The 2025 NHL playoffs: a series-by-series preview
Hockey
With five Canadian teams looking to bring the Stanley Cup home for the first time since 1993, Paul Attfield gets you ready for the journey ahead
Paul Attfield
The Globe and Mail
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Toronto Star
2 hours ago
- Toronto Star
McIntosh just misses breaking oldest women's record by blink of an eye
VICTORIA - Summer McIntosh came within a blink of an eye of breaking swimming's oldest women's world record at the Bell Canadian Swimming Trials on Tuesday night. With a sold-out crowd's cheers ringing in her ears, the 18-year-old from Toronto swam the 200-metre butterfly in 2:02.26 — just .45 off the record of 2:01.81 set by China's Liu Zige in 2009. She also shaved .76 off her own Canadian record and notched the second fastest time in history in the event.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
McIntosh just misses breaking oldest women's record by blink of an eye
VICTORIA – Summer McIntosh came within a blink of an eye of breaking swimming's oldest women's world record at the Bell Canadian Swimming Trials on Tuesday night. With a sold-out crowd's cheers ringing in her ears, the 18-year-old from Toronto swam the 200-metre butterfly in 2:02.26 — just .45 off the record of 2:01.81 set by China's Liu Zige in 2009. She also shaved .76 off her own Canadian record and notched the second fastest time in history in the event. Meanwhile, four new swimmers earned selection to Team Canada for this summer's World Aquatics Championships. McIntosh was pleased with her swim but also believes the record remains within her grasp. 'I think this world record is the hardest one to get,' said McIntosh, who has set two world records and four Canadian records in four days. 'I'm just so happy with the 2:02 low tonight. I didn't know if that was possible for me.' McIntosh was on world record pace when she made the final turn for home. 'I was kind of upset with myself with the finish,' she said. 'My last stroke was just a little bit wonky. I can definitely find the other little deficiencies through the race. 'The fact I'm knocking on the door on that world record is really encouraging. That's the one world record I never thought I would even come close to. To be pretty close to it is pretty wild.' McIntosh won the 200-m individual medley on Monday in 2:05.70, lowering the time of 2:06.12 set by Hungary's Katinka Hosszu that stood for nearly 10 years. She opened the trials winning the 400-m freestyle in 3:54.18 Saturday, breaking the old mark of 3:55.38 held by Australia's Ariarne Titmus. She broke her own Canadian record in the 800-m freestyle Sunday. Her time of 8:05.07 shaved almost five seconds off her own Canadian record and was the third fastest time ever, 0.95 of a second off the world record American legend Katie Ledecky set in May. Ilya Kharun of Montreal picked up his second victory of the trials, winning the men's 200-m butterfly in 1:53.41. Kharun earned a bronze medal in the 200 fly at the Paris 2024 Olympics, setting a Canadian record time. It was the first medal ever for a Canadian in the event. Kharun said the race remains a learning curve for him. 'I'm really glad how it's progressing,' said Kharun, who swam a personal best time to win the 100 fly on Sunday. 'I think it should be a lot better once we get some more work in.' It was an emotional moment for Toronto's Ruslan Gaziev who won the men's 100-m freestyle in 48.37 seconds. That was under Swimming Canada's secondary standard of 48.82. Gaziev is returning to swimming after serving an 18-month suspension due to an anti-doping rule violation regarding keeping his whereabouts information fully up-to-date. 'I'm just happy I won,' said the 25-year-old. 'I'm honestly proud of myself and how I've handled the struggles I've had. I feel like I've really built up my resilience.' Antoine Sauve of Montreal's CAMO club was second in the men's 100 in 48.42. Toronto's Josh Liendo was third in 48.62 followed by Filip Senc-Samardzic of Toronto in 49.13. Liendo had already earned selection in two events (100 fly and 50 free) while Sauve and Senc-Samardzic added their names to the list. Three-time Olympian Penny Oleksiak of Toronto won her second event of the trials, taking the women's 100 free in 54.03, well under the AQUA A standard of 54.25. She swam a personal best to win the 50 free on Monday. 'I think I had a lot more in that race,' said Oleksiak, the owner of seven Olympic medals. 'I'm excited to get back into training and just getting faster for the summer.' The top four finishers in the men's and women's 100 freestyle events will be selected to join Team Canada at this summer's World Aquatics Championships. Finishing second in the women's 100 free was Kelowna's Taylor Ruck in 54.41, followed by Brooklyn Douthwright of Riverview, N.B., in 54.74 and Ingrid Wilm of the High Performance Centre—Vancouver in 55.15. Ruck (100-m) and Wilm (50-m) had already earned selection in backstroke events, while Douthwright earned her spot for the first time. STRONG NIGHT FOR PARA SWIMMERS Para swimmers enjoyed another strong night with Alyssa Smyth, Nicholas Bennett and Sebastian Massabie all setting Canadian records. Katie Cosgriffe won the multi-class women's 100-m butterfly in 1:07.61, a time the S10 swimmer from the Oakville Aquatic Club believes she can improve on. 'There's lots of technical ways that I can be a lot faster,' she said. 'I have to work on my speed in general.' Alyssa Smyth of the Orangeville Otters Swim Club was second in the race in an S13 Canadian record time of 1:06.42. A mix-up resulted in Smyth arriving at the pool late. She didn't have time for a warm-up before her race. 'There was a lot of adrenalin,' said Smyth. 'I thought to make the best of the situation I would just try the best I could. It went pretty well.' Fernando Lu of Langley's Olympian Swimming won two races. The S10 swimmer started the evening taking the multi-class 100-m butterfly in 58.20 seconds then the 50-m freestyle in 24.44. 'It went well for me tonight,' said Lu who reached two finals at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. 'I feel more energized than ever. I'm really happy with the way I've recovered from the past races.' Massabie of the Pacific Sea Wolves broke the S5 Canadian record twice in the 50 freestyle. He swam 36.22 seconds in the morning preliminaries then 35.42 in the final. He broke the Canadian record in the S5 50-m butterfly twice on Monday. Nicholas Bennett, an S14 swimmer with the Red Deer Catalina Swim Club, swam 57.50 to lower his own Canadian record in the 100-m butterfly. The six-day trials, which run through Thursday, have attracted more than 700 swimmers to Saanich Commonwealth Place in Victoria. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
4 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Canada wins Canadian Shield Tournament despite penalty shootout loss to Ivory Coast
TORONTO – Canada won the inaugural Canadian Shield Tournament on Tuesday night despite losing to African champion Ivory Coast 5-4 in a penalty shootout. The game went to a shootout after it finished knotted at 0-0 after 90 minutes. The 30th-ranked Canadian men finished with four points, one ahead of No. 86 New Zealand and No. 25 Ukraine and two ahead of No. 41 Ivory Coast. Victory was assured for Canada just by getting to the shootout, given it would finish the night with at least four points — with two points for a shootout win and one for a shootout loss — while no one else had more than three. A regulation win was worth three points at the tournament. Jonathan David, Mathieu Choiniere, Derek Cornelius and Ismael Kone scored for Canada in the shootout. Badra Ali Sangaré stopped Tani Oluwaseyi and Luc de Fougerolles. Clement Akpa, Jereme Boga, Emmanuel Latte Lath, Franck Kessie and Mohamed Diomande scored for Ivory Coast in the shootout, beating Dayne St. Clair. Mory Gbane missed the target. Ukraine defeated New Zealand 2-1 in the early game Tuesday, leaving both teams at 1-1-0 with three points. That result meant Ivory Coast had to win by two goals to take the trophy. The Canadians defeated Ukraine 4-2 in the tournament opener Saturday while Ivory Coast lost 1-0 to New Zealand. Ivory Coast is currently ranked fifth in Africa by FIFA — behind No. 12 Morocco, No. 19 Senegal, No. 32 Egypt and No. 36 Algeria. But the Elephants are the reigning Africa Cup of Nations champions and have been ranked as high as No. 12 in the world. Ivory Coast looked dangerous, comfortably moving the ball around as drums resonated in its supporters' section at BMO Field. The Ivorian 'keeper had little to do in the first half other than watch his team from afar. Both teams managed just one shot on target before the break with Canada never really finding its rhythm. The second half was choppy and chippy with plenty of stops and starts before an announced crowd of 18,489 at BMO Field. As promised, Canada coach Jesse Marsch fielded almost an entirely different lineup with only centre back Cornelius retaining his spot from the Ukraine starting 11. Veteran forward Cyle Larin served as captain for the first time. Daniel Jebbison, a 21-year-old forward with England's Bournemouth, won his third cap in his first start. Vancouver Whitecaps winger Jayden Nelson also made his first start, earning his seventh cap. It was a more experienced group of starters, with a combined cap count of 369 going into the game compared to 241 for the starting 11 against Ukraine. Larin, Jonathan Osorio and Richie Laryea accounted for 226 of Tuesday's total. Osorio's 85th cap moved him into third place on the Canadian men's all-time list behind Julian de Guzman (89) and Atiba Hutchinson (105). Canadian midfielder Stephen Eustaquio was honoured before the game for earning his 50th cap against Ukraine. St. Clair started in goal. The Minnesota United 'keeper is tied for the MLS lead in shutouts with eight and ranks second in goals-against average at 0.88. Joel Waterman put the ball in the Ivory Coast goal in the sixth minute only to see the offside flag go up. At the other end, St. Clair stopped a 21st-minute free kick whipped in by Nicolas Pepe, formerly of England's Arsenal and now with Spain's Villarreal. Canadas best chances of the first half came off a free kick and two corners as the clock wound down, but each time the final ball was off target. Three of Canada's back four — Cornelius, Waterman and Sam Adekugbe — were on yellow cards by the 48th minute. An unmarked Pepe wasted a glorious chance in the 52nd minute when his header was off target. Soon after, Waterman made a saving tackle to stop Pepe. Ivory Coast argued unsuccessfully for a penalty kick in the 61st minute after Ibrahim Sangare went down in the Canada box trying to get to a quick free kick as the game grew more physical. David and Tajon Buchanan, who accounted for three goals against Ukraine, came off the bench in the 76th minute as Canada looked for a goal. Adekugbe had to be helped off the field in the 83rd minute, favouring his leg after going down. Canada had never faced Ivory Coast before. The last time it faced an African side was at the World Cup in Qatar in December 2022 when it lost 2-1 to Morocco in its final group-stage game. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. The Ivory Coast squad draws on players from clubs in Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey. Canada heads to the CONCACAF Gold Cup next, opening against No. 95 Honduras on June 17 in Vancouver before completing Group B play in Houston against No. 90 Curaçao and No. 81 El Salvador on June 21 and 24, respectively. Canada went into Tuesday's match with a 7-4-5 record under Marsch, with one of those ties turning into a penalty shootout loss to Uruguay and another into a shootout win over Venezuela. His previous three games in Canada — against Ukraine, Suriname and Panama — were all victories. Ivory Coast returns to World Cup qualifying play in September. It currently leads Group F in African qualifying with a 5-0-1 record, one point ahead of No. 79 Gabon in the six-country group that also includes No. 140 Burundi, No. 111 Kenya, No. 126 Gambia and the 203rd-ranked Seychelles. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2025.
