi Leonard-Kyle Lowry Toronto Raptors. The Mike O'Shea-Zach Collaros Winnipeg Blue Bombers … Best way to win a Stanley Cup. Fire Dale Tallon. All Tallon left behind when he was let go by the Panthers as general manager: Barkov, Bobrovsky, Ekblad, Lundell, Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar (traded for Tkachuk) and Spencer Knight (traded for Seth Jones Jr.). When he was fired by the Blackhawks, all he left behind was Keith, Toews, Patrick Kane — three Hall of Famers — Patrick Sharp, Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Seabrook, Nic Hjalmarsson and several other quality players … Happy birthday to Paul Beeston (80), Scottie Scheffler (29), Josh Naylor (28), Tyler O'Neill (30), Danny Green (38), Dustin Johnson (41), Clyde Drexler (63), Richard Jefferson (45), Kurt Warner (54), Ron Low (75) and Bob Bourne (71) … And hey, whatever became of Ilya Bryzgalov?
Daily Mirror
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Summertime Ball chaos as show halted and fans left confused
Capital FM's Summertime Ball was dramatically halted today - with fans in the stadium left confused. The show had been paused temporarily, attendees revealed as they shared snaps of the screens around the stadium. The Summertime Ball is taking place today at Wembley Stadium, with the likes of Mariah Carey, Benson Boone, KSI, Lola Young, Busted vs McFly, Zara Larsson, Dasha, Reneé Rapp and Jessie J all performing. Will Smith & DJ Jazzy Jeff, Tate McRae, Myles Smith and JADE are also performing at the huge event, which is expected to draw in a crowd of 80,000. However, soon into the show, fans were shown a statement from organisers on the screens. It read: "We have had to pause the show temporarily. Please remain in the stadium. We hope to restart shortly. Thank you." Fans were quick to go on Twitter and share updates from the venue. One wrote: "Capitals summertime ball is going well #summertimeball," whilst another added: "Whoops #Summertimeball." JADE is set to open the event, with fans worried her set might be cut due to the technical issues. One wrote: "Capital better not cut @jadethirlwall set short because of the lateness starting!! #CapitalSTB #capitalsummertimeball." It hasn't been confirmed but fans have said there was a power outage at the stadium.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Washington Capitals say no decision yet on Alex Ovechkin's future after email from sales staffer goes viral
Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin scores a goal in the second period against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena. The goal was the 895th of Ovechkin's career, breaking the NHL all-time career goals record. - Geoff Burke/Imagn Images/Reuters The Washington Capitals knocked down reports that next year will be NHL all-time leading goal scorer Alexander Ovechkin's last in the league, saying no decision has been made on the Russian's future. Multiple outlets quickly jumped on an email sent by a member of the team's corporate sales staff that said the 2025-2026 season would be Ovechkin's last in the league. As the claim went viral on social media, the team said the email was sent in error. Advertisement 'No decision has been made on Alex Ovechkin's future following the 2025-26 NHL season,' the team's public relations account said on X. 'An email was sent from an individual with the corporate sales department that mistakenly alluded to next year being Alex Ovechkin's final year.' Ovechkin will be 40 years old when the next NHL season begins in the fall and he'll be entering his 21st season in the league, all with the Capitals. He's also entering the final year of a five-year contract he signed in 2021. That contract ending, coupled with him breaking the record for most goals scored in NHL history in the spring, has led to much speculation about the Russian star's future. Ovechkin said after the Capitals' loss in the playoffs that he was not planning to retire after this season. When asked on May 17 about whether he would plan for the 2025-2026 season to be his last in Washington, Ovechkin was noncommittal. Advertisement 'To be honest with you, I haven't thought about it yet. But we'll see what's going to happen. Obviously, I'm going to do my best to be able to do well next year and … we'll see,' he said. Ovechkin made history this season by passing Wayne Gretzky's seemingly unbreakable record for goals during his career. He ended the season with 897 career goals, scoring 44 on the year. It's an even more remarkable number when factoring in his lengthy time off the ice due to a leg injury. He has never scored fewer than 31 goals in a full season – he scored 24 in the Covid-19-shortened 2020-21 season – and has scored more than 40 goals in 14 seasons. Ovechkin won the Stanley Cup with the Capitals in the 2017-2018 season. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at
National Post
11-06-2025
- Sport
- National Post
T.J. Oshie, Capitals Stanley Cup champion, retires at 38
Article content WASHINGTON — T.J. Oshie, who scored four shootout goals for the U.S. to beat host Russia at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and helped the Washington Capitals win the Stanley Cup in 2018, announced Monday he is retiring after playing 16 NHL seasons. Article content Oshie shared his news in front of hundreds of fans gathered at the fountains at Washington Harbour in Georgetown, seven years to the day of one of the most memorable Cup celebrations in hockey history when he and several teammates jumped into the fountains and took a dip. Article content Article content Article content President of hockey operations Brian MacLellan, general manager Chris Patrick, coach Spencer Carbery and longtime teammates Nicklas Backstrom and John Carlson came out to support Oshie as he called it a career. Article content 'My only contribution was that this could be a good day and place to have (the ceremony),' Oshie said, adding, 'I can't thank the Caps enough. Another first-class move by them to have my retirement here, invite all the people out. It really made this day special.' Article content This is my last time hanging up my skates. What an amazing journey it has been. Thank you to my family, friends, @StLouisBlues, @Capitals, fans and everyone that helped me along the way. I'm so grateful for what the game of hockey has given me and I look forward to the next… — TJ Oshie (@TJOshie77) June 11, 2025 Article content Article content The announcement had been expected for quite some time, with Oshie's contract expiring. The 38-year-old did not play this past season because of a nagging back injury that sidelined him off and on, going on long-term injured reserve instead. Article content Oshie said in the spring of 2024 he would only return to the Capitals if he found a permanent solution or fix to the issue. His final game was at home on April 28 last year against the New York Rangers, a 4-2 loss in the first round that eliminated Washington in a sweep. Article content 'I was fully prepared that could be my last game: I got the pictures taken of me taking off the skates to prove it,' Oshie said. 'I hadn't thought too much about (the end), honestly, besides that moment. Even before that moment, knowing how tough it was on really the whole team with me, what I was going through, actually saying the words out loud at the podium with my family in front of me and the Caps organization, my teammates, all my close friends, it was emotional.'
