MONTREAL—A couple of weeks ago, former Montreal Canadiens tough guy Georges Laraque was running five or six days a week as he trained for a marathon. Now, the former NHL enforcer’s biggest challenge is trying to breathe clearly as he fights COVID-19 from a hospital on Montreal’s South Shore. “Now I can’t even get up
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A couple of weeks ago, former Montreal Canadiens tough guy Georges Laraque was running five or six days a week as he trained for a marathon. Now, the former NHL enforcer’s biggest challenge is trying to breathe clearly as he fights COVID-19 from a hospital on Montreal’s South Shore. “Now I can’t even get up
San Jose Sharks centre Joe Thornton, 40, is the NHL’s ultimate graybeard. But that famed long, bushy beard is no longer. The clean-shaven Thornton was unveiled Saturday in a funny Sharks tweet in which his daughter, Ayla, does an “I Dream of Jeannie” imitation to show off the new, younger look. The six-time All-Star’s beard
The NHL could face another hurdle if the league decides to continue the 2019-20 season in the near future — getting non-Canadian resident players across the border to join their respective teams. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday that players would — at a minimum — need to follow quarantine protocols if they were to
Ken Hitchcock remembers eagerly attending coaching symposiums in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The goal was simple: soak up as much hockey information as possible. Summer seminars lasting up to a week — the programs were held at universities and attendees stayed in dorms — provided a window into some of the game’s most
Kelly Babstock is ready to have her name written in hockey’s history books. Babstock, from Mississauga, Ont., signed with the new Toronto franchise of the National Women’s Hockey League on Saturday. Toronto’s new team was announced on April 22, and is the first Canadian city to have a club in the American NWHL. “It’s a
Owen Brady got up early last Sunday morning, strapped on his workout gear and went for a long bike ride. Had it not been for the continued lockdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Brady would have been celebrating something that was 18 months in the works. The 17-year-old defenceman would have been participating in the
The NHL is hoping to convince teams the league should move the 2020 draft to early June and hold it virtually, according to a report. ESPN said Saturday that it obtained a memo sent by deputy commissioner Bill Daly to teams that laid out the benefits of holding the draft in early June. It currently
OTTAWA—The Ottawa Senators have signed Russian defenceman Artem Zub to a one-year, entry-level contract. The 24-year-old spent the 2019-20 season with SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League, where he set career-highs in goals (13), assists (nine) and points (22). The six-foot-two, 198-pound blue-liner also finished tied for the KHL lead with a plus-35
Connor McDavid vividly remembers the thrill of the 2015 NHL draft. Hearing his name called by the Edmonton Oilers, the roar of the crowd, climbing on stage, the hand shake with commissioner Gary Bettman, pulling on a crisp, new jersey. “It’s such a special experience,” McDavid recalled recently. Auston Matthews had the same thrill 12
Connor McDavid vividly remembers the thrill of the 2015 NHL draft. Hearing his name called by the Edmonton Oilers, the roar of the crowd, climbing on stage, the hand shake with commissioner Gary Bettman, pulling on a crisp, new jersey. “It’s such a special experience,” McDavid recalled recently. Auston Matthews had the same thrill 12
Former NHL goaltender and current Calgary Flames colour commentator Kelly Hrudey has never shied away from talking about mental health, and he is continuing to bring awareness to the important issue in an effort to help those struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social distancing measures and the current global health situation have increased the challenges faced by those suffering from mental
Former NHL player Georges Laraque has tested positive for COVID-19. The 43-year-old Laraque made the announcement on social media Thursday alongside a photo of himself in a hospital gown. The veteran of 695 NHL games said: “I guess I’m not invincible, just got diagnosed with Covid, since I’m asthmatic, not the best news, will fight
In the hours that followed the horrific Humboldt Broncos bus crash on the evening of April 6, 2018 and as the full scope of the tragedy was being realized, there was that photo — three young men on hospital beds holding hands. Teammates Derek Patter, Nick Shumlanski and Graysen Cameron were clinging to one another.
Ivan Provorov is one of the lucky ones during the pause in the NHL’s season because of the coronavirus pandemic. He is staying with his billet family in Wilkes-Barre —he lived there as a teenager after moving from Russia —and not only has access to a full gym at the house, but is one of
The NHL is in no rush to return from its shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic, with commissioner Gary Bettman saying the end of the current season could push back the start of next season as far as December. Speaking Thursday on NHL Network, Bettman said, “We have a great deal of flexibility in terms
The roster of NHL owners includes some heavyweights in the world of billionaires. Among them are Walmart heir Ann Walton Kroenke and her commercial real estate magnate husband, Stan Kroenke (Colorado Avalanche); real estate/arena operator Philip Anschutz and partner Edward Roski Jr. (Kings); Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli and his wife, Susan (Ducks); and assorted software,
There has recently been lots of hopeful chatter about how and when professional sports will emerge from the Coronavirus lockdown. The NBA has announced players could soon start practising again. And the NHL and MLB continue to float scenarios that would see its players get back into action. All of these plans must confront serious