Canadian Women Kick Off Olympic Qualifying Looking to Recapture
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
10 Sports WWW.PGCITIZEN.CA | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016 Sens, Leafs make blockbuster Phaneuf trade Jonas SIEGEL The Canadian Press TORONTO — For the Ottawa Senators the help comes now, for the Toronto Maple Leafs it comes later. A mammoth nine-player swap between Ontario rivals Tuesday saw Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf land in the nation’s capital in a trade that props up a mostly inexperienced Ottawa defence while shedding Toronto of another core player and his long-term contract, one that carries a US$7-million annual salary-cap hit and expires in 2021. “I think both parties ended up where they want to be at this moment,” Senators general manager Bryan Murray said of the trade. “We’ll see now how it works out.” Phaneuf, at the very least, upgrades the Senators’ back CP FILE PHOTO end as they Canada’s Desiree Scott fights for the ball with England’s Jodie Taylor during a FIFA World Cup quarter-final match race to catch up in Vancouver on June 27, 2015. in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The 30-year-old instantly adds Canadian women kick off Olympic qualifying experience, penalty-killing acumen and some offensive looking to recapture London magic capability to an PHANEUF Erik Karlsson-led Neil DAVIDSON The Canadian Press Sinclair had no idea at a December are having to do.” group that features four defenders with less than tournament in Brazil that she was about While Fleming was part of the World 300 games of NHL experience. Christine Sinclair and Desiree Scott to match Hamm. Cup squad, the other newcomers come Phaneuf recently played his 800th career NHL can record personal milestones at the “I’m kind of in disbelief and shock in fully versed in Canada’s tactics game, a total that far surpasses any of his new team- CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualify- about it, to be honest,” she said. “When having played the same way on junior mates on defence. ing Championship in Texas. I started with the national team and national teams. Murray had been looking for a left-shooting But Sinclair’s 159th goal and Scott’s even before that, Mia Hamm was the In London, the average age of Herd- defenceman to play on one of his top two pairs, a 100th cap will hopefully just be face of women’s soccer in the world. I man’s team was pushing 29 to 30. The hole that Phaneuf immediately fills. He’s expected signposts on Canada’s road to the Rio remember thinking ‘Oh my God, she average here is 25. to play alongside 22-year-old Cody Ceci when the Olympics. scored so many goals for the U.S.’ Just Herdman will lean on the veterans Senators visit the Detroit Red Wings tonight. After a somewhat disappointing something I never thought would hap- but will look to the youth to help pro- “He’ll just bring, we hope, a presence to this World Cup last summer on home soil, pen, someone I never though I’d catch. vide pace in attack and fill a gap at left organization,” said Murray. “We don’t expect him where Canada was beaten by England “I’m not going to lie, It will be nice centre back in defence. to come in here to be a saviour. We expect him to in the quarter-finals, John Herdman’s to get another goal and move on from Herdman says Sinclair is Sinclair. come here and just be the hockey player he is.” team hopes to recapture some of the that,” she added. “She just brings Christine every game. Phaneuf was enjoying one of his better seasons as magic that led to Olympic bronze four Scott’s next cap, meanwhile, will be her The key is the players around her. And a Leaf, a redemptive one in many ways following a years ago in England. 100th, which will elevate her to Canada’s when they step up to new levels of challenging 2014-15 season which saw him finish Getting to Rio is Job 1 and that starts current century club alongside Sinclair performance and achieve their personal with just 29 points. The Leafs, in a likely attempt to this week in Texas, where two Olympic (232 caps) and fellow forward Me- best, they take Christine to a new level. prop him up for just such a trade, were employing berths from North and Central America lissa Tancredi (109), midfielders Diana “And that’s the key to Christine’s suc- their captain in less strenuous duties under new and the Caribbean are up for grabs. Matheson (178) and Sophie Schmidt cess with this Canadian team. She has head coach Mike Babcock. Phaneuf was no longer The eight-team qualifying tourna- (137), fullback Rhian Wilkinson (168) to have players around here that are matched up against top lines, killing fewer penalties ment opens Wednesday with Group A and goalkeeper Erin McLeod (112). stepping up to new levels to give her the and getting more looks in the offensive zone. play in Frisco, where the top-ranked The Houston roster features 13 play- opportunities to do what she do, which On pace for nearly 40 points and averaging 22 U.S. plays No. 34 Costa Rica and ers who were part of the World Cup is score goals.” minutes per game, Phaneuf will get a fresh start No. 108 Puerto Rico faces No. 26 Mexico. Canada campaign and seven from the While the U.S. and Canada are heavy with his third NHL team, all of them Canadian. On Thursday, No. 11 Canada opens London Olympics. favourites to meet in the Texas final, Beyond the injected experience, the Senators Group B play in Houston against No. 89 But Herdman has blended youth Herdman cautions nothing can be taken have to hope that Phaneuf helps them defensively. Guyana while No. 76 Guatemala takes with that experience, selecting seven for granted. The Senators surrender a league-high of more than on No. 48 Trinidad and Tobago. players 20 years old and under includ- “The gap in women’s football has 33 shots per game and yield more than three goals After pool play, the top two teams in ing three teenagers: Deanne Rose (16) changed massively, similar to the men’s nightly, the third-worst mark in the league. each group will play crossover matches and Gabrielle Carle and Jessie Fleming game ... Going into this CONCACAF with the semifinal winners advancing to (both 17). (tournament) Canada can’t have that Rio de Janeiro. “With these kids, the future is in great mindset that this is an absolute given,” For the 32-year-old Sinclair, Canada’s hands,” said Sinclair, who cites a differ- he said. “We’re going to have to work Horvat’s two points talisman, it’s a chance at a third Olym- ent energy and excitement about the for this.” pics. En route the Canadian skipper can team. The Canadian women learned that lead Canucks past Avalanche move past Mia Hamm into second place “These kids have no baggage,” she firsthand when they lost to Mexico in on the all-time women’s scoring list added. “They’re just here to play and qualifying for the 2004 Athens Games. The Associated Press with one more goal, her 159th. Ameri- have fun and express themselves. It’s “For those of us that experienced that, can Abby Wambach tops the list with incredible to see. But I’m glad I’m not it’s one of those feelings you refuse to DENVER — Bo Horvat had a goal and an assist, 184 goals. doing high school homework like they let happen again,” said Sinclair. Jacob Markstrom made 29 saves and chipped in with an assist, and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Colo- rado Avalanche 3-1 on Tuesday night. Sven Baertschi and Matt Bartkowski also had goals for the Canucks, who stopped a four-game winless streak. Vancouver’s recent 0-3-1 stretch had dropped them to fifth in the Pacific Division. Francois Beauchemin scored the lone goal for Colo- rado, and Semyon Varlamov had 25 saves while the Avalanche continued to scuffle on home ice, where they are 12-13-4..