Sunday, 21 December 2025
Saturday, 20 December 2025
Friday, 19 December 2025
Vanessa Gilles, Jonathan David repeat as Canada Players of the Year
Vanessa Gilles and Jonathan David have been named Canada Soccer Players of the Year for the second year in a row.
Gilles, a centre back who plays her club football for Germany’s Bayern Munich, beat out San Diego Wave forward Adriana Leon and Manchester United defender Jayde Riviere.
David, a forward who plays for Juventus in Italy, won over Vancouver Whitecaps winger Ali Ahmed and Villarreal winger Tajon Buchanan.
Gilles and David are recognized as co-winners of the award, which was decided in a vote of the media and Canada Soccer coaches.
David, who was named the 2024/25 CONCACAF Men’s Player of the Year in November, also won the Canada award in 2019.
Gilles marked her 50th appearance for Canada on Feb. 22 with a goal in a 2-0 win over Mexico at the Pinatar Cup, a victory that secured the tournament title.
“It’s a real honour to be named Canada Soccer’s women’s player of the year again,” Gilles said in a statement. “There was a time when I never thought I would even get the opportunity to play for this team, let alone be nominated alongside so many incredible role models for this country.”
The 28-year-old from Ottawa appeared in eight matches for Canada in 2025, starting six, and was an important player when healthy, with fellow centre back Kadeisha Buchanan sidelined by a knee injury. The Canadian women were 4-3-1 when Gilles played this year and 2-3-1 when she didn’t.
“After a challenging year, both personally and as a group, this recognition means a lot to me,” Gilles said. “Wearing the Canada jersey is an absolute privilege, and we will keep working and doing all that we can to help this team move forward.”
The Canadian women finish the year mired in a five-game losing streak and 454-minute goal drought.
Gilles began the year with Olympique Lyonnais Féminin, making 13 appearances and logging 1,120 minutes while contributing four goals and one assist. She helped the French side win the 2024-25 league title and reach the UEFA Women’s Champions League semifinals.
She moved to Bayern in May with three goals in seven appearances to date.
“(Gilles) commands the field with intelligence, leadership, and composure under pressure, inspiring confidence in everyone around her,” said Canada coach Casey Stoney. “Her consistent performances for Canada and at the highest level in club football make her a player you can always rely on, and this honour is a well-deserved recognition of her impact.”
Gilles, an aerial threat, has eight goals in 56 career appearances for Canada.
David appeared in all 14 Canada matches this year, scoring six goals and adding two assists. The stylish attacker has 73 caps and leads all Canadian men with 37 goals.
David scored eight goals and added seven assists for France’s Lille before leaving to join storied Italian side Juventus on a free transfer. The 25-year-old from Ottawa scored on his debut in a 2-0 win over Parma in the Serie A season opener, then suffered through a goal drought before scoring twice in Champions League play.
“Jonathan is a consummate professional and fully deserving of the Canada Soccer player of the year award,” said Canada coach Jesse Marsch. “Jonny is an incredible person as much as he is a talented player.
“To get an understanding of his commitment and desire to play for Canada, look no further than this summer’s Gold Cup. He put on our jersey when he didn’t even have a professional contract nailed down. He understands completely what it means to be Canadian and fight for the badge.”
Promise David, Richie Laryea, Tani Oluwaseyi, Niko Sigur and Dayne St. Clair were among the men’s nominees, as were Marie-Yasmine Alidou, Emma Regan, Janine Sonis, Holly Ward and Shelina Zadorsky on the women’s side.
Earlier this week, Olivia Chisholm and Luc De Fougerolles were named Young Players of the Year. Duncan McDonald was named Para Soccer Player of the Year, and Léa Palacio-Tellier the Futsal Player of the Year.
Maxime Crépeau won the Allstate Good Hands Award for best save.
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Thursday, 18 December 2025
Senators set to induct Jacques Martin into Ring of Honour
Three decades after Jacques Martin coached his first game for the Ottawa Senators, the franchise will honour him at the Canadian Tire Centre.
The Senators announced Thursday that the former bench boss will be added to the organization’s Ring of Honour on Jan. 24, 2026, ahead of their game against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Martin’s first game as Ottawa’s head coach was Jan. 24, 1996, one week after the Canadian Tire Centre first opened.
“I have been privileged to coach outstanding players and not only great players, but great people. That was the reason I was able to get there,” Martin said in a video posted to social media.
Martin coached the Senators from 1996 to 2004, helping the club qualify for the playoffs in each of his eight full seasons. He won the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year in 1999 and led the Senators to their only Presidents’ Trophy in the 2002-03 season.
He is also the franchise’s all-time leader in games (748), wins (367) and playoff wins (31).
Martin, 73, returned for a second stint with Ottawa during the 2023-24 season, serving as interim head coach after the firing of D.J. Smith. He remains in the organization still as a senior advisor, a position he has held since December 2023.
A native of Saint-Pascal, Ont., Martin joins former general manager Bryan Murray, former player Wade Redden and team doctor Dr. Don Chow as the fourth inductee to the Senators’ Ring of Honour.
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Wednesday, 17 December 2025
Tuesday, 16 December 2025
Back from injury, Rangers’ Matt Rempe says he won’t be deterred from dropping gloves
NEW YORK — Matt Rempe kept jabbing away at Ryan Reaves not knowing his left thumb had already broken from getting tangled up in his combatant’s jersey during their heavyweight fight.
“I just kept going bang, bang, bang, and I guess I was just kind of breaking it and breaking it,” Rempe said. “But when you’re in a fight, you don’t feel anything, so you had no idea.”
After he and Reaves told each other, “Good fight,” in the penalty boxes, Rempe looked down and realized something was very wrong. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, this thing’s not right,’” he recalled.
That was Oct. 23, and Rempe finally returned to the New York Rangers‘ lineup Monday night after missing the past 24 games. With his team struggling, coach Mike Sullivan is glad to have the imposing 6-foot-9 winger back on the ice
“When he’s in the lineup, he makes an impact,” Sullivan said. “He creates anxiety for our opponents. That’s an area where I think he can help us. He gets in on the forecheck, he leans on people, he goes to the net front, he makes it hard on people. He makes an impact on the game with the way he plays.”
Rempe is just glad he can make an impact again. The injury occurred the day before he was supposed to fly to his hometown of Calgary, which was a downer for the 22-year-old respected teammate and fan favourite.
Knocking on the side of his wooden locker, Rempe pointed out that he has been in over a dozen fights in the NHL and nearly 50 in his life and never got hurt.
“That was bound to happen eventually, and it’s a part of the game,” Rempe said. “Just a couple months. The season’s long. It happens.”
Rempe is a throwback kind of enforcer in hockey, which has seen fighting decrease substantially over the past couple of decades. He does not plan to let a broken thumb deter him from dropping the gloves moving forward.
“Not at all,” Rempe said, acknowledging he’s on the no-fight list for the time being. “I can’t for a little while because I can’t really bend it correctly yet. A couple more weeks and it’ll be golden, but I can’t for a little bit, which sucks, but it’s all right because you just go play hockey and stuff.”
Anaheim’s Ross Johnston asked Rempe to fight in his return, but the circumstances made that not doable.
“He doesn’t know what’s up with the thumb and stuff, and he’s doing his job,” Rempe said. “I was like, ‘Hey I can’t go,’ and he understands that and he’s probably been there before.”
Just the opportunity to skate in a game again completed a relatively quick comeback for Rempe, who had to go through weeks of power skating without a stick, then progressed to light stickhandling and passing and into full practices. Sullivan would have liked to get Rempe into more battle drills in practice but lamented the lack of chances to simulate game-like activities.
“His conditioning is great,” Sullivan said. “He’s worked extremely hard to get himself in the position where his fitness level is really high.”
Rempe felt good about his nine minutes as he eases back in.
“I can’t thank all the trainers and the team staff and everyone and all the docs who worked on the surgery enough because they did a great job and got me back quicker than I thought originally, so it was really good,” Rempe said. “It was a lot of fun being back after a long time.”
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Monday, 15 December 2025
Canada’s Shelina Zadorsky undergoes ankle surgery, West Ham says
West Ham United Women have confirmed defender Shelina Zadorsky has undergone successful surgery after sustaining an ankle injury earlier this month.
The club announced the update via X, revealing that the centre back was injured during training ahead of West Ham’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture away to Manchester United on Dec. 7.
The surgery was described as successful, with the Canadian defender now set to begin her recovery process.
Zadorsky has been a mainstay in West Ham’s lineup since first arriving on loan in January 2024 from Tottenham Hotspur. After spending the remainder of the 2024 season with the Hammers, she then signed on a free transfer to stay at the club and was made vice-captain that same summer.
This season, she has started nine of the 11 games in what has been a disappointing year for West Ham, who currently sit 11th in the WSL.
Zadorsky has been a Canadian international since 2013, earning herself 117 caps. She was also a part of the gold medal-winning Olympic side from 2021.
West Ham will now look to reorganize at the back while Zadorsky begins her rehabilitation. No return timeline has been announced, but the focus remains on a full and healthy comeback.
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Jets fire defensive co-ordinator Steve Wilks after blowout loss
Aaron Glenn finally had seen enough from his porous, underachieving New York Jets defence after 14 games.
The first-year head coach fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks on Monday, a day after the team gave up 48 points in one of its worst losses in a 3-11 season.
Glenn announced that Chris Harris, the team’s defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator, would take over for Wilks. Glenn added that he would assist Harris in the play-calling duties this week.
Glenn said during a video call with reporters that he made the decision late Sunday night — a few hours after New York’s 48-20 loss at Jacksonville. He said he spoke to Wilks on Monday morning to inform him that he was relieving him of his duties.
“I felt like it was the best decision for the organization at this time,” Glenn said. “I’ve said this all along, that I’m evaluating players, I’m evaluating coaches, I’m evaluating myself, and I just felt like this was the best decision for right now, for the team and for this organization.”
The 56-year-old Wilks was the first of the Jets’ three coordinators hired by Glenn after he took over as head coach in January. Wilks was out of the NFL last season while serving as a volunteer adviser for Charlotte’s football team. He was San Francisco’s defensive coordinator in 2023, but was fired after the 49ers’ loss in the Super Bowl to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Wilks’ defence with the Jets struggled all season, ranking among the league’s worst against the run and points allowed. New York set an NFL record with no interceptions through its first 14 games, which also tied a league mark for any 14-game stretch in a season.
The Jets had expected their defence to be a strength for a team that was adjusting to changes to its coaching staff and with a new general manager in Darren Mougey. But the unit struggled all season under Wilks. As of Monday, the Jets’ defence ranks 20th overall, 29th against the run and 30th in average points allowed. The pass defence has been serviceable, ranking 12th in the league.
New York, which failed to make the playoffs for the 15th straight year, dealt two of its top players — cornerback Sauce Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams — at the trade deadline. That further weakened an already inconsistent defense under Wilks.
Two weeks ago, the Jets gave up 167 yards rushing in a 27-24 victory over Atlanta. They followed that up by allowing 239 yards on the ground last week in a 34-10 loss to Miami. On Sunday, Trevor Lawrence threw five touchdown passes and ran for another score in the blowout loss at Jacksonville, during which the Jaguars scored on eight of their first nine possessions.
After the game, Glenn brushed off questions about whether he might consider pulling play-calling duties from Wilks, saying he brought the veteran coach to New York “for a reason, and I want him to run his system.” A few hours later, Glenn decided to move forward without Wilks for the final three games of the season.
“I just thought that from last week going into this week, the improvement wasn’t there,” Glenn said. “And I thought it was time to make a change.”
The 43-year-old Harris had 16 career interceptions while playing safety for eight NFL seasons during two stints with Chicago, along with stops in Carolina, Detroit and Jacksonville. After retiring from playing in 2013, Harris began his coaching career as a defensive quality control coach for the Bears before joining the Chargers as an assistant defensive backs coach in 2016.
He served in the same role for Washington from 2020 through the 2022 season before being hired by Tennessee as the defensive pass game coordinator and cornerbacks coach.
Glenn said Harris has experience calling defensive plays in the preseason, so he expects him to get up to speed quickly.
“This is a league of change,” Glenn said. “And with change comes opportunity, and this will be a good opportunity for him to get a chance to call it.”
The Jets actually got their second defensive takeaway of the season against Jacksonville, a fumble recovery by Malachi Moore — just over two months after Andre Cisco’s fumble recovery against Denver on Oct. 12. New York ranks last in the NFL with a minus-17 turnover differential.
“I want to see consistent improvement,” Glenn said. “I want to see structure that’s consistent. I want to see play that’s consistent. And I want to see the culture of this football team come together.”
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Senators piling up losses on self-inflicted mistakes
OTTAWA — The Ottawa Senators keep finding ways to lose.
The Senators are 2-6-0 in their last eight games, moving themselves six points out of a playoff spot.
A poor penalty kill and a botched clearing attempt by Tyler Kleven in the final minute of regulation prevented the Senators from earning a point in Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild.
“(I) like our team game right now,” said head coach Travis Green after the Senators outshot the Wild 36-25. “We played three strong games at home that we didn’t win, and the league’s tight right now. One little mistake here and there can cost you and tonight it did.”
Panic buttons are being hit in the nation’s capital, and this time it’s not the politicians.
Of those six losses, five have been by a single goal (discounting empty netters). The Senators lead the league with seven one-goal defeats in regulation, a trend that harks back to the D.J. Smith era of moral victories.
The Senators’ 11 one-goal losses so far this season are tied for second in the NHL behind the Blackhawks.
Every loss makes the journey back up the standings that much harder.
The season is far from over, but when teams are grabbing Ls from the jaws of victory, there are inevitably many reasons.
The biggest issue right now is the Senators’ inability to score at five-on-five. They are middle of the pack at 2.49 goals per game at five-on-five this season, which ranks them 16th in the league. But lately the Senators have not just made Vezina-winner Igor Shesterkin and league-beater Jesper Wallstedt look like prime Patrick Roy; they’ve even done it to Joel Hofer.
Some of that may just be bad luck. The team has a 6.7 shooting percentage in their eight-game funk, but that illuminates the biggest question mark with the Senators’ forward group.
Who’s their sniper?
No one on the current Senators roster has ever scored 40 goals. Tim Stutzle was the closest with 39 in 2022-23, and he’s on pace for 39 this season. Internally, the organization knows they do not have enough elite scorers who can turn games in their favour, even if they haven’t played particularly well.
“You can watch a guy, just trying to think of a name like Artemi Panarin the other night,” Green told Sportsnet.ca last week. “He does some things that quite honestly, we might not have a player that can do that as a winger and play that way. So you can’t just say, ‘Hey, we’re going to play like him.’ So you have to be mindful of all that as a coach and also understand that there’s a certain identity that you want to have within your team as well.”
The Senators are short offensively, despite acquiring Fabian Zetterlund and Dylan Cozens last season to improve their five-on-five offence. Neither player is going to score 40 goals, so the Senators are still missing a star sniper. And Brady Tkachuk has only one goal this season after missing 20 games with a wrist injury.
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32 Thoughts: The Podcast
Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.
The issue for GM Steve Staios is that it’s not easy to find and acquire a star goal-scorer.
The Senators lack their first-round pick in 2026 and have few elite prospects outside of Carter Yakemchuk and Logan Hensler. That makes a Quinn Hughes-esque trade harder to pull off.
To be fair, in the last eight games, the Senators have the best expected goals share in the league at five-on-five. Combine that with the ninth-worst shooting percentage and fourth-worst PDO (which is generally known in hockey circles as a measure of poor puck luck). In other words, eventually good process should lead to good results. But where the Senators are in the standings, they need great results. The Senators are a five-game winning streak away from being in a playoff spot, and a five-game losing streak away from being out of playoff contention.
Meanwhile, the Senators have the second-worst penalty kill in the league. How many times has the Senators’ penalty kill unit left the backdoor wide open? Allowing even one goal down the man-advantage sometimes means zero points on the standings table.
Look at Dmitri Voronkov and Ryan Hartman’s goals in successive games when Ottawa’s diamond formation was picked apart for easy tap-ins.
If the penalty kill doesn’t improve, the Senators’ pathway to the playoffs may be moot.
Mind you, goaltending hasn’t helped the penalty killing or the results.
The Senators have been “goalied” of late: Wallstedt made 33 saves on Saturday in Minnesota, saving 2.49 goals above expected. The Senators, by contrast, have the worst save percentage in the NHL at .871.
They’ve consistently had the second-best goalie on the ice, whether it’s Linus Ullmark or Leevi Merilainen. The Senators are fourth with an expected goals allowed rate of 2.87 per 60 minutes, yet they’ve allowed 3.24 goals per game.
Remember when the 2023-24 Ottawa Senators had the worst team save percentage in the league? How did they do?… Ottawa may be the ultimate goalie graveyard.
It also doesn’t help when a defensive pairing is struggling mightily. That’s been the case with Tyler Kleven and Jordan Spence, who have been drowning in an elevated second-pair role since Thomas Chabot has been out with an injury. Against New Jersey, three of the goals allowed were a direct result of a turnover by this pair. Then against the Wild, Kleven’s turnover led straight to Minnesota’s winning goal with 22 seconds to play. Analytically, both have been fine, but major mistakes have plagued them. They look overwhelmed playing against second-pair competition and it led to Green splitting the two up against Minnesota at times.
Chabot cannot return to the lineup soon enough.
The defensive prowess that allowed the Senators to be tied for the most shutouts in the league last season has evaporated due to poor penalty killing, poor performances, and poor goaltending. The Senators have allowed one or fewer goals this season three times through 31 games with no shutouts. Meanwhile, Ottawa has allowed the opening goal 19 times this season, tied for the third-worst in the league.
It’s too easy to ask what if? But if the Senators replayed the last eight games they’d probably have a record above .500 nine times out of 10. They outshot teams 245-211, had an advantage in high-danger chances of 114 to 81 and rank fifth in expected goals over that time period.
It’s not that the Senators have been brutal of late, but they are losing the narrow margins enough to lead to brutal outcomes. The Senators could easily go on a reverse 6-2-0 streak with a few adjustments but it’s up to them to turn moral victories into winning streaks. Otherwise, all the goodwill from last season’s playoff appearance will be lost with another season ending after 82 games.
Adams’ Apples
Senators owner Michael Andlauer spoke about the project at LeBreton Flats on the Coming in Hot Podcast Saturday.
“There’s no doubt I can’t fund this by myself,” Andlauer said. “We have one chance to do this right.
“We have to make sure that we cross the T’s and dot the I’s…At the end of the day, I want everybody in the same room. If we all want this, we will do what’s right.”
The owner said there is no timeline on the arena but he doesn’t expect it to open in the next three years. The Senators signed an agreement of purchase and sale for land parcels totalling approximately 11 acres at LeBreton Flats this summer with the National Capital Commission. The Senators have hired StrategyCorp. Inc. to lobby the provincial and federal governments to help fund the project. The questions that await a downtown arena are: Who will pay for the downtown arena? And how?
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Sunday, 14 December 2025
Premier League Roundup: Man City, Aston Villa earn key victories
MANCHESTER, England — Manchester City and Aston Villa kept the pressure on Premier League leader Arsenal with wins on Sunday.
Nottingham Forest pulled further away from the relegation zone with a 3-0 against Tottenham and Sunderland beat Newcastle 1-0 in the Tyne-Wear derby after an own goal from Nick Woltemade.
Arsenal had extended its lead at the top of the standings to five points with a 2-1 win against Wolves on Saturday. But a day later its closest rivals both responded with victories – second-place City winning 3-0 at Crystal Palace and Villa, in third, twice coming back to beat West Ham 3-2 at the London Stadium.
City is two points behind Arsenal and Villa is a point further back.
Revenge for City
Beaten by Palace in the FA Cup final last season, City exacted some revenge to take all three points at Selhurst Park.
Erling Haaland scored his 101st Premier League goal to put City in front late in the first half and he got his second of the match with an 89th-minute penalty. The Norwegian has 36 goals in 27 appearances for club and country in another remarkable scoring season. He is the league’s leading scorer with 17 goals.
Phil Foden got City’s other goal in between Haaland’s double.
Rogers leads Villa fightback
Morgan Rogers scored twice in the second half to extend Aston Villa’s winning run to nine-straight games and keep Unai Emery’s team on the heels of Arsenal and City.
Villa has lost just one of its last 13 games in the league and won 10 of its last 11, but twice had to come from behind at relegation fighting West Ham.
Mateus Fernandes scored the fastest goal in England’s top flight this season when putting the home team 1-0 up after just 29 seconds. But Konstantinos Mavropanos’ own goal leveled the game eight minutes later.
Jarrod Bowen then gave West Ham the lead at halftime with his second goal in as many games in the 24th.
Rogers levelled the game again five minutes after the break and struck the winner in the 79th.
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Saturday, 13 December 2025
Devils’ Simon Nemec out vs. Ducks with undisclosed injury
The New Jersey Devils continue to get banged up, particularly on the right side of the blue line.
Already without Brett Pesce and Johnathan Kovacevic, the team will also be down blue-liner Simon Nemec for Saturday’s game against the Ducks, head coach Sheldon Keefe announced.
Dennis Cholowski is slated to step in on the third pair for Nemec.
Nemec was hurt in practice on Friday and is expected to miss time. “It’s not day-to-day,” said Keefe, per the team’s reporter Amanda Stein.
Nemec, 21, has enjoyed his best season so far in his young NHL career. Through 31 games, he’s posted seven goals and 11 assists while averaging just over 20 minutes of ice time a night.
The 2022 second-overall pick is just one point shy of matching his career-best point total of 19, which he set during the 2023-24 campaign.
Over his career, Nemec logged 41 points (12 goals, 29 assists) in 118 games.
New Jersey also announced on Saturday that forward Timo Meier was placed on the non-roster list on personal leave, while Calen Addison was recalled from Utica of the AHL.
Addison, a 25-year-old right-shot defenceman, last played in the NHL during the 2023-24 season. In total, he’s recorded 50 points (six goals, 44 assists) in 152 games.
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Friday, 12 December 2025
Thursday, 11 December 2025
Olympic ski champion Michelle Gisin airlifted after downhill crash
ST. MORITZ, Switzerland — Two-time Olympic champion Michelle Gisin was undergoing surgery on her back Thursday, having been airlifted from the course by helicopter after crashing hard in a practice run for a World Cup downhill.
Gisin is the third current Olympic champion in the Switzerland women’s Alpine ski team to be injured crashing in training in the last month, after Lara Gut-Behrami and Corinne Suter, just weeks before the Milan Cortina Winter Games.
The 32-year-old Swiss hit the safety fences racing at more than 110 k.p.h. (69 m.p.h.) on a cloudy morning at St. Moritz in practice for downhills scheduled Friday and Saturday, then a super-G Sunday.
Gisin “can move her arms and legs normally,” the Swiss ski team said in a statement, but also has injuries to her right wrist and left knee.
She is having surgery in Zurich, where she was taken by an air ambulance service, and is in a stable condition, her team said.
One of Gisin’s skis seemed to catch an edge approaching a fast left-hand turn and she lost control going straight on, hitting through the first layer of safety nets until being stopped by the second.
Television pictures showed Gisin conscious, lying by the course with scratches and cuts on her face as medics assessed her.
Gisin, who won gold in Alpine combined at the past two Winter Games, is currently the veteran leader of the Swiss women’s speed team because of injuries to her fellow 2022 Beijing Olympics champions.
Gut-Behrami’s Olympic season was ended , tearing the ACL in her left knee while crashing in practice last month at Copper Mountain, Colorado.
Suter is off skis for about a month with calf, knee and foot injuries from a crash while training at St. Moritz last month.
At the last Winter Games in China, Suter won the downhill, Gut-Behrami won super-G — where Gisin took bronze — and Gisin took the final title in individual combined. The Swiss skiers have seven career Olympic medals.
Gisin crashed Thursday when United States star Lindsey Vonn was already on the course having started her practice run. Vonn was stopped while Gisin got medical help and resumed her run later.
Vonn was fastest in the opening practice Wednesday.
The Milan Cortina Olympics open Feb. 6 with women’s Alpine skiing race at the storied Cortina d’Ampezzo hill.
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Wednesday, 10 December 2025
Tiger-Cats re-sign all-star DB Jamal Peters to two-year deal
Jamal Peters is staying put.
The all-star cornerback signed a two-year extension with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Wednesday. Peters, 28, was slated to become a free agent in February.
Peters’ extension keeps him in Hamilton through the 2027 season. According to a league source, Peters’ deal is worth $355,000 guaranteed, which would make Peters the CFL’s highest-paid American defensive back.
The source spoke on the condition of anonymity as the Ticats didn’t divulge financial details of contracts.
Peters, 28, appeared in 16 games this season with Hamilton, registering 50 defensive tackles and six interceptions. He was named a CFL all-star for the second time. Peters joined the Ticats as a free agent in February 2024 and signed a one-year extension later that season.
“When I signed here in 2024, the organization welcomed me with open arms, and I have loved it here since,” said Peters in a statement. “They treat my family well. My wife and I just had a kid and they’re just a great family organization.
“We have unfinished business in 2026 and for those reasons, it was obvious for me to re-sign.”
Before arriving in Hamilton, he spent three seasons with the Toronto Argonauts (2021-23), helping the team win the Grey Cup in 2022.
Over five CFL seasons and 66 regular-season games, he has recorded 208 defensive tackles, four special teams tackles, 21 interceptions, two forced fumbles and one quarterback sack.
“Jamal is a difference-maker and has been a premier defensive back in our league,” said Tiger-Cats head coach Scott Milanovich. “His combination of size, playmaking ability, and competitiveness elevates our entire defence.
“We’re extremely excited to keep Jamal in the black and gold for him and his family to continue their journey here in Hamilton.”
A Mississippi State alum, Peters played 45 games over four seasons (2015-18) before signing with the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent. He also spent time with the Atlanta Falcons in 2023.
Peters said that Hamilton itself influenced his decision to stay with the Ticats.
“The city kind of reminds me of my hometown of Bassfield, Mississippi,” said Peters. “It’s very similar to Hamilton, so I just wanted to be here.”
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Tuesday, 9 December 2025
Monday, 8 December 2025
Memphis hires Charles Huff as football coach after one year at Southern Miss
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis has hired Charles Huff as football coach after his one season at Southern Miss.
Athletic director Ed Scott announced the hiring Monday with Huff replacing Ryan Silverfield, who left for Arkansas on Nov. 30.
“Early in our search process, Coach Huff quickly rose to the top of our list as a dynamic leader with a proven track record of building strong, competitive programs,” Scott said. “He brings a championship mindset, tremendous drive, and more than 20 years of experience working alongside some of the top coaches in college football.”
Huff went 7-5 with Southern Miss this season after taking over a program that went 1-11 in 2024. That was the program’s best regular-season record since 2019. The six-win turnaround was one of the biggest improvements in the Football Bowl Subdivision this season.
He takes over a program in Memphis that was ranked as high as No. 22 this season before three straight losses for an 8-4 finish. The Tigers are playing North Carolina State in the Gasparilla Bowl on Dec. 19 in Tampa. Interim coach Reggie Howard will oversee the Tigers in the bowl game.
“The level of consistency the football program has had over the recent years is incredible,” Huff said of Memphis, thanking university officials with trusting him to lead the program. “To the city of Memphis and Tiger Nation, it’s time to STAND UP! To the players and administration, it’s go time!”
Southern Miss named Blake Anderson as interim coach for the New Orleans Bowl on Dec. 23 against Western Kentucky.
Huff went 32-30 at Marshall between 2021 and 2024, capped by a win in the 2024 Sun Belt Conference championship game. Huff coached Marshall to a bowl in each of his four seasons, and he notched wins over then-No. 8 Notre Dame in 2022 and Virginia Tech in 2023.
He worked for Nick Saban at Alabama in 2019 and 2020 as associate head coach and running backs coach working with Najee Harris. He was at Mississippi State in 2018 and coached Saquon Barkley during the coach’s stint at Penn State between 2014 and 2017.
Huff was at Western Michigan in 2013, the NFL’s Buffalo Bills in 2012, Vanderbilt with coach James Franklin in 2011, his alma mater Hampton in 2010, Maryland in 2009 and started his career at Tennessee State in 2006.
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Sunday, 7 December 2025
No. 2 Indiana beats No. 1 Ohio State to end Big Ten title drought
INDIANAPOLIS — Fernando Mendoza’s 17-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Sarratt gave No. 2 Indiana the lead midway through the third quarter, and the Hoosiers’ stingy defence shut down No. 1 Ohio State the rest of the way in a 13-10 victory on Saturday night for their first Big Ten championship since 1967.
Indiana likely locked up the top seed in the College Football Playoff while extending the best record in school history to 13-0. The Hoosiers are also now poised to claim the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press Top 25 for the first time.
They did it by snapping a 30-game losing streak against the Buckeyes that stretched to 1988. Indiana also ended major college football’s longest winning streak at 16 games, sealing the win with a 33-yard pass from Mendoza to Charlie Becker on third down, a play that took the clock down to the 2-minute timeout.
Ohio State fell to 12-1 overall, though its quest to win back-to-back national championships for the first time will likely begin with the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye.
The Buckeyes had a chance to retake the lead on fourth-and-1 from the Indiana 5-yard line late in the third quarter. But a replay review overturned the call on the field, determining Julian Sayin came up short. They also had a chance to tie the score with 2:48 to play, but Jayden Fielding missed a 29-yard field goal wide left.
The two quarterbacks duelling for the Heisman Trophy essentially played to a draw.
Mendoza was injured on the first offensive play of the game but returned after missing one play and finished 15 of 23 for 222 yards and the one TD and one interception. Sayin was 21 of 29 for 258 yards, one TD and one interception.
But when the big plays needed to be made, Mendoza usually got the job done
Indiana took a 3-0 lead after Sayin was picked off in the first quarter, but the Buckeyes turned Mendoza’s miscue into a 17-yard TD pass to Carnell Tate for a 7-3 lead late in the first quarter.
The teams traded second-quarter field goals as the Buckeyes took a 10-6 lead, but Mendoza neatly tucked a TD pass into Sarratt near the sideline on Indiana’s first possession of the third quarter, and that was all they needed.
The takeaway
Indiana: The Hoosiers showed everyone why they’re no longer taking a backseat to the Buckeyes or anyone else in college football. Defensively, they were as stingy as ever. Offensively, they moved the ball and played keep away — and did just enough for an historic victory.
Ohio State: The Buckeyes aren’t exactly rolling into the playoffs. They struggled — for a half — at Michigan and two halves against the Hoosiers. At times, Sayin showed his inexperience by missing reads and throws. Still, they’re the defending national champs and are as dangerous as anyone.
Up next
Both teams await the CFP rankings and first-round pairings to be released on Sunday.
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Saturday, 6 December 2025
Jim Barker joining Argonauts in player personnel role
The Toronto Argonauts continue to revamp their management staff in an off-season makeover.
Jim Barker said during an appearance on the Rod Pedersen Show that he is rejoining the Argos in a player personnel role.
The 69-year-old has had multiple stints with Toronto in different roles, including senior advisor, head coach, general manager and offensive co-ordinator. During his time, he has helped the team win three Grey Cups and has two more with the Calgary Stampeders and Montreal Alouettes.
Barker’s addition to Toronto’s front office comes after longtime Stampeders coach and executive John Hufnagel joined the team as a senior adviser on Tuesday. Hufnagel and Barker have worked together in the past, winning a Grey Cup together in Calgary back in 2008.
The Argos are looking to rebound from a down season, going 5-13 and failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
Toronto also hired Mike Miller as their 46th head coach in franchise history following Ryan Dinwiddie’s departure to the Ottawa Redblacks to become their general manager and head coach.
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Max Verstappen takes pole position for F1 title-deciding Abu Dhabi GP
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Max Verstappen took a brilliant pole position for the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ahead of Formula 1 title rivals Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri on Saturday.
The thrilling three-way battle will be decided on Sunday at the Yas Marina Circuit. The McLaren driver Norris is 12 points ahead of Red Bull’s Verstappen and 16 ahead of McLaren teammate Piastri.
Verstappen is aiming for his fifth straight F1 title — Norris and Piastri are chasing their first. All three drivers have won seven races.
The Dutchman is ready to fight for another title battle on the final day — just like in 2021, when he beat seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton on the last lap to clinch his first championship.
“We find out tomorrow don’t we?” Verstappen said. “I will try and win the race.”
Pole position is crucial on the 58-lap circuit in Abu Dhabi, where overtaking is hard. Every driver has won from pole since 2015. The last driver not to win from pole was Nico Rosberg in 2014, when he was beaten by his then-Mercedes teammate Hamilton.
Verstappen had already set the fastest lap on his first go but went even quicker on his second attempt and clocked 1 minute, 22.207 seconds, making him .201 faster than Norris and .230 quicker than Piastri.
“That was insane,” Verstappen said over team radio after his eighth pole of the season and 48th overall. “Yes. Lovely.”
Verstappen kissed his girlfriend, Kelly Piquet, and shook hands with McLaren CEO Zak Brown.
Norris will win the title if he’s on the podium in Abu Dhabi. Even if Verstappen wins, the Dutchman needs Norris to be fourth or lower. If Piastri wins, he requires Norris to finish outside the top five.
Norris will start from the front row but was disappointed not to be on pole.
“We just weren’t fast enough today. We’ll have to try and do it tomorrow,” he said. “I still want to try and win tomorrow, so that’s going to be the goal.”
Piastri was content with his performance.
“Nicely done,” he said. “Wasn’t much left.”
Hamilton was eliminated from Q1, the first section of qualifying, for the third straight race. He also crashed in third practice due to a driver error earlier Saturday, and has not qualified inside the top 10 for four consecutive races.
“I’m so sorry,” Hamilton said over team radio. “There are no words to express how I feel.”
Asked about 2026, a dejected-sounding Hamilton said “I’m not looking that far ahead.”
Mercedes driver George Russell qualified fourth ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who fared much better than his more illustrious teammate.
Hamilton struggles again
Russell led third practice ahead of Norris and Verstappen.
But Hamilton lost the rear of the Ferrari coming out of Turn 9 and spun full circle before sliding into the barriers, bringing out the red flag. He stepped out of the car and picked up some of the debris himself.
Hamilton owns F1 records for most wins (104) and pole positions (104) but called his own performance “ terrible ” this season.
The 40-year-old Briton won a sprint race in China in March, but nothing else this season. He has not even been on the podium in a main race this campaign.
Norris showed good pace to lead Friday’s first two practice sessions ahead of Verstappen.
McLaren rues errors
Norris had the chance to wrap up the title at last week’s Qatar Grand Prix but a botched strategy call by McLaren handed Verstappen the win, boosting his chances of a fifth straight title to equal Michael Schumacher’s feat with Ferrari from 2000-04.
Verstappen’s victory in Qatar was his 70th overall. His title chances improved after Norris and Piastri were disqualified in Las Vegas.
Tense title race
After winning the Dutch GP on Aug. 31, Piastri led by Norris by 34 points and was 104 ahead of Verstappen, who had won just two races.
Piastri, who is looking to become the first Australian champion in 45 years, hasn’t won in eight races since his Zandvoort win.
When Norris won the Brazil GP sprint race in early November, he moved 39 ahead of Verstappen with four races to go.
Verstappen also qualified in 16th for the main race in Sao Paulo and said he could “ forget about ” winning the title at that point.
Now, it’s a different feeling.
After taking yet another superb pole, Verstappen stood proudly on his car and did a “No. 1” gesture with his finger.
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Friday, 5 December 2025
Canada coach Marsch claims he has ‘gut feeling’ on group ahead of World Cup draw
Like everyone else, Jesse Marsch is eager to learn Canada’s World Cup path at Friday’s draw in Washington, D.C.
But the Canadian coach has an idea of what his 27th-ranked side can expect in Group B, which has already been decided as its landing spot as co-host.
“I have the gut feeling that we’re going to see an opponent that we’ve already played since I’ve been here,” Marsch said.
The draw procedure is simple with the 12 groups populated from four pots, which are sorted by world ranking, other than the co-hosts.
Marsch is expecting a European team with 16 UEFA entries in the expanded 48-country field (12 European teams have already been decided, with the remaining four coming from a 16-team playoff). And he says Canada has an excellent chance of getting an African side.
Qualified teams that Canada has already played under Marsch, who was named coach in May 2024, include No. 13 Colombia, No. 16 Uruguay, No. 23 Ecuador, No. 26 Australia and No. 42 Ivory Coast.
Canada, the 14th-ranked U.S. and No. 15 Mexico have been placed in Pot 1, along with nine top seeds — No. 1 Argentina, No. 2 Spain, No. 3 France, No. 4 England, No. 5 Brazil, No. 6 Portugal, No. 7 Netherlands, No. 8 Belgium and No. 9 Germany.
Teams cannot face countries from the same confederation in the round-robin stage, with Europe the exception because of the number of teams entered. No group can have more than two UEFA teams in it.
The 12 group winners, 12 runners-up and eight best third-place teams advance to the knockout rounds.
Under the draw procedures, Canada will open Group B play against the team drawn from Pot 4 before heading west to Vancouver, where it will face the team first from Pot 3 and then from Pot 2.
So Canada could kick off its campaign against No. 66 Jordan, No. 68 Cabo Verde, No. 72 Ghana or No. 86 New Zealand. But the Canadian men could also face No. 12 Italy, assuming it survives the final European qualifying.
A worst-case scenario could see Canada face No. 10 Croatia, No. 11 Morocco or No. 13 Colombia from Pot 2, No. 29 Norway or No. 34 Egypt from Pot 3 and Italy or No. 21 Denmark from Pot 4, assuming they advance via the European playoffs.
Canada would face co-host Mexico in the Round of 32 if both teams finish runner-up in their groups.
Mexico will play out of Group A, and the U.S. in Group D.
By being placed in Pot 1 with the top seeds, the co-hosts avoid the top nine countries — which should increase their chances of advancing. But that also means that Canada’s Group B will be a desirable landing spot.
“You become the team that everyone hopes to get,” said former Canada coach John Herdman. “I’m talking about the Croatias, the Moroccos (both in Pot 2), those teams that are fantastic international teams. They’re all hoping to drop into your group and then therefore you become the team that everyone’s looking to beat.”
Forty-two of the 48 qualified teams have already been decided. Six more, all to be placed in Pot 4, will come from qualifying playoffs in March
The 16-country European playoff field also includes No. 25 Turkey, No. 28 Ukraine, No. 31 Poland, No. 32 Wales, No. 43 Sweden, No. 44 Czechia, No. 45 Slovakia, No. 47 Romania, No. 59 Ireland, No. 63 Albania, No. 65 North Macedonia, No. 69 Northern Ireland, No. 71 Bosnia-Herzegovina and No. 80 Kosovo.
Two more will come from a separate six-country playoff tournament, featuring No. 56 Congo DR, No. 58 Iraq, No. 70 Jamaica, No. 76 Bolivia, No. 123 Suriname and No. 149 New Caledonia.
FIFA says the decision to put the playoff winners in Pot 4, which also includes No. 82 Curaçao and No. 84 Haiti, was made to avoid disadvantaging teams that had already qualified in favour of sides that had to go the additional step of making the field.
The winner of Canada’s Group B will face a third-place team from Group E, F, G, I or J in the round of 32. The Group B runner-up will meet the second-place team in Mexico’s Group A.
The highest-ranked teams, No. 1 Spain and No. 2 Argentina, will be placed on different sides of the draw, as will No. 3 France and No. 4 England.
With just two international windows — March 23-31 and June 1-9 — before the World Cup kicks off June 11, there are limited tune-up opportunities left. Canada has been lining up opponents, yet to be announced, based on what it expects to see at the draw.
Canada, ranked 41st in the world at the time, was grouped with No. 2 Belgium, No. 12 Croatia and No. 22 Morocco at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The Canadians lost all three matches, outscored 7-2, and will be looking for their first win in their third trip to the tournament.
The Canadian men went 0-3-0 in their first tournament appearance in 1986 in Mexico, outscored 5-0 in losses to France, Hungary and the Soviet Union.
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Thursday, 4 December 2025
Revisiting the Canucks’ early-season moves under Rutherford and Allvin
Ahead of the 2024-25 season, the consensus around the Vancouver Canucks was that there was positivity and potential — two things that weren’t exactly present by the end of the previous campaign. The team’s health and tone had improved from just months earlier, and while no one was necessarily projecting it to win a Presidents’ Trophy or Stanley Cup, there was realistic hope and belief it could improve upon its last result — a 90-point finish that left the Canucks two spots out of a wild card — and get back into the playoffs.
But 27 games into the season, the Canucks are not on track to get where they want to be. A lacklustre first quarter (and a bit) has seen the club go 10-14-3 for a .426 points percentage, sitting second last in the Pacific Division and 30th overall. Vancouver is also dead last in goals allowed and hasn’t strung together two consecutive wins since the middle of October.
Although a plethora of injuries taking out chunks of the lineup at times and the adjustment to a new head coach’s system could be considered factors in their poor results, it’s still just not good enough. Especially when the Canucks find themselves at a critical juncture in their history, with generational star defenceman Quinn Hughes becoming extension-eligible in the summer of 2026, all while speculation persists surrounding his desire to play with his brothers in New Jersey.
The Canucks have repeatedly dismissed the notion of a tear-it-all-down rebuild, including recently when team president Jim Rutherford told Sportsnet it’s “not something that we’re going to look at doing,” even if Hughes were to leave, instead referring to the team as being “in transition.”
And while they may be averse to the idea of taking the time and patience required for a rebuild, Rutherford and general manager Patrik Allvin have shown they don’t shy away from making big moves when needed. Rutherford, in particular, has built a reputation over his 30-year career of jumping the market and completing blockbuster deals. That was reaffirmed last week when Elliotte Friedman reported the Canucks have made it known they are willing to listen to offers on veteran players, excluding Hughes, and that their goal is to get younger.
Since then, a handful of names have been speculated upon as possible trade pieces, with Kiefer Sherwood and Conor Garland emerging as the leading rumoured candidates. During his Saturday Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada this past weekend, Friedman noted that “there’s nothing imminent in Vancouver” but added that “there’s some teams who are very interested — like Minnesota, Boston, potentially Philadelphia (and) others.” He also said the Canucks appear content to let the market come to them and are “more than comfortable to take their time.”
So, while we’re in watch-and-see mode for what Rutherford and Allvin might have up their sleeves in the near future, let’s take this opportunity to review the most notable early-season deals the duo has orchestrated ahead of the NHL trade deadline during their tenure in Vancouver.
Jan. 30, 2023
To Vancouver: Anthony Beauvillier, Aatu Raty and a 2023 conditional first-round pick
To NY Islanders: Bo Horvat
Why it happened: Bo Horvat, the Canucks’ former captain, and J.T. Miller were due to become UFAs at the same time (2023 off-season). With both due major extensions, it was believed one would have to be re-signed at the expense of the other. While the initial consensus was that it would be Horvat who re-signed, J.T. Miller signed first and entered the 2022-23 season with an extension signed that would start the following year. Horvat’s future remained uncertain and a career year further priced him out, so the Canucks opted to trade him to secure something in return rather than letting him walk in the summer for nothing.
How it’s turned out: Beauvillier spent parts of two seasons in Vancouver before being sent to the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2024 conditional fifth-round pick in another early-season move in November 2023. Raty remains in the organization and has had stints in both the AHL and NHL, winning a Calder Cup with Abbotsford in 2024-25, but has emerged as a full-time NHLer this season. The pick Vancouver acquired in the Horvat trade was later flipped, when the Canucks acquired defenceman Filip Hronek from the Detroit Red Wings in March, just days ahead of the 2023 trade deadline, an elite-level defenceman to partner with Hughes on the top pairing.
Nov. 30, 2023
To Vancouver: Nikita Zadorov from the
To Calgary: 2024 fifth-round pick and a 2026 third-round pick
Why it happened: At the time of the trade, Vancouver was sitting second in the Pacific, primed for a playoff push, and injuries to defencemen Carson Soucy and Guillaume Brisebois (their fifth and sixth options) made blue-line depth an area of need. As Allvin described him then, “Nikita is a big, strong and mobile two-way defenceman who will bring more physicality to our backend.” After shedding Beauvillier’s $4-million cap hit, the Canucks had the means to acquire Zadorov, who had publicly requested a trade from the Flames.
How it’s turned out: In the 54 games Zadorov played for Vancouver, he recorded 14 points, was a plus-six, posted 102 penalty minutes and 124 hits. In 13 playoff games as the Canucks advanced to Game 7 of the second round, he added another eight points, was plus-three, and chipped in 26 penalty minutes and 45 hits. His shooting percentage jumped from 8.2 per cent in the regular season to 19 per cent in the post-season, and his average ice time climbed from 17:04 to 20:09. Zadorov’s combination of performance and personality quickly made him a fan favourite, but it also raised his value as a pending UFA. Unable to reach a contract agreement with the Canucks, he signed a six-year, $30-million deal with the Boston Bruins that summer.
Jan. 31, 2024
To Vancouver: Elias Lindholm
To Calgary: Andrei Kuzmenko, Hunter Brzustewicz, Joni Jurmo, a 2024 first-round pick and a 2024 conditional fourth-round pick
Why it happened: The Canucks had climbed to first in their division and were tied with the Bruins for top spot in the league. Looking to bolster a roster that was now all but assured a playoff berth, Vancouver completed another trade with Calgary — this time acquiring forward Lindholm for a much larger package than the Zadorov trade, headlined by Kuzmenko, who had fallen out of favour with former head coach Rick Tocchet, and the 2024 first-round pick. At the time, Allvin described Lindholm as “a really solid 200-foot player, makes us harder to play against and gives our coaching staff options in the top six.”
How it’s turned out: Lindholm began his tenure in Vancouver as a top-six winger but was eventually moved into a third-line centre role. He missed seven games due to injury, and overall his regular-season performance — just 12 points with a minus-six rating in 26 games — was underwhelming. In the playoffs, he redeemed himself, playing the hero at times and taking on a pivotal shutdown role in others, finishing with 10 points in 13 post-season games. His most valuable contribution was in the faceoff circle, posting a team-leading 58.7 per cent in the regular season and 51.2 per cent in the playoffs. Like Zadorov, Lindholm became a UFA on July 1 and did not re-sign with the Canucks, instead inking a seven-year, $54.25-million contract with the Bruins.
Jan 31, 2025
To NY Rangers: J.T. Miller, Erik Brannstrom and Jackson Dorrington
To Vancouver: Victor Mancini, Filip Chytil and a 2025 conditional first-round pick
Why it happened: Does this one really need an explanation? The Canucks’ 2024-25 season was a rough one, marked by a lot of drama that culminated in the club moving on from Miller amid off-ice issues and subpar on-ice production. It ended a months-long narrative about Miller and Elias Pettersson, in which there was a rumoured rift between the top two centremen that was impacting the team. Friedman reported at one point that all solutions were on the table — trading one, both, or neither — and Rutherford added fuel to the fire when he interviewed with The Globe and Mail, saying, “It certainly appears like there’s not a good solution that would keep this group together.” The solution they ultimately chose was to send Miller to the Rangers and keep Pettersson.
How it’s turned out: Though the trade put an end to the negative attention and drama surrounding the team, Vancouver — almost a full year later — has still not managed to find a reliable replacement down the middle, and the absence of a true second-line centre remains a noticeable weakness as the team struggles this season. As for the players acquired from New York, Mancini has split his time between the AHL and NHL. Chytil, who had a history of head injuries before arriving, has continued to deal with them in Vancouver as well, including what is presumed to be a concussion at present. Since January of last year, he has appeared in only 21 games for the Canucks because of injuries.
Jan 31, 2025
To Vancouver: Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor
To Pittsburgh: Melvin Fernstrom, Vincent Desharnais, Danton Heinen and a 2025 conditional first-round pick
Why it happened: Just hours after trading Miller, the Canucks opted to use their newly acquired first-round pick as trade capital, immediately sending it to the Penguins, along with a trio of players, in exchange for defenceman Marcus Pettersson and forward Drew O’Connor. Pettersson’s name had been linked to Vancouver for some time leading up to the deal, and he fit the profile of the solid second-pairing blue-liner the Canucks had been seeking. Of Pettersson, Rutherford told The Athletic, “He’s just what we need, in my opinion… He’s just a very, very steady defensive defenceman. You need to have guys like that if you want to win in this league.” And with Heinen and Desharnais moving the other way, the Canucks were also able to part with two players who never quite found a fit within the organization.
How it’s turned out: Both Pettersson and O’Connor were pending UFAs when they arrived in Vancouver, and each was quickly re-signed — Pettersson to a six-year, $33-million contract and O’Connor to a two-year, $5-million deal — a sign of how strongly management felt about their fit moving forward. In 58 games between this season and last with the Canucks, Pettersson has recorded 16 points, is a plus-11 and averages over 20 minutes of ice time, and he’s become a regular on the penalty kill. O’Connor, meanwhile, has also appeared in 58 games, putting up 21 points, and this season he’s operating at a 21.9 shooting percentage and a 64.3 faceoff percentage while taking on PK duties of his own.
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