Saturday Sports: Coyotes On The Move
NHL
COYOTES MOVING
Arizona Coyotes players have been informed the NHL club is expected to relocate to Salt Lake City, a person with knowledge of the meeting said Friday night.
General manager Bill Armstrong flew to Edmonton, Alberta, to tell players about the team’s potential move to Utah before its game against the Oilers.
Players and officials could visit Salt Lake City next week, possibly as soon as after the season finale Wednesday, which could be the final game at 5,000-seat Mullett Arena in Tempe.
Coyotes players were not available following Friday night’s 3-2 overtime win over Edmonton and coach Andre Tourigny said he would only take questions about the game.
“This team has been through a lot of adversity,” Tourigny said. “The first time the rumor came around, we didn’t manage it well and we shoot ourselves in the foot, went on a 14-game losing streak. Our guys are showing how proud they are, how much they care for each other and how much they want to have success with each other. It’s cool to feel that, cool to see them cheering each other and pushing in the same direction like that.”
The news comes amid buzz that Ryan Smith, owner of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, has been working to acquire an NHL team, a move that could include the league buying the Coyotes from Alex Meruelo and flipping it. Smith earlier this week solicited name ideas for a possible team in Salt Lake City, and the league has been working on two different drafts of the 2024-25 schedule based on whether the franchise is playing in Arizona or Utah.
WHL PLAYOFFS (Round 2)
BLADES 4 REBELS 1
(Blades lead series 1-0)
A three-point night from Fraser Minten lifted the Saskatoon Blades to a 4-1 win over the Red Deer Rebels in Western Hockey League playoff action on Friday.
Minten scored twice and notched an assist for the Blades, while Brandon Lisowsky contributed one of each.
Vaughn Watterodt rounded out the scoring for Saskatoon.
Carson Birnie replied for the Rebels 5:29 into the second period, temporarily levelling the score at 1-1.
Saskatoon goalie Evan Gardner made 16 saves and Chase Wutzke stopped 20 of 23 shots for Red Deer.
The Blades lead the best-of-seven second-round series 1-0, with Game 2 set to go Sunday in Saskatoon.
—
BRONCOS 7 WARRIORS 2
(Broncos lead best-of-seven series 1-0)
MOOSE JAW, Sask. — Josh Filmon and Brady Birnie each put up a pair of goals as Swift Current trounced Moose Jaw to open the second-round series.
Connor Hvidston, Ty Coupland and Matthew Ward also scored for the Broncos, and Reid Dyck stopped 33 of 35 shots.
The Warriors got goals from Jagger Firkus and Brayden Yager.
Moose Jaw’s Jackson Unger made 18 saves before being replaced midway through the third period. Dimitri Fortin made seven stops in relief.
—
COUGARS 4 ROCKETS 0
(Cougars lead best-of-seven series 1-0)
PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. — Joshua Ravensbergen stopped all 21 shots he faced as Prince George blanked Kelowna to open the second-round series.
The Cougars got goals from Ephram McNutt, Borya Valis, Keaton Dowhaniuk and Terik Parascak, and Zac Funk contributed a pair of assists.
Rockets goalie Jari Kykkanen stopped 29 of 33 shots.
—
WINTER HAWKS 8 SILVERTIPS 2
(Winter Hawks lead the best-of-seven series 1-0)
PORTLAND, Ore. — Two goals and an assist from Tyson Jugnauth helped Portland to a big win over Everett to open the second-round series.
Kyle Chyzowski also scored twice for the Winter Hawks, while Tyson Yaremko, Josh Davies, Nate Danielson and Jack O’Brien all added singles. Goalie Jan Spunar put up 21 saves.
The Silvertips got goals from Tarin Smith and Parker Berge.
Tyler Palmer stopped 23 shots for Portland before being pulled to start the third period. Ethan Chadwick had 16 saves in relief.
ON NHL ICE
COYOTES 3, OILERS, 2, OT
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Matias Maccelli scored 1:35 into overtime and Arizona beat Edmonton after being informed of the team’s expected move to Utah.
Josh Doan had a goal and an assist, and Logan Cooley also scored to help the Coyotes get their fourth win in five games. Karel Vejmelka stopped 37 shots.
Adam Henrique and Darnell Nurse scored for the Oilers, who snapped a three-game winning streak. Calvin Pickard finished with 25 saves.
Edmonton, playing without star forward Connor McDavid (lower-body injury), pulled to three points behind Pacific Division-leading Vancouver, and clinched at least second place and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
HURRICANES 5 BLUES 2
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jaccob Slavin scored the winning goal 7:53 into the third period and Jake Guentzel added a pair of empty-netters, lifting the Carolina Hurricanes to a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Friday night.
Slavin scored when both teams were playing with four men as Carolina wons its fourth game in a row and sixth in its last seven.
Seth Jarvis and Jordan Martinook also scored for Carolina and Frederik Andersen made 29 saves to improve to 13-2-0.
Jordan Kyrou and Zack Bolduc scored for St. Louis and Jordan Binnington made 37 saves.
PREDATORS 5, BLACKHAWKS 1
CHICAGO (AP) — Filip Forsberg got his 10th career hat trick and set a Nashville franchise record with 46 goals, and Nashville beat Chicago.
Kiefer Sherwood and Jason Zucker also scored for the playoff-bound Predators, who handed last-place Chicago its third straight loss. Luke Evangelista had two assists, and Kevin Lankinen finished with 25 saves against his former team, and also had an assist.
Philipp Kurashev scored for Chicago, and Arvid Soderblom had 35 saves.
Nashville coach Andrew Brunette gave top goalie Juuse Saros, forward Gustav Nyquist and defenseman Ryan McDonagh the night off in a roster management move. The Predators are finishing the regular season with three games in four nights, ending Monday, before starting the playoffs next weekend.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 7, WILD 2
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jack Eichel, Nicolas Roy and Pavel Dorofeyev each had a goal and an assist, Chandler Stephenson had four assists and Vegas beat Minnesota to clinch a playoff berth for the sixth time in seven seasons.
Jonathan Marchessault, Tomas Hertl, William Karlsson and Keegan Kolesar also scored goals, Chandler Stephenson had four assists and Noah Hanifin added two for the Golden Knights. Logan Thompson had 25 saves.
The Golden Knights will get a chance to defend their Stanley Cup championship after their win combined with St. Louis’ 5-2 loss to Carolina. Vegas is the second wild card in the Western Conference, one point behind Los Angeles for third place in the Pacific Division.
FLAMES 6, DUCKS 3
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Andrei Kuzmenko scored three goals, Nazem Kadri had a goal and two assists, and Calgary withstood Anaheim’s third-period rally for a victory over the Ducks.
Kuzmenko got his second career hat trick with two goals in the final 5:38 after Anaheim had trimmed Calgary’s 4-0 lead to one goal. Andrew Mangiapane and Connor Zary also scored for the Flames, who won for only the third time in 12 games. Dustin Wolf made 19 saves.
Sam Colangelo scored a goal in his NHL debut for the Ducks, and Frank Vatrano and Olen Zellweger scored shortly afterward. But Kuzmenko deflected Jonathan Huberdeau’s shot to keep the Flames ahead with 5:38 to play on a power play, and he added another less than three minutes later.
MLB
- Nolan Jones had a home run and an RBI double, leading the Rockies to a 12-4 dismantling of the Blue Jays. Toronto’s Bo Bichette opened the scoring in the first inning, but Colorado replied with an offensive outburst in the third. Kevin Gausman struggled in his third outing of the season, coughing up six runs on 10 hits over 3 and two-thirds innings.
- A judge has ordered the former longtime interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani to undergo gambling addiction treatment in a sports betting case. The judge also ordered Ippei Mizuhara to be released on an unsecured 25,000 dollar (U-S) bond. Prosecutors allege Mizuhara stole upwards of $16 million from the Japanese sensation to finance his gambling habit.
NBA
R-J Barrett put up 35 points and 11 rebounds for the Raptors as Toronto dropped a 125-103 decision to the Heat in Miami. The result marked Toronto’s third straight loss. Nikola Jovic led the Heat with 22 points.
MASTERS
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and Max Homa are tied for the lead after a brutal day at the Masters. The beauty of Augusta National was more of a beast with a raging wind that never stopped. Only eight players broke par. Just as many shot 80 or worse. Homa had 15 pars and shot a beautifully boring round of 71. Scheffler had a 72 and DeChambeau shot 73. The weekend shouldn’t be as rugged. But it will include Tiger Woods. He set a Masters record by making his 24th consecutive cut. And he’s only seven shots out of the lead.
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Tiger Woods has claimed more history at Augusta National, making the cut for a record 24th consecutive time. Of course, his sights are fixated on a far greater goal — a sixth green jacket. Woods broke the cut record he shared with three-time champion Gary Player and 1992 winner Fred Couples. Woods finished the second round at 1-over 145 for the tournament, safely above the projected cut line of 4 over. It was a grueling day for the five-time Masters champion, even more so considering the 48-year-old has endured numerous injuries, countless surgeries and a devastating car wreck that nearly cost him his right leg. He had to play the final five holes of the rain-delayed first round, then played another 18 holes after a short break.
CURLING
Canadian curling legend Jennifer Jones is out of the Princess Auto Players’ Championship after dropping a 7-6 decision to Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg. The Winnipeg skip needed a win to qualify for a tiebreaker at the season-ending Grand Slam event. Jones announced earlier this season that she is retiring from team play, but still plans to compete in mixed doubles.
(Canadian Press)
Yeah GM Bill Armstrong,
It’s more like; “Kenny Holland that’s why I made the trip….I wanted to talk to you boys face to face. Well with no arena and the team moving; I think I’d be interested in a good front office job next season son…(closes door).
Unfortunately for those not heading to Salt Lake City = Columbus 2.0. Due to NAFTA they don’t even have a good job at a Chrysler Plant to fall back on.
I feel bad for the fans in Phoenix, but no one can say they didn’t get plenty of chances to get this sorted out. 28 years into it and it’s still as much of a train wreck as it ever was.